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.” Quite often it’s easy to explain why the song is good; it’s much hard to explain why we’re obsessed. Maybe you’ll become obsessed with one of these.

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Adrian (me):
Bon Iver – Creature Fear (mp3) (buy)

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Bon Iver – Team (mp3) (buy)

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It’s been a couple weeks since the last song obsession, a couple weeks in which I’ve seen well over 38 bands, so while it’s not hard to think if I was song obsessed, but figuring out what I was most obsessed with is another problem.

I’d heard “Skinny Love” many months ago, but it took Natalie’s song obsession a few weeks ago to push over the edge. I bought the album and I’ve been listening to the whole thing obsessively, especially “Creature Fear” (which runs over into “Team”). It’s a pretty spectacular song and the vocals and build for the chorus really have a special quality to them.

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Andy:
Wilco – Handshake Drugs (mp3) (buy)

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I recently picked up A Ghost is Born at a fantastic used CD store near Pittsburgh. I’ve had a lot of the songs for a while, so most of the album wasn’t new to me.

Like I mentioned when I chose one of the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot demos, I really think that the production (by Jim O’Rourke) moves the songs from “okay” to “excellent.” In Handshake Drugs, which for some reason reminds me of Jesus, Etc from YHF, there’s a wonderful contrast between the fairly laid-back guitar/drums/piano, and the driving, 8th-note bassline. It’s played with a pick, and processed in such a way that it’s reminiscent of early 60’s British-Invasion bands, but is played in such a perfect groove that for me, it becomes the focal
point of the song. When I listen, I lock into the bass groove, just like I lock into the Rhodes line of Jesus, Etc.

The production of the rest of the track (and album, for the most part) is timeless; it’s hard for me to believe, but the sound of Wilco records is far removed from any modern trend in audio production. There’s not much compression (piano parts from YHF excepted), there’s tons of overall dynamic range, there’s no artificial space, no artificial pitch-tracking. For a group that thrives in the digital
world (Tweedy has a notorious love affair with Protools and digital recording), their recent albums sound surprisingly like they’re made by a small group of guys, sitting in a room together.

The track comes to a close in a wall of noise just long enough to be interesting – it’s a strange contrast, but it works.

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Scott:
John Quinn J – the Avondale Mine Disaster (mp3) (buy)

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i don’t like how lomax field recordings (or smithsonian folkways, nonesuch traveler, even the sublime frequencies series) have turned lots of folk music in fetish objects because of the context of their recordings, but then again i would never have heard these if i didn’t buy into it a little. depressing music also makes me happy in a twisted way, so maybe i’m not a pc hypocrite afterall…

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Natalie K:
Delta Spirit – People, Turn Around (mp3) (buy)

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love the tinkly piano in this song. When I saw them play a show in San Diego two weeks ago, they ended with this song, and it turned into a huge singalong that was really moving.

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Rob:
Waterdeep – Not Enough Time (mp3) (buy)

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Obsession this week is Waterdeep’s “Not Enough Time.” One of the things that I have learned through the self-observance necessary to send these things in is that I never seem to become obsessed with my very favorite songs, which goes against my expectations. “Not Enough Time” surprised me again, since it has never stuck out to me as one of Waterdeep’s exceptional tracks, yet I’ve been singing the chorus through just about every day for a while now. I think that my partiality to sixths is what keeps it stuck, along with my general fascination with the Chaffers’ voices and delivery.

PS – The fill at 1:34 also might have something to do with it… nice and organic.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 1:10 am Posted by adrian in SF bay area, mp3s, song obsessions. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.