Songs I Wish I Owned Friday Random Ten

These are some songs that I've heard from various sources and wish I actually owned them. Most of them I've heard via the Comcast Rhapsody player, so I can play selected songs 25 times a month. I hear them at first listening to the various "radio" stations, like Downtempo, Ambient and Indie Rock. Too cheap to spring for the "Premier" version, where I could play them as much as I wanted. Hopefully, I'll get around to buying the CD they are on, if at all possible!

Still getting used to my new MP3 player. I have to find some tool that will shrink my 256kb MP3s down to something like a 128 or even smaller, as I think the quality is lost via my $10 headphones anyway, and I could get a few more songs on it. I'm still awaiting my 512mb SD card for it. I picked one up from CompUSA for US$9.99, but it wasn't in stock, so I got a raincheck. Here it is, about two weeks later, and still no word. Sigh...

• Winterpills - "Laughing" (Winterpills [2005]) : A song I've been listening to over and over, via the Utne Media Player, and it's really great. UMP is a multimedia presentation from Utne magazine, which is an "alternative" magazine that I like quite a bit, and they review lots of offbeat bands and this offers a sampler of the songs from the reviews. Winterpills plays a sort of jangly folk rock (think Innocence Mission or Nick Drake) and hail from Northampton MA, so now here's another quasi-local group I'll have to keep an eye out for. This song has some great guitar rhythms.
• Hurdy Gurdy - "Tok Jons" (Prototyp [2005]) : Another UMP song, this one is pretty wild. It is a Swedish duo who are playing nothing but hurdy gurdy machines! You know, those cranked fiddles, often pictured with dancing monkeys. Too weird, but this song is really neat. Sounds vaguely like an electronica score or something, with a touch of bagpipes.
• The National - "Karen" (Alligator [2006]) : Nice, relentless drums and base guitar song, with some startingly explicit lyrics:

  Karen, I'm not taking sides
  I don't think I'll ever do that again
  I'll end up winning and I won't know why
  I'm really trying to shine here, I'm really trying
  You're changing clothes and closing windows on me all the time
  
  Well, whatever you do
  Listen, you better wait for me
  No, I wouldn't go out alone into America
  Whatever you do
  Listen, you better wait for me
  No, I wouldn't go out alone

• Uncle Kracker - "Drift Away" (No Stranger To Shame [2002]) : Uncle Kracker does a bang up job with one of my all time favorite pop songs. And yes, Dobie Gray does pitch in and help out.
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Shuffle Your Feet" (Howl [2005]) : stompin' sing along song here. One music site compared them to Winterpills, so I guess I'm not surprised I like this song.
• Beck - "Nobody's Fault But My Own" (Mutations [1998]) : Never really was much of a indie rock idol Beck fan, but this song is pretty good. Nice sitar work, and I love the chorus.
• Tegan and Sara - "Speak Slow" (So Jealous [2004]) : A very cute punk folk(!) Canadian sister duo, with high, almost squeaky voices. This song really rocks.
• Tindersticks - "My Sister" (Tindersticks (2nd) [1995]) : Interesting, quiet, spoken word "song", sort of like Leonard Cohen, with a little bit more music. An 8+ minute story.
• Mazzy Star - "I've Been Let Down" (Among My Swan [1996]) : Sort of country/folk song, very nice guitar strumming and the female lead singer has a wonderful voice.
• Air - "Alone in Kyoto" (Talkie Walkie [2004]) : I really enjoy Air, a French duo. Not danceable electronica, exactly, but ethereal synths combined with female vocals made for a pretty good debut CD, Moon Safari, which I have. This song is from their latest album and continues the electronica/trance/ambient pop music. It was originally a piece used in the movie Lost In Translation.

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