Mimi: So JD told me to pick five songs I like and she would try to guess why I like them. She actually said five favorite songs with some theme, but I am way too brain dead to do that [Oh, is THAT what they're calling lazy these days? - JD] —for one thing I have issues with favorite lists due to the fact I’m far too fickle and change my mind so often. There are some songs that stick better than others (like Jeff Buckley who is a perennial favorite and my nemesis Ryan Adams who I still can’t quite break up with—oh, I guess I could have picked my top five randomly favorite songs by either of them, but I talk about them all the time, so it’s sort of useless.) [This might have made me cry. Thank God for small mercies. - JD] I made this easy really. These are random songs on my ipod that I wouldn't skip on shuffle.
JD: So then of course I had to play along too, and sent Mimi five songs of mine to consider. After a discourse on why Tom Petty is Satan (her opinion not mine) our lists were adjusted and the following is the result. Welcome to the wonderful world of music criticism, JD. Buckle that belt, it's a bumpy ride.
Mimi's Picks:
1. Americans Abroad – Ben Lee
JD: Your bleeding heart is peeking out from behind your little red cookbook, Socialist. This song says everything anyone needs to know about your personal political beliefs. I think Ben may have wrote it for you. It’s hard for you to be an American sometimes. But I really think you’re better at it then a lot of people I know. Ben agrees.
Mimi: This is actually a cover of an Against Me! song, which doesn’t negate what you said, but the irony factor here is the selling point for me as Ben Lee is Australian. Everything else you say is true, however, and I hope Ben takes notice enough of me to see my bleeding heart
2. Apocalypse Please - Muse
JD: The drama, the splendor! This is Mimi on a cliff waiting for her Gerard Way-shaped Heathcliff to come find her so they can take over the planet and save everyone, like you do. [If Gerard Way came to save me, wouldn't he probably fall off the cliff himself in a bought of self-righteous zealotry and caffeine-fuelled madness? Gerard Way, for the rest of the class, is the life-saving lead singer of goth pop band My Chemical Romance ~Mimi] [True. - JD] Muse does that to people. [Makes them want to jump off cliffs or save lives, I will clarify since this comment is now obscured by discussion of gothemo god Gway. ~Mimi] I’ve had my own cliff-inspired daydreams while listening to them.
Mimi: I assume you mean they make you want to jump off a cliff, since I know how you feel about this band. You know, I’m sort of ready to kill you for painting me as a tragic heroine waiting for Gerard Way to sweep in and save me, but what can I say? The actual reason I love this song is that it’s a call for epic change--a call to action through face-blowing, wall-of-sound rock that holds no prisoners. I adore Muse’s vocals, all the breathy sounds and near-the-edge delivery. Also, it has apocalypse in the title, how did you miss that?
3. Nancy Boy - Placebo
JD: It’s entirely possible that you have a fetish for nasal-toned frontmen. [I mostly have a fetish for period military uniforms to be honest. ~Mimi] Not that there’s actually anything wrong with that. I’m just pointing it out. You’ve liked this song for a long time but I think the reasons you like it now are different than when you first liked it. It was revolutionary ten years ago, and you like that in a band. Now the revolution’s been televised and blogged and this song makes you think less about that and more about your addiction to waif-like near jailbait emo boys. Which is still a very excellent reason to like it.
Mimi: Ok, you got me here, this song was really subversive when it came out, and I’ve been a massive Placebo fangirl for, uh, ever. It sort of amuses me that a lot of acts that are "cutting edge" today are actually rip offs of what Placebo was doing a decade ago. All the theatrical homoerotic flamboyance hasn't been new since Bowie, but Placebo added the black nail polish and dyed black hair and tight t-shirts and ran with it. Nothing is original, but this song was something new at the time. It's also sexy fun times.
4. Tim, I Wish You Were Born A Girl – Of Montreal
JD: What an awesome song. I can see you in the grocery store with your ipod on and laughing your ass off while eyeing the broccoli and wishing it were something yummier. [Broccoli is repulsive and does often haunt my trips to the grocery store. ~Mimi] The reason you like it is because it's your favorite kind of humor - absurd notions fed to you by the straight man on the stage so well that he nearly convinces you. Of Montreal only recently came on my radar and I have you to thank for that.
Mimi: This band baffles me. Sometimes I really like them and sometimes I think they suck. But this song is GENIUS. I think it sums up all platonic same sex relationships where you wish your beffie was the opposite sex so you could have a comfortable heteronormative life full of wedding presents and security. I think it also sums up the way you feel about your close friends where there’s no space to really discuss how your relationship is IMPORTANT and not subordinate to a sexual relationship. [So it's a song about us then? - JD] [I do that to people, I know. I'm pretty amazing. ~Mimi]
5. Hollaback Boy – Cobra Starship
JD: I knew you couldn’t do this without bringing in a Decaydence band. [Sigh. Why you gotta play me like that? Decaydance is Pete Wentz's (of Fall Out Boy fame) semi-vanity label. ~Mimi] You like it for the irony. Which CS has in spades. Gabe Saporta is your favorite kind of asshole and he portrays it well in this tune.
Mimi: If I had shame, I wouldn't be me. The real reason I love this song is that it mocks Gwen Stefani, who I detest. But there's also all the things you mention. Fine. I love Cobra Starship and Gabe Saporta, is my cred under the couch? I think this band is best when they're over the top to the nth degree, like on this track. They spell out supercalifra...whatever that word is.
JD's picks:
1. Aidan Quinn – Thrushes
Mimi: First off, never heard of this band before. Good job. This has a really creepy vibe to it from the drum work, like the bastard child of Joy Division. You like it because it’s creepy and named after an actor you like? This really sounds to me like an updated Manchester scene band with a chick singer, for reals. You have stumped me so hard on your list I feel like redoing my list and making it all “Disco Duck” and classical cuts. This is me being disaffected. [Must be Tuesday - JD] Ok, I’m going with the name of the song.
JD: I keep a pad on my desk at work that is strictly for writing down the names of bands I hear on WOXY or littleradio, which is how I found these guys. [You're kind of neurotic ~Mimi] I like this song because it’s morose without being indulgent, and also because the name doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the song, and spacey chick fronters rule, *clings to Portishead cds*
2. Goodbye – Steve Earle
Mimi: You’re from Texas, as is the god known to mortal kind as Steve Earle, so there’s that. There’s also the wistful romantic regret that seems very much like your three in the morning drunk musings. Why you particularly like this song gets lost in the twist of how this is one of my favorite songs of all time. I'm the most cynical, unromantic person on the planet, but this song makes me edge on a cry every time I listen to it. It sums up the universal longing to repair the unrepairable. It’s the absolute distillation of “thinking of you, know I can’t call you.” As an aside, the album it's from is in my top five of all time. So, I’m going with the longing, you being from Texas, it reminding you of your marriage, and Steve rocking the face off the world.
JD: I had no idea you liked this song as much as I do. Score! You should hear the live version I have with Emmylou singing harmony. That one WILL make you cry. I heard this song for the first time live when he played it at a Knitting Factory show a few years ago. I’ve been unable to forget it since then. [The name of the original blog is Hardcore Troubadours, dimwit, my love of Steve Earle is about as subtle as the Hollywood sign. ~Mimi]
3. Ready, Willing & Able – The Swindles
Mimi: Ok, so I can see you dancing around your apartment in your undies and a wife beater to this one. You’re doing a semi-twist number bopping your head and flinging you hair around. I think this one was a pick because it’s got an old fashioned, Jerry Lee Lewis feel to it (even though it’s a guitar song instead of a piano number). It’s a throw-back tune and you’re nostalgic.
JD: You know me well. The Swindles are the greatest bar band you’ve never heard of, just ask Uncle Mitchy (frontman Mitch Webb.) They continue the long tradition of Texas bands who’ll never play past the state line, and are okay with that. This is our music, and theirs. This song says everything you need to know about what it feels like to be in a jumping Texas juke joint on a Saturday night with a long neck in one hand and a cowboy in the other. Songs in the Key of T will forever be on my list of desert island albums.
4. Mountains – Prince
Mimi: I honestly have NO IDEA what’s going on here. I am one of those lamers who really only have a glancing knowledge of Prince’s deeper catalogue. *listens to the lyrics* It’s about overcoming the crap of reality to grasp your dreams? You could like the whole jazz breakdown bit because you’re high a lot. This one really stumped me.
JD: Prince’s lyrics don’t always make sense, but the feeling the music evokes is always clear. I’ve been listening to this song for over twenty years now and it never fails to make me bop like I’m fourteen again. From the soundtrack of his second movie, the critically panned Under the Cherry Moon, the album only had one hit, possibly one of his biggest, in “Kiss.” But the rest of the songs tell the story of a con-man in love for the first time (the songs tell it far better than the movie did) and this is the redemption song. Also, it’s the last album he recorded with many of the original Revolution, including Lisa and Wendy who are now the resident composers for the TV show Heroes. Weird.
5. Action/Adventure – Andrew Bird
Mimi: Oh, god, because he’s a genius? Also, you are totally invited to my action adventure dream. [I'm producing it. - JD] So, all the metaphors about television juxtaposed with the super witty lyrics like “I’m the I in your team?” Sigh, who cares, this song is amazing. Can he come live on my couch? I really love the fiddle part on this song. Jesus, this guy slays. The lyric “see and be seen” that is clearly a way of turning CNBC on its head is so fucking great I have nothing.
JD: Oh Mr. Bird, I love you in so many ways. At your farm, on my arm, during a locust swarm...I’m a little worried where the sound is going lately, but this song was on repeat at my place for a very long time. And you’ve nailed all my favorite parts except for one, Mimi, “I wonder what you got your persona for, cos there’s a two-for-one down at the corner store” you’ve been in Nashville and you get this. [Who told you that? I thought me living in Nashville was a State Secret? ~Mimi] But wait until you’ve been in LA LA land awhile. We’ll point and laugh together. Also, yes, the violin. How he plays it so evocatively without sounding like a wandering gypsy cliché is a mystery, but man he plays the shit out of it.
Next up: actual album reviews and other CONTENT not just link dumps and bitter complaining. As always, if you have something SUPER GREAT you think we should be listening to, drop us a line. [Or baked goods - JD] Yes, we accept gifts of emo boys and cupcakes, thanks.
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