Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 11

Mt. Misery: Love In Mind (2024)

So when a trusted online music friend tweets about an album and compares it to Teenage Fanclub, Cosmic Rough Riders, and Big Star, it does seem like he's just daring me not to like it.

So I took the bait and checked out Love In Mind, a 2024 album from UK indie pop act Mt. Misery... and, yeah, of course I like it. Full of jangly guitars and lovely melodies, with pretty mid-tempo pop songs, it's right in my sweet spot. (See also, e.g., The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness; Chime School.)

I missed...

My Top 2000 Songs #1019: Johnny Are You Queer?

I don't think there's a soundtrack album that made a bigger impression on me than 1983's Valley Girl . I was knee-deep in high school, and it nailed a lot of the new wave-era music I was into at the time. Which is why it doesn't seem totally weird (ok, maybe just a little weird) that I'm on the 4th selection from that album. We've already seen the Psychedelic Furs' "Love My Way," Modern English's "I Melt With You," and the Plimsouls' "A Million Miles Away." Those were, of course, the most endurin...

My Top 2000 Songs #1018: Hocus Pocus

Ah, the seventies. Where would we have been without those amazing low-budget K-Tel collections, heavily advertised on tv, compiling haphazard mixes of Top 40 hits and (distant) misses, songs both great (ish?) and terrible (mostly).

They were a great way for kids like me to pick up some tunes without blowing our entire allowance. I remember this one record, 1973's Fantastic (22 Original Hits! 22 Original Stars!) (which was a little misleading, as there were two Elton John tracks and thus only 21 O...

My Top 2000 Songs #1017: Talking Backwards

Real Estate are among the finest purveyors of jangle pop of the past decade. Their fistful of albums are all pleasant, gentle music to waft overhead on a quiet afternoon. They're the sort of records that don't necessarily lend themselves to cherry-picking great stand-alone tracks; they make for a lovely, unified fabric, but not transcendent moments of memorable rock & roll. Still, a few tunes do rise above, my personal fave being "Talking Backwards," from 2014's Atlas. The sweet jangle abets a l...

My Top 2000 Songs #1016: Calling Occupants

Yes, it's our second visit to the 1976 debut album from Canadian band Klaatu, a unique blend of prog and baroque pop that was, absurdly, hailed by some at the time as a secret Beatles reunion album. (News flash... it was not.)

And "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft" (the full song title from the album, shortened on the single) is certainly a unique track. Its extended length and science fiction theme and multi-part suite and odd voices and orchestration absolutely stake a claim for prog.....

My Top 2000 Songs #1015: Read About Seymour

Like several other early post-punk innovators (see, e.g., Pere Ubu, Mission of Burma, P.I.L.), I tend to find UK act Swell Maps a little too challenging for extended listening. (I'm much more partial to the solo work from late Maps drummer Epic Soundtracks, who offered lovely piano-based balladry far removed from his work with the band.) 

Which, as with the others, doesn't mean they don't have a few numbers I absolutely treasure. 1978's debut single "Read About Seymour" is unusually straightforwa...

My Top 2000 Songs #1014: I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

I've got an endless supply of Richard Thompson music in my collection--his initial work with Fairport Convention, his collaborations with then-wife Linda, his solo albums--yet, to be frank, I don't listen to very much Richard Thompson. Chalk him up as another songwriter/musician for whom I have immense respect but have never entirely clicked with.

Still, the title track off his and Linda's 1974 LP I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight is absolutely undeniable. It's a sweet song that leans more ...

My Top 2000 Songs #1013: Black And White

One of the earliest examples of pure jangle pop--beating Let's Active and R.E.M. to the punch--the 1980 single from the dB's (and lead-off track on their 1981 debut Stands For Decibels ) is a treble-lover's delight, establishing the template for a significant chunk of 80s college radio. The chirpy delivery belies some pretty pointed break-up lyrics--"Well I guess I just don't enjoy you any more," dang, not nice!--but, hey, that's a whole lotta jangle.Live 1984:2024 reunion gig:Nada Surf, giving i...

My Top 2000 Songs #1012: If

British indie pop band The Darling Buds only stuck around for three records, but they were all pretty damn great. And while I especially love the power pop fizz of their 1988 debut, their 1992 swan song Erotica was every bit as vital. In lieu of the boisterous three-chord rockers, they offered a more well-rounded sound, shimmering gloss and gauzy dream pop, yet still full of catchy hooks. Album closer "If"--a bittersweet wrap-up to that brief, wonderful run of records--blended both, quieter vers...

My Top 2000 Songs #1011: Boom Boom

So... is this the post that gets the blog banned? I guess we'll see.

And, ok, German new wave era trio Trio, making a second appearance on this list, were obviously something of a novelty act. But screw it; 1983 MTV semi-hit "Boom Boom" (or "Bum Bum" in the original German) is a banger. Three chords that have been echoing in my head for decades, and a whole lotta glee. Plus the video.

German language video:And more!