Song of the Week

Jamie xx crystallizes neon on The xx's third record, encasing the trio's nocturnal sound with a vibrant new glow.  After his stellar In Colour, it almost seemed a foregone conclusion that the band's palette would include a wider array of his EDM, UK garage, and rave flourishes.  But make no mistake:  I See You still shimmers under the romantic, give-and-take spells of Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft; it is now just cast in technicolor.  Check out the excellent dance track "I Dare You."

18 Songs I Can Listen To A Thousand Times

There are many excellent songs.  But some are more sturdy than others, inviting constant attention. Why do some songs allow for repeated, no, seemingly endless listens, while others require periods of extended rotation regardless of how good they are?  Such sturdy songs seem to have their genetic code written into our personal DNA, burrowing deep into our musical nervous system.  We can go there, over and over.

To be clear, it is not always my all-time favorite songs that elicit overwhelming listens (though all of these tracks below can qualify for vaunted status).  Often my favorites need to stay on the shelf for periods of time before I pick them up again to savor their sounds.  For example, Sufjan Stevens' "Predatory Wasp" is an all-timer, to be sure, but I often find myself holding it back for select occasions when the moment is juuuust right.  (Anyone else do that with certain tracks?).  

The songs on this list, however, require no special aging.  I can listen to them anytime, anywhere.  Indeed, were they to play on a constant loop, it would be more blessing than curse.  I'm sure there are numerous tracks I've overlooked, but these were the first to come to mind, probably because they are part of my permanent hardware.

• "Age of Consent" by New Order (1983).  I have never turned the station when "Bizarre Love Triangle" or "Regret" comes on.  So it goes for the opening track from Power, Corruption & Lies.  The dueling guitars and bass line, the pulsing drum machine, and the synths coming in like analog violins.  Always and forever.
• "Under the Milky Way" by The Church (1988).  Wish I knew what you were looking for / might have known what you would find.  One of my favorite pre-chorus builds in all of contemporary pop music, the moody splendor of this immaculate song from one of history's most underrated bands always gets me somewhere, almost.  Sing and repeat.
• "Blue Sky Mine" by Midnight Oil (1990).  Hey, hey, hey, hey!  From one of my desert island discs, I can (and have) listened to this track hundreds of times and it is always urgent.  Who's gonna save me?
• "Here's Where the Story Ends" by The Sundays (1990).  Come to think of it, I think I did have Static & Silence on repeat for an entire summer.  But this perfect track from 1990's Reading, Writing and Arithmetic makes me feel just as tongue tied as Harriet Wheeler's voice.
• "All This Time" by Sting (1991).  I could have never guessed that this Soul Cages track (maybe my favorite solo album) would end up being one of my go-to bed time songs for the kids.
• "Have You Seen Me Lately" by Counting Crows (1998).  I wore out August and Everything After in my basement bedroom.  I can sing every word of every song.  (My 2003 performance of Mr. Jones on a Royal Caribbean Cruise is the stuff of legend).  But something about this live performance of "Have You Seen Me Lately" from Recovering the Satellites is Adam Duritz at his neurotic and believable best.
• "Race for the Prize" by The Flaming Lips (1999).  They're just humans with wives and children!  One of my favorite lines and send-offs from any song.  Off-kilter, woozy glory.
• "Silver & Gold" by Neil Young (2000).  Another bed-time lullaby staple at my house.  My three-year old knows every word because her old man does too.
• "Homesick" by Kings of Convenience (2004).  The Kings are a way of life.
• "Desire" by Ryan Adams (2002).  If I could count the times I've listened to Demolition, let alone this acoustic ballad, I would be a quantum physicist.  One of Mrs. D Man's all-time favorites, which has only added to a decade plus of fantastic moments with one of rock's best sad sack romantics.
• "Streetlights" by Josh Rouse (2005).  From the superb Nashville.  I go to this well all of the time.
• "Abacus" by Fionn Regan (2007).  The Irish folk troubadour's The End of History is an all-too hidden gem.  Bon Iver sampled lines from this song on his recent album: And the days have no number.
• "Hearts on Fire" by Cut Copy (2008).  From the fantastic dance-rock album In Ghost Colours.  My boys love this band, so thankfully I'm all in.  Start moving.
• "Laredo" by Band of Horses (2008).  Oh, my love, don't you even know?  Oh, my love, are you really gone?
• "Daniel" by Bat for Lashes (2009).  Sheesh, I love this song.  Dark, pulsating romance.
• "Gustavo" by Mark Kozelek (2011).  Arguably the greatest story song of this century, with Koz's incomparable writing all empathetic melancholy.  I can tap into the flow and feeling at any given moment.
• "Midnight City" by M83 (2011).  Seriously, can anyone, anywhere, turn this dance anthem off?
• "The Less I Know The Better" by Tame Impala (2015).  This groove is undefeated in its short time on the scene.  And there are no signs of stopping it.