A classic, minimalist ballad that I’m obligated to post because my friend Michelle reads this thing. Anyway, the song is sparse and beautiful with instrrumentation coming in at just the right time to accentuate the beautiful lyrics. “I love you, I love you, I love you!” McCartney sings.

You’re not too bad yourself, Paul.

Oh man. This song would be so much better as an instrumental. Everything about the music here - the bouncy piano, the dance-punk guitar, the funky bass-line - it's all sublime. Too bad the lyrics are some of the most inane words ever written. Oh well, I guess we can forgive them, given that it's the 60s.

But damn that's some good music.

40 years later, it’s easy to see the influence of the George Harrison written “Think For Yourself.” Listen to the heavily distorted leade guitar; Harrison reigns in the pop feel present on nearly all of the album. Of course, there’s still harmonizing. There’s always harmonizing! It’s a Beatles song for God’s sake. That, and Harrison’s voice is ( Read more... )

“Doesn’t have a point of view / knows not where he’s going to / isn’t he a bit like you and me ( Read more... )

“When I call you up / your line’s engaged / I have had enough, / so act your age ( Read more... )

After “Drive My Car,” the album transitions nicely to the John Lennon song “Norwegian Wood.” The mellow track opens with a sitar which, even years after listening to the Beatles, the sitar still gives the song a surreal feel. Lennon opens with “I once had a girl / or, should I say / she once had me.” Some could say that was foreshadowing… However, ( Read more... )

The album opens with the McCartney’s “Drive My Car.” You’ve probably heard this song; if not on the radio, perhaps at McCartney’s Super Bowl halftime performance (he opened with it). The song, clocking in at two-and-a-half minutes flat, wasn’t available on the original U.S. release. The song begins with a great guitar riff, a catchy bass line, and ( Read more... )

Anataomy of an Album? Wazzat? Well, it’s where I take things in a different direction and focus entirely on one album, and I post a different track from it each day. I might do all the tracks on the album, but I’ll often end up just doing around 7. Most of the albums will be considered classics, but I’ll also do very good albums released recently. ( Read more... )

This’ll be the last post until Sunday, as I’ll be in Texas all weekend to see Against Me!, The Epoxies, Smoke or Fire, and the Soviettes in the Fat Wrecks Chord Tour. In order to celebrate, I’m going ahead and upload a song from Against Me!’s Searching for a Former Clarity ( Read more... )

Keeping in line with my quirky pop songs, and celebrating the release of the critically scourged Rehearsing My Choir, I’m going with a song off of Fiery Furnaces’ 2005 ironically titled EP. Ironically, because the damned thing is 41 minutes long. Of course, picking the song is the hard part, and everytime I chose one song I immediately want to ( Read more... )