5 CDs - July 11th.

OK, so here it is, my first shot at compiling a weekly list of my five favorite CDs of the moment. The rules are the same as with the previous entries. 5 CDs, 3 songs each, trying to convince you that you NEED these disks.

There is only one disk here that was on my previous installation, Ben Kweller's On My Way. I decided to include 3 different tracks from the CD this time just to keep things fresh.

Podcast: 5 CDs You Need to Buy – July 11, 2005
Format: mp3
Size: 49.3 MB
(To listen to this podcast, right-click the link above and save it to your computer.)

Disk 1. The Futureheads - The Futureheads
I posted about this disk last week. I was encouraged to buy it by an amazing description on Amazon.com. Link to post. The disk came, and it didn't disappoint. I don't know how to describe it without stealing from that excellent AMZN description, so forgive me, but here I go. It is like XTC meets the Clash, circa 1982. It is loud, unpredictable, sometimes bad, and often amazing. I've included three tracks here that highlight why I think this band has a brilliant future.

Track 1. Hounds of Love. First, I have to say this. Any band that has the audacity to cover Kate Bush Hounds of Love, much less a band of English punks, has my immediate respect. These guys take the original song and turn it into a high energy frollick with bizarre harmonic vocal parts, buzzing guitars, and quick-stop freneticism. More than any other track, this song highlights where this band can go. It also highlights what is mostly wrong with the band. Their own songs are not this good. But, with the right songs, their treatments, energy and creativity are inspiring and humbling. Futureheads, you rock.
Track 2. Danger of the Water. This track is far from typical for the Futureheads. It is a slow ballad/dirge/gregorian chant, with no guitars or drums. But it is nothing less than arresting. I can't stop listening to it. It has a quiet urgency that can't be ignored. This song also shows off what I like most about their other songs, namely that they use vocals in a creative way. Vocals are instruments and they use them very imaginatively on this album.
Track 3. Carnival Kids. This track is very typical for this album: high energy English punk with pop overtones and lots of creative vocals. I especially love the way that the song breaks down at the end and turns into a toe-tapping masterpiece. I love this song! This is the future of music. This is the futureheads.

Disk 2. Magnetic Fields - I
I was first introduced to Magnetic Fields with their last release, 69 Love Songs, which was a major investment in time and money. I normally hate double albums. And triple albums? Forget it. But I had the pleasure of getting to know Magnetic Fields with having to buy the album(s), and only listening to them one at a time... as it should be. I, the follow-up to 69 Love Songs, is another concept album, although somewhat less grand in scale. This album contains 14 songs, all beginning with the letter I, all about Love. I guess once you starting writing songs about love it is hard to stop. I can't recommend this album highly enough. It is filled with short masterpieces -- all but 5 of them clock in under 3 minutes. They are short endearing, mostly acoustic, late night, literary ramblings about love and relationships. If you haven't heard Magnetic Fields before, prepare yourself. They are like nothing you've ever heard. What can I say about them? I don't know where to begin, so I will create a list. Their songs sound like they are from a play... not destined for radio. They use acoustic bass. The singer's voice is a deep baritone, yet he is one of the most vulnerable singer's I've ever heard and he is unmistakably gay. Magnetic Fields is a unique experience and if you aren't listening to it you should be.

Track 1. I Don't Really Love You Anymore. Just 2 minutes and 33 seconds of fun, light-hearted break up music. "It's true, that for you, I'd move to Equador, but I don't really love you anymore."
Track 2. I Don't Believe You. The lyrics in this song, like most Magnetic Fields songs makes me laugh out loud. How many songs do you know that use the word "ampersand" in them? And the first line of the song is an immediate hook for me: "So you say you quote love unquote me."
Track 3. I Die. The quiet beauty of this song leaves me speechless. I find myself waiting on tenterhooks for the stringed instrument (what is that thing... so beautiful) to answer the melody with a 1 second delay. Pristine.

Disk 3. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.
This is an amazing concept album by perennial underground favorites, The Flaming Lips. The album is set in a post-apocalyptic future overrun by robots, ala Terminator, with Yoshimi, a female Japanese Marshall Arts expert as our savior. Bizarre? Yes. But don't let that stop you. This album is an amazing accomplishment and will reward all those who give it their full attention.

Track 1. Fight Test. This is the first track on the album and it is a great opener. It has a sweet sound and introduces the listener to the bleeps and blips that cover the whole album. This song is about… well, I’m not sure what it is about. I’m guessing here… they are hiring an army to fight the robots and they have fight tests, but this guy is an artist and not willing to fight.
Track 2. One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21. I grabbed the first three tracks from this album, all in a row, and shared them here so that you didn’t lose the continuity of the album. This track is about a robot companion, unit 3000-21, that begins to feel emotion when it is comforting its owner. There is a lot to love about this song. The bassline is pretty cool and almost mechanical, overrun by creepy keyboards and singer Wayne Coyne’s squeaky vocals.
Track 3. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1. In this song, our heroine, Yoshimi takes on the pink robots… “cause you know that it’s demanding to defeat those evil machines.” “You won’t let those robots eat me.” This song, in addition to being beautiful, is extremely hilarious and catchy. You’ll find yourself humming it all day. “She’s gotta be strong to fight them so she’s taking lots of vitamins. ‘Cause you know it’d be tragic if those evil-natured robots win.” I always love a song that can be many things and this is a perfect example. It is sweet and poignant and hilarious at the same time.

Disk 4. Ben Kweller – On My Way.
I already wrote about this disk in my last 5CDs collection, so I won’t add too much more except to say that these tracks highlight another side to the CD – a softer side.

Track 1. My Apartment. A song about “My apartment, the place where I go to hide from the world outside.” I’m sure a lot of us can relate to this song from our apartment days, holing up inside, and blocking out the world. Again, as before, these tracks highlight what a talented songwriter Ben is. Don’t let the garage-band production fool you. The songwriting on this CD is top notch.
Track 2. On My Way. I have no idea what this song is about. But it is beautiful. It is just Ben and his guitar strumming through some unusual and disconnected set of stories. I actually spent the last 10 minutes trying to see if I could parse the lyrics and figure out what he was talking about. Here’s what I got:
Verse 1. He’s going to murder somebody with some Karate he learned in Japan.
Verse 2. He’s going to break into somebody’s house, steal their stuff and sell it.
Verse 3. He’s spacing out at a concert.
Verse 4. He is making friends with a kids 10 years his junior who lives across the street.
Verse 5. He found a girl. He’s teaching her to sing and buying her a ring.
See what I mean? Is it just me, or is this total nonsense. And it is the title track. Oh well, I like it a lot anyway.
Track 3. Hear Me Out.
Another great track. This is a perfect example of why this album is so great. It is filled with little gems like this one. This song is a perfect quiet garage rocker, almost a ballad, and filled with sweet verses and rollicking choruses. Perfect.

Disk 5. Beck – Guero.
I’ve purchased a lot of Beck CDs over the years and I have found them to be simultaneously impressive and annoying. This CD, Guero, is by far the most listenable CD he has ever produced. You don’t have to skip past every other track (as on Odelay) and you won’t fall asleep (as on Sea Change.) It is filled with track after track of just good, fun and toe-tapping songs with goofy lyrics and mind-bending U-Turns.

Track 1. Qué Onda Guero. As I mentioned earlier this week this song is the new theme song for my convertible. It is a perfect soundtrack for crusing down the street in an old convertible, enjoying life, digging the scene.
Track 2. Girl. Like most good Beck songs, this one is full of surprises. It starts with a super catchy melody line that sounds like it is played by the Mario Bros. Then track morphs into a serious sounding groove, followed by a sunny chorus. I love it when a song can take you places, and this song certainly does that.
Track 3. Go It Alone. Y’know how some songs evoke imagery, not through lyrics, but just by their sound? This song is like that. It has a cinematic quality, like it is the soundtrack to a movie. Great groove.

So, what are your 5 CDs right now? Let me know.