Listening Assignments 10.29.07

1. The Helio Sequence - Harmonica Song - For a long time, I thought this album cover was something like two lungs made of different sized dots. But it's way cooler than that, as you can see here. Two. Dudes. This song totally rocked live, it's hard to believe two guys could bring it like that. This sounds like a really good indie rock band being accompanied by someone playing Nintendo. [from Love and Distance|buy]

2. Run Dan Run - The Turnover - This was rolling in the background while I did some online reading the other day and it was good enough that I had to switch over to iTunes to figure out what was playing. It's an homage, more than anything, and perhaps not intentionally. The voice sounds too breathy to be natural, the structure too old-school Deathcab to be original, but two really great changes occur in here. 2:40 is an awesome and unexpected downshift, which builds into a nice tribute to Stars. Then 3:57 comes around and and drives a perfectly fitting pair of horns onward to the ending. That was satisfying. [from Basic Mechanics|buy]

3. All-Time Quarterback - Rules Broken - While I'm sure it's been done plenty of times before and since, it always makes me smile when I hear Ben Gibbard leave the metronome out front and center on this track. The song is solid, but the now-famous voice sells it most of all. [from All-Time Quarterback|buy]

4. Jimmy Eat World - Table for Glasses - JEW has been in a lot of places on my radar, from their immediate mega-hit "The Middle" (ugh), to the amazing two-punch outro of "Night Drive" and "23" on Futures, to their current record I just can't make up my mind about (sounds like Jimmy, but it sure doesn't feel like Jimmy to me). But the highest point, the part with the most heart, is still the opener for 1999's Clarity. Compared to this song, the new stuff just feels like caricature. [from Clarity|buy]

look at the assignments from one year ago! [click]