Lost MP3 of the Week: Yeasayer, “Ah, Weir”
As we near the middle of the year, I find myself somewhat unimpressed by 2008 as a new release year. Granted, the second half of the year is almost always stronger than the first, and 2007 was no exception. But 2008’s best releases, so far, don’t feel quite as important as last year’s. Of all...
Lost MP3 of the Week: Fleetwood Mac, “Silver Springs”
When I was in middle school, I had a lot of ideas for music videos. Generally these ideas were boring and tame – mostly because at the time, I was listening to a lot of really sappy, sad music (I changed from a private school to a public school between seventh and eighth grade and...
Lost MP3 of the Week: Da Real One, “If U Like Pina Colada (Pina Colada Song)”
When you’re young, the desire to fit in can be a very, very dangerous thing. Sure, this applies to drugs, sex, alcohol, violence and all those things parents worry about – but it also relates to music. I came across Da Real One’s version of “If U Like Pina Colada (Pina Colada Song)” during eighth...
Lost MP3 of the Week: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, “Helplessly Hoping”
This song is Spring. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: “Helplessly Hoping” (download) It’s easy enough to point to nearly any Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and say that – “Judy: Blue Eyes,” certainly. “Guinnevere,” absolutely. “Our House,” you bet. But “Helplessly Hoping” is it, the most Spring of any of their songs. This is it....
Lost MP3 of the Week: The Animals, “House of the Rising Sun”
The first music, in general, that I remember loving and growing up with was from “the Music Man” – as in the movie with Robert Preston, which I would watch repeatedly, to the point of annoying my mother, when I was about four years old. But memory is a tricky thing, and a lot of...
Lost MP3 of the Week: Bruce Springsteen, “Red Headed Woman”
The best thing about St. Patrick’s Day – aside from that whole drinking thing – is that it’s a day to be especially proud about redheadedness. A long time ago, the Seattle alternative weekly Tablet had a feature called something like: “what it’s like to be…” and had someone write a short paragraph about what...
T-Sides B-Sides: Lost MP3 of the Week: My Bloody Valentine, “Sometimes”
My friend Clay makes the best mixes of anyone I know. He’s also one of the best writers I know. His words are fluid and natural, holding a powerful grace and excitement. Naturally, I asked him to write a guest post for me about music of his choosing. He selected My Bloody Valentine’s “Sometimes,” and...
Lost MP3 of the Week: Bob Seger, “Night Moves”
One of the most astounding things about art, and especially music, is the way a self-centered thought or experience contained in a medium can ignite a chain reaction of independent yet similar thought, ironically turning the originator’s selfishness into a wide-spread and no-longer singular experience. It is this ability to tap into a well of...
Lost MP3 of the Week: Bone Thugs ‘n’ Harmony, “Crossroads”
In sixth-grade, I was very good friends with a guy named Gabe. He had come into our private school rather late in the game – most of us had been going to school together for years – but we became fast friends because he lived near me. I lived far outside the standard reach of...
Lost MP3 of the Week: The Anniversary, “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter”
The Anniversary’s “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” is exactly the kind of song that I began “Lost MP3 of the Week” for. However, it’s a music journalist’s nightmare. The Anniversary: “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” (download) This is partly because I’m not sure how I came across the song. It was, in all...
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