Making Up For Last Time

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Ok so my last music recs didn't go over so well (even though I prefaced it by calling Mika a guilty pleasure). So here I am, back to try to atone.

Brazilian Girls - Good Time

Brazilian Girls had a hit a few years ago with "Don't Stop" which was featured prominently in the ad campaign for one of those unfortunately popular MTV "reality" shows about life in the valley, or the city, or the hills, or wherever. Now they are back with another "dance rock" anthem about just wanting to have a good time...all the time. I'm a fan of this relatively new genre that blurs the lines between dance, pop and rock and also includes solid bands like The Rapture, Hot Chip, Bloc Party, CSS and occasionally Beck and Gnarls Barkley.



Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal

As critically acclaimed as Fleet Foxes are, it took me a while to find a song that struck a chord with me, but I finally found it in White Winter Hymnal. This song could be any more different than Good Time. It's a slower, majestic, melancholy song that relies on harmonizing voices rather than on an infectious beat. It's a bit difficult to describe this song, so just listen and enjoy the old-school claymation video.



Tom Waits - Downtown Train

And now for something else completely different...this one dates back to 1985, when music videos were much less sophisticated and much more cringe-worthy (more later). I love Tom Waits and this is one of my favorite songs by him. If not for Waits' incredibly distinctive voice, this could easily be mistaken for a Springsteen song. And much like the Springsteen songs of the same era, it has certain trappings that unmistakably identify it as an '80's song, but manages to transcend these outdated characteristics and not feel dated as a whole.



One last thing. Speaking of cringe-worthy '80's videos, this might be the mother of them all. No explanation necessary. I feel embarassed for both of them.