The Most Important Song

Whoops I made a note to add this song to the ol’ blog LAST MAY, and just getting around to it now. We were fortunate to see Snow Patrol (with openers We Are Scientists!) a few days ago when the Wildness Tour came through Austin and this was one of just three “new” songs in their set. Thanks for the reminder, lads!

Mark Hollis, lead singer/songwriter for Talk Talk, died yesterday. This is one of my all-time favorite songs. I’ve missed music blogging (also missed memorializing others during this interim). No promises, but with SXSW19 around the corner, perhaps Keith & I will get back in TMIS’ saddle.

Nobody was more surprised than I that this dancy-Blondie sound was what Mitski picked for her next big release after the personal-angsty-volatile hit album Puberty 2 (including one of my top fave songs that year, “Your Best American Girl”) but add to that surprise, delight. I love it like nobody’s business.

For Valentine's Day 2017, Keith surprised me with tickets to see YtG at Stubb's that night - a show that had sold out fast and to my great disappointment. Yay I have a fantastic boyfriend and that's just a tiny bit of the evidence! Also, it was a great show. For this new single, I feel like the band has taken their style slightly closer to the kind of soft rock power balladeers I grew up hearing as credits rolled on the VHS. Maybe I'm just thinking that as I've been listening to a lot of 80s lately, including some of those soundtracks. Or maybe it's the romance of this song making me feel nostalgic for those movies, as well as grateful for what I have. 

This song is so 1975 - I found it immediately catchy. But also precious that it's about getting older and changing and adulting being hard, but c'mon let's all keep on trying. It's only too cute when I put myself above Matty and his specific problems with too much money/fans/drugs. Honestly, I need to be reminded on the reg to give myself a try. And I agree about whiskey (3rd verse).

I heard Kidjo interviewed on NPR yesterday and immediately was excited about her covers of the Talking Heads Remain in Light album (in its entirety) - her versions almost feel like THEY are the originals. Of course that's because of the deep inspiration Byrne et al got from West Africa in creating the soundscape of the album, but it also has to do with how she interpreted the sometimes seemingly nonsensical lyrics - they spoke to her in a way that translates to me. Even if that's not the case for you, it's a great interpretation and hope you enjoy this Most Important Song.

The Go! Team are such a fun group, they totally earn that exclamation point in their name. A sis-piece band out of Brighten, England that likes to mix genres such as garage rock, Bollywood, old school hip hop, and, in the case of this album, a high school marching band. I'm so happy our cool friend Karin introduced me to their music recently. Spotify compares them to another exclamation point using band: Los Campesinos! as well as the Tune-Yards, Of Montreal, Dream Wife, and Broken Social Scene... I think you have to name a whole lot of other bands, throw them in a bag and shake it up to get this unique mix. Like I said, fun!

James Bay is a UK pop singer/songwriter working (on this second album - out next week) to slightly remake himself, and the genre. I like pop, but I also like the trend of these guys wanting to be more than hipsters with a guitar (or boy band, in the case of Harry Styles). But whatever, I didn't know two bits about him until coming across this track, despite him winning all the Brit awards in 2015. This track grabs me for the same reason so many others on this blog do: it sounds vaguely 80s. This time more like Billy Idol than New Order but still. I guess, despite coming of age with grunge and techno, my brain first formed it's love of music around the pop radio dial of my childhood. 

ACL 2018 lineup is out this morning! So many TMIS artists, the whole bill looks like fantastic fun. Wilderado will be there Weekend One only (a lot of the smaller bands are just one or the other weekend but most big names are both -- like Wombats this time 'round). Just some of the other mid-to-lower billed Most Important featured bands: Gang of Youths, Twin Shadow, Parquet Courts, ARIZONA, Alvvays, flor, Sir Sly, tired of linking... most of the headliners/second billing... And I'm going to say Paul McCartney counts, as well! Anyway, VIP & Platinum prices are INSANE so grab your GA badge while you can. Or wait for the summer single-day lineup/ticket release if you can somehow decide on just one day. 

Here's a delightfully peppy tune to start your week off right. Lola Marsh is an Israeli duo we serendipitously discovered during SXSW, while simply ducking into the Swan Dive for a drink between must-see acts on our agenda. Her live energy immediately infected me with just the right verve to dance instead of rest, and made me remember to expect more such revelations throughout the week, or just maybe always around the corner.