iMix May06

iMix May06:
1. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
2. To Me You Are a Work of Art - Morrissey
3. String Sextet No. 1 in B flat, Op. 18 - Allegro ma non troppo - Johannes Brahms
4. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
5. Goodnight and Go - Imogen Heap
6. Rolling Black Water - Elf Power
7. Out Of Control - She Wants Revenge
8. The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage - Panic! At The Disco

So. Here we are again. Buckle up.

Snow Patrol once again offers us a gem to crush our souls. Don't weep.. at least not at first. Just enjoy another grand sonicscape by these wee Scots. Staying on that side of the Pond, we enjoy an almost plodding Morrissey song off the new record. It keeps me rapt with a wonderful vocal hook decrying ... 'and i would give you my heart.. that's if i had one'. Ohhhh Morrissey. Next we jump back a few years.... Mr. Brahms delights us with a sextet that overwhelmed me the first time I heard it more than a decade or two ago. This first movement starts calmly, like a leaf bobbing in a slightly rolling pond before it gets into the drama that will hold you for the next 14 minutes. A fine thank you to Mr. Brahms.

Ok. So I generally don't like hip-hop or rap. But every once in awhile, if you've got enough soul in the track I am sold wholeheartedly. This is the case for the Gnarls Barkley effort. I feel like I should be coasting down some cruising street with my gilded teeth and hubcaps insisting that I be called homie. It's a good feeling. You too will understand.

The Elf Power track sounds like it could have been lifted off a new REM album; Michael Stipe wailing and all. I would have never pegged it for an Elephant Six band. That being said, it's a beautifully haunting song and fits snugly in the whole of that album. Go elves! Next we have Imogen Heap, or as you may know her, Frou Frou singer. The song in the same electronic catchy vein as Frou frou is candy for the ear with all it's electronic ornamentation.

Dust off your creepers for the She Wants Revenge track. HOLY Crap! Goth's all over the world will be weeping mascara stains down their alabaster cheeks with the reincarnation of a band that can take up the goth torch once again.. or at least hold it with interpol. I almost feel bad for not wearing all black.

And finally, the Panic at the Disco track. I so don't want to like these guys. I'm sure they're young kids steeped in that neo fake punk sound that always sounds the same, listless vocal and all. There's a slight twist here though that I can't put my finger on yet. But while I'm doing that check out the frenetic little ditty.