La Bande à Benny - "Samedi Soir"

My friend David gave me this cd yesterday and this song's been on repeat. Seriously, I think my computer's broken. No, actually seriously, this song's great. It's a song about what to do, and what other people are doing, on a Saturday night. I believe they suggest reading comic books and listening to the "boys who make all the noise". They're clearly French, but their voices and tempo choices, for whatever reason, make me think they sound Japanese. That might be because there are other songs on the album like "Sexy Baby" and "Super Lady", which feel like oddly translated ideas, but I think are genuine. Daft Punk owes so much to these guys. [I'm not sure this record actually exists outside of David's house, but when he gets famous, he'll reissue it]

Calvin Johnson - "Angel Gone [Live]"

Let's take it down, and over, a few notches. Let me first say that this song is really important to me. I've had it for so long, but it's still great. It starts with 50 seconds of banter, in which he denies a few requests, saying "just listen to the record", but then gets into the broken, misstrummed, stuttering, version of a gorgeous tune that, combined with the noise of the traffic out some window or door, turns into this hypnotic elegy that just doesn't let go. This is an unmistakable voice. yeah. [His record label]

Fiery Furnaces - "Smelling Cigarettes"

Yes, cliche, I know. Let's get past that. And enjoy the constant marvel that is this band's lyrical and musical stylings. They can turn the embarrasingly ordinary (a billboard truck) into a smirking tool of cadence, and so effing cool. I get chills every time at "Is this your cat?" "Yeah, but sometimes it forgets." [Buy]

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Elsewhere: GOLDKIXX is awesome. wow, it's good.