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February 2013 Staff Picks: Say It in Song

February 2013 Staff Picks: Say It in Song

When words just aren’t enough, we turn to music to help us get in the mood. This month we name the tunes we’d play to woo our objects of affection.

Rebecca Dirks -- Web Content Editor
What am I listening to?
Frightened Rabbit’s Pedestrian Verse is killing me. I unabashedly love this band and the new album rocks with crunchy guitars and shades of Brand New, Modest Mouse, and Explosions in the Sky.
What song would you play to serenade your valentine?
I’m not that big of a Jack Johnson fan these days, but I’ve always thought “Better Together” was incredibly sweet.


Andy Ellis -- Senior Editor
What am I listening to?
Bex Marshall, The House of Mercy. With her chiming electric resonator and sassy, soaring pipes, Marshall is a grooving force of nature. Steeped in swampy folk-blues, her songs are simultaneously funky and literate. Great band too.
What song would you play to serenade your valentine?
A Beatles song is a good bet. It’s tempting to bust out “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” but it’d be “Eight Days a Week.”


Shawn Hammond -- Editor in Chief
What am I listening to?
Benny Goodman, The King of Swing. Sometimes you’ve just got to get away from guitars, and Goodman’s band has an irresistible vibe that takes you to a totally different time.
What song would you play to serenade your valentine?
Adele’s “Skyfall.” I don’t know how I’d pull it off, seeing as there’s no guitar part and my voice is, well, my voice. But who cares—it’s got the classic Bond-theme sexiness and it says, “It’s you and me against the world, till the end, baby!”


Tessa Jeffers -- Managing Editor
What am I listening to?
Frank Zappa’s posthumous release Läther. I’ve also been on a huge Peter Gabriel kick—he’s such an original. The more I listen, the more I’m blown away.
What song would you play to serenade your valentine?
My valentine is a strange bird like me, so I’d play “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” by Los Lobos and he would totally get what I’m throwin’ down. Or “I Wish I Was the Moon,” by Neko Case. Lunar phases are key.


Chris Kies -- Associate Editor
What am I listening to?
I’m always swapping mp3s and vinyl with my friend Tyler, and lately he’s persuaded me to embrace combustible noise-rock like Totimoshi, Shellac, Bastro, and Form of Rocket.
What song would you play to serenade your valentine?
My love is a bit twisted so I’d go with simple, melancholic acoustic strummers like William Elliott Whitmore’s “Pine Box” or “Porchlight.” If traditional crooning is in order, I’d go with Elvis’ “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You.”


Rich Osweiler -- Associate Editor
What am I listening to?
Jazz at Oberlin by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. This is probably my favorite Brubeck record, but I’ve been spinning a lot of his other stuff too since his passing. The incredible body of work this legend delivered and what he did for jazz music is almost overwhelming. Thank you, Dave!
What song would you play to serenade your valentine?
Our “slow dance” wedding song, “Luna,” by the Smashing Pumpkins. And for my other valentine, Paul Simon’s “Father and Daughter.”


Champ Long -- Web Production Assistant
What am I listening to?
I’ve been checking out Ben Harper’s latest, By My Side and Get Up!. His softer acoustic-pop tunes and haunting slide on the former are a nice juxtaposition to the growling blues and grit that he busts out with Charlie Musselwhite on the latter.
What song would you play to serenade your valentine?
“I’m on Fire” by Bruce Springsteen, because nothing says romantic like some chocolate and the Boss.


Charles Saufley -- Gear Editor
What am I listening to?
Endless Boogie’s Long Island—a new, glorious slab of Pussy Galore-meets-Canned Heat filth from these NYC scuzz chooglers, and Purling Hiss, Water on Mars, which finds Philly’s psychedelic Stratocaster king Mike Polizze sidetracking from space Stoogery to indulge his ample songwriting chops.
What song would you play to serenade your valentine?
How ’bout a slow dance to “Sleepwalk”? (Or a fast one to the Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray”?)


Jason Shadrick -- Associate Editor
What am I listening to?
I have started yet another Jim Hall phase. His duo albums (with Ron Carter and Bill Evans) haven’t lost a bit of their excitement and continue to give me an endless education. Especially “All the Things You Are” from Live at Village West.
What song would you play to serenade your valentine?
Since my lady is the real musician in the family, I would have to devote some serious practice time, but I would play “Misty” or “The Nearness of You.” She knows why.