I've got a nervous tic motion of the head to the left

[Davey]

Andrew Bird is my Friday savior from the mundane. What a gem of a song that I just can't get enough of lately. Every listen is like a brand new experience. The lyrics are fun, but at the same time insightful. Clever, but not to the point of being silly. Sophisticated music, but not at the listener's expense. Think orchestrated Beatles, but as interpreted by some alt-country-cosmopolitan leaning Radiohead-like band playing with a fabulous guest violinist. Just one of the best songs on one of the best albums that is gonna be released this year. Pretty nice sound quality too, at least for a new recording which unfortunately has to be pretty severely compressed to fit in the couple of bits of dynamic range left after the "make it as loud as we can" CD marketing idiots have gotten their way. This guy should be huge but he doesn't have a sound that bowls you over, at least not at first. But the songs get stuck in your head, usually a line or a verse at a time, and they just grow on you until you don't wanna hear anything else. Not like the stupid commercial jingles that make up most radio playlists, but complex, melodic music with quirky lyrical imagery. Love it! Just checked and this song is even available at his site....

http://www.bowloffire.com/listen.htm

Anyway, it's time for the Friday Song of the Day thread. Sorry for the stealthy topic line, but I couldn't stop myself, what with my nervous tic acting up and all

Though the words we speak are banal
Not one of them's a lie
You're what happens when two substances collide
. . .
And by all accounts you really should've died

[tentoze]

I had my first listen to the new Andrew Bird last night, and was very, very impressed. I've always liked his earlier stuff, but this one is a major step out into the light for me. It's too new to be able to provide any in-depth discussion points or even a favorite track, but heck- Davey always does that anyway. Highly recommended.

[Mr MidFi]

Well, thanks to Newtrix1 and his weekly head-to-head matchups, I've gone scrounging through my old XTC discs this week. And one song that I had forgotten how much I loved was "Across This Antheap" from the Oranges & Lemons album. It's a crazy, psychedelic mishmash of odd sounds, tricky rhythms and wacky melody. And above all, mind-blowing lyrics:

A billion feet sound just like a billion drums.
A bed is creaking as the messiah comes.
The cars are crashing and the bacon is hacked.
The coffin's lowered and the lunches get packed.
Still segregating 'cause we insects are too proud.
Doesn't matter what colour of cat you are there's no dogs allowed.

And the screaming sky won't let me sleep.
The stars are laughing at us,
As we crawl on and on across this antheap.

War planes go over but no wages go 'round.
A sign goes up to say hey we're twin towned.
The dough is rising but no bread will be baked.
The fur is genuine but the orgasm's faked.
We're spending millions to learn to speak porpoise,
When human loneliness is still a deafening noise.

And the screaming sky won't let me sleep.
The stars are laughing at us,
As we crawl on and on across this antheap.


Cool song from a terrific album.

[nobody]

Well, even since listening to Siouxsie and the Banshees last night (JuJu) and then putting on Once Upon a Time this morning, I've had Hong Kong Garden stuck in my head.

[ForeverAutumn]

I'm going to pick Boy, A Line To Stand Behind . Some lucky Ararers had evalution copies of this CD mailed out to them today. The CD is lots of guitar based jangly pop tunes. Not a bad tune on the disk IMO. But this particular song just has a real nice groove to it.