Best Songs of 2013 – #18
I’m still getting to know Let’s Be Still, the sophomore album by Seattle band The Head and the Heart, but I know I love its first single, ‘Shake.’
This is the most immediately accessible song on the record, but not in a bad way. Often an album’s catchy first single is the first track to fade from memory as deeper cuts earn their way into my esteem.
Best Songs of 2013 – #19
On her latest solo album, the annoyingly titled The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, Neko Case delivers another batch of her signature smoky indie blues songs.
Today’s SOTD is one of the simplest, and the one that has stuck with me the most.
Best Songs of 2013 – #20
I find about half of Haim’s debut album addictive. They have a great sound and a cool retro Fleetwood Mac vibe that serves their songs well.
The other half is repetitive to the point of annoyance, a tic they fall back on too often. Even in today’s song, which I otherwise love, the sisters repeat the chorus in the outro a few too many times.
The dozen or so albums Elvis Costello has released in the new millennium have run the gamut from work for symphony orchestras and jazz pianos to hard-edged country, alternative folk and a pop-funk collaboration with The Roots.
But the best of them may well be 2008’s Momofuku, the most conventional of the bunch.
Eschewing the high-concept themes of Costello’s other recent work, Momofuku was bashed out over a few weeks and released with little fanfare. And it’s exactly what the doctor ordered.
‘Metal Heart’ is a track from Garbage’s 2005 album Bleed Like Me, the last record they released before 2012’s comeback album, Not Your Kind of People.
Following their excellent first three records, Bleed Like Me was a bit of a disappointment. At least that’s how I remember it. I’ll be honest, I haven’t listened to it very often since its release. When I want to hear Garbage, I will almost always reach for their sophomore release, Version 2.0, one of the very best 90s albums.
Meet Me In Montauk 