Saturday, February 27, 2010

Contenders Series #9: Yeasayer - "O.N.E."

(see also:  Jenny's Coachella Preview, Day One)

Download:  Yeasayer - O.N.E.

First, the song:

I have a theory.  I think the very best songs happen when a genuinely weird band tones down the weirdness just a little bit.  Like all good half-baked theories, I have precious few examples of this.  "Here Comes Your Man" by The Pixies is my go-to touchstone.  Last year's nominee in this field was "Stillness is the Move" by Dirty Projectors.

Yeasayer's Odd Blood came out this January to mixed reviews, and most of the negative ones pointed to the fact that it wasn't quite as weird as their 2007 debut.  And that's all I needed to hear.  "O.N.E." is a straightforward pop song made my a weird, weird band.  And, as such, it's perfect.

I spend a lot of time on this blog looking forward to upcoming albums, and there are a lot of great ones on the horizon.  The new Drive By Truckers leaked yesterday, the new Ellie Goulding the day before.  Broken Social Scene, New Pornographers, Hold Steady ... all on the horizon.  But it's worth noting that, for the first two months of this year, Odd Blood and "O.N.E." were the early leaders for my personal album and song of the year.  They're not anymore (replaced by Ellie Goulding's Lights and probably Broken Social Scene's "World Sick," respectively), and I didn't think they'd be able to hang on, but hey ... it was fun for awhile.

Official Site
Hype Machine
Buy Odd Blood

Second, Coachella:

I went last year and had a great time.  I'm not going this year, but that doesn't mean I can't live vicariously through those who are.  Jenny is going all three days, and she asked me for a preview mix of Coachella artists.  Here's part one - an introduction to the bands I would see on Friday, ranked roughly in order of how excited I would be to see them, one song per artist.  Friday is (by far!) the best day of the three

(1) Yeasayer - "O.N.E."
(2) Hockey - "Song Away"
(3) LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
(4) Sleigh Bells - "Ring Ring"
(5) Ra Ra Riot - "Ghost Under Rocks"
(6) Fever Ray - "Dry and Dusty"
(7) La Roux - "Bulletproof"
(8) Vampire Weekend - "M79"
(9) Jay-Z - "Heart of the City"
(10) Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"
(11) Imogen Heap - "Hide and Seek"
(12) Street Sweeper Social Club - "Clap for the Killers"
(13) The Whitest Boy Alive - "Golden Cage"
(14) She & Him - "When I Get to the Border"
(15) The Avett Brothers - "I and Love and You"
(16) Gil Scott-Heron - "Whitey on the Moon"
(17) The Specials - "A Message to You Rudy"
(18) Passion Pit - "Moth's Wings"
(19) Deer Tick - "Easy"
(20) The Cribs - "You Were Always the One"
(21) Them Crooked Vultures - "New Fang"

Wow ... now I really wanna go.  There's a lot going on, musically, in SF that weekend, but still ... I'm going to be sitting there at Bottom of the Hill, watching jj, yelling "WHY AREN'T YOU 20 MORE AWESOME BANDS?!?"

No comments:

Post a Comment