#117 – “O Tannenbaum” (1993)
L.K.: God, my iPod loves having this come up on shuffle. A.S.: Really? I guess your iPod wants every day to be Christmas for you. L.K.: Oh yeah, or at least it did until I had to erase all the music from it. It isn’t even a particularly good version of this song though, although it is in fractured phonetic … Read more
#116 – “Ana Ng” (1988)
A.S.: Oh boy. L.K.: HOLY SHIT. Can I start this off by saying that this is my favorite TMBG song OF ALL TIME? OF ALL TIME. A.S.: I wouldn’t go so far with that, but it is impossible to deny its greatness. L.K.: It is absolute musical and lyrical perfection. Also it is up there with “Accidents Will Happen” on my … Read more
#114 – “I’ve Got A Fang” (2001)
L.K.: I think “strange” is really the only word I have to describe this song. A.S.: Oh yeah. Shades of the band’s earlier work really find their way into this one, only with a much bigger budget. L.K.: It seems like it’s trying too hard though, unlike the more organic weirdness of the earlier stuff. A.S.: You think … Read more
#113 – “Processional” (1996)
A.S.: Since the technical title of this song is “Processional”, I’ll specify that this is the first “Processional” on the House of Mayors EP L.K.: Not gonna lie, this is my favorite of the three processionals that serve as variations on the main theme of the EP’s title track. A.S.: I’m not sure if this is my favorite or the … Read more
#111 – “D & W” (2005)
A.S.: “I like to watch the sports.” L.K.: This isn’t going to win any songwriting awards, but damn is it cute. A.S.: John Linnell in a dialogue with himself. Can’t go too wrong with that premise. L.K.: He’s got a secret desire to be a voice actor, I’m telling you. At least he can do amusing accents. The D puppet from the video is … Read more
#109 – “Nevada” (1999)
L.K.: Probably the only really hated State Song, but that’s less for the song and more for the seven minutes of parade noises that follow it… A.S.: I mean the song itself is also probably the simplest thing Linnell has ever written, outside of maybe a few “Fingertips” L.K.: Yep. It sounds more like a nursery rhyme … Read more
#108 – “She Was A Hotel Detective” (1994)
L.K.: I have been in love with this song since 2006, when I first heard it on the semi-defunct TMBG Clock Radio.(I say semi-defunct because you can still download it and unless you have a Mac, it still works, but it hasn’t really been updated in ages…) A.S.: Yeah, having had a Mac my entire life, this … Read more
#104 – “Bee Of The Bird Of The Moth” (2007)
A.S.: And we finally hit an Else track. L.K.: Took us long enough. But hey, it’s 13 tracks out of several hundred, so theoretically it could’ve taken even longer. A.S.: Yep, in theory they could have all just been crammed in at the end, which would have been weird. That said, this certainly isn’t my favorite song from the album by any … Read more
#99 – “What Is Everyone Staring At?” (????)
A.S.: For as much as I love this song, I can really understand why it’s remained unreleased. L.K.: Well, it’s probably because it later was released, albeit with a completely new set of lyrics and a missing segment of music! A.S.: Or rather, I guess I can understand why Linnell rewrote the lyrics, or chopped that chunk of melody out. As … Read more
#96 – “Mammal” (1992)
L.K.: You know, continuing yesterday’s brief discussions about words we hate to see used when describing music…I really hate when people call a song “cute” or something similar. Having said that…there is something about this song that actually is honest-to-god cute. It might just be the mental image of a bunch of mammals raising their paws. … Read more
