songs that get me off

Alabama Shakes “Hold On”

Rachel Heussenstamm — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:08:45 +0000

Grease it up. Alabama Shakes kills it on “Hold On.” They are taking me back to my clean-cut tweens of rocking out to the oldies radio in the car with mum and dad. And they are making me want to walk down the street and hang out with all those twenty-something hipster kids that look like they just rolled out of a dumpster. Yes, both these feelings. AT THE SAME TIME. Alabama Shakes is new to me, but they are probably on single 17 or something? Two seconds of googling shows them selling out the Ryman and King Tuts. Who knows? I do know that this track is badass and I get the giggles every time she sings twenty-two. Badass giggles.

Steve Reich “Violin Phase”

Rachel Heussenstamm — Thu, 03 May 2012 23:09:28 +0000

My favorite part of listening to Steve Reich’s Phases is how they seem to come in and out of phase in many dimensions. There are the intentions of the compositions themselves: where the piece is inherently in or out of phase. Then there is my own personal interpretation of those phases. Sometimes it seems that the piece falls out phase, and then as I pay more attention, or less attention, the piece seems to fix itself. It’s like one minute I just don’t get it because I am listening too hard, so I relax a bit and something about my inner rhythms and sensebilities finds a new method of interpretation and there is another level of understanding that brings it perfectly in phase again. It’s a big resolution: the personal, in-the-moment phases of the listener interacting with the meticulously planned and preformed phases of the piece.

The music truly has shapes and patterns, and Riech has a serious experiment in the properties and effects of alignment going on. Choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker takes Steve Reich’s musical patterns into the visual realm in her work Fase: Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich. She explains that way back in the 80′s “Steve’s music invited [her] to dance.” And I’m sure it did, because the interaction between Anne and the music, and the shapes, and the movement, is both scientific and romantic. I don’t really consciously feel these two worlds, science and romance, at the same time very often. But the combination is successful and powerful, and I can not help but be reminded that all the great songs we get off on must have both these forces present. Science and romance are probably colliding in the unconsciousness every time art rocks our world. Sexy.

Shea Seger “Always” with Ron Sexsmith

Rachel Heussenstamm — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 07:42:04 +0000

Sometimes I hear a recording and it really makes me want to see and hear the song preformed live. “Always” is a duet on Shea Seger’s album The May Street Project. Ron Sexsmith takes the first verse. It’s special. Seger comes in. And it’s a great shift in tone. The recoding is way cool. But I want it to be late, in a dark club. Bricks. Heavy Curtains. Underground. It’s a small room. It’s perfectly crowded. It sounds good in there. A four piece band and the two of them. Their voices perfect and naked out in front of the band. I want it to be one of those magic, selfish moments. Live.

Paul Simon “Dazzling Blue”

Rachel Heussenstamm — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:53:04 +0000

Well, I have been hankering down and missing in action for a couple of months. On one level, I have been ridiculously spinning wheels with too much to do. On another level, Lillie has been killing it and it’s as fun to watch as it is to play. I think I might make a playlist out of Lillie’s breakup song list and party with it once a month, just to remind myself I am alive. I am going to re-read Lillie’s 30th birthday post every birthday I have this decade, just to remind myself how insanely weird it was to turn thirty. Maybe think about how it should really never have been as big a deal as the universe sets it up to be. And maybe think about the simple sweet things in life, just like Lillie does. Ah, music. The best drug. I was gifted “Dazzling Blue” by Paul Simon back in October and I rode it’s leisurely downstream pitter patter right through every intense moment of the holidays. It gives life this mellow twilight feeling, and it reminds me of the evening Lillie describes. Haha. It’s February and I am still using “Dazzling Blue” to relax.

King Floyd “Groove Me”

Lillie Fish — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:02:41 +0000

So, you know how sometimes, you need a song to put on when you are feeling sorry for yourself? I love to announce when I’m feeling sorry for myself, as just saying that out loud is so ridiculous that I always feel at least a teeny bit better. King Floyd’s “Groove Me” is a go-to song for when I have the blues. It is so funky, so dance-inducing that by the end of the song, I typically feel about ready to take on the rest of the day. (I also love that his name is written on his hat.)

Madi Diaz- Plastic Moon

Lillie Fish — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:00:18 +0000

Madi Diaz is one of mah veery, veery favorite ladies. Unfortunately, since she is so amazing, she is always on the road and I don’t get to see her as much as I’d like to. She and DT have written some of my favorite songs together, including an unreleased one that is my most played song on my itunes. (I’m determined it will see the light of day even if it means I steal it from them and put it out under a made up name. It is kind of a dance song, so I reckon they don’t want to dance.) Anyway, I’ve seen Madi silence a room with her songs and she is more powerful than I believe she even knows. She has a clear voice that is a delight to listen to, especially live. She and Kyle Ryan have a beautiful connection and have put their heart and soul into their new record, Plastic Moon. It is fun, it is sad, it is lovely and it is one more step on what promises to be a very beautiful road. (Pic is an oldie Madi took of me in her old tour tee shirt. I’m her #1 groupie.)

Jessie Baylin “The Greatest Thing That Never Happened…”

Lillie Fish — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:14:00 +0000

I knew of Jessie Baylin before I knew her. A mutual friend pulled out his cell phone a showed me a picture of me at my wedding. ”AWWW!…..Oh wait.” Except it wasn’t me, it was Jessie Baylin. He had just returned from her wedding and it turns out we wore the same (awesome) dress. I should have known then she would make one of my favorite records of the year. It is not terribly difficult to get me to enjoy a song. I can bop along to many a song for 3 minutes. It is, however, exceedingly difficult to get me to listen to and then love an entire record. Jessie’s record, Little Spark, is truly a record I have come to love. Really love. At any given time, I’ve had each song stuck in my head for days. It is a record that is nice to live with and I highly recommend you do to, especially on vinyl. I really recommend the whole album, but my favorite song for a long time was Yuma, then Love is Wasted on Lovers, and then it changed a lot. It is currently “The Greatest Thing That Never Happened.” If you need any added encouragement, note the Rosson Crow painting (see at 2:25) tucked in the studio where she recorded the album. Rosson Crow means the studio owners are badass, badass studio means a badass producer, badass producer means they only work with badass talented folks. Like Jessie. Super talented, puts on an awesome show and has made a really special album I can’t recommend highly enough.

SONG of the YEAR: 2011: Theophilus London ‘Why Even Try’

Lillie Fish — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 04:08:19 +0000

Hands down, my (Lillie’s) song of the year is “Why Even Try” by Theophilus London. He had me from the first notes. It is, as one might have the audacity to say, my jam. I also require some massive praise that I wrote the post a mere ten days after the album came out AND I had a four week old baby.

Runners Up that I also dug on:

An Horse “Dressed Sharply” (for the lyrics and because it reminds me of Rainer Maria)

Those Dancing Days “I’ll Be Yours” (for the drumming. cracks me up. listen around 1:45)

Top Ten Break Up Songs

Lillie Fish — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 04:02:11 +0000

Well, it seems a really shitty time to have a broken heart, but an absurd number of my friends have just broken up or gotten divorced. There are long overdue break-ups, out of the blue announcements, and even some secret crushes whose hopes have been dashed. So many of my nearest and dearest will be having a blue christmas indeed. I had a rather shitty break up once (or twice?) around the holidays and music is always the only way to make it through. Really this is a ridiculous list and goofy post because half of all songs are break up songs anyway. Break ups demand indulgences both with food and with music, so those are included, too. (Photo of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries (sniff sniff) kissing before their ill-fated nuptials courtesy of Splash)

Top 10 Songs for Wallowing about:

1. Ryan Adams: English Girls Approximately. The last lines (You meant everything) guaranteed to make even the hardest heart go full on emo.

2. Ryan Adams: I See Monsters. The truth is I should just do a “Guide to Ryan Adams’ Break Up Songs.” The album called “Love is Hell” for pete’s sake, so clearly he has more than one song on my list. This particular song is nice a creepy one if you are feeling that way about your ex- watching them sleep and all.

3. Harlan T. Bobo: Left Your Door Unlocked: You know, he sneaks in the house they used to share together while she is out with her new fella and rolls around on the bed. Doesn’t get more depressing than that.

4. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant: Please Read The Letter. My best break up advice is to never speak again and if you must then wait three months until the emotions have settled. (My best marriage advice is marry the person you most like to make out with.) Whatever you do, don’t do what I have done twice (and naturally regretted twice): don’t write them a love letter after the fact. Unless you are Elizabeth Barrett Browning, it will be sappy and embarrassing later.

5. Lucero- Nights Like These. A rebound guy I was dating turned me on to this song. He had just broken up with a girl, oh, I dunno, the day before. This was his break up song. Needless to say, that relationship was short lived.

6. Gillian Welch- Revalator. ”Time’s the revalator” is probably the most fantastic lyric to cling to if you don’t know why something ended or if you think time will vindicate you. Neither will happen, but just in case you are feeling a glimmer of hope, this is the best gloomy hopeful song out there. I love the live version with Ryan Adams, too.

7. Old 97s- Color of a Lonely Heart is Blue: A lovely sad song. When in doubt, turn to Rhett Miller’s hair.I

8. Emmylou Harris: I Don’t Want To Talk About it Now. Buried within one of the best albums of all time is “I’d be drawn and quartered if I could keep you in my bed.” If that doesn’t work for those wallowing about, nothing much will. Also good for denial.

9. Mindy Smith: Train Song. By a twist of fate, Mindy is now a friend of mine. I was not only star struck when I met her, but also completley bashful because I’m sure at one point I rolled around and cried on the floor to this song.

10. Incubus: Wish You Were Here. Because sometimes, you just need to say how much you wish the person was still with you over and over and over. (Plus, Brandon Boyd is shirtless in the video, which might be nice for the ladies in the crowd who go for skinny, hairless, vegan types.)

Honorable Mention:

Damien Jurado: Go First: Can hardly listen to this one it just depresses me so.

Holiday Break up Bonus:

Top Five Songs for Kicking That Stinker to the Curb:

1. Fleetwood Mac- Go Your Own Way (obvi)

2. Love Don’t Live Here- Lady Antebellum (heh heh)

3. Justin Timberlake: What Goes Around Comes Around (obvi)

4. Be Your Own Pet: Take That Walk (actually a mopey song lyrically, but the attitude makes it better suited for this category.)

5. Shea Seager: Last Time (just say no!)

And when you are ready and feeling a little more snazzy:

Top Five Songs for Moving On:

1. Ryan Adams- Dance All Night (she ain’t lonely now…)

2. Bob Marley and the Wailers: Three Little Birds (duh)

3. Steve Earle- I Feel Alright (yes)

4. Kanye West: Stronger (i thought kanye was my soul mate)

and last but not least!

5. Ludacris: Money Maker (shake it)

Honerable Mentions:

Elvis Costello: Pump It Up

Shelby Lynne: Life is Bad

Rainer Maria- Thought I Was

Lillie Fish — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:35:15 +0000

Wellesley had this really cool venue that was like a 70s ski chalet and I don’t know what got into me, but one night I ventured out of my lovely room and went to see Rainer Maria all by my little self. I was a Junior, I think, so this was maybe 2001 or 2002. I had a country show on the college radio station, so I am sure I discovered them through WZLY and CMJ. I remember thinking how hip all the women at the show were and how hip the band was and how it was strange I was even allowed in there. I felt so young compared to the crowd that seemed to be all Seniors (ooooh!). The lead singer was so….so….enigmatic. (“She” turns out to be Caithlin De Marrais who has a new album out which I’ll have to buy.) She was little and casually dressed. She could have easily been one of the students that just walked in from the library. I had grown up in Nashville where a gig meant full fledged Porter Wagoner suits. Nashville is obviously very different now, but it was surprising to see at the time. I just didn’t know what to make of this girl with her casual clothes and intellectual songs. It wasn’t forced, but it was forceful. I still can’t place my finger on it, but that show was one of the most powerful shows I’ve ever seen. Everyone was quiet, but the music was loud. She sort of spoke/yelled the lyrics with a lovely shaky vocal, but it still seemed very subdued. She looked tiny behind her instrument, which I think must have been the bass. The songs I really took away were “Thought I Was” and “Contents of Lincoln’s Pockets.” I was definitely into the emo bent of “Thought I Was” matched with the tough and punk-lite sound and the crazy concept of the latter song. Since I’ve spent the better part of a decade studying American Art and History, a song that muses on any historical topic will obviously be a big winner, all the more so if it is as good as singing about what the heck was in Lincoln’s pockets when he was assassinated. The song created such a tangible connection to Lincoln. It made him feel so bizarrely modern to ruminate on what he stuffed into his pocket while he was dressing for the evening. I don’t know maybe I should blame the song for my going into material culture studies. (On a side note, my cousin-in-law wrote this hilarious book about the history of the world as told through facebook posts. My absolute favorite is this Abe Lincoln one.)