The Random iTunes Fairy must have read the blog this week and developed a hankering for some Fountains of Wayne.
This track is from Disc Two of the band’s 2005 collection of rarities and B-sides, Out-of-State Plates. Like most albums of its sort, this one is padded with non-essential tracks. It has a few memorable moments, such as new single ‘Maureen‘ and a deadpan cover of Britney Spears’ ‘…Baby One More Time.’
I can’t think of a better choice as my first example of a ‘Melancholy’ artist than Aimee Mann. She’s probably the first three results on a Google search of the word melancholy (that’s the 21st century version of the old picture-in-the-dictionary cliché).
Yes, she’s the saddest, loneliest woman to ever strap on a guitar, and I love every damn minute of it. Nobody captures existential malaise or Gen X ennui as well as she does and, all the better, she does it with a mordant sense of humor and an acute melodic ear.
Fountains of Wayne is the first ‘Pure Pop’ representative in my personal musical genome project. They have pretty much perfected the art of power pop, synthesizing a host of influences into a supremely pleasing package.
My daughters are particularly drawn to Fountains of Wayne’s music. It started with ‘Hey Julie’ and ‘Stacy’s Mom’ then expanded to include ‘Troubled Times,’ ‘Hackensack’ and ‘Bright Future in Sales.’ And they didn’t know at first that all of these songs were by the same group.
The next group of artists in my musical genome belong to a category I’m labeling “FOLK ROCK DERIVATIVES.”
The way I see it, most modern rock music derives either from folk, pop or the blues. I have examples of all three in the 35 artists I’m featuring during this series, but I have designated categories for only the first two.
The reason I’m calling this group of bands “FOLK ROCK DERIVATIVES” and not just folk rockers is they have all moved well past those roots into many different styles of music. But there’s no denying their earliest influences.
Up next in my personal musical genome project is Mr. Lyle Lovett, in honor of my sister, whose birthday is today. (Happy Birthday, Amy!)
Lovett falls into the ‘COUNTRY PLUS’ category. The “plus” is a designation my nerdy family has used for years to differentiate special movies and songs within certain genres from more generic examples. So Woody Allen’s movies, say, are “comedy plus” while your basic Adam Sandler vehicle is a plain old comedy.
