1. Broken Social Scene: “7/4 ((Shoreline))”
For a pretty steadfast consumer of “indie” music, I really took my sweet time coming around on BSS. Part of the problem is the inherent flaws of this age of digital music consumption; my first impressions of the collective were colored by the fact that I was trying to gauge whether or not I liked them based on 30-second soundclips, and while this is generally enough time to hear at least one verse, chorus, and a handful of hooks in the average Britney Spears single, regardless of at what point in the song the clip starts at, this model doesn’t really work for a more free-form group of musicians like BSS. So I finally took the opportunity to give whole songs a listen a little over a year ago after being pleasantly surprised by head BSS-er Kevin Drew’s solo album Spirit If… in my local record shop. While roughly 50-70% of the tracks on all BSS albums proper are still a little too meandering and amelodic for my tastes, they do have a handful of gems, including this one.
2. The Jesus & Mary Chain: “Walk And Crawl”
This track is one of the b-sides/rarities recently compiled on the box set The Power of Negative Thinking. Beyond that, there’s not much else to say; it’s a JaMC track. Lots of feedback, a simple, undeniable melody, and some vaguely sinister lyrics about drugs/sex/violence, buzzing by in under three minutes.
3. Wilco: “Pot Kettle Black”
A deep cut from their famously rejected Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album. It’s pretty straightforward, and relatively no-frills…could be justifiably mistaken for a Summerteeth b-side, but with less pristine production. Reminds me of The Cure’s “In-Between Days” for some reason.
4. Kaiser Chiefs: “Everyday I Love You Less and Less”
One of the two strongest tracks off debut disc Employment (the other being “I Predict a Riot”.) Big comparisons made between these guys and Blur when this album came out. I can definitely see the similarity, but this is 100% artifice (not that Blur were particularly “authentic”) and sounds like a deep cut off Parklife or The Great Escape; it’s inherently catchier than anything off of Modern Life is Rubbish, if only because Blur had grown more accomplished at their craft, but still not close to the level of an iconic track like “The Universal” or “Girls & Boys”. As much as I’d like to believe Kaiser Chiefs have a classic album, or even classic single in them, I just don’t feel like they do.
5. The Smiths: “Stretch Out and Wait”
A very flimsy, tossed-off b-side that somehow is still better than 99.999% of anything anyone else has ever produced in pop. It’s a lighthearted exhortation to forget one’s cares, because the end is nigh, but it’s presented in such a sprightly package that it’s hard not to want to hop in a hammock with a cup of tea and wait for the bomb to drop.
6. My Bloody Valentine: “When You Sleep”
Probably the most “accessible” track off of the epic Loveless album. Somewhere, in an alternate universe, this is held in the same regard as “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.
7. The Walkmen: “Long Time Ahead of Us”
This year’s You & Me album was a pleasant surprise. It’s a return to form after the flat and tuneless A Hundred Miles Off. There’s a lot of quaint romanticism on this album, perfectly reflected in the art that graces the sleeve, depicting the false innocence of a by-gone age that we all know was never innocent at all, but that we can’t help but feel wistfully nostalgic for.
8. Husker Du: “Everything Falls Apart”
As much as I love this (and many other) Husker Du songs, all I can hear usually is the lack of discernible low-end. These guys were post-punk White Stripes before the White Stripes even existed, but they actually had a bass player!
9. The Meeting Places: “Turned Over”
One of those perpetually unfashionable “nu-gaze” bands that never seems able to expand their fanbase beyond people waiting around for that Slowdive reunion that will never come. It’s dreamy pop, with lots of layered, effect-laden guitars, but you can actually tell what’s being sung!
10. The National: “Slow Show”
A great song from an album chock full of them. Every time I listen to these guys, all I seem to focus on is the drumming. It’s just so integral to the success of The National’s tunes, not merely setting the pace, but really coloring and adding depth to what are seemingly simple songs. And of course, Matt Berninger’s voice is up there in the phone book pantheon*.
*Meaning, I’d listen to him sing the phone book without complaint. Others include Richard Hawley, Evan Dando, Mark Lanegan.
