Oh, The Drums, you had me at Jonathan Pierce climbing in through the window.
Lingering question: What's wrong with everybody's pants?
75. "Wish" (Nine Inch Nails)
As I mentioned in a previous '100 Songs I Love' post, I am not above wallowing in the sadness of a shattered relationship with the assistance of a depressing song. But what happens when the sadness turns to anger and the tears turn to fists? Nine Inch Nails happens, of course. Specifically "Wish," a song fueled by pure, unadulterated rage. The simple chorus--"wish there was something real, wish there was something true/wish there was something real in this world full of you"--can be embraced by jilted lovers and God-hating goth kids alike. "Wish" is one of the purest distillations of unfettered anger ever committed to tape and suitable for just about any situation. Good show, Mr. Reznor.
Lingering question: What's wrong with Trent Reznor's pants?
76. "Shiny" (The Decemberists)
Let's shift gears drastically, shall we? I love The Decemberists (the band, not the uprising), and this song, from the '5 Songs' EP, is one of my very favorites. You'll notice in the following clip that lead singer Colin Meloy does not need a cage to protect himself from shirtless, rage-crazed fans. That must be nice.
Gettin' older: I attended a Decemberists concert a few years ago with some friends, even though I felt horribly ill and had for several days leading up to the show. (Fun Fact: The following night, I drove myself to the emergency room believing that I might possibly be having what medical professionals call a 'heart attack') I wasn't going to let chest pains and difficulty breathing keep me from a Decemberists show. Hell no! Being quite familiar with their oeuvre, I was certain the audience wouldn't be required to 'stand' or 'dance around,' as we were in a classy establishment with assigned seating and cushioned chairs. "I'll just sit here in incredible amounts of pain and enjoy my favorite songs," I incorrectly thought. The first thing out of Meloy's mouth when he takes the stage: "Everybody get out of your seats!" "Where are we," I thought, "a Poison reunion show" So, you know, old guys and sickies, don't think you're gonna get out of standing up at a Decemberist show just cuz they play nerdy, mostly quiet, pretentious music in classy, upscale theaters. (Belle and Sebastian, however, will permit you to stay seated for the duration of their concerts.)
77. The part in "Set It Off" where Jay-Z's "Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)..." gets mashed up with Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" (Girl Talk)
Exact location: 0:21-1:21
Listen, if you want to think of Girl Talk as the Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer of music, you're entitled to your opinion, but you'd only be half right. Sure, part of the "fun" of Gregg Michael Gillis' mash-ups is recognizing songs you love (and sometimes hate) and saying to yourself, "Oh, hey, I recognize that! Yea me!" To be honest though, that can get old after, um, the first listen. What never stops being fun, or better said, amazing, is realizing how seamless and endlessly creative his Frankensteinian combinations can be. Quite frankly, I'd like to hear an entire album of Jay-Z mashed-up with Radiohead. It worked with The Beatles, right?
78. "Autumn Sweater" (Yo La Tengo)
One thing I like about Girl Talk's stuff is how he uses songs you aren't expecting, oftentimes combining them with the most shallow, empty-headed hip hop songs currently cluttering up America's radio dial with mind-blowing results. Sampling a Radiohead song on his album Feed the Animals wasn't that surprising to me, nor was the Aphex Twin sample in "Shut the Club Down," but on track seven, "Like This," Gillis samples one of my favorite tunes of all time, one that I would've never expected to hear surrounded by the likes of Pras, Mya, and Ol' Dirty Bastard: "Autumn Sweater" by Yo La Tengo. Here's "Autumn Sweater" all by itself for your listening pleasure. It's simple, quiet, and I bet Yo La Tengo would let you sit down while they played it.
