In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Song: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Artist: Neutral Milk Hotel
Album: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Link: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Genre: Indie Rock
Mood: warbled, wailing, dirge without excessive depression

Description: More and more, Indie rock seems to me as the successful integration of traditional rock with disparate elements of brass instruments and modified production. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea exemplifies this indie aesthetic: It (at least according to my guitar teacher) has a very well known chord progression lifted straight out of the middle of the 20th century, but layered over that are warbles and distortion and horns and other complexities of that sort. Perhaps the chord progression is used as a nod to the subject matter, as the song, and in fact the entire album, is about World War II. The subject matter is not a happy one, but the mood generated, while certainly not uplifting, is more weird than angry, more troubled than depressing. This is created by those same warbles and distortions that show this song as a distinctively modern indie song. The singer’s voice contributes to the effect: it’s a wail that that casts a mood over the entire song. Overall, the unique distinctions that Neutral Milk Hotel give to this song are only positive: they distinguish the modern indie aesthetic from bland rock by giving a unique flavor, that in this case, lends a beautiful dirge-like pall to the melody.

Rape Me

Song: Rape Me
Artist: Nirvana
Album: In Utero
Link: Rape Me
Genre: Grunge
Mood: almost angry, self-deprecating, raw (though I don’t mean that it sounds like Metallica, more like, well…Nirvana)

Description: This song is pretty classic Nirvana: grunge, more grunge, a bit of grunge, and finally, grunge. Nirvana is a master (and pretty much founder) of grunge, which in my opinion, by those lesser than Nirvana, can quickly devolve into mere noise. But Rape Me never does this; in fact, it’s actually pretty catchy. The song features some nice guitar, heavy bass, loud drums, and of course, Kurt Cobain’s raspy voice. Speaking of his voice, the lyrics are…well, as you can tell from the title of the song, they’re not exactly sensitive or pretty. That’s certainly an understatement: Kurt Cobain is self-deprecating, plain-spoken, and even a bit humorous. After all, only Cobain would sing about wanting to get raped. It’s a bit controversial-sounding, but I think it’s more metaphorical than anything else: rape me, because you’re going to get what you deserve in the end no matter what. But lyrical genius or no, the central guitar riff seems to be quite similar to that of Smells Like Teen Spirit, but I think it’s different enough to be its own song (and quite a good one, at that.)

Put Your Lights On

Song: Put Your Lights On (feat. Everlast)
Artist: Santana
Album: Supernatural
Link: Put Your Lights On
Genre: Classic Rock
Mood: smooth, powerful, a lazy energy

Description: Carlos Santana is a rock god, and his guitar prowess really shows on this song. It’s chords practically soar, but nevertheless, they’re simple enough that I can play them (and have). On this song, unlike most of the rest of Supernatural, his Latin influences remain minimal at most; this song is pure rock. I do have to admit that I know nothing about Everlast, the other contributor to this song, except that he’s a hip-hop guy formerly from House of Pain, a rap group. But there’s no rap or hip-hop on this song, as I said, chilled rock from start to end. This is something to be appreciated from an album that came out so (relatively) recently (1999), as pure rock is quite difficult to find in this day and age. Carlos Santana sticks to what he knows best: rock, and that’s what makes this song work.

Don’t Make Me a Target and The Underdog

Song: Don’t Make Me A Target
Artist: Spoon
Album: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Link: Don’t Make Me a Target
Genre: Indie Rock, (Neo)classic Rock
Mood: bouncy, driving, rocking-out

Description: If someone held me at gunpoint and asked what my favorite album of the 21st century was, I would say it was Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (my favorite name, not so much) It has the complexity of modern rock, the infectiousness and accessibility of pop, the incredible chords and riffs of classic rock, the lyrics of Bob Dylan, the ambition of progressive rock, the voice of Mick Jagger, and the soul to make Spoon a lasting tour-de-force. There is no higher compliment from me. Each of the ten songs (and an eleventh bonus song) on Ga Ga…you know what, I refuse to finish the rest; from now on I’ll call it 5*Ga… are finely crafted sonic weapons, and Don’t Make Me a Target is no exception. Its lyrics tell the tale of a society that doesn’t want to be targeted by “Nuclear dicks with the dialect drawls/ That come from a parking lot town” I’ll give all the clueless out there a hint: the nuclear dick is sitting in an oval office right now. I’m always partial to some political commentary, and this serves it up nicely without being too overt or annoying about it. The melody is no slouch either: its not complex chord-wise, but the cool instrumentation adds a complexity that nevertheless remains accessible. It’s a melody that is impossible to not bounce your head to. 5*Ga is so good, I have to give you another song from it:

Song: The Underdog
Artist: Spoon
Album: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Link: The Underdog
Genre: Indie Rock, (neo)classic rock
Mood:anthemic, horn-riffic, bouncy, bright

Description: The Underdog is 5*Ga’s anthem (though the quality is so high on 5*Ga that there are more than one that could easily suffice as the anthem,) so not only is it difficult not to sing along, it’s downright impossible. The chords are fairly classic-rock-minded, the drums are insistent, and anytime Britt Daniel isn’t singing, the brightly colored horns come in with a bang. The lyrics are as meaningful as any Spoon song’s: “You got no fear of the underdog,/ That’s why you will not survive!” It’s bright and fun and impossible to ignore. So don’t. Go on now. What are you waiting for? Get the damn CD already.

Fake Empire

Song: Fake Empire
Artist: The National
Album: Boxer
Link: Fake Empire
Genre: Folk-rock, Indie Rock
Mood: orchestral, textured, existentialist

Description: The National somehow manages to be emotional with out being emo, which is quite an achievement. This is not The Cure or even New Order, but rather it displays a unique orchestral rock with powerful undercurrents of lyrical emotion. Fake Empire is sad, but steers well clear of slitting wrists and goths in both its tempo and its melody. Its essentially about being “half-awake in a fake empire,” which I take to mean the laze and sloth with which we can sometimes drag ourselves through the American materialist culture. Clearly, the lyrics are not meant for a half-baked acne-caked teen, and neither is the music itself, which shows far more melodic depth than your average emo teen band. The instrumentation adds to the depth, with what seems to be an assortment of piano, guitar, percussion, and something in the brass family. This complexity (and yet overall simplicity of melody) is what initially attracted me to this song, and to those who are also attracted to Fake Empire, I urge to check out the rest of the album, which is just as great as this song.

Good to Sea

Song: Good to Sea
Artist: Pinback
Album: Autumn of the Seraphs
Link: Good to Sea
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie-pop
Mood: wistful, wry, wintry

Description: I just got back from a mini-trip to the Catskills, and this song fits the mood. It’s smart (“Good to sea…good to see you…good to see you go…”) and wintry (great for the snow and ice I encountered this weekend), and the melody is very pretty. This is one of those indie songs whose genre is very difficult to define. Is it rock or pop? I’m inclined to go with rock, but that just might be because music on an independent label tends to be labeled as rock, rather than pop. When most people think of pop, they think of the bubble pop all over the radio, which can be a bit similar to your average indie band. In the end, though, the genre doesn’t really matter, it’s whether you like it, and I certainly like this song.

You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)

Song: You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)
Artist: The White Stripes
Album: Icky Thump
Link: You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)
Genre: Hard Rock…no wait, Indie Rock too
Mood: brash, bold, upbeat, anthemic

Description: If I didn’t know this was by the White Stripes, I would have thought that this came straight out of the ’70s. The bold riffs, the hard-hitting chords; it all adds up to a classic AC/DC song. Except for the small, insignificant, tiny little fact that the song is just more than 6 months old. To give the White Stripes some credit, this is not just a AC/DC ripoff- there is something unique to it, which is made even more apparent by the rest of the album, whose influences clearly go beyond the hard rock of the ’70s. There’s punk, modern rock, and even some blues to be found – but the core of this song is, without a doubt, the guitar-slinging chords and riffs that bring back a taste of the ’70s.

Challengers, and Jessica too

Song: Challengers
Artist: The New Pornographers
Album: Challengers
Link: Challengers
Genre: Indie-pop
Mood: light, melodic, textured

Description: Indie-pop is, at first, a bit of an oxymoron. How can a song be independent, and popular? The oxymoron is resolved with this song, because I can certainly understand how a song like this can be so popular. It’s pop, and as a general stereotype pop is simplistic and repetitive, but this song has both a complex melody and complex lyrics, and that makes it far more interesting than any Jessica Simpson song could be. It’s a fairly slow song, but it slowly crescendos, and it builds slowly with the guitar, the multi-voice singing, and some crazy instruments I can’t quite identify. This song is great for anyone who enjoys a good pop melody with the complexity of a much more involved genre.

Speaking of Jessica Simpson, a bonus song about her:

Song: Jessica
Artist: Adam Green
Album: Friends of Mine
Link:Jessica
Genre: Acoustic Rock, Singer-Songwriter
Mood: soulful melody with offbeat lyrics

Description: I didn’t expect this song to be any good. Strangely, it is. It has a simple, acoustic-driven melody that I would expect the lyrics to be about lost love or something. Instead, it is about Jessica’s lack of love in her music. But perhaps that really is something to write a sad song about. After all, that lack of love may be the real reason behind my instinctual dislike of pop music in general. Pop with a simple melody is not necessarily a terrible thing, but that lack of love, as Adam Green puts it, most certainly is. In the end, though, Adam Green gets a laugh for his clever lyrics and tongue-in-cheek attitude.

Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues

Song: Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues
Artist: Eels
Album: Daisies of The Galaxy
Link: Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues
Genre: Indie-pop
Mood: low-key, sunny

Description: The Eels is essentially a one-man band led by Mark Everett, whose talent for low-key confectionery is unending. Right after Spoon, the Eels is right up there with the best of the best. Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues is beatiful, but its not blues. The essential message of the song is that despite a lot of tragedy in life, it really is “a beautiful day.” Whenever I listen to this song, I feel just a little better about life, so enjoy.

I Turn My Camera On

This is the very first (and hopefully not even close to last) post of the Tunatunes blog. What is the purpose of this blog, you ask? It is to give you, the listener, exactly one song every day, and maybe explain a bit about the song. What kind of songs, you ask? Indie rock, alternative rock, some more Indie, a bit of classic rock, and finally some more rock. There will be no rap, R & B, jazz, hip-hop, country, or other such music (unless I change my mind). How will you get the songs? Free online file storage, it’s a miracle. I will post a link, you will click on the link, and BAM! You will be listening to the song. Now that I’ve answered your questions, it is on to the very first song.

Song: I Turn My Camera On
Artist: Spoon
Album: Gimme Fiction
Link: I Turn My Camera On
Genre: Indie Rock
Mood: dynamic, upbeat, bouncy

Description: Spoon, at least for the moment, is my absolutely favorite band in the whole wide wide world. So I choose to start this blog with one of my very favorite songs from Spoon. It’s sung as only Britt Daniel (and maybe Mick Jagger) can do, in a crazy mock falsetto. Add to that a incredibly simple melody, and you get an incredibly awesome addictive song about a camera. Why a camera, who knows?