Welcome
to part eight. These last five albums represent my teaching years and concludes
with one of the last physical CDs purchased. Let’s bring it on home.
TITLE: Transatlanticism
ARTIST: Death Cab for Cutie
YEAR: 2003
YEAR: 2003
GENRE: Indie Rock
ALBUM TRACKS: The New
Year; Lightness; Title and Registration; Expo ’86; The Sound of Settling; Tiny
Vessels; Transatlanticism; Passenger Seat; Death of an Interior Decorator; We
Looked Like Giants; A Lack of Color
FAVOURITE TRACK: Title and Registration
WHY THIS TRACK: I love
that the song dissects the inaccurately named glove compartment and how it
relates to his sorrow of a broken relationship. Such clever lyrics and
beautifully sung.
ALBUM INFLUENCE: I
started listening to this album because of The
OC, one my guilty pleasures. I was a fan of Adam Brody’s Seth Cohen who in
turn was a big fan of Death Cab. There was something about the indie nature of
the music and clever lyrics that drew me in. I felt cool owning an indie album
like this.
TITLE: Franz Ferdinand
ARTIST: Franz Ferdinand
YEAR: 2004
YEAR: 2004
GENRE: Indie Rock / Dance Punk
ALBUM TRACKS: Jacqueline;
Tell Her Tonight; Take Me Out; The Dark of the Matinee; Auf Achse; Cheating on
You; This Fire; Darts of Pleasure; Michael; Come on Home; 40’
FAVOURITE TRACK: 40’
WHY THIS TRACK: I’m
obsessed with the opening thirty seconds of this song. Such a great intro. I
think it has to do with suicide by throwing yourself into the sea but it is
off-set with a bunch of la-la-la’s. It’s a bit confusing and quirky but that
only adds to my interest in it.
ALBUM INFLUENCE: Almost
every song on this album has a fantastic intro that sucks you in. I used a
number of these intros for DVD menu music because it was so bouncy and fun. Great
album to drive to and sing along with. They also rocked The Commodore.
TITLE: Hot Fuss
ARTIST: The Killers
YEAR: 2004
YEAR: 2004
GENRE: Indie Rock / New Wave Synth
Pop
ALBUM TRACKS: Jenny Was a
Friend of Mine; Mr. Brightside; Smile Like You Mean It; Somebody Told Me; All
These Things That I’ve Done; Andy, You’re a Star; On Top; Change Your Mind;
Believe Me Natalie; Midnight Show; Everything Will Be Alright
FAVOURITE TRACK: Mr.
Brightside
WHY THIS TRACK: Great
music and lyrics. Love the music dropping out and the synthesized “it was only
a kiss”. It’s about a girlfriend who cheated on him which I couldn’t relate to
but it was fun to sing along with anyway.
ALBUM INFLUENCE: The
mixture of indie and eighties throwback got me hooked on this album. Again,
being a school teacher who taught media, I felt cool listening to some of the
music my students listened to. Saw these guys rock out the Orpheum which was
fun.
TITLE: We Were Here
ARTIST: Joshua Radin
YEAR: 2006
YEAR: 2006
GENRE: Acoustic Folk
ALBUM TRACKS: Sundrenched
World; Star Mile; Everything’ll Be Alright; These Photographs; Closer; Today;
Winter; Someone Else’s Life; Amy’s Song; What If You; Only You
FAVOURITE TRACK: Winter
WHY THIS TRACK: I’m
always emotionally moved by this song. The opening lyrics, “I should know who I
am by now” and the lines, “But I don’t have to make this mistake, And I don’t
have to stay this way” wreck me. I was introduced to this song and artist
through the show Scrubs. Apparently,
this is the first song Joshua Radin’s ever wrote. He was sleeping on Zach Braff’s
couch. Braff brought the song to the producer who used it in a perfectly done
episode. Radin got a lot of calls from it and had to make the rest of this
album pretty quickly. Love that story and it makes me love the song even more.
ALBUM INFLUENCE: The quiet
lyrics and acoustic sound made this an ideal album when wooing my wife. She
enjoyed it and we ended up using one of his songs on our wedding day. Radin is
perfect when I just need to quiet down my life. I wanted others to experience
his music so I used his songs exclusively when I directed All My Sons. I was happy a few people asked about him after the
performance. Joshua Radin one of the few people I’m waiting for to see in
concert. He hasn’t been here in a long while.
TITLE: Sigh No More
ARTIST: Mumford & Sons
YEAR: 2009
YEAR: 2009
GENRE: Folk Rock
ALBUM TRACKS: Sigh No
More; The Cave; Winter Winds; Roll Away Your Stone; White Blank Page; I Gave
You All; Little Lion Man; Timshel; Thistle & Weeds; Awake My Soul; Dust
Bowl Dance; After the Storm
FAVOURITE TRACK: The Cave
WHY THIS TRACK: I love the way this song progresses. A
simple sounding opener that builds and builds. Love it when the banjo kicks in
and then the bass drum, then back to a single guitar. I loved this song so much,
I used it as my first parody song for Hunger
Games: The Musical. I rewrote the lyrics and never turned back. I often go
back and forth with the real lyrics and my own version. “It’s depressing in the
heart of District Twelve.”
ALBUM INFLUENCE: I didn’t
think I’d be into folk rock but here we are. The lyrics are poignant and the
music is toe-tappingly awesome. They were also fantastic in concert. This is
one of the last physical albums I purchased before going exclusively digital.
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