What We're Listening To: Musical Detox Edition
Happy happy, everybody! It’s Tuesday afternoon, so once again, welcome to What We’re Listening To, TNG’s weekly rundown of the music we love. As you’ll soon see, I don’t have a submission this week. It’s a funny story actually. (And by “funny,” I of course mean, “really fucking annoying.”) You see, the first time I turned on my computer in my new apartment last week, iTunes so kindly informed me that my library had somehow been damaged and, therefore, it had taken the liberty of deleting the entire thing. I still have all the files, so it’s not as dire as it could be. However, I’ve been too lazy this week to actually get down to the business of fixing it, so I haven’t been listening to a damn thing aside from a copy of New Moon I found in a box (and I talk way too much about Elliott Smith on here as it is). I have to say though that I’m surprised by how much I enjoy the silence. It’s like musical detox. I’ve always been way more into making music than writing about it (back in the day, I was quite the prolific songwriter), so I’ve always listened to a lot of music obviously, but always for my own selfish inspirational/aspirational purposes. Spending the past year or so, writing for TNG, has changed my outlook though. I feel like I’ve been constantly listening to new things, trying to find ideas for posts or that next new band that will change your life, and while it’s definitely been fun, I didn’t realize how exhausting it would get. I miss walking up the street humming a tune I just made up like a four-year-old. You can’t really do that with earbuds in. So while I get my musical mojo back, WWLT is going to go on hiatus for a few weeks. No, I’m not leaving the site, and, yes, there will still be a Tuesday afternoon mixtape. But I want to write at least one decent three minute pop song before I critique anyone else’s.
So one last time (for the time being), let’s check out what we’ve got on the menu. Today’s specials are: Regina Spektor, Ace of Base, Major Lazer, Mandy Moore, Phoenix and the new Green Day. All that, plus the beloved mixtape, awaits you down below. Do it to it, y’all!
Regina Spektor—Far 
Regina Spektor’s newest album came out last week and it’s delightful. For an artist with four albums and a recording career of nearly ten years, Spektor has been a bit under the radar. I feel that this album may bring her more spotlight. While I think the single “Laughing With” is a bit boring, the other tracks more than make up for it. No one writes lyrics as colorful, vivid or quirky and her piano playing has never been better. Moreover, she’s a delightful human being with an energy and positive outlook that beams through in her music. Even when expressing sadness, she isn’t hopeless, and when she’s having fun, she’s a real hoot. Listen to “Folding Chair.” She makes noises like a dolphin. – Chris
Ace of Base—Platinum and Gold Collection
As I mentioned in a Weekend Preview a couple of weeks ago, I’ve recently, through a random series of events, had my somewhat dormant Ace of Base love rekindled in a big way. The first event was a visit from my older sister, the one who used to make me memorize Ace of Base songs to sing for her friends when I was little, forever making the Swedish pop group one of my karaoke standbys (this is also the reason I know every word to a Taco Bell jingle from the early 1990s, but that’s another story). Shortly after this reminiscing, while looking for different work out music, I stumbled upon a copy of the group’s Platinum and Gold Collection with all of their greatest hits that my best friend had burned for me in college. It’s been on a heavy rotation in my apartment ever since (although, I would not recommend using the tracks as an alarm in the morning, as I’ve found that being awoken at 6am by “Wheel of Fortune” can be incredibly disorienting). – Jolly
Major Lazer—Guns Don’t Kill People, Lazers Do
I’m losing my indie cred by the day, but who the hell is Diplo? And what is his relationship with Switch? Why does everybody love them so much? Whoever these two people are (I hear they had a hand in producing MIA’s Paper Planes) have put together another goddamn CD of rather anonymous sounding dancehall beats and high profile vocalists. NASA just did this and I didn’t like it then either. (And they had help from David Byrne.) Major Lazer himself is a cartoon character with no arms. And even though he’s enlisted some great collaborators like Santigold and Nina Skye, it doesn’t change two facts: 1) I really have no interest in listenign to it again and 2) I am so going to be in the minority because of that. – Zack
Mandy Moore—Amanda Leigh
Change can be a good or a bad thing. It’s been happening to me at such a rapid rate that I don’t have time to decide whether or not its good or bad. Noticing my hectic life lately, my old college roommate recommended Mandy Moore’s new album “Amanda Leigh”. After we bonded over her last album of folk and pop, I knew I had to give it a listen again. I found it to be an instant classic and fell in love with each song. The first single “I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week” is a catchy uplifting song of controling the direction of relationship. Some of my personal favs include the wise and thoughtful “Pocket Philosopher”, the wishful “Love to Love Me Back”, and the reflective “Nothing Everything”. While giving this alubm several listens I learned that whether or not change is good or bad is irrelevant. Change will happen either way so we might as well give it a chance and like this album, I’m happy I did. – Adam
Phoenix—Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
It’s early Monday morning here, and I’m a groggy mess. I want nothing to crawl back into bed and sleep until Tuesday. The hot shower does little to nudge me from my slumber. The iced espresso stirs my bowels but leaves my head foggy. I step out the door slipping in my headphones and queue up the first track of the new Phoenix album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: Lisztomania. Suddenly, there’s a spring in my step. I notice it’s a beautiful day outside, with cool breezes and warm sun. I just might make it through to tomorrow. – Michael
Green Day—21st Century Breakdown
Like any tragic love story, Green Day’s newest album can take a little time catch on, but it won’t take long to become mesmerized by the band’s second rock opera following 2004′s American Idiot. Queer frontman Billie Joe Armstrong leads the way through the story of Christian and Gloria, two teens in the class of 2013 who harbor all that is fucked up about the current century. There are traces on here of their garage band side project, the rock-and-rolling Foxboro Hot Tubs, on tracks like my fave “Horseshoes and Handgrenades”; there’s also plenty of the same sharp social commentary that made Idiot genius. The album is definitely worth at least a few listens, and try to snag a copy with the bonus track remake of Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” – a great nod to the best writer in the biz. – Corey
And without any further ado… THE MIXTAPE!
In an effort to cure my musical writer’s block, this week’s bonus songs are all by artists who made me want to become a songwriter in the first place. (I always say that if I could write a song half as good as Fiona Apple’s worst than I could die a happy man.) Now this may not be the coolest or most “alternative” list, but these are the folks who inspire me, and even if you’re not into all of it (I realize that for some people it’s just too late to get into the Dixie Chicks, for instance), there a few undeniable classics on there that I hope you’ll enjoy. Plus, there’s one song that I didn’t know existed before like last week, and wanted to share, because I think it’s really beautiful and, musically, kind of the direction I want to head in. Colin Blunstone. Must find out more info! Anyways, check the lucky 13 songs down below!
WWLT – 7/7/09
Beach Boys – “God Only Knows”
Phoenix – “Lizstomania” (Michael)
Green Day – “Horseshoes and Handgrenades” (Corey)
Ace of Base – “Don’t Turn Around” (Jolly)
Regina Spektor – “Folding Chair” (Chris)
Thom Yorke – “The Eraser”
Stevie Wonder – “My Cherie Amour”
Mandy Moore – “I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week” (Adam)
Dixie Chicks – “Baby Hold On”
Colin Blunstone – “I Don’t Believe in Miracles”
Bill Withers – “Grandma’s Hands”
Fiona Apple – “Never is a Promise”
Jenny Lewis – “Paradise”
And that’s that for now. Thanks so much for reading and listening for the past year. It’s been my pleasure! I’ll be back next Tuesday with a fresh mixtape and be sure to look out for the new column, debuting… at some point soon. Have an incredible week and lots of love! XO
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