I have much to thank God for on this Thanksgiving Day. After faith, family, and friends, one of the things I’m thankful for is good music. Here are a few songs from the past year which I’ve been really thankful for recently. All but one of these songs was originally released this year, and all of these videos are of live performances from this year.
Yeasayer — “Sunrise”
Yeasayer’s 2007 debut All Hour Cymbals is quite a good record, which I did not hear until 2008, and it has a killer opener in “Sunrise.” Here is a fun, live performance of the song on the British music show “Later…with Jools Holland” from earlier in 2008. Watch as the lead singer channels Ian Curtis’ seizure-like dance moves and get a feel for their distinct sound which they describe as “Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel.”
She & Him — “Change Is Hard”
A pleasant surprise this year was the debut of She & Him (aka Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward). Their record, titled Volume One, is a wonderful set of songs heaviley influenced by 1960s pop and country music. M.Ward has found in Zooey Deschanel someone with the same taste for these old-fashioned styles. It’s a great record, and here is a great song from it performed on “The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson.”
Fleet Foxes — “Blue Ridge Mountains”
Lots of well-earned buzz surrounding these guys. Here is one of my favorite songs from their self-titled 2008 record performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman” in their network television debut.
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks — “Hopscotch Willie”
Great album. Great song. I’m not sure what this video is from, but it is Stephen Malkmus minus the Jicks performing a much shortened acoustic version of “Hopscotch Willie” while walking around Paris at night. This is good, but I highly recommend the version on 2008’s Real Emotional Trash with the Jicks that features a lengthy jam session in the middle of the song.
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks — “Wicked Wanda”
Another track from Real Emotional Trash. Malkmus is still inexplicably walking around Paris. This song actually works so well as a solo acoustic number that I couldn’t resist posting it as well.
Enjoy! And Happy Thanksgiving!
