Top Tracks – Fall 2006

Most-listened-to tracks of this fall. Enjoy.

1. “Lonely in a Limousine” — Lftr Pllr — Fiestas and Fiascos

Wow, another Lftr Pllr song about drug dealing! Horray! This time around it’s not just peddling a couple of ounces to some petty thief: the stakes are much higher if you’re hanging out on the Cape, taking a bus to NYC, and flying to Paris. Craig Finn’s shady, back-alley protagonists are not usually the type to be driving around in limousines and hanging out in airports, but don’t confuse the location of the song for any sort of classiness. Double shots in an airport bar, Camel lights, and Sandy staggering drunk up to the steps of the plane: classic Finn-isms. The band never sticks with a musical idea for more than 10 seconds. After 2:18 of spastic, math-y rock, you’ve come down and you’re ready for another hit.

2. “The Orchids” — Califone — Roots and Crowns

This song dominated my iTunes playlists and mixtapes so thouroughly and so quickly that I now have a measuring stick for new friends’ musical taste known as “The Orchids”. It’s pretty simple: I play “The Orchids” for you. If you like it, I like you. If you don’t, you have horrible musical taste. That is all I can say about this track. Un-freaking-believeable.

3. “Scenic World” — Beirut — Gulag Orkestar

This song is so innsidiously catchy you’ll have to have to use a jackhammer to bore it out of your cranium. This song is so suguary-sweet-melodic you’ll have to go to the dentist to get 45 cavities removed. This song is could have been the title track to a collaboration between Neutral Milk Hotel and Architecture in Helsinki. But most importantly, this song pissed off DKraft. That’s why it’s so high on my list.

4. “Stuck Between Stations” — The Hold Steady — Boys and Girls in America

The Hold Steady are now three-for-three when it comes to kicking off their albums with fucking brilliant songs. This may be one of their best songs. Ever. It is the perfect storm of literary references, storying telling, drinking/drugging motifs, classic rock riffs, and Piano Solos of Doom. Don’t get me wrong: I love the rest of BaGiA, but if every song on that album were half as good as this, it would have been the greatest album ever made.

5. “The Crane Wife 3″ — The Decemberists — The Crane Wife

DKraft correctly noted that the bass line in this song is tits-a-licious. Which is funny because being a bad-ass bassist or dropping a bad-ass bassline in indie rock is soooo unnecessary. I think John Darnielle once said that calling his fellow Mountain-Goat bassist “the best bassist in indie rock” was the most backhanded compliment he’d ever given. Anyway, I’m getting off the point here about “The Crane Wife 3″: Chris Funk not only has one of the best names in indie rock, but he’s also a stellar bassist. I would dare say he’s the best bassist in indie rock. Sorry, Chris.