Day 50: You Suck At Love by Simple Plan from Get Your Heart On

I apologize for the brief delay in the postings. And to answer your question, my decision to feature a country music artist on day 48 did not break the blog or the internet.

So, with our technology intact, I offer an elegant and understated song for day 50: Simple Plan's "You Suck At Love."

Here it is.

Day 49: Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap from Speak for Yourself

I picked today's song because of its interesting use of what I assume is auto-tune or something like it to create a really interesting harmonic effect. See if you like it!

Here it is.

Day 48: Better Man by Sugarland

I found today's song while researching songs on Grooveshark to share with you. And since, like the performers of today's song, the Musical Recidivist is about all kinds of music, we'll have a little country today. Enjoy it because country might never return to the blog again!

Here it is.

Day 47: Human by Civil Twilight from the album Civil Twilight

I discovered today's song after I bought the album that featured yesterday's song.

It reminded me that love, fear, and pain are among the things that mean I'm a real boy.

Here it is.

Day 46: Letters from the Sky by Civil Twilight from the album Civil Twilight

What a great hopeful song! I heard it during the movie "I Am Number Four." I liked the movie, however, I understand the film critics guild may revoke my film commenting credentials because of it.

But it also introduced me to Civil Twilight, and I liked their eponymous album. (Hopefully I used "eponymous" correctly. I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've used the word.)

I think I'll have one more tomorrow.

But here is today's.

Day 45: Mrs. Potter's Lullaby by Counting Crows from This Desert Life

So many good songs to choose from when it comes to the Crows. But I especially like the piano business going on in this song, and it's a nice break from the more downtempo songs that usually make me think of the Crows in the first place.

Here it is.

Day 44: The Art of Losing by American Hi-Fi from The Art of Losing

It's good to know that losing is an art. AHF tells us how to do it right. Nice.

Here it is.

Day 43: The Breakup Song by American Hi-Fi from The Art of Losing

I guess I'm not done with the pop-punk section! I don't think today's song really needs any explanation or elaboration.

You can keep the dog we bought but you can't go near the standard bar
Don't hang around, don't call my friends, they won't know who you are!

Here it is.

Day 42: Furious Angels by Rob Dougan from Furious Angels

I love this song. It expertly invokes fear, pain, anger, and loss. The lyrics are very visual. The instrumentation matches the song's theme. It's both very dark and unbearably bright. But you'll see all that when you listen to it.

Here it is.

Day 41: Graceland by Paul Simon from Graceland

As you might have guessed after yesterday's post, today's song is Paul Simon's "Graceland." (I have a hard time calling him Paul Simon after he so memorably insisted that we all call him Al.) The song's lyrics dwell on Simon's cathartic journey to Graceland, and I do love that line that "I have reason to believe we all will be received in Graceland."

When you strip the name Graceland of the Elvis connotations, doesn't it sound like a great place to go?

I also love that section of the lyrics:

And I see losing love/Is like a window in your heart/Everybody sees you're blown apart/Everybody feels the wind blow

Here it is.

Day 40: Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park from Meteora

As long as I'm languishing in the angry pop music section, I thought I'd share Linkin Park's "Somewhere I Belong." I really like their mixture of rapping and singing, and the band's first two albums have a great dark feeling. I'm not usually a big fan of the rap genre, but as it's become more integrated into other kinds of music, it's begun to appeal to me more.

That said, this song got me thinking that I have reason to believe we all will received in Graceland...

Here it is.

Day 39: Karma by Diffuser from Injury Loves Melody

"Sometimes you get what you want, sometimes you get what you need, but you're always gonna get what you deserve.

Okay, I know I said maybe I'd do the Rejects today. I will get to them... maybe tomorrow. But when I got to thinking about my neglect of the pop-punk subgenre, I remembered this gem of a song that I still love after listening to it a bazillion times. (Okay, maybe it was just a gazillion.)

Here it is.

Day 38: Me Against the World by Simple Plan from Still Not Gettin' Any

I think I've lingered too much lately in the jazz & standards section of the music library, and in the process neglected one of my other favorite areas: pop/punk. So today, listen to some Simple Plan. I looked and the track I've listened to more than any other, at least according to iTunes, is Me Against the World from Still Not Gettin' Any. Simple Plan is one of the groups I turn to when even Dolly Parton doesn't get how much the world doesn't understand me.

Me Against the World.



I'm thinking Rejects for tomorrow...

Day 37: Here's That Rainy Day by Astrud Gilberto from Verve Unmixed 2

It was raining on me on the way home, and since that I was INSIDE the bus when it was raining, the lyrics to this song popped into my head: "Funny, that rainy day is here." I listened to about 12 variations of it, but, this time, I think this one is my favorites. Too many of the versions take out the melancholy that is the key to the song.

Enjoy.

Day 36: Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright

I think we've probably all heard some version of this song. Some of my Facebook friends got into a discussion a few months ago about whose version was the best. But it's a great song that adapts well to different vocalists' styles. Jeff Buckley performed it. Bon Jovi performed it.* Imogen Heap performed it.** Justin Timberlake performed it.*** Willie Nelson performed it.**** k.d. lang performed it.*****

I kept hearing the Wainwright version during the holiday season, which seems odd, because, in spite of the name, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with Christmas really.

Do you have a favorite version? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Here it is.

* Badly.
** Barely.
*** Oddly.
**** Twangily.
***** in lower case.

Day 35: Night and Day by James Darren

Today, I picked the lovely old standard Night and Day. It's performed by James Darren, who played the holographic lounge singer Vic Fontaine on Deep Space Nine, and later made this album of some of the great standards. Darren's version may not be the most creative, but he has a great voice that I think really suits the song.

Here it is.

Day 34: I'm Still Awake by Hybrid from Morning Sci-Fi

This whole album is a delightful experience. It's got this great industrial feel, and the artists run this feeling evenly into every track. There are a few tracks, like today's song, with vocals. I picked this track because of the vocals, although I also loved the vocals on the highly pairable "Out of the Dark" and "Blackout."

I've listened to some of Hybrid's mixes of others' work, and I have to say I prefer their original work on this album much better.

Here it is.

Day 33: Not the End by Atticus Fault

Today I feature a song my friend Mike recommended. I love the song, and hope you do too. I don't know much about it, but the album is available on Amazon, and, last time I checked, all the reviews gave the album five stars out of five.

Day 32: Nine to Five by Dolly Parton

I don't this song really needs me to say anything about it! But let today's post be dedicated to all of you who are stuck behind desks from 9 to 5!

So here it is.

Day 31: Marian McPartland by Dave Brubeck Quartet from Double: Live From the USA & UK

Today, I'm featuring a song that Dave Brubeck wrote and performed as a tribute to Marian McPartland on McPartland's iconic Piano Jazz radio show on NPR. I heard it for the first time listening to the radio program, and it led me to go out and buy the track. If you use the above link to the radio program, advance to about 18:20 to hear the song as performed on the show, and to hear Brubeck and McPartland talk about it.

At the time, it was hard to come by the songs that McPartland performed with her guests on her radio show, although it's become much easier in recent years.

Here it is.

Day 30: Lizard by Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited from Jet Sound Inc.

This is another album I found on emusic. I went through a period where I was really interested in cool, loungey-sounding music. Although I enjoy the album is really pretty good, I find I do have to be in a mindset to enjoy lounge music. But it's great background music for parties and I like it when I'm in the kitchen cooking. As the cover art suggests (look at the top-right corner), it does sound great in stereo.

Here it is.

Day 29: The Star Spangled Banner as played at Buckingham Palace

From The Guardian on Sep. 14., 2001:

More than 3,000 people including hundreds of Americans gathered outside Buckingham Palace yesterday to hear the Star Spangled Banner performed in an unprecedented alteration to the changing of the guard ceremony. . .

The Queen ordered the change to the daily ceremonial parade to show solidarity with the United States in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist strikes. . . As the band of the Coldstream Guards began the US national anthem hundreds in the crowd sang along while others wept, before observing a two-minute silence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwrX-LN9-L0

Happy Independence Day.

Day 28: It's Thunder and It's Lightning by We Were Promised Jetpacks from These Four Walls

I wasn't promised jetpacks, but I've been disappointed that we don't have flying cars. I'm sure the flying cars oversight will soon be rectified.

In the meantime, I recommend today's song, "It's Thunder and It's Lightning." The group is a Scottish rock band. The album is called "These Four Walls" and I love what they've done with the place. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I also particularly recommend "Conductor" and "Quiet Little Voices" from the same album, although I thought the whole album was excellent.

Here it is.

Day 27: Shelter from The xx from xx

The xx was a group that I discovered on emusic. Sadly, at first, I felt like their album was one big long song. There just wasn't enough variation in the mood among the songs to really find any particular one to be notable. I liked the music, but it wasn't one of my favorites.

Recently, as I've been continuing my (ahem) research for this blog, I started listening to them again, but only to individual songs, not as an album. Listening this way, I liked the songs a lot more. They've got a spacey, loungey, night-time feel that's actually quite nice.

I picked this track, Shelter, because it was featured in the movie "I am Number Four" which was what got me thinking about The xx again.

I hope you like it. Here it is.

Day 26: Rabbit from Cannibal Sea by The Essex Green

Cannibal Sea is another album I discovered on emusic. When I looked at the stats on Last.fm, the tracks I like on this album differ substantially from the ones that appear to be the most popular. So I have unusual tastes. That probably doesn't surprise any of you.

So, my favorite track on the album, which seems to be about someone taking a sentimental journey, is called Rabbit.

Here it is.