Top Five (um, Six) Songs for February...

Here are the top six songs for February. I tried to narrow down to five, but it felt impossible.

1. Devil Tricks for a Bitch- Lightspeed Champion












Shortly after I posted about Lightspeed Champion's ep, a full length album came out. And not surprisingly, I love it just as much. Now, if I can just convince him to play a show here in North Myrtle Beach. I particularly love the strings in this song, as well as the imagery of both having your phone checked assuming it is broken and the half a bowl of cereal. From a sociological perspective, Lightspeed Champion is interesting due to issues related to racial identity, which seem to appear in a number of his songs.


2. Bye Bye Bye- Plants and Animals


















I'll probably say this more times than not in my life, but I thank the world for Bob Boilen. Listening to his podcast of All Songs Considered, I had the joy of hearing a song by the band Plants and Animals. This song has the potential to be my favorite song of the year, but I don't want to get too ahead of myself in only March...but honestly, while out walking the other day and listening to this song- I was practically brought to tears. Please listen to it now.


3. Come Sail Away- Styx












Last month, I happened upon Supertramp in my search for this particular song. I felt it was only suitable to include it in this months list. It feels like it holds particular significance for me, given the fact I'm at a place in my life where I'm about to leave the place I've lived for the past two years...and that place being the beach, certainly adds to the emotive connection to this song.


4. Potato Head Blues- Louis Armstrong











For the last couple of months, I've been watching Ken Burns' documentary on Jazz. In educating myself about a genre of music that I always felt inadequately educated, I sought out this documentary (as Burns also did an excellent job of his documentary on baseball), which ensured me that I would also fall in love with jazz. I'm about half way through the documentary; however, it has not only introduced me to new musicians (Artie Shaw, Jelly Roll Morton), but renewed my love of some folks I already loved. This particular song holds additional significance because of one of the last scenes in Woody Allen's Manhattan, where he lists this song as one of the reasons for living. See clip below.




5. The Pretender- Dr. Dog
















I have recently become acquainted with the music of Dr. Dog. I'm actually hoping to see them perform next week in Charleston, SC. This is the kind of song that will get stuck in your head for days upon days. I think what really got me hooked on the music was watching a clip of Dr. Dog performing this song on Youtube.


6. Devil In The Details- Bright Eyes













It is absolutely no surprise to those of you that know me about my adoration of Bright Eyes. A few months ago, my mother mentioned that a single day doesn't pass without her listening to at least one Bright Eyes song a day. I realized when she said this that I doubt a day passes for me either. That being said, I find myself listening to different songs at different times. Songs that I previously passed by quickly later become significant to me. This song, Devil In The Details, was one of those songs that I've found myself listening to more in recent days. And because I probably hear it once a day, I decided I couldn't leave it off the list for February.

Enjoy.