Last Thursday, on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to land on the Moon, NASA came out with the embarrassing news that it had somehow, over the years, managed to record over America’s most important historical footage of said trip to the Moon’s surface. You know, the famous footage of Neil Armstrong’s “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” the one that all those conspiracy theorists say is faked Wag the Dog style? Yeah, that footage.

(Apparently, in the 1970s and ’80s, NASA had a shortage of tapes, so it erased about 200,000 of them and reused them, including ones documenting the historical event.)

Luckily, NASA’s news came with a Hollywood saves-the-day solution: those crafty preservationists who restored Casablanca are digitally sharpening and cleaning up grainy footage of the moon landing taken from four sources NASA scrounged from around the world. The results are said to be better than what TV viewers witnessed on July 20, 1969, and according to senior NASA engineer Dick Nafzger, “There’s nothing being created; there’s nothing being manufactured.”

In honor of NASA’s royal fuck-up, I’ve made up a playlist of songs dedicated to the moon. There are a great deal more than 10, and some are rather obvious, but headlines are better with nice round numbers … interesting how many of these songs were produced in the ’70s. I guess a mission to the moon will inspire some songs, huh?

“Marquee Moon,” Television, Marquee Moon, 1977

“Moondance,” Van Morrison, Moondance, 1970

“3rd Planet,” Modest Mouse, The Moon and Antarctica, 2000

“Tahitian Moon,” Porno for Pyros, Good God’s Urge, 1996

“Pink Moon,” Nick Drake, Pink Moon, 1971

“The Killing Moon,” Echo & the Bunnymen, Ocean Rain, 1984

“Moonshadow,” Cat Stevens, Teaser and the Firecat, 1971

“Harvest Moon,” Neil Young, Harvest Moon, 1992

“Dark Side of the Moon,” Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, 1973

“I Wish I Was the Moon,” Neko Case, Blacklisted, 2002

“Blue Moon,” Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart, 1934

“Drunk on the Moon,” Tom Waits, The Heart of Saturday Night, 1974

“Bad Moon Rising,” Creedence Clearwater Revival, Green River, 1969

“Man on the Moon,” R.E.M., Automatic for the People, 1992

“Walking on the Moon,” The Police, Reggatta de Blanc, 1979

“Standing on the Moon, ” The Grateful Dead, Built to Last, 1989

“Dancin’ In The Moonlight,” King Harvest, Dancin’ In The Moonlight, 1973

“That’s Amore,” Dean Martin, 1953

“I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon,” by Ernie, in the below version with guest Aaron Neville (originally aired in 1978)

Several days ago, while watching Marco Benevento fire up his piano on a YouTube video, I got to thinking — who are some of the best keyboardists around right now, the ones who truly bring chops to the table, either via instrumental compositions, or songwriting, or both? I’ve tried to go less obvious — no one’s questioning the skills of Gregg Allman, or Keith Emerson, or Count Basie, or Richard Wright, or George Duke, or Dr. John, or interchangeable piano men Billy Joel and Elton John, or even the wondrous Stevie Wonder. We all already know those dudes are at the top. But what about some of the less obvious, but no less great? In the vein of Ivan’s Top 5 Bass Players Ever — except that, despite the title of my post, I’m not really claiming these are the best key players ever, just my favorites — I’ve put together the following list, in no particular order, and with video.

Marco Benevento
He’s among the most talented keyboardists around right now, in my humble opinion. He’s pretty hip to current technology and usually incorporates it into his compositions. I’ve seen him play in his main band with drummer Joe Russo, the Benevento/Russo Duo, I’ve seen him perform as part of a Led Zeppelin tribute, Bustle in Your Hedgerow, I’ve seen him tear it up with Russo, Mike Gordon and Trey Anastasio during the GRAB tour, and I’ve seen him in his solo project, a trio with badass bassist Reed Mathis and drummer Matt Chamberlain. The following video Marco with his trio playing “Twin Killers” from a May 13 show in Philly.

Page McConnell
Didja really think I’d do a “Best keyboardist” list without Phish’s most dignified player? This dude knows how to texturize like few others and build a spacey odyssey of synthesized sonics, and he knows how to bring the dirty funk with his B3 technique and an ear for when and how to wield it. He has a rather nice singing voice, too. Here’s McConnell at one of the recent Hampton Coliseum reunion shows playing “Frankenstein” on keytar. That’s right, I said keytar, what of it?

Tori Amos
My first taste of feminism came from the fiery-haired songstress and she’s technically the first musician I ever saw perform live (I barely count the first, a David Bowie concert my mom dragged me to in the mid-1980s when her friend flaked, because I was too young to enjoy it). This video of “Silent All These Years” from her debut solo album, Little Earthquakes, is an old school taste of Tori, the footage from her performances on the Live at Montreaux 1991 & 1992 DVD. Favorite line from the song: “Boy you’d best pray that I bleed real soon / How’s that thought for ya?”

Ivan Neville
He usually goes unnoticed because of his more illustrious relatives — dad Aaron Neville, and uncles Cyril and Art. But Ivan can funk things up like no one’s business, especially when he’s playing with his own outfit, Dumpstaphunk. Here he is laying down the grooves on John Fogerty’s “Fortunate Son” as a rotating member of the New Orleans Social Club.

Fiona Apple
What can I say? I’m particularly fond of little Miss Apple. The soulful, smokiness of her vocal tone and clever nonconformist lyricism play well against some pretty stellar key-banging. Although she’s not the most prolific artist — she hasn’t put out a new album in four years, though she’s released all manner of tidbits via iTunes — what she does produce is always worthy of the wait. Here she is performing “Not About Love,” one of my favorites from her 2005 album, Extraordinary Machine.

John Medeski
The keyboardist for neo-jazz trio Medeski Martin and Wood is, in one word, awesome. He plays acoustic piano and a range of keys — Hammond B3, melodica, mellotron, clavinet, Wurlitzer electric piano, and moog, among others — and he’s a genious with subtlety. Here he is bringing the hotness to “End of the World Party” with MMW at a December 2005 show in Tokoyo, Japan.

Regina Spektor
As you may have already guessed, I have a soft spot for accomplished lady key player-songwriters, specifically those with gorgeous vocals and the ability to use them to deliver serious emotional impact without seeming disengenuine. The Russian-born songstress brings a little international flavor to her odes (some even sung in her native tongue), and those are some catchy odes, to boot. If you high-quality piano-driven pop music and don’t own Begin to Hope — among the best albums of 2006 — you are missing out, for sure. (For more on her upcoming fifth album, far, and the video for the first single, click here.) Here’s a 2006 TV performance of “Fidelity” from that album.

Ben Folds
No list of keyboardists would be complete without Mr. Piano Pop himself, Ben Folds. Here’s him playing “Rockin’ the Suburbs” on a 2006 episode of Carson Daly.

Robert Walter
Walter has nurtured quite the respectable solo career since the soul-jazz keyboardist came onto the scene more than 15 years ago with the Greyboy Allstars and helped pioneer a new brand of West Coast funk. Here’s a vid of him playing “Money Shot” with his solo band, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress.

Robert Walter’s 20th Congress w/Stanton Moore – ‘Money Shot’

Brian Eno
You may not think of Eno when you’re putting together your list of all-time bests keyboardists, but the dude virtually created the ambient genre of electronic music with his key and synth skills. This video features Eno brewing up some nice atmospheric textures in a collaborative performance of “Prophesy” with Indian-British musician Nitin Sawhney, as part of Eno’s 2007 “Stop The War” benefit concert.

There are plenty of people I left out, but that’s not so surprising as this is an entirely subjective list. So, who’d I miss?

This is an annual post that I do on ninebullets.net that I thought I’d crosspost over here this year.

Ana, Bill, Claudette, Danny, Erika, Fred, Grace, Henri, Ida, Joaquin, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor & Wanda.

Those are this year’s list of hurricane names. There are six lists that rotate and they do not change unless there is a hurricane that is so devastating that the name is retired, then another name replaces it. Today is the official beginning of the 2009 Hurricane Season. Unless you live on the East or Gulf Coast, Hurricane Season probably doesn’t mean shit to you until we’re knee deep in shit and CNN is into full sprint with their 24 hour coverage.

Truth is, it doesn’t mean shit to us, either, which is why when a place actually does get hit there are so many issues. Evacuate? Shit no, that bastard will turn before it hits us. I’ve actually evacuated twice, and both times the storm turned. Odds of evacuating decrease with each false alarm and chances are if we get hit I’ll be riding it out in my living room.

Anyhow, here’s to another year of panicked weathermen, price gouging, gas runs, cones of confusion and hurricane parties. Tonight the wife and I are gonna try and gather with some friends for some Hurricanes in observance of the day.

So here’s to hurricane season. May it be a quiet one. And here are some hurricane inspired songs to mark the day:

Jimmy Buffett – Trying To Reason With Hurricane Season
Ben Prestage – Hurricane Blues
The Shiners – Hurricane Blues
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon Rising
John Fogerty – Walking In A Hurricane
Seth Walker – 2′ Left To The Ceiling

And of course: Scorpions – Rock You Like A Hurricane

But wait! There’s more!

What’s the term everyone who finds themselves inside the cone of confusion gets to hear ad-nauseum? Hunker-fucking-down. Seriously, what hurricane songs post would be complete without a hunker down song?

Those Legendary Shackshakers – Hunkerdown

It’s 420. Another chance for a songlist. This one I think should be kinda special, since there’s been 420 songlists since the dawn of mankind. Or since people started making lists and smoking pot and using “420″ as code for pot-smoking. Ironic that by the time I get this thing up, it will actually be right around 4:20 p.m.

For those who are curious, the origins of the number 420 are smoke-shrouded in urban legend. I found a few things today in honor of the unofficial holiday, but my fave is the thoughtful piece by the Huffington Post on the meaning of 420. Not so surprising that the Grateful Dead were at least partially responsible for 420’s propagation into pot culture. Here’s an excerpt:

It was Christmas week in Oakland, 1990. Steven Bloom was wandering through The Lot – that timeless gathering of hippies that springs up in the parking lot before every Grateful Dead concert – when a Deadhead handed him a yellow flyer.

“We are going to meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais,” reads the message, which Bloom dug up and forwarded to the Huffington Post. Bloom, then a reporter for High Times magazine and now the publisher of CelebStoner.com and co-author of Pot Culture, had never heard of “420-ing” before.

The flyer came complete with a 420 back story: “420 started somewhere in San Rafael, California in the late ’70s. It started as the police code for Marijuana Smoking in Progress. After local heads heard of the police call, they started using the expression 420 when referring to herb – Let’s Go 420, dude!”

Bloom reported his find in the May 1991 issue of High Times, which the magazine found in its archives and provided to the Huffington Post. The story, though, was only partially right.

It had nothing to do with a police code — though the San Rafael part was dead on. Indeed, a group of five San Rafael High School friends known as the Waldos – by virtue of their chosen hang-out spot, a wall outside the school – coined the term in 1971. The Huffington Post spoke with Waldo Steve, Waldo Dave and Dave’s older brother, Patrick, and confirmed their full names and identities, which they asked to keep secret for professional reasons. (Pot is still, after all, illegal.)

Check out the rest of that here.

Now, onto the real reason for this post — music about smoking pot.

Being a connoisseur of pot … music, I can tell you there are plenty of classics — pretty much most songs by Bob Marley (his album, Kaya, is a Jamaican word for cannabis); “Smoke Two Joints” (first done by the Toyes in ‘83, then covered famously and with much radio play by openly pot-loving Sublime); Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35,” with the classic declaration of “Everybody must get stoned”; Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It” (don’t criticize it!); the ever sexy, soulful “Mary Jane,” by Rick James; “Panama Red,” by the New Riders of the Purple Sage, about the sticky icky that used to come from Latin America; Dash Rip Rock’s “(Let’s Go) Smoke Some Pot,” which I’m particularly fond of since 98ROCK played it once a week every week during the hour I listened while getting ready in the wee hours for school in the mid-90s; “One Toke Over The Line,” a Top 10 hit in ‘71 that put Brewer & Shipley on the map while landing them on Nixon’s Enemies List and getting them banned by the FCC. All these are great and known by us all to a certain degree.

I will say this before I share my list — a few days ago, after hearing Afroman’s “I Got High” for the first time in several years, I decided that, by and large, it’s a lame excuse for a pot song. More than anything, it’s representative of a small portion of pot smokers — the slackers who’d slack with or without smoking pot — and not the 90 percent of the rest of the population of regular imbibers. I’m sorry, but you can’t blame smoking pot for being a loser, and that’s just what this very song does.

Here are some of my own favorite 420 songs. Enjoy. Add your own. Play some on your way home. Or, more appropriately, while when you get home and are getting ready to hit a fatty. And in case you were wondering, I excluded Cypress Hill altogether because frankly, those guys are annoying as fuck, no matter what they rap about.

1. “Makisupa Policeman” by Phish, a classic reggae number with a different weed reference in every version. My personal favorite: “Woke up this morning. Looked at the clock…. It was 1:11. Rolled over. Kadafi, in my bed……. So I smoked a joint a with him.”

2. “I do not sniff the coke (I only smoke Sensimilla!)” by Pato Banton, his long lyrical story about being offered cocaine, and a pretty fun number I got to see when he played Skipper’s Smokehouse in February.

3. “I Got Stoned (And I Missed It),” by Shel Silverstein. A bit like the Afroman song, but more playful and innocent. Nothing about missing child support payments or running from the cops or having to sleep on the sidewalk. Geez, Afroman, you really know how to bring a person down…

4. “Don’t Bogart Me” aka “Don’t Bogart That Joint,” originally by the Fraternity of Men, appeared on the Easy Rider soundtrack, and was re-done by Little Feat and Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise. Couldn’t make a list like this without it. Could have been included in the aforementioned classics, but I like it so much, I had to snag it for a fave.

5. “Burn One Down,” by Ben Harper. Not my favorite artist in the world, but I like his peace-loving sentiment and this song is particularly good. Favorite lyrics: “My choice is what I choose to do / And if I’m causing no harm / It shouldn’t bother you / Your choice is who you choose to be / And if your causin’ no harm / Then you’re alright with me / If you dont like my fire / Then don’t come around / ‘Cause Im gonna burn one down / Yes I’m gonna burn one down.”

6. “We Don’t Stop,” by Michael Franti, more political than Harper and with a stronger activist message, an end to the drug war, and the beginning of drug pea. : “The war on pot is a war that’s failed / A war that’s building up the nation’s jails/ Bush war one and Bush war two/ They got a war for me, they got a war for you!”

7. “How to Roll a Blunt,” by Red Man. The title is self-explanatory. And so’s the song.

8. “(I’m in Love With) Mary Jane,” by Coolio (which rips off Rick James’ original love song to Ms. Mary Jane.

9. “Marijuana Boogie,” by Manu Chao. ‘Cause I like this dude, he pretty much references smokin’ weed in every song, and this one’s a real fun number

10. “Marijuana in Your Brain,” by Lords of Acid. Had to includes something industrial, right? I grew up with it (yeah, I was once a Castle regular, so what?), so I just couldn’t avoid including it.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a tongue-in-cheek marijuana propaganda video so scandalous that YouTube took it down. (It’s really not scandalous at all, but I guess if you complain to the right people…)

Marijuana is evil

It’s been raining all day, even before I woke up, making the already problematic feat of getting out of bed doubly difficult. The gray weather is making my brain cloudy and I’m having a hard time focusing on anything other than the soothing pitter-patter of drops on the Creative Loafing office’s metal roof. (If it was raining harder, it’d be near impossible for me to even think.)

Anyway, here’s a list of my top 10 personal favorite songs about rain. I know there are plenty I left out, but there are so many goddamn songs about rain. Makes a person wonder how many songs there are about the sun.

1. “Rain Song,” Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy, 1973

2. “Here Comes the Rain Again,” The Eurythmics, Touch, 1984

3. “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” Travis, The Man Who, 1999

4. “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,” written by Burt Bacharach for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969

5. “Dry the Rain,” The Beta Band, The Three EPs, 1998

6. “November Rain,” Guns n’ Roses, Use Your Illusion I, 1992

7. “Only Happy When It Rains,” Garbage, Garbage, 1995

8. “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” by Missy Elliot, Supa Dupa Fly, 1997

9. “Box of Rain,” The Grateful Dead, American Beauty, 1970

10. “Love, Reign o’er Me,” The Who, Quadrophenia, 1973

Special thanks to Amy! for inspiring this blog. In a comment on my recent Songs to save your party blog she wrote, “As a follow up to this article, I propose you consider the question, what songs are guaranteed to END the party?”

Amy!, your wish is my command. I call this my “Maxi Pad Playlist” because these songs are guaranteed to suck the moisture (and the fun) right out of any party. If it’s two in the morning and you want your asshole friends out of your living room, throw any one of these tunes on and watch the polite excuses begin:

Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond - This song sucks!

Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler - Beaches: The ultimate buzz kill.

Summer Lovin’, John Travolta and Olivia Newton John - Last night, Creative Loafing threw a party celebrating the launch of their spiffy new website. I was there drinking a Dixie Cup of wine, discussing the sad condition of the newspaper business (hence the Dixie Cups) with a very interesting guy and having a generally pleasant time. And then, this bullshit filled the air. I couldn’t say my goodnights quickly enough.  

Taxi, Harry Chapin - This song has all the ingredients to ruin your night. It’s brooding, slow-moving, tragically sad and features a musical interlude with only cello and a male singing soprano.  

Come Sail Away, Styx - Speaking of male soprano, I think it’s more effective at breaking up a party than a police raid.

This is all I’ve got off the top of my head. Surely, there are more abjectly awful songs out there than these five. Add at will!

This past Saturday I attended a friend of a friend’s 50th birthday celebration. At 25 years old, I was the youngest reveler there by a solid two decades. This generation gap evidenced itself in all of the usual and uncomfortable ways. My skuzzy Chuck Taylors and the holes in my jeans belied my immaturity while the absence of any beer to drink besides Miller Lite belied everyone else’s rapidly declining sense of taste.

Given the temporal and cultural barriers dividing me from the rest of the party, I began bracing myself (and by bracing myself I mean drinking Makers Mark on the rocks) for a pretty lame night. And then, it happened. The unmistakable drum riff that opens The Commodore’s 1977 funk classic “Brick House” filled the room. Perfunctory conversations ended, drinks were abandoned, purses were stashed away and we all simultaneously took to the dance floor. It was if someone blew a whistle tuned to a frequency we were all preprogrammed to respond to. Or, maybe more like we were all extras in a party scene in some stupid Hollywood movie and the director just said, “Action!” Either way, the vibe in the room was instantly transformed.

This experience set me to thinking that there must be other songs that possess this mysterious power to transcend barriers like age, extent of intoxication and comfort level with one’s own body and turn a really lame time into a really good one. Here’s a list of the tunes I’ve come up with so far. Feel free to add to it. I call this my “In Case of Emergency, Play This!” list:

Brick House, The Commodores - (See explanation above.) 

Kiss, Prince - Eternal and immutable sonic perfection. It also tends to elicit some pretty hilarious sing along attempts.

Just Dance, Lady Gaga - I know it has yet to stand the test of time, but I’m willing to stake my reputation (ha!) on this one on the following grounds: My 61 year old dad and I saw Lady Gaga open for The New Kids on the Block this past November. (Please don’t ask how that ended up happening.) We both really dug this tune right off the bat. 

Super Freak, Rick James - The bass hook alone possesses the power to transform even the most mundane and reserved amongst us into the titular “Super Freak.” 

I Want You Back, The Jackson 5 - K.T. Tunstall’s totally stripped down acoustic cover of this Proto King of Pop classic demonstrates it’s awesome power to make your rigid, sorry ass move.

Holiday, Madonna - Escapism via the dance floor at its finest.

Juicy, The Notorious B.I.G. - No matter how pasty and square you are, the beat and sentiment are irresistable. It’s all good. So true.

I’m Every Woman, Chaka Kahn – The ladies love it and the gentleman love to watch the ladies love it. I have to admit that this one consistently makes a reserved, brainy and generally awkward girl like me drop it like it’s freakin’ hot!

Superstition, Stevie Wonder – Another funky riff you have to be deaf or dead to ignore.

Tell It To My Heart, Taylor Dayne – I know I’m gonna get shit for this one, but don’t take my word for it. Throw it on at your next party and see what happens.

Recognizing the release (and very good reviews) of Morrissey’s new album, Years of Refusal, out today, Paste has released a list of the 10 best Smiths songs. Let’s see if we at CL agree with it:

10. “Bigmouth Strikes Again”—One of three Queen Is Dead songs on this list, “Bigmouth” features a nice anachronistic lyric about Joan of Arc and a Walkman. The song rocks fairly hard by Smiths standards; a colleague recently told me that “Morrissey actually growls on the live version off Rank,” then played me the clip. (Sure enough, he does.)

9. “Ask”—A highlight among highlights on Louder Than Bombs, in which our narrator spends “warm summer days indoors / writing frightening verse to a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg.”

8. “Rusholme Ruffians”—An underrated Meat Is Murder track, which makes our list for three reasons: Johnny Marr’s jangly guitar, Morrissey’s schoolboy angst and the hopelessly romantic lyric, “I might walk home alone / but my faith in love is still devout”

7. “Girlfriend in a Coma”—A vicious two-minute pop song that leaves you reeling.

6. “How Soon Is Now”—Thanks to Marr’s epic riff, this may be the most widely known Smiths song amongst the general public. For a band that specialized in intimacy, “How Soon” works surprisingly well as an ’80s anthem.

5. “Panic”—I’ve always wanted a radio show with this as my theme song. (Bonus points if you can watch the video without vomiting.)

4. “This Charming Man”—The single-best showcase for Marr’s guitar?

3. “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side”—That heartbreaking melody! Those pleading lyrics! The song’s mix of confidence and insecurity would seem utterly peculiar if the Smiths didn’t make it such a franchise.

2. “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”—A song that defines the Smiths’ whole ethos, musically and lyrically. Click here for the version you already know, and here for a live version with Marr’s guitar way out of tune (but Morrissey in glasses!).

1. “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”—The greatest, most quotable morbid love song in human history. Swell video, too. All together now: “And if a 10-ton truck kills the both of us / To die by your side, well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine.”

Well, this is good list — not too many vital tracks missing. I might bring in Sheila Take a Bow, Half A Person and Unlovable in place of Rusholme Ruffians, This Charming Man and Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.

What’s your top 10, Smiths fan? Let us know in the comments.

We all know the standard classic mixtape love songs – “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton,” Lionel Richie’s “Endless Love,” Stevie Wonder’s “Golden Lady,” “I Will Always Love You,” (Dolly or Whitney, you pick the version), “At Last,” by Etta James, most of the Beatles’ early catalog. But what about modern, 21st century love songs, i.e., those that came out after January 1, 2001?

Up until I started preparing this, I never really thought much about it, but surprisingly, I came up with a wealth of ideas, almost too many. The songs I thought up are not necessarily traditional ballads (though there are several), are not always romantic or saccharine or even very nice, do not always offer bold statements of devotion or everlasting ardor. But in each, the meaning is clear even if it isn’t always spelled out clearly.

“Fell in Love with a Girl,” The White Stripes, White Blood Cells (2001)
The song made stars of pasty, Detroit-based indie alt blues duo Jack and Meg White, both because it was nice and short and tasty raw, and because it has a really cool Lego video. Check it out, if you haven’t already seen it a few dozen times.

“The Purple Bottle,” Animal Collective, Feels (2005)
Not your average love song by any stretch, or even an average song – it is Animal Collective, after all. But this is the song that made me fall in love with this band and it happens to be about love:

“Can I tell you that you are the purple in me?
Can I call you just to hear you, would you care?
When I saw you put your purple finger on me
There’s a feelin’ in your bottle
Found your bottle, found your heart
Gives a feeling from your bottled little part”

“Michael,” Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand (2004)
The fourth single off Franz Ferdinand’s debut made certain male fans uncomfortable with its homoerotic lyrics (”Michael, you’re the boy with all the leather hips / sticky hair, sticky hips, stubble on my sticky hips / Michael, you’re the only one I’d ever want”) despite them being written and performed by an alleged straight man. From a 2004 New York News article: “[Lead singer] Alex Kapranos has said he’s a bit surprised that ‘Michael’ is the song people most want to ask about since it’s so straightforward. He told the story behind it to the magazine Boyz: ‘It was one night when me and the band were out with friends from Glasgow, and we went to this warehouse dance party thing called Disco X. It was a very debauched night and these two friends got it together in a very sexy way.’”

“Touch Me, I’m Going to Scream Part 1,” My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges (2008)
Never has such a dramatic demand been delivered so tenderly and sexy casual as Jim James when he sings “Touch me I’m going to scream if you don’t.”

“Fidelity,” Regina Spektor, Begin to Hope (2006)
A perfectly lovely ballad by one of today’s great songstresses. Here she is being wonderful:

“Plastis Wafers,” of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping (2008)
So many of Montreal/Kevin Barnes songs are about the ups and downs of love. This one’s particularly close to my heart and has some of my all-time favorite lyrics, like “I confess to really being quite charmed by your feminine effects / you’re the only one with whom I would role play Oedipus Rex,” and “You give me such a rush, make my whole body blush, I don’t care if they say you’re just my crutch I know you’re not, you’re the only good thing I’ve got,” and, the most poetic, “When you’re dead I’ll search for you, like Orpheus, I’ll find you, some way”

“Sweethearts on Parade,” M. Ward, Transistor Radio (2005)
M. Ward’s crushed velvet vocals are sublime in any song, but in this one, they are colored with a particularly exquisite longing.

“One,” Raz Ohara & the Odd Orchestra, Raz Ohara & the Odd Orchestra (2008)
A down-tempo, loungy number with bossa nova rhythms and Raz’s voice like caramel, smooth and rich and tantalizing.

“You Know I’m No Good,” Amy Winehouse, Back in Black (2006)
It’s dark and heavy soul, about a woman who loves her man but keeps cheating on him time and time again, in the end really only cheating herself since he always seems to know when she’s done wrong. “You say what did you do with him today? / And sniff me out like I was Tanqueray.”

“She’s the One” Caribou, Andorra (2007)
Dreamy psychedelia has never been so touching. Here’s Caribou doing the song for The Pink Room:

“Maple Leaves,” Jens Lekman, When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog (2004)
The cutest Swede to ever write pop music offers this clever little ballad.
“I think you’re beautiful
but it’s impossible
to make you understand
that if you don’t take my hand
I lose my mind completely
Madness will finally defeat me

She said it was all make-belief
but I thought you said maple leaves
and when she talked about the fall
I thought she talked about the season
I never understood at all”

“Sweetheart in the Summer,” Ween, La Cucaracha (2007)
An easy, cheesy little roots number with lyrics like “She’s a sweetheart in the summer / Summertime is here again / She’s a sweetheart in the summer / and I hope it never ends.”

“1 2 3 4,” Feist, The Reminder (2007)
This song was everywhere for a while and I can’t help but like its adorable message. According to WikiPedia, The Reminder was selling 6,000 copies per week, “1234″ 2,000 downloads before the Apple iPod Nano commercial featuring the song aired. After the commercial, the song surpassed 73,000 total downloads and reached No. 7 on Hot Digital Songs and No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100; The Reminder jumped from No. 36 to No. 28 on the Billboard 200, with sales at 19,000. Time writer Josh Tyrangiel named it among his Top 10 songs of ‘07, calling it a “masterpiece” and lauding Feist for singing it “with a mixture of wisdom and exuberance that’s all her own.”

Some other great ones:“Skinny Love,” Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago (2008), a melancholy ode; “Be Gentle with Me,” The Boy Least Likely To, The Best Party Ever (2005), a saccharine, blissful number about a boy who’s been hurt and needs his new lady love to take it easy; “Spread Your Love,” Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, B.R.M.C. (2001), a crunchy rock number with the classic lyric, “Spread your love like a fever”; “Die Die Die,” Dr. Dog, We All Belong (2007), a stabbed-in-the -gut number with the anguished heart-been-broke line, “I don’t want to die in your arms, I just want to die”; “All I need,” Radiohead, In Rainbows (2007), in his usual brooding manner, Thom Yorke strips away all romantic notions and says it plain (check out the video below of Radiohead performing “All I Need” on Nigel Godrich’s show, From The Basement); “Famous Flower of Manhattan,” The Avett Brothers, Four Thieves Gone (2006), a song that uses floral metaphors to present a story about a city girl and the man who wants to sweep her away to the countryside; and “Paris 2004,” Peter Bjorn and John, Writer’s Block (2007), a blissful ditty about a couple in love in Paris.

Here are some CL Staff picks:

“Breathe (2 a.m.),” Anna Naylick, Wreck of the Day (2005)
-Jamie O.

“Dance With My Father,” Luther Vandross, Dance with My Father (2003)
-Eric

“Falling Slowly,” the Oscar-winning song by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová from Once soundtrack (2007).
“My Phone’s on Vibrate for You,” Rufus Wainwright, Want One (2003)
-David

“Someday Baby,” Bob Dylan, Modern Times (2006)
-(Wade’s suggestion if he were still here)

I know there’s a huge swath of songs I’ve forgotten or didn’t even know about, so enlighten me, please:

In response to Leilani’s “Top 10 Stupid Band Names,” I’d like to point out that, yes, not only are some band names stupid, or bad - sometimes they’re downright stolen.

We’ve all sat around stoned, drunk (even sober) and thought up – or accidentally stumbled upon - the next greatest band name EVER. There’s got to be a list of those names somewhere, right? I seem to remember someone saying, “We’ve got to write that one down!” 

There are plenty of band names inspired by literate source material or that just make sense (Steely Dan, named after a dildo in William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch or The L.A. Guns and Hollywood Roses combining to form Guns and Roses). But to lift the name of your group straight out of another artist’s catalog instead of establishing a new identity for your sound, your band, your business? It’s like starting up a fast food chain and calling it “Big Mac’s.”

As my wife pointed out, the only time a tribute should be paid to a band’s song is when you’re actually paying tribute to that band – as is the case with “Paradise City: The Guns N Roses Tribute” or ”Strutter: The Ultimate Tribute to Kiss.”

Here’s my list of offenders (in order of offense taken):

1. Radiohead - (Radio Head, Talking Heads)

2. Uh Huh Her – (PJ Harvey, the name of an album – the title track was actually cut)

3. The Brief Candles – (The Zombies)

4. Boris – (Melvins)

5. Sisters of Mercy – (Leonard Cohen)

6. Rolling Stone(s) – (Muddy Waters)

7. Godsmack – (Alice in Chains)

8. Funeral for a Friend – (a multi-layered offense here - after Planes Mistaken for Stars’ song ”Funeral for a Friend” jacked from Elton John’s “Love Lies Bleeding/Funeral for a Friend.”)

9. Turns out I’m unwittingly guilty as well. My most recent group, Auditorium, could be accused of taking our name from the Guided by Voices song.

10. I want to hear from you – there have got to be more out there.