Thursday, February 28, 2008

The Fever of Fevrier

February has come and gone, this a leap year, and I've come out relatively unscathed comparatively speaking. That said, this month has found me faced with the possibility of leaving fair New York for perhaps fairer surroundings. Regardless, I will soldier on.

This is the first February I've had in New York that didn't involve some social or physical breakdown (aka break-up/illness). The only fever I've had this month has been for that of music.

1) Eels - Taking a bath in rust
2) Man Man - Top Drawer
3) Jackie Paris - Make Me Smile
4) Jack Johnson - Hope
5) nada surf - Are You Lightning?
6) The Staple Singers - The Weight
7) The Everybodyfields - be miner
8) Dirty on Purpose - Lake Effect
9) Mystery Jets (feat. Laura Marling) - Young Love
10) Paul Westerberg - Waiting for Somebody
11) Oliver Future - Stranger Than the Stranger
12) She and Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
13) Throw Me The Statue - Your Girlfriend's Car
14) Ryan McPhun and The Ruby Suns - Maasai Mara
15) The Panderers - Come On
16) Arizona - Through the Soot
17) Chris Walla - Sing Again
18) Baron Von Bear - Live off the Land
19) Sheryl Crow - Love Is Free
20) The Format - Janet
21) Bonnie "Prince" Billy - My Life
22) Phosphorescent - I Am A Full Grown Man (I Will Lay in the Grass All Day)
.zip the whole thing!

Eels, which I didn't discover until DJing in Ireland, is fabulous, and his release this year, Useless Trinkets, is a gem of a discovery. So many wonderful tracks, I find one suits just about any mood. I hope to see Man Man perform. This ragamuffin group seems just so exciting; I can't imagine their live show as anything but shockingly unique. As for JJ, around Patagonia, there's a saying, WWJJD, and I think he slept through the recording of his latest album. This may be the only standout. I heard the Staple Singers' "Weight" when listening to a bunch of other Stax recordings including Stax Does Motown and The Beatles, and this version really does it for me. Paul Westerberg, a favorite, gave this song to personal hero Cameron Crowe for Singles. It's been used, to great effect in the trailer for Smart People.

So many of these songs make me think of people in my life - past, present, future. Most of them make me think of girls. "Stranger Than the Stranger" and the story behind it - Austin band writes songs of loneliness once relocating to LA - made me think of Miles. Sheryl Crowe, homegirl's got it goin' on. She's still someone I use as a sort of weather vane. I really got into her music during my junior year of college. I was encouraged to seek out the music of my 'homeland' by a rather inspirational poetry professor, and I somehow came to fellow St. Louisan Crowe's cannon. I still think she's pretty good. She's no Zooey Deschanel, though. She and Him, her collab with M Ward just tickles me pink. I think she's the beeskuhnees, dacatspyjamjams. And how about The Format's break up? So sad to learn of that. But Bonnie Bill's so cool to do a Frank cover. So cool. I leave you with Phosphorescent. Saw him last night at Union Hall. Such presence. Eyes like tractor beams. As he travels westward, may you catch his gaze, or better still, may he catch yours.