You Can't Put Your Arms Around An Mp3

The American Analog Set "Magnificent Seventies"

In my interview with Andrew Kenny of The Wooden Birds, I stated how his band The American Analog Set was one of my favorite groups. I loved their mellow groove; their sound wasn't too stoned or too hippie for my taste; their music felt like a slowed-down Stereolab, and they made some great sounds.

One of my favorite releases of theirs was a single, "Magnificent Seventies," which was released before what many consider their masterpiece, 1998's The Golden Band. Let's take a moment to listen, shall we?

Listen To: "Magnificent Seventies"

Isn't that nice? Yeah, I think so, too. It's like a cool drink on a warm day, a warm drink on a cold day, and a walk through the woods on a lovely fall Friday afternoon. I fell in love with this song from the moment I heard it--playing that vinyl over and over and over again. You can do the same thing right now, enjoy!

Electronic "Disappointed"

When New Order went on hiatus in the late 1980s, new bands formed. Peter Hook formed Revenge, Bernard Sumner formed Electronic, and Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris formed, ahem, The Other Two. Electronic was perhaps the truest to New Order's sound, and their debut album, released in 1990, proved satisfying to those longing for New Order or disappointed in Revenge. Sumner formed the band with Johnny Marr, and did something smart: enlisted Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant to sing both backup (as heard on "Getting Away with It") and as lead vocalist ("Patience of a Saint" and on "Disappointed"). I'm fond of "Disappointed" because it sounds like both vintage Pet Shop Boys and New Order. Okay, more like PSB, but that's a moot point. The duo would make a few more records, but none quite as satisfying and as refreshing as the first album. Still, it's an underrated classic; "Disappointed" was a single release, but was featured on the eclectic Cool World soundtrack.

Listen To: "Disappointed (7" Single Mix)"

Built to Spill "Randy Described Eternity"

I>Perfect From Now On, Built to Spill's major-label debut, is the band's masterpiece. Doug Martsch had already released one masterpiece, the excellent, essential There's Nothing Wrong With Love--an album that blended pop songwriting with the big rock stylings found on Ultimate Alternative Wavers. But Perfect didn't really contain such pop nuggets; instead, the album was thick, heavy, and a bit more cumbersome than previous releases, but that doesn't mean it was bad. If anything, the eight songs (totalling up to nearly an hour, with only one song under the five minute mark) are grand epic rockers. It demands your full attention, but when you give it, woo-boy, it'll reward you. "Randy Describes Eternity" kicks things off, and it's instantly addictive, featuring both some great guitar work and some wonderful singing. His howl fits wonderfully over the swirly psychedelic blues-rock behind him; it's sweet like sugar and thick like molasses. At the time, I thought, "If this is what post-grunge sounds like, bring it on!"

Listen To: "Randy Describes Eternity"