Dirty New Music

You, the guy that bags your groceries, and the high school quarterback have already heard these songs, but we are going to talk about them anyway.

Ima Robot “Greenback Boogie”

October 9, 2011 • Rachel Heussenstamm

You know, it’s kind of like overdosing. I surface feeling like shit. Shit about the state of the world. Shit about creativity. Shit about myself. Shit about the people in that box. Shit about all the people watching the people in that box. Shit about missing an opportunity to sleep. Shit about the mush in my brain. And all of a sudden I’m spiraling into a deep depression. Too dramatic? Well, yes. I am kidding. But only kind of. Let’s just say, I don’t stand a chance once the TV has a hold on me, but there is a simple solution to this vulnerability: I don’t own a TV.

Lillie has been diving into the intersections of music and TV and I am glad she has because these junctions are totally intoxicating. This power I understand very clearly, but, to be honest about it, these moments in my history are very few. If my psychologist grandmother happened to be conversing with us right now she would comment, “You are culturally deprived.” She’d deliver this message with a grin, so we would all know she was joking. But she’d follow the grin with a nod and a raised eyebrow! Which obviously meant we, especially yours truly, better think about this and that she might actually be serious or even right. Well, am I deprived? Probably. And just think, I could be culturally enriched and insanely depressed.

Lately, I have been trying to find a way to participate in moderation. The best opportunity for this has been when I land at someone else’s house with a preplanned departure time. Now, let’s get the story straight: I’ll never watch really serious TV. Like none of those HBO or Showtime shows. They are too real and too intense. I’m a pansy. I can’t handle it and gave up trying to handle it a long time ago. This low tolerance makes it hard to agree on what to watch with company. Lucky for me, last summer my brother Nathan had a brief man-crush on Neil Caffrey from USA’s White Collar. Nate, naturally, was into Neil’s good-time attitude and supper smarts. We happened to land on our parent’s couch one evening for a viewing session of this never-seen-by-me show. The result of this man-crush was that I discovered the kinds of TV shows that I can actually handle. Thank you, Nathan. Following White Collar came USA’s Suits. And if I can’t have a crush on Harvey Spector, then what’s the bloody point of watching TV?

Anyway, too much background, so back to the music and Lillie’s TV moments. Suits‘ theme song, Ima Robot‘s “Greenback Boogie” is stunning. Note, this opinion is in no way colored by my fantasized view of Harvey Spector’s badassness. Which may or may not be projecting itself onto my experience of this song. On the musical front, “Greenback Boogie” bridges the best of modern rock and pop with the classic blues boogie. It moves like a city moves, driving old and new, and showing the similarities between the two. It’s a big city. It’s a fast moving city, but it has little pockets for a laid back breather. Lyrically? Well, not very many people can talk about our generation’s conflicts with the American Dream in such a tough ‘n sexy manner. And it gets better, all the toughness is polished by the slur of the vocal: which is stretched just enough to make it smooth and mysterious, but not too much that we miss the lyrics. It is pretty interesting to think about all this happening within a musical track, before it is even juxtaposed to a moving picture. And then everything that happens with that juxtaposition! It’s no wonder these moments are intoxicating. On the flip side, and to Lillie’s points, there is the simple collateral: I was introduced to a new band, just because Nate was having a man-crush and I got sucked into the dreaded TV.

Kevin Michael “We All Want The Same Thing” Featuring Akil Dasan

October 4, 2011 • Rachel Heussenstamm

On Sunday, I drove my parents and my not-so-kid-brother to the airport. I’m not sure how it started, and I am not even sure exactly what side everyone was on, but we got into it. The exchange could be summed up as a conversation—ebbing in and out of an argument—about the motives and causes behind war, especially civil war. I was spewing on about Libya, which I have kind of been obsessed with lately. Mum was mediating one minute and fueling the fire with political science the next. Dad was crushing us with the poor leadership, power hungry argument. And the bro was like, “Why does every vacation start out like this?!” We were really rocking the Sunday off of the morning. I have been walking in circles around the question: How does a society really get to civil war? And what is really the difference between having social stability and not? It looks a lot like here, over there (and in December, I am sure I would not mind jumping in their ocean). Is their social evolution simply 200 years behind? Boil it down to basics? We steal fresh water from Colorado and Oregon and they don’t have that option? Maybe our inner cities really aren’t that different? And maybe it spirals from that micro level? Exactly how our Sunday conversation stepped into the argument realm? One person did not take a moment to really listen to what the other person was saying. Another person jumped to a conclusion about what was being said, and instead of asking a question to confirm, they fired a blunt rebuttal that was kind of irrelevant. And the next thing you know: we waz steppin’. Lucky for me, by the the time we got to the airport, Mum, Dad, and I reached a resolution: “We All Want The Same Thing,” even if we don’t get the same things.

Washed Out “Amor Fati”

August 1, 2011 • Lillie Fish

I’ve always wanted to learn to surf. One of my best friends in college spent a summer learning how and I told her how jealous I was. She insisted I’d be horrible at it because my arms were too skinny. Now, this didn’t really hurt my feelings or even make me want to prove her wrong, but all these years later, I’ve always remembered that comment. Maybe I glorify surfing and the whole lifestyle around it. But I kind of doubt it. I asked Rachel about growing up surfing and she was pretty humble about it, but I think in her head she was feeling sorry for me and all the landlocked Nashvillians who didn’t spend out high school nights on the beach. I’ve seen Endless Summer. I’ve seen Blue Crush. I know it must be idyllic once you really learn how to surf. Washed Out’s song “Amor Fati” sounds like what I imagine it feels like to ride the waves all the way to shore.

Wye Oak “Civilian”

July 26, 2011 • Lillie Fish

It is true that while some songs grow on you, others hit you right out of the gate. I’ve found that the songs that stick with me for years to come are the ones that completely hooked me from the first listen. ‘Civilian’ is one of those that had me from the first listen. What I find most fascinating is that I often have no idea why I like a song so instantaneously. It can take me dozens of listens until I even realize (or relate to or enjoy) the first thing about the lyrics. As my friend Jaida Dreyer twittered yesterday, “Wait, that milkshake song isn’t about milkshakes at all, is it?” Coincidentally, just as Jenn Wasner writes about keeping her baby teeth in her bedside table, my husband was recently disturbed to discover that I still have my own baby teeth in a prescription bottle from 1987. My first earrings are in there too. The ick factor is perhaps overcome by the fact that just as the lyric poignantly reveals in ‘Civilian’ that Wasner’s paramour still sleeps beside her despite this somewhat bizarre quirk. She hints at needing romantic love above all, even in a desperate way, and finding comfort in knowing she is loved despite her faults. Likewise, my own dear man continues to love me, but perhaps only after relocating my baby teeth to my dresser drawers.

St. Vincent “Surgeon”

July 22, 2011 • Lillie Fish

It has been one month since I had a baby. That means one month that I have not heard a single new song. The only music I have heard was the Ingrid Michaelson song ‘Be OK’ during every single commercial break of the Tour de France. As I twittered: this is…wait for it…not OK. This morning I conquered my lack of sleep and need for silence and finally listened to a new song. St. Vincent’s new single Surgeon. I’d only just had some coffee and my first impression was this is familiar, but fresh all at once. Funky and smooth. Reminiscent of my all time queen, Kate Bush. The problem was I had to focus to listen to it. I really generally want music to be able to sit in the background or demand my attention depending on my mood. This demands attention, there is no sitting in the background. So I needed another coffee to give it another go. Verdict after cup number two: hell yes. Girl is letting it rip.

My Morning Jacket “Evil Urges”

June 5, 2011 • Rachel Heussenstamm

I am more than ready to have some fun celebrating great songs and the emotions that come with them. It feels like this blog has been coming down the pipe for a while. Lillie and I are both deep lovers of music. We meet in 2008, in Nashville, in the midst of known and unknown musical giants. In honor of my first post, I am going to go back to January 2009. Lillie had emailed about yoga, and brunch, and a handful of awesome items to add to the girl team agenda. I was kind of stuck in disbelief about a Facebook post Lillie had made earlier that week, she had mentioned she did not totally get My Morning Jacket yet. My schedule had not come together and I could not commit to any of the abovementioned events, so I wrote her the following reply:

Lillie, How is the My Morning Jacket listening coming? I am thinking that you need to listen to‭ ‬“Evil Urges” (just the song, not the whole album), like 3 or 4 times in a row. If you are not wet and ready for action after that, then maybe we need to send you to therapy or really have a sit down and talk about what certain guitar tones and vocal inflections imply? xoxo, Rachel

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