Best Songs Sung By That Other Band Member

January 11, 2012 By Madelyn Leave a Comment

The L Magazine recently had an article about the greatest songs NOT sung by a band’s lead singer, which included one of my favorites, “Guns of Brixton” by The Clash, sung by bassist (and my one true love) Paul Simonon. You can check out The L’s list here, but it got me thinking about what other songs could be added….

I invariably love any New Pornographers song sung by Dan Bejar, and though the band doesn’t have one strict lead singer, his songs are fewer and farther between. I think my fave is ‘Electric Version’ track “Ballad of a Comeback Kid”:

Quite the opposite, I tend to skip any Arcade Fire song sung by Regine Chassagne, with the exception of total jam “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” on ‘The Suburbs’:

What other songs should be added to the list?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Arcade Fire, Dan Bejar, Electric Version, L magazine, New Pornographers, The Clash

Perfecting The Wedding Playlist

September 23, 2011 By Madelyn Leave a Comment

I'm on the left. The bride is in white.

Over the weekend I served as Maid of Honor at my sister’s beautiful wedding by the sea in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Pre-wedding I was tasked with compiling a slide-show of photos of the happy couple, from baby pictures to engagement photos…. a daunting task. And not just because my sister is unusually snap-happy with her camera, but because I also had to choose the music.

I scoured my iTunes and found little that was appropriate for a wedding. My first instinct was to use The Temper Trap’s “Sweet Disposition,” one of the most gorgeous songs I know:

But it turned out not to be long enough. I settled on Arcade Fire’s “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” because the beat fit the quick pace of the photos and it’s nearly 5 minutes long. Plus, it IS about falling in love and having babies and growing old, right?

This process got me thinking about alternative wedding songs. My sister and her husband chose Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” and Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love” as their entrance and first dance songs, both atypical and inspired choices, I thought.

But what is the discerning music fan to do? What romantic non-obvious wedding songs are out there? Here’s the (admittedly short) list I came up with:

  • Band of Horses “Marry Song”
  • The Beach Boys “God Only Knows”
  • Guillemots “Made Up Love Song #43″
  • Old 97’s “Question” (ok, this one’s a little obvious, but I love Rhett Miller)
  • The Cure “Just Like Heaven”
  • Rogue Wave “Maps” (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover)
  • Ben Folds “The Luckiest”

What am I missing?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Arcade Fire, Beyonce, Temper Trap, Wedding Playlist, Wedding Songs