Girl Talk Thursday - Music

I’ve never really considered myself a music person. I’m a movie person and I only have so much room in my brain. I can remember only so many obscure facts and details. That being said, I do have my favorite music. Who doesn’t?

Music is something that surrounds us. Culturally saturates us. It’s on TV, it’s on the radio in our cars, it’s in grocery stores and elevators. Even more so than film and television, music is a part of the daily fabric of our lives. You can go a lifetime without seeing a movie in a theater, but unless you’re deaf you will probably hear music.

Still not a music person but I do have my favorites. I have a few songs that individually remind me of things but for the most part my favorites are the artists themselves. The songs tend to depend more on what I’ve been listening to in the moment and change frequently over the course of time. I don’t have an Ultimate Playlist for my lifetime; I have smaller playlists for the season. If I were to make the Ultimate Playlist, it would certainly include songs like Hey Jude by the Beatles that will always remind me of my dad pushing me around the lake as a kid or if I’m feeling sentimental I might include I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing from Armageddon, the song my high school boyfriend and I (along with a million other teenagers) decided was ours.

I don’t have that list yet though and if I tried guessing at it here most of the choices would be arbitrary and would probably change in a month or so. I’d pick something by Led Zeppelin, maybe a Fleetwood Mac, definitely Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel. Bob Dylan, Elton John, Joni Mitchell, more Beatles, The Clash, Velvet Underground. We can go another direction with Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday. And those are just the classics. What about the more recent artists with the songs I love just as much? Or the guys from the 90’s whose music defined my adolescence? Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Bush, No Doubt, Stone Temple Pilots, Everclear, NIN, Greenday, Nirvana. And don’t get me started on what I was listening to in 8th grade when I discovered Punk and Ska. Do you see my problem here? There’s just too much.

And I say I’m not a music person…

I don’t have room in my head for it but I love it just the same. I’m going to cut myself off here and go ahead and post my current summer playlist. It starts off a bit folksy, a little indie, expressing some minor frustrations over friendship and relationship (non) issues and then moves on to a little more upbeat, dance type fun stuff. And ends with something silly that’s mostly there for a friend.

Track 1: Brownstone Alley by Freddy & Francine

Freddy & Francine are a couple of friends with their album Briar Patch recently out on iTunes. Always one to support my friends, I have to admit that I was still surprised by how much I like this album. It’s fun, upbeat and yet soulful. Great music to ride your bike to. And man can Bianca sing.

Track 2: Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa by Vampire Weekend



I love Vampire Weekend. I thought I didn’t but then I heard their album and realized I was wrong. I gave them a chance after a writer I follow added them to his favorite album list of last year. Also on that list were Death Cab’s Narrow Stairs, Robert Plant and Allison Krauss’s Raising Sand and Adele’s 19. Those are all great albums so I figured if he liked those, maybe he was right about Vampire Weekend. Yeah, he was.

Track 3: Best for Last by Adele

This is one of the ones that was just hitting home. I love Adele; I love her sound and her music.

You should know that you're just a temporary fix
This is not rooted with you it don't mean that much to me
You're just a filler in the space that happened to be free
How dare you think you'd get away with trying to play me

Track 4: Call It Off by Tegan & Sara

Tegan and Sara - Call It Off


When I first heard Tegan & Sara I thought they were kind of silly. Then my ex sent me their album, I listened to it, and it’s great. A Fleetwood Mac kind of feel to it at times. This particular song is another that fell in with my current mood toward relationship-y stuff.

Maybe I would have been something you'd be good at
Maybe you would have been something I'd be good at
But now we'll never know

Track 5: The Ice is Getting Thinner by Death Cab For Cutie

This one actually isn’t one of my favorites from Narrow Stairs. But it fits in with the rest of the mix and works for the time.

Track 6:Portions For Foxes by Rilo Kiley

I love this song. I have loved this song. I came to Rilo Kiley shortly after More Adventurous was released, Accidental Death was actually the first song I heard, but Portions For Foxes is the one that caught my attention. It came up on shuffle on my old iPod one day while I was at work after my friend had given me a few of their songs. After it finished I paused my iPod, wrote down the song so I wouldn’t forget it, and proceeded to play it another five times. And I still remember that moment years later!

It’s on this particular mix because it also goes along with my relationship mood.

There's blood in my mouth 'cause I've been biting my tongue all week
I keep on talkin' trash but I never say anything
And the talkin' leads to touchin'
and the touchin' leads to sex
and then there is no mystery left

Track 7: Candy by Paolo Nutini

Paolo Nutini - "Candy" (Official Video) HQ
Uploaded by wonderful-life1989. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

I heard of this guy from a British kid I follow on Twitter. Nice, right? He came out with his new album Sunny Side Up just a bit ago and I really enjoy it. It’s just something I’ve been listening to, goes a long a bit with the relationship theme, and is fun.

Track 8: I’m An Animal by Neko Case

Neko Case was a college discovery. One of the first female artists I really got into. I love her voice and what she sings about. A little bit country. Yeah. I’m An Animal is off of her most recent album Middle Cyclone. One of these days I’ll manage to not miss her playing in LA. She seems to play often enough.

Track 9: Zero by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

This is where the mix starts to move into the more dance-y portion. Stuff to move along with. Zero was on the radio a bit and I got the album from a friend I met during the three weeks I spent hanging out in Lake Havasu, AZ back in May. I will forever associate it with Piranha 3D. A strange little tourist town on a lake in the middle of the desert, unbelievable heat, and a little heat of another sort with a not unattractive man. If you know what I mean… May was certainly a memorable month. One of those little adventures that make life interesting. I have a feeling those memories will make me smile for a long time yet.

Track 10: Little Bit by Lykke Li

Little Bit


It’s a fun song! Um, yeah, that’s about all I’ve got to say there. Honestly I don’t have much to say about the next few other than they’re great for the summer.

Track 11: Stillness Is the Move by The Dirty Projectors



Track 12: The People Tree by N.A.S.A Feat. David Byrne

Discovered this one through Boing Boing, which I discovered around the same time. I think someone actually may have linked me to this video. Either way, I love them both. And David Byrne! Any other Talking Heads fans out there?

Track 13: Strange Overtones by David Byrne and Brian Eno

Sooo good…

Track 14: Hunter by Bjork

This one actually reminds me of working on Reno 911! Watching a Bjork video (for a different song) with the Co-Producer (and my now good friend) when we possibly should have been working. C’est la vie.

Track 15: Superman from the Scrubs Soundtrack



This one was for KT. And all of the time we’ve spent together sitting on the couch watching Comedy Central. Good times with a good roommate and a great friend.

And isn’t that what music is for? Expressing emotion and bringing people together. At least, that’s what it’s about for me.