Music is a Cruel Lover I

Welcome to my new, totally spontaneous column action. Drink it up:

Leaving for Coachella tomorrow. Pretty excited. For some reason more excited about being back in ninety-something degree weather (the kind we had in San Diego last summer [and will hopefully have this summer]) than hearing the music in general. S-s-songs:

April March – Chick Habit [mp3]
For those of you who haven’t seen Grindhouse yet, get on it, and witness the incredible context from which this song emerges. Absolutely the catchiest song I’ve heard in a very long time—almost as can’t-get-it-out-of-your-fucking-head as “Lost” (yes, the TV show), which I’ve been addicted to for the last two weeks (and yes I know it’s pretty much old news by now). There’s something so horribly charming about an earnest girl with a playful, poppy voice singing about cutting people up in two.

Feist – Past in Present [mp3]
So the new Feist album is pretty fantastic right? Pretty life-changing, right? When “The Reminder” keeps me from listening to my other new music because I know the rest won’t compare, that’s gotta be a good sign. The whole way through—incredible, well-written, affecting, and utterly unforgettable. Leslie Feist, if you’re reading this, I have a proposition: if we’re both seventy and we’re both still single, will you marry me? Just for the hell of it?

Slint – Breadcrumb Trail [mp3]
SPIDERLAND SPIDERLAND SPIDERLAND SPIDERLAND

Bonny Billy – Barcelona [mp3]
I’m pretty sure there’s a nest of spiders somewhere in this room, because I keep seeing them flit across the wall and disappear before I can nab them with a kleenex. But if I ever found it, I’d play this song as I flushed them down the toilet. I think it’s pretty safe to assume that spiders like Will Oldham as much as I do, if not more. (This is from the “Little Lost Blues” album, by the way, which is worth tracking down for sure).

- Dominick Duhamel -