song obsession friday! (for the week ending February 12)
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):
Jay Z and Santigold – Brooklyn We Go Hard (mp3) (buy
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It was close between this one and Throw Me the Statue’s “Ship”, but this one won out on the necessity I felt to listen to it.
After watching “Swagger Like Us” on the Grammys like everyone else, I was reminded of this song because of the similar female-sample-plus-jay-z thing it’s got going. The sample is absolutely incessant but it doesn’t become annoying. The production by Kanye is a dark and great and Jay Z’s rhymes are topically typical–a hip hop song about being tough–but it they’re smooth.
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Keith:
Invitations – Skiing in the Snow (mp3) (buy
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Winter sports aren’t exactly the stuff of soul songs, which makes the existence of this track all the more surprising. In some ways it sounds like a commercial for a Vermont ski resort targeted at the inner city, as it ticks off all the positives of skiing with a glossy sheen, carefully avoiding any of the negatives (damn, it’s COLD out here). Pardon me if I’m not exactly sold …
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Dave:
M.I.A. – Paper Planes (mp3) (buy)
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I had heard this song last year when it was first released and thought it was pretty good. But I just went to see ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ last weekend and having the music along with visuals really made it stick in my head. In fact, ALL the music in the movie is absolutely fantastic. I highly recommend both going to see Slumdog… and listening to the soundtrack (which also features a remix of Paper Planes).
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Rob:
Hem – Night Like a River (mp3) (buy)
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I’ve been listening to a whole lot of Hem’s just plain gorgeous music recently. There are so many excellent melodies but the chorus of “Night Like a River” has grabbed me particularly. I’m a sucker for dramatic chordal shifts and I love the way this song glides down whole steps halfway through its hook.
