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IFLTS: 'Dropped,' Phantom Planet

Posted Jul 1st 2008 2:00PM by Ashley Iasimone
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song

'Dropped,' Phantom Planet
From 2008's 'Raise the Dead'

I've always been a sucker for a good power pop song, which is why I was enamored with Phantom Planet's first album back in high school. That's also why I joined the Phantom Planet fan club for one year back then (yes, I am serious), so that I could purchase the band's B-sides record, 'Polaroid.' I admit that I lost track of them after drummer-actor Jason Schwartzman left the band and 'The O.C.' killed 'California.' But then the band released their new album, 'Raise the Dead,' in April, with it the sound that I once adored ... only edgier. I can accept less pretty piano and more slurred rocker outbursts when you give me a song like 'Dropped,' the perfect Phantom Planet tune, replete with drum bops and electric keyboard-driven melodies, gritty singing layered with a second, higher-pitched vocal track. The tune makes me want to clap. It makes me want to dance. I also want to pat these guys on the back for writing that hook and those simple, demanding lyrics: "Tell me that you want me/Tell me that you need me/Tell me 'cause I'd like to know."

Continue reading IFLTS: 'Dropped,' Phantom Planet

IFLTS: 'Healer,' Torche

Posted Jun 16th 2008 2:00PM by Catrinel Bartolomeu
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song

'Healer,' Torche
From 2008's 'Meanderthal'

I like to listen to this song early in the morning when I'm still trying to feel good about moving fast -- it's like mainlining a shot of espresso in to my bloodstream. 'Healer,' the sixth track on Torche's second LP, 'Meandertahal,' captures what Torche does best: it sounds a little like metal, a little like prog, but melodic guitar riffs and vocals keep it catchy. Healer launches at vigorous pace, which it maintains for the entire 2:08. The drum beats are energetic with unexpected thundering accents, but they're easy to bop your head to. The guitar riffs are long, driving and melodic, precise crafted and played, and lead vocalist/guitarist Steve Brooks hits harmonies with his intense baritone. Brooks' voice is almost hopeful as he sings, "Healer, take the fun/I am ashamed of danger/release the bite/life is forever." It makes me think of running fast towards what I've been waiting for.

Continue reading IFLTS: 'Healer,' Torche

IFLTS: 'Let It Die,' Feist

Posted Apr 15th 2008 2:00PM by Scarlet Wu
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song

'Let It Die,' Feist
From 2005's 'Let It Die'

When it comes to breakups, forget about wallowing in self-pity, gorging yourself on ice cream, burning photos, flipping through self-help books. Instead, adopt this song as your anthem. The pure tonal quality of her voice helps to powerfully depict the sincerity and honesty of the piece. Perhaps one of the most heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, spine-chilling love songs (or anti-love song, for that matter) of its time, Feist does heartache serious justice with her effortless vocals gliding along a delicate melody. After listening to this song, just take her advice and do as the title suggests.

Continue reading IFLTS: 'Let It Die,' Feist

IFLTS: 'Spray Paint (The Walls),' The Dirty Projectors

Posted Apr 14th 2008 2:00PM by Anton Hochheim
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song

'Spray Paint (The Walls),' The Dirty Projectors
From 2007's 'Rise Above'

Dave Longstreth, multi-instrumentalist and mastermind behind Brooklyn-based experimental rock group the Dirty Projectors, is the kind of songwriter whose head is so saturated and wrought with musical ideas it's a wonder he can keep it squarely on his shoulders. This is in part due to his seemingly insatiable appetite for sound, encompassing a myriad of musical genres that would make even an ethnomusicologist's head spin. Elements of afro-pop, chamber music, Appalachian folk and dubstep all manifest in schizophrenic bursts throughout Longstreth's latest musical endeavor, 'Rise Above.'

Continue reading IFLTS: 'Spray Paint (The Walls),' The Dirty Projectors

IFLTS: 'The General Specific,' Band of Horses

Posted Jan 28th 2008 2:00PM by Meredith O'Donnell
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song



'The General Specific,' Band of Horses
From 2007's 'Cease to Begin'

I'm a lyrics girl; I prefer a clever turn of phrase to a clever hook. Sure, sound is important but it's secondary to me. To that end, the perfection of 'The General Specific' are the lines, thanks to their rambling, open-ended wistfulness. Whatever sadness, confusion, heartache, anger and romance you have in your life, one of these lyrics will punch you -- and hard -- right in the neck. While you're gasping, trying to catch your breath, you'll marvel at how utterly jubilant these guys sound when singing about sadness and confusion. And maybe then you'll notice how clear and clever their sound is, too. At least, that's how it went for me.

Continue reading IFLTS: 'The General Specific,' Band of Horses

IFLTS: 'Torn on the Platform,' Jack Penate

Posted Jan 18th 2008 2:00PM by Mike Spinella
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song

'Torn on the Platform,' Jack Penate
From 2008's 'Matinee'

Jack Penate is poised to be a modern day, reggae-fueled Paul Weller, having already wooed audiences across the pond with his precise blend of rockabilly, pop, ska and punk. 'Matinee' is an spine-chilling onslaught of satiable hooks, while 'Torn on the Platform' is easily the most infectious tune off the album, with the perfect amount of grit, pop and ska riffs. The track bears sincere, yet never sappy lyrics with one of the most memorable feel-good choruses in some time.

Continue reading IFLTS: 'Torn on the Platform,' Jack Penate

IFLTS: 'The Hill,' Marketa Irglova

Posted Jan 17th 2008 2:00PM by Christina Lang
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song

'The Hill,' Marketa Irglova
From 2007's 'Once'

It's rare that a ballad overwhelms me with the type of emotion that can even remotely come close to that of an Elvis Presley track. But when this sweet but emotional tune -- performed by one-half of the Swell Season, Marketa Irglova -- pops up on my shuffle's playlist, my entire life slows down. The only time I've been able to recreate this feeling is when I'm stuck in yoga class and forced to focus all of my energy, thus forgetting my day.

Continue reading IFLTS: 'The Hill,' Marketa Irglova

IFLTS: 'You Can't Touch the Untouchable,' The Big Sleep

Posted Jan 16th 2008 2:00PM by Kim Davis
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song



'You Can't Touch the Untouchable,' The Big Sleep
From 2006's 'Son of the Tiger'

Simply put, no band has ever made me want to be in a band more than Brooklyn's the Big Sleep. Much like the White Stripes or Viva Voce, the Sleep, while admittedly a man up, manage to create an absurd amount of noise with only three (might I add rather diminutive) individuals -- all of whom are sharply skilled and bring a mildly ironic joy to performing their dark, psych rock.

This particular (strictly instrumental) song off their debut album, 'Son of the Tiger,' made me finally realize two things for which I'm a total sucker (besides lanky, cynical dudes, of course): 1) slow, ultra-groovin' basslines and 2) dramatic pauses. Oh, and lipstick-red bass guitars. Who am I kidding? It's all deadly.

Continue reading IFLTS: 'You Can't Touch the Untouchable,' The Big Sleep

IFLTS: 'Wings of a Dove,' Madness

Posted Jan 14th 2008 2:00PM by Sia
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song



'Wings of a Dove,' Madness
From 1983

'Wings of a Dove' is my favorite song in the whole universe. It's so cheery -- it just lifts my spirits. It's even in my will that I want it to be played at my funeral.

I must've been a kid [when I first heard the song], but I don't really remember it. But then I heard it again for the first time maybe four years ago on a dance floor. I was suddenly like, "Oh my god!" I just had to get bouncy. It's the overall chemistry of the song. [Sings] "Oh, oh, on the wings of a dove." That's all it does. But I really have to bounce when I hear it. It's just fun.

Continue reading IFLTS: 'Wings of a Dove,' Madness

IFLTS: 'My Goodness,' X

Posted Jan 11th 2008 2:00PM by Pat Nolan
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song



'My Goodness,' X
From 1985's 'Ain't Love Grand'

X was one of the leaders of the late '70s/early '80s L.A. punk scene that rose to prominence when I was in high school in Southern California. 'Ain't Love Grand' was the band's big label debut and the album was marked by the strain of John Doe and Exene Cervenka's divorce. The gem on this LP, however, is 'My Goodness.' Exene sings of being torn between her love for her husband (Doe) and the physical needs addressed by her "handsome stranger." The insistent but restrained guitar from Billy Zoom shows a maturity not typically associated with punk music. 'Ain't Love Grand' was an uneven album, but 'My Goodness' shows clearly what X was capable of if they had kept the band intact.

Continue reading IFLTS: 'My Goodness,' X

IFLTS: 'Black Sabbath,' Black Sabbath

Posted Jan 4th 2008 2:00PM by David Draiman
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song



'Black Sabbath,' Black Sabbath
From 1970's 'Black Sabbath'

This song is the one that first made want to get into the darker side of music [when I was 12 years old]. That three-part progression -- the devil's chord. How do you get more powerful than that? And something so simple. The way that Ozzy [Osbourne] hauntingly lays that vocal melody over it depicts being seduced by Satan -- taken by the devil. That's serious s--- and it's stuff that no one spoke of before at that time. Nobody was talking about that kind of subject matter when they were out -- no one.

Continue reading IFLTS: 'Black Sabbath,' Black Sabbath

IFLTS: 'A Whiter Shade of Pale,' Procol Harum

Posted Jan 2nd 2008 2:00PM by Annie Lennox
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song



'A Whiter Shade of Pale,' Procol Harum
From 1967's 'Procol Harum'

When I was 14, I bought a single of Procol Harum's 'A Whiter Shade of Pale.' And I felt ever so hip having that. I thought, "This is where it's at" -- whatever it was. It still is actually. There's nothing to beat that record. [It's an] amazing mystical piece of poetry and kind of abstraction in a way. It's so haunting. I played it over and over and over. I knew it back to front. I could still play it over and over. It is in my head, of course.

Continue reading IFLTS: 'A Whiter Shade of Pale,' Procol Harum

Best Songs of 2007: No. 20

Posted Dec 20th 2007 3:00PM by Christina Lang
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song, The Hit List

'1234' Feist

"Teenage hopes arrive at your door": This Canadian's airy voice and childhood-reminiscent attitude knocked on our doors with her upbeat melody and cute-as-a-button dance moves. The tune was added to iPods everywhere when she busted into homes, sporting a blue sequined jumpsuit, by way of that ubiquitous iPod Nano commercial. This little ditty helped us all to dance back in time to our own adolescence.
Watch the video!
Buy it on iTunes

Best Songs of 2007: No. 4

Posted Dec 20th 2007 3:00PM by Jessica Robertson
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song, The Hit List

'Back in Your Head,' Tegan and Sara

The sisters Quin know a thing or two about love gone wrong. Exhibit A: their entire five-album discography. But this first single from the twins' latest, 'The Con,' is a more mature, dare we say, hopeful affair, with cheerful keyboards and some saccharine assurance: "I'm not unfaithful, but I'll stray" -- a ready-made MySpace profile filler for scores of dewy-eyed adolescents.
Listen to the song!

Buy it on iTunes

Best Songs of 2007: No. 2

Posted Dec 20th 2007 3:00PM by Bill Crandall
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song, The Hit List

'Good Life,' Kanye West

'Stronger,' Mr. West's pedestrian first single from the otherwise sublime 'Graduation,' will prove to be the 'Bombs Over Baghdad' to the 'Hey Ya!' that is 'Good Life.' Like the mightiest anthems from Prince, the Jackson 5 and, yes, OutKast, this ever-building, panoramic party jam threatens to bust apart at any moment. Because of recent tragic news, "I'm-a get on the TV, mama" even sends a quick chill. Who knew a chorus could last for three minutes?
Watch the video!
Buy it on iTunes

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