Song obsessions are those songs that we listen to on repeat. I noticed that my obsessions are often a week long. I also thought that other people might have similar obsessions. I’ve collected a panel of a few like-minded individuals and gotten their “song obsessions of the week.” Maybe you’ll become obsessed with one of these.

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Adrian (me):
The National - Fake Empire (mp3) (buy)

I bought this album, the Boxer last weekend after hearing various songs from it on the internets. I’ve been listening to the whole thing rather obsessively. This being the lead off track, I’ve listened to it slightly more than the rest. (It’s also one of the tracks that I’d heard that made me want to buy the album.) I like how this is just a simple piano tune at the beginning and at the end it’s this polyrhythmic mess of music that is still held together. And in the middle it somehow transitions seemlessly from one to the other.

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Scott:
The Microphones - Anacortes has a Secret Love (mp3) (sold out, buy other Microphones releases)

the microphones have been my favorite band for a while, but i’ve never heard the album ‘tests’ until this week. i like to think of this song as a humble counterpart to pavement’s ‘boxelder’. and that note he keeps bending kills me.

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Rob
Bill Morrisssey - Mobile (mp3) (buy)

This is one of those rare times when unique vocals match up perfectly with a song: I find that on most of his songs Morrissey’s chewy vox add a novel touch and not much else, but on this one they’re absolutely essential. The song gets stuck in my head and I sing it to myself as I’m walking around, but without his voice it’s just another tune. With Morrissey singing (over the beautiful, sighing violin,) it’s stunning.

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Dave:
Dynamic Tints & Pieces of Peace - Rosemarie (mp3) (buy)

Dang, what can I say about this song except that it makes me want to get funky! Gotta love classic soul. The Numero Group really does an amazing job finding these kind of songs for their compilations.

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Andy:
Spinto Band - Brown Boxes (mp3) (buy)

So this is a bit of a departure from me - a little bit more upbeat than the other stuff I’ve been listening to. This album has been a summer record for me. I was listening to it a lot last summer before I got married, and it popped up again on my ipod on a long drive to ohio a few weeks ago. So, I’ve run through it 8 or 10 times in the last week or two, and this is one of the top cuts. And I mean, who can go wrong with a chorus of kazoos, right?

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Natalie:
Yo La Tengo - Cherry Chapstick (mp3) (buy)

I think this summer weather is making me nostalgic, and I’ve been listening to Yo La Tengo nonstop all week! I used to love this song when the album “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out” came out back in high school (yes, I was in high school not so long ago). It’s such a summer song but so bittersweet, with those swirling yet discordant guitars and angsty, love-frustrated lyrics. I love those freakout moments on the guitar! Indulge with me!

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Woo! Good times. Getting into those “summer” tunes.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 15th, 2007 at 2:30 am Posted by adrian in SF bay area, mp3s, song obsessions. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.