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Song of the Day #9: ‘Yes U Can’ – Jewel

What, exactly, is a guilty pleasure?

Is it something you genuinely think is good even though it’s not considered “cool” to like it? If that’s the case, John Mayer and Counting Crows are guilty pleasures. But I don’t look at those acts that way — not at all.

Is it something you liked once upon a time and now you’re a little embarassed to admit you liked it, but not embarassed enough to get rid of it? That makes a little more sense to me, although I did a major CD purge a few years back and probably cleared out any candidates for that category.

So looking at my current collection, I’d define a guilty pleasure as something even I don’t really think is any good but somehow I enjoy listening to it anyway. And I have just the CD in mind.

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Song of the Day #8: ‘Things Behind the Sun’ – Nick Drake

Like every good yuppie, I rushed out and bought Nick Drake’s Pink Moon album after loving the title song’s use in that Volkswagen commercial. I suppose the real good yuppies rushed out and bought Volkswagens.

I was a little ashamed of not knowing who the hell Nick Drake was before he turned up in a car ad, but glad nonetheless to finally get on the bandwagon. I definitely saw the comparisons to one of my favorite artists, Elliott Smith (even before Smith completed the connection by dying early).

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Song of the Day #7: ‘The Only Living Boy in New York’ – Simon & Garfunkel

Here’s a great obscure Simon & Garfunkel song from the Bridge Over Troubled Water album.

As least it was obscure until Zach Braff put it in Garden State and every 17-28 year-old in America gobbled up the soundtrack because it made them feel as languorously cool as the characters in that movie.

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Forgotten gems: Miami Blues

(This is the first in an occasional series on movies that never got the recognition they deserved)

1990 was a landmark year for one of my favorite genres — the crime film. Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, the Coen Brothers’ Miller’s Crossing, Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita and Stephen Frears’ The Grifters all hit screens that year to massive critical acclaim.

But lost in the pack was George Armitage’s stylish, funny and violent Miami Blues, an adaptation of Charles Willeford’s novel and one of the very best films of the 90s.

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Song of the Day #6: ‘Hold On, Hold On’ – Neko Case

I have many reasons to love Neko Case’s 2006 album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood: her amazing, husky vocals; her stellar songwriting; the production that hits a perfect balance between earnest country and gothic romance.

But Reason #1 is that it’s my 6-year-old daughter’s favorite CD. When we’re in my car, Sophia likes to rifle through my CD case and pick an album for us to listen to during the ride. Months ago she was immediately drawn to the Fox Confessor Brings the Flood disc because, well, it has a cartoon fox on it. Two songs in, she was hooked.

From then on, she didn’t need to look at the CD case. When we got in the car, she’d say “Can we listen to the fox CD?” And I’d happily oblige. We’re not talking about Barney here… this is as rich and gorgeous an album as I’ve heard in years, filled with beautiful sad songs about heartbreak and loneliness. I have to say, my kid has great taste in music.

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