Music Update

A couple of things have been Floating On the airwaves here at the Daily Wenzel the last few weeks, not least of which have been Arcade Fire's Funeral, or Modest Mouse's Good News For People Who Like Bad News, as well their respective singles as we gear up for the new albums. Blonde Redhead's 2004 release, the hauntingly beautiful, yet surprisingly fragile (for a former Touch & Go band) Misery is a Butterfly has perhaps been getting the most play.

In between, Chumbawamba's latest polemic, A Singsong and a Scrap, a collection of pro-worker songs of resistance and rebellion, including the Clash' "Bankrobber", has been finding it's own airspace as well. With all the songs being performed either a capella, or acoustically, the band seems to have completed its metamorphosis from piss and vinegar youthful punks, to thoughtful rootsy hippies. Also making the office charts are two new K7! albums, Appendix, a collection of solid, yet somewhat dissonant remixes from Funkstorung, and the one that we're quite interested in, as it seems a return to more organic, rock-based samples, Joakim's Monster's and Silly Songs.

To be fair, Blood Stained Love Story, from Saliva, a Memphis-based Creed/Nickelback band with serious adult contemporary religious rock tendencies got one play in the office, but has not been back since.

Valentine’s Day Is Over

Yes, Billy Bragg’s “Valentine’s Day is Over” has always been one of our favourite post-Valentine’s songs, with it’s cheerful lyric, “the bicycle chain fell off my bike today, it’s now wrapped ‘round my heart”. In an era of personal playlists, we here at the Daily Wenzel would like to suggest a few easy listening pieces for post-Valentine’s.

Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash hover on the edge of a dillema and we're never quite sure if it's personal or political, but the result is a bass hook and a refrain that lives on.

Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division write one for the ages. It was FFWD publisher, Ian Chiclo, who introduced this song as a "Valentine's Day song" one year during his CJSW radio show, "The 2 1/2 Hour Coffee Break". It's always struck with us, again, one of those moments in a relationship where, looking back things could go either way.

Technicolour Girls - Speaking of going either way, Death Cab for Cutie's torch song get's to the essence of post-Valentine's relationship's when they sing about the leather jacket "proving to be on temporary loan".

Butterfly - from a concept album devoted to the rise and fall of relationships, Rivers Cuomo concludes Pinkerton with this image-laden gem.

Miss Otis Regrets/Just One of Those Things - We freely admit that we have a thing for Cole Porter, and nothing sums up both ends of the morning after spectrum from the despair of Kirsty MacColl voice on "Miss Otis Regrets", nor the head-pounding of nighttime revelry encapsulated by Shane MacGowan in "Just One of Those Things".

Ice of Boston - legend has it that this is the song that got the Dismemberment Plan signed, and all you have to do is listen to the bit about Gladys Knight to capture the vision that we have. Even if it's about New Year's.

Feel free to suggest others.