“You Wanted a Hit” - LCD Soundsystem
(Words: James Murphy, Music: LCD Soundsystem, available on This is Happening, DFA/Capital 2010)
Music Diary Project Day One (Context here)
Off-Key Teenager - Two lines of “Pretty Girl Rock” (Keri Hilson)
The first song I heard came at work, overhearing a kid walking in the hallway singing two lines from this song - “It’s not my fault so please don’t trip / Don’t hate my ‘cause I’m beautiful.” It’s noteworthy because after hearing the remix with JennyMack (who is also doing the Music Diary Project) I told her that specific line alone (plus a solid beat and catchy melody) would make that song a hit.
“You Wanted a Hit” & “Home” - LCD Soundsystem
These two were the first songs I listened to by choice today in the car on the way home. I’ve had bits of both of these songs stuck in my head since seeing LCD Soundsystem this weekend (and I promise this post will be the last I have to say about them for a while!).
“You Wanted a Hit” specifically reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from Pitchfork’s annotated discography. In it, James Murphy says, “instead of writing an op-ed piece, I have a band that’s an op-ed piece.” It’s a pretty terrific line to summarize that certain type of the band’s songs (Matthew Perpetua comes to a similar conclusion today on Fluxblog regarding “Yeah”), and “You Wanted a Hit” fits that well. If only more op-eds came with similarly icy synth melodies.
“Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” - Marvin Gaye and “Graveyard Girl” - M83
Listened to both with headphones while grocery shopping. They were from an old mix I had on shuffle, and I’m sure that I had good reason for having both of them in the same mix. Regardless, I hadn’t heard either in a while and it was good to hear them both.
“Hey Hey What Can I Do” - Tim Palmeri (Led Zeppelin cover)
My friend Pete posted a link to an Archive.org show from Tim Palmeri, who fronts a jam band by day and occasionally plays random cover filled shows at a local bar in between. Most notably, Palmeri performs with a loop pedal, which lets him solo while “accompanying” himself. (Also, this is one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs).
“One Shining Moment” - Luther Vandross
This is the song CBS uses for their NCAA tournament montage. I only caught the end of the game, but it looks like it was ugly, ugly basketball.
Conclusions: None really. I was kind of busy today and didn’t have any “appointment listening” or extended car trips or long periods at my desk (when I wasn’t writing in silence), so there wasn’t a whole lot to catalog. I imagine more in the forthcoming days.
What did you listen to today?
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