Saturday , January 16, 2010
Heavy Rotation: Our Favorite Animal-Themed Songs from Blonde Redhead, Nirvana, Ver Sacrum + More!
When nogoodforme.com has a theme, we really commit and go full-out, to the point where only budget and time constrains the wilder shores of our collective imagination. Naturally, Spirit Animal House not only demands a time, place, setting, and festivities -- it demands a soundtrack as well. This edition of Heavy Rotation comes to the rescue, curating our favorite animal-themed or -named tracks ever. What can we say? We told you we were committed...
Bonnie Prince Billy, "Wolf Among Wolves"
I was all psyched and set to slot in the Cure's "Love Cats" and "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran as my Heavy Rotation selections this week, thinking it would make things all bouncy and punchy around here. But then I realized I'd be failing in my duties as nogoodforme's official Bringer of Darkness by going against my own musical instincts of melancholy and Gothic pastoralism. So instead, yes, I give you one of my most favorite songs by someone who is probably my favorite bard of darkness, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, aka Palace, Palace Songs, Palace Brothers or, more simply, Will Oldham. Labeled as a sort of Appalachian or folk throwback at times, Mr. Oldham transcends cultural milieu and is instead a genuine poet whose melodies and lyrics haunt with a deeply bleak yet beautifully idiosyncratic view of human frailty. (And he's sometimes just really weird.) "Wolf Among Wolves" is from my favorite Will Oldham-associated record, Master and Everyone, an album so austere, fatalistic and anti-romantic that it's actually incredibly Romantic. I saw him perform this song at a solo acoustic show at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall in 2003 or something like that, and it was an utterly singular experience. I looked all over for a recording from that show, but alas -- it refuses to be found, so you'll have to make do with the studio version, which is pretty stellar anyway. (Kat)
Blonde Redhead, "Equus"
Wolves! Horses! Geez Louise, Kat, yr so predictable! Yeah, whatever, I know a quarter of you reading this already know and love this track, and about a third of the rest of you will come to love it. That's what happens with this band. Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino is one of our bona-fide Style Icons and a fellow equestrian as well. Those who know the provenance of Misery is a Butterfly, the album from which this song is taken, will know exactly what a testament to adoration "Equus" is. This track is great because it bridges BR's more recent "kinder, gentler" sound with their earlier tendency towards more aggressive, arty post-punk kind of stuff. "Equus" cascades into rockitude; it's like a love song for when you dig someone so much, you're ready to jump out of your skin 'cause you're so impatient to be with them. I can't think of anything more romantic, really, other than if some dude were going to buy me an Arabian steed of my own. Or a constellation. Now that would be insanely romantic. If you want to communicate a deep and abiding love for someone and are kind of beautifully grandiose, you can't go wrong with the cosmos. (Kat)
Nirvana, "Very Ape"
The only reason I picked this song was the other day I was walking down Sunset at sunset, and "Very Ape" came on my iPod and I listened all the way through for the first time in forever and just went "Duuuuuuude...." God, it's so good! Why do I sporadically forget that Nirvana was SO GOOD? It used to be the only thing I ever thought about. Anyway, despite the title, this song has nothing to do with animals, so here's a quick list of animal-centric songs I probably should've posted instead: "Musik and Charming Melodee" by Mary Timony (or basically any Mary Timony song ever written), "Hey Mama Wolf" by Devendra Banhart, "Who Could Win a Rabbit" by Animal Collective, "Tread Water" by De La Soul, "Yertle the Turtle" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Beautiful Horses" by The Blood Brothers, "Takoma the Dolphin is AWOL" by The Mae Shi, "Dance Like a Monkey" by New York Dolls, and "So Many Animal Calls" by Q and Not U. I'm happy to not have picked "Land" by Patti Smith, however. That would be so cliche. (Liz)
Tanya Donelly, "Goat Girl"
Ever since that time I went to the petting zoo in 1984 and a goat ate my Bugs Bunny doll, I've been under the assumption that all goats are assholes. But if the charmingest sweetheart in all of indie-rock history identifies as a "goat girl," then surely that can't be the case. Maybe goats are just misunderstood. Maybe I'm a goat girl too! I certainly get that sick little twinge of nostalgia for heartbreaks past when Tanya sings the line about "I wanted a lion but I ended up with a man who wanted a gazelle." Who hasn't been there before? Let's never go there again! Hooray for goats! (Liz)
The Beatles, "Hey Bulldog"
I like this band a lot. They're really charismatic, and from England. They wrote nice pop songs. This song comes from the Yellow Submarine "songtrack", which I imagine is the Beatles album that people are least familiar with. This song was originally titled "Hey Bullfrog," but during recording, Paul McCartney started barking without warning, and it was so damned cool of him that even John Lennon had to concede and turn his first frog-themed song into his first dog-themed song. It is tied with "Martha My Dear" for my favorite dog-themed song by the Beatles. I think Paul McCartney's spirit animal would probably be a jaunty little Scottish terrier; John Lennon's would be a white cat. George Harrison's would be a falcon or possibly a stag, and Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey's would be a mini-gnome who looked and acted exactly like him. Ringo's not a very spiritual guy. I like this band a lot. (Laura)
Ver Sacrum, "Rabbit, Run"
First and foremost, it is necessary to put it out into the ether that Ver Sacrum are totally going to rock SPIRIT ANIMAL HOUSE. It's actually sort of alarming how tight we are. I hope you can all be there! And I mean ALL OF YOU. Every single last one of you. I'll buy a beer and a biscuit. So, this song is not really about an animal; it's about a fictional ex-high school basketball star named Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom. However, the song's opening lyric references the Easter Bunny, who is, in fact, an animal, not just a depressed Middle American linotyper. You could even say that the Easter Bunny's mystical powers afford him the title of Ultimate Spirit Animal. How pertinent! (Laura)
Tags: Blonde Redhead, Bonnie Prince Billy, dogs, grand romantic gestures, Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, Kazu Makino, Laura loves The Beatles, Nirvana, Paul McCartney, rethinking goats, Spirit Animal House, Tanya Donelly, The Beatles, Ver Sacrum
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Posted by Kat, Liz and Laura in Heavy Rotation |
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