Tune-Yards - "When You Tell the Lions That You Love Them So"

In the last few episodes of Sopranos, there was a bunch of appearances of Yeats' "The Second Coming" mostly from the state-of-the-world-obsessed AJ, who suddenly became an amazing character at the last minute, btw. This song reminds me of the feeling I get when I read that poem. Probably started by the lion imagery, it keeps on by the "slow thighs" the "gaze blank and pitiless as the sun", and, of course, the slouching. The beat is so dangerous, so black-eyed, and the vocals do not shy away. They start lilting, feathery, but quickly turns steely, armoured, awesomely powerful. Eventually they sweep right up into the sky like a great wind or something, and you're reminded of the constant presence of the possibility that you could, given the right circumstances, go completely mad. [MySpace]

Wet Nose Hero - "Roberto the Animator"

Here's where the title of today's post is more literally relevant. On any day, these two songs would be stars in their own right, but today they're put together, so one has to come first and one has to come second. But Wet Nose Hero can stand the test, she stands singing and strumming on cracked and cracking ice, warm toque and wool mitts in early March, the music being the only thing the air can carry, weak from a long winter. Here too, her vocals are brilliant, and they draw an ornate frame around the song, with grace, telling you where to look. When you go away, will you come back? [MySpace]