With their debut album, Keep Color, Kansas City-based quintet The Republic Tigers crafted an epic yet timeless and intimate album, weaving future folk, euphoric psychedelia, and exuberant symphonic pop with intricately crafted electronic textures and uncommon emotional depth.
The Menahan Street Band / The Contender
Great song, great groove going on with the drums and guitar. The horn section is really well arranged. It reminds me of some of my favorite arrangements by Ennio Morriconne and Charles Mingus, only with a really good funk and r&b groove to it. It makes me wish I could dance.
Portishead / The Rip
This song is soooo good. It requires patience. It takes a pretty long time to kick in by modern pop standards, but once it does, the payoff is well worth the wait. The Rip is a lesson in taste and subtlety and Portishead are geniuses for writing this song.
Serge Gainsbourg / Requiem pour un con
I can’t speak a word of French, but that doesn’t matter when I listen to Serge. This song, in particular, is great. The rythym section has been ripped off or sampled so many times in recent history that you have probably heard it somewhere without realizing it. It makes me feel like a badass. I can only imagine how Serge felt when he wrote it.
The Stranglers / Golden Brown
This gives me an eerie feeling every time I listen to it. Very good use of an odd time signature (13/8, I believe) on the intro and instrumental sections. It’s an odd time signature, but it sounds really natural when you hear it.
Radiohead / Reckoner
This song actually reminds me a lot of the Serge Gainsbourg song. It has a great chord progression, an infectious beat, and really interesting production. I love the overpowering percussion with the stark piano. I love the fact that the bassline rarely enters the picture, so that when it does, it does to great effect. Neat string arrangements, too, alongside Thom Yorke’s haunting verbed out falsetto. What else could you want from a Radiohead song?
Ghosty / Make It Easier
This is really just a perfect pop song. The lyrics are vague enough to leave an air of mystery, but descriptive enough that you can definitely relate. The chord progression is gorgeous, and more complex than it sounds. The vocal melodies are slightly sad, and very memorable. The instrumental section two-thirds into the song is very well crafted. The whole song tips its hat to the songwriting of the Beatles, without blatantly ripping it off.
Arcade Fire / Keep the Car Running
I didn’t want to like this band for a very long time. Specifically, because all the rave reviews and hype admittedly turned me off a bit. I had also noticed that many of the people raving about it were people that I found to be really obnoxious. However, I can’t deny that Neon Bible is a great record. For me, this song is especially good. It makes me think ‘this is what Bruce Springsteen wishes he was doing’.
Air / Once Upon A Time
This is a beautiful song with a lot of delicate texture. Lyrically, it’s not profound but musically it’s amazing. The piano part is tasteful and elegant. The chimes that accent the vocal melody on the chorus are a very nice touch. Drums are important to me when I’m listening to music, and this song has some of my favorite drumming ever on it. The mix and production work on this are very pleasant as well. Nigel Godrich at his best. It makes me all warm and gooey.
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