Everybody loves everything these days. I think that’s a good thing. Hell, I might even say I LOVE that. Y’know, the positivity is just infectious.
Everyone I know listens to every kind of music and doesn’t really care about being a ‘punk rocker’ or a ‘metalhead’ or a ‘hip-hopper’ or whatever these days. Some folks still say they can’t stand country, which is weird to me because it is just Southern rock with funny lyrics about cheatin’ rednecks. What’s not to like? I even throw classical and jazz into the mix with my various kinds of pop music*. But not every tune is perfect for every occasion. Hence the classic moment in High Fidelity when John Cusack, perpetual maker of Top Five lists, can’t think of anything to say when a columnist asks him for his own All-Time Top Five Records. “In the club? or at home?” he stutters. Because context is everything.
And with that in mind, I present a selection of songs that I’m currently obsessing on and the time of day I’m most likely obsessing about them:
8:15 AM. “What Ever” by Satanic Surfers. I really like to put on some energetic pop-punk early in the day while I’m getting ready, because it makes me feel like I’m in the all-the-characters-waking-up-and-going-to-school intro from a teen comedy flick. This Swedish band properly belongs to the same peppy hardcore movement as Ice Age and Fucked Up, and is Guaranteed Better than Coffee.
10:00 AM “Merry Go Round” by Kacey Musgraves. The mornings are when I try my damnedest to get some work done, so it’s only right that I spend this time with the hardest working folks in pop, the country musicians. Lately that’s mostly meant Kacey Musgraves, whose album Same Trailer Different Park is full of brilliant lyrics like “Momma’s hooked on Mary K/Brother’s hooked on Mary Jane/and Daddy’s hooked on Mary two doors down,” little catfish-nuggets of folksy insight that help keep my own creative juices flowing.
http://www.myspace.com/indigoswingmusic/music/songs/ruby-mae-28586050″
1:00 PM “Ruby Mae” by Indigo Swing. Uggh, time to run some errands. Luckily, even in the worst of Chicago weather, I’m on cloud nine when I put on anything by this third wave swing-revival band. Indigo Swing used to be my JAM back in the 1998-2000 when I was frequently spotted at Odd Fellows Hall hoping to impress older girls with my awesome Jitterbug prowess — too bad all of the cool kids were more into the Lindey Hop — and this record definitely still holds up today.
4:20 PM “Hotboxin’ the Van” by Baby Bash, Paul Wall and Marcus Manchild. This song has an excellent beat. And great bass. My car also has great bass. That is all.
6:45 PM “Mirrors” by Justin Timberlake. If Kyle and I are on our way to dinner, or wherever, we are for sure listening to one thing and one thing only, “Mirrors” by Justin Timberlake. I know I wrote about this song like a week ago, but it hasn’t gotten any worse since then. Again, this is a song that benefits from a mad decent car audio system. You are, You are, The love, of my life.
10:30 PM “Movements” by Roots Manuva. Did you know about Roots Manuva? I had no idea. I know that grime happened and I’ll totally jam on The Streets, but really, 99% of the time I forget that they even have rap music in Great Britain, that there was sometimes an actual hip-hop component to the whole “trip-hop” thing. Turns out Roots Manuva, who I had previously believed to be a person who mostly appeared with the word “featuring” before his name on Ninjatunes compilation CDs, actually made at least one great hip-hop album, Brand New Second Hand, on which “Movements” is the blazing first track. Holy Champagne Supernova, Batman, I’m starting to feel a serious 90s Brit-music nostalgiattack coming on. Hide the Pulp records.
*Pro-tip: classical and jazz records are dirt cheap, so it’s a good way to get a lot of really incredible music without spending $25 or $30 a pop on ‘classic’ indie records that originally came out on CD anyway (no, but for real, who are these kids who spend more on an Arcade Fire album than I would pay to go to an Arcade Fire concert?).
disastercouch 