To quote Nietzsche, without music, life would be an error. So, here’s a handful of songs to take with you throughout the day… let their lyrics sink deep beneath the skin, let their rhythms drag you from stillness, let their sound colour your daydreams… yes indeed, let there always be a song.
Curse Your Branches: David Bazan
Curse Your Branches is the title track from Bazan’s much anticipated debut longplayer, after years fronting indie favourites, Pedro the Lion. He is a truly gifted songwriter, his lyrics always taking front of stage. What I love about Bazan’s delivery, is that he makes no bones that the lyrics carry the weight; the music is perfectly crafted to carry the words… and they are a joy to listen to. Oh, falling leaves should curse their branches/ For not letting them decide where they should fall. This is folk/pop at it’s very best… unafraid to ask questions of life itself.
Here to Fall – Yo La Tengo
This is another lush, dreamy, slice of psych-pop from indie veterans, Yo La Tengo. The cinematic strings and dark, swirling keys grab you firmly by the ear and place you on some some neon-lit dancefloor, with its blissed-out groove. I am right there when Kaplan reassuringly sings, I know you’re worried / I’m worried, too / But if you’re ready / I’m here to fall with you. And after 25 glorious years in the business, these are some of the safest arms to fall into…
Underwhelmed – The Fauves
I have long been of the opinion that Andrew Cox has one of the sharpest wits in this country and during the course of the last 20 odd years, he has been unafraid to flex his sardonic muscles as chief songwriter for the criminally underrated Australian band, The Fauves. Underwhelmed is the opener from the bands ninth album, When Good Times Go Good. As Cox sings, all the years of waiting/ dreaming of the day/ somehow when it came/ it was underwhelming, you could be forgiven in thinking that Cox is singing about his bands fleeting success (remember the album Future Spa and the 90′s hits, Dogs are the Best People and Self Abuser?), but instead, Cox is poking his angular guitar at the new government, questioning, where’s the revolution? Like all great pop songs, Underwhelmed charms us into cranking the volume and singing along, while quietly questioning our own beliefs.
