Happy Valentine’s Day!
Well everyone, it’s Valentine’s Day. A day to express your love to another, primarily by purchasing them things, but also sometimes by means of sexual activity. Unfortunately, I do not have a valentine this year, but I refuse to be a hater. At any rate, I’ve selected a few tracks I think are good love songs…
…or songs of love lost if you consider this first one. Iron & Wine’s older material, namely The Creek Drank The Cradle and Our Endless Days Are Numbered, is breathtaking. Often, it’s no more than Sam Beam and his guitar, but the songs are filled with such brilliance that I found his later release, which featured a full band, to be less appealing. What I find most striking is Beam’s lyrics, which are intensely poetic and rife with imagery. His debut album, The Creek Drank The Cradle has been compared to everyone from Simon & Garfunkle and Elliot Smith, I can see why. Birds Stealing Bread is at its core, a sad song when you listen to the lyrics, but his vocal and melodic harmonies act to warm the heart, which is why on two separate occasions, I’ve played this song for girls who commented on how happy they thought the song sounds having never heard it before. Whatever the case, this is a good one for waking up in the arms of a loved one, and even better for when that love is lost.
This next track will lift your spirits, especially on this Valentine’s Day if you just met someone and you think you’re falling for them. It’s an oldie that I originally came across on my favorite blog back in October, I had just met a girl that I really liked (too much, as it would turn out). Admittedly, I had never given Joni Mitchell a chance, which was a mistake, especially when I heard this song. It’s got this great guitar riff and flute complimenting her vocals, sounding like falling flower petals or reflections of the sun on a lake. And her vocals are giddy and infauated, alternating between her feelings of excitement and nervousness over both her and her lover’s past escapades. Lots emotion in this track. **Unfortunately, once again I’m dealing with a cut-off mp3 (damn you iTunes and your .m4p files that dont work anywhere else!)
I have always thought this next track was a romantic one, call me crazy. The title can be misleading, Fuck This…I’m Leaving is from American Analogue Set’s landmark 2005 release Set Free on Arts & Crafts (the label for indie rock). I think this song sounds like a first kiss, or doing something so ridiculously romantic that it’s lke something out of a movie…something in the pouring rain. While it is still February and most of us on the northern hemisphere have snow instead of rain right now, you can recreate the scene in the shower together or something. The lyrics beckon girls to “do what good girls don’t do good / do what your Dad don’t say you should” so girls, take this as your cue to really make your Valentine feel special…you know what I’m talkin about.
Here’s a pick from a release I was involved with– I did the album artwork. The entire album is incredible to say the least, I love concept albums that have a legitimate concept. I encourage you to pick up this unique release, it’s a collaboration between two of Moodgadget’s best ambient/idm artists, Shigeto and A Setting Sun. Anyone who has been following A Setting Sun has picked up on consistent themes of love, the natural urge of procreation, and of course, setting suns. I found it interesting to hear how Shigeto (aka Frank Omura) incorporated this into his music, the two worked collaboratively on it, passing it back and forth until it was finished. The album art I did uses a few photos I took when MGT was on tour in October, with easy, sunny colors and a classic, jazz record-influenced type layout (the title made me think of this). Moodgadget co-founder Jakub Alexander later sent out an email noting how inadvertently similar the color scheme was to the previously blogged compilation Expanse At Low Levels.
Iron & Wine – Birds Stealing Bread
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Joni Mitchell – Help Me**
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American Analogue Set – Fuck This…I’m Leaving
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A Setting Sun & Shigeto – Polaroid Romance
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Also, since it’s Valentine’s Day and I know you guys want more, check out the following:
A Setting Sun released part 2 of his 4-installment ambient mix “Men And Women” series. This one is called Men And Women Have Love To Give, and there’s a full explanation of the title here at Jay’s blog. I also did the album art for these mixes, each with a different color to match his varying themes, which explore his signature motifs of love and the emotional dynamics between girls and guys.
Download: Men And Women Have Love To Give
Album Art: Full Size
Also, for those of you who still find 90’s house to be appealing (guilty as charged), Ghostly’s Mike Servito is on the 1’s & 2’s for their 19th Podcast. I don’t care about any connotations associated with Chrystal Waters or Robin S when I hear what Servito did to these tunes. They still sound fresh to me, even since I was 10 years old living in Roxborough and dancing around to it on Q-102…for some reason I keep thinking of watching Fox Kids on Saturday morning when I hear this stuff. At any rate, it’s a driving 4-on-the-floor romp for over an hour, bringing back some of your favorite tunes from that classic, super-cheesy bygone era where house sort of completed its transition to the massive umbrella of subgenres we hear today.
Podcast link (iTunes): Here
On Ghostly International (scroll down, it’s on the left): Here
Posted in Album Artwork and Moodgadget and Music Posted by Alex on Feb 14 2009 01:22 pm
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