My Favorite Songs Have Notes That Are Wrong

Electrelane “Windmill” – I’ve been playing this on repeat several times over the past few days – somehow it sounds better that way. This is taken from the forthcoming The Power Out, which I think is in general an improvement over the band’s entirely instrumental first record. I’m fine with the rest of the songs from the new album, but this song…it’s just sublime, you know? Those guitar melodies and chords are so beautiful and evocative to me; it sounds like quiet, modest, simple happiness. It feels like a lot of good memories that I have in music form, if that makes sense. Every time I hear certain chord changes in the song, or when her voice gets a little higher for emphasis, I want to let out a little sigh of recognition.

The most similar song that I can think of would be “Sweet Shine” by Sonic Youth, but I’m pretty sure there’s an old Fleetwood Mac song that I don’t know the title of which is along the same lines. I love the way Verity Susman sings on this, especially when she’s reaching for those high notes just out of her range. It’s one of those times when a more technically skilled singer wouldn’t quite nail the feeling as well.

Grandaddy “Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland” – This is the first of the holiday/Christmas/winter themed songs. It’s a weird one, too – “Winter Wonderland,” but riddled with several inexplicable references to The Alan Parsons Project. My personal favorite: “In the meadow we can build a snowman / and pretend that he is Alan Parsons.”