Current mood:

sleepy

mostly unwaltzable 3/4 tunes
I do not dance. No amount of needling from my bosses will ever change this fact. But when I was a youngster, my father did try to teach me the waltz. I mastered the 3/4 box step, but not the whole move-around-the-floor thing. I do love a song in 3/4 time though. You just can't waltz to most of my favorites. Sorry about that.



Bethena (A Concert Waltz) by Scott Joplin, as performed by Itzahk Perlman and Andre Previn, available on The Easy Winners
Speaking of my father, I grew up listening to him playing ragtime tunes on the upright piano in our living room. "Bethena" was my favorite, and at one point I could play it (very poorly) on the piano. It's beautiful, and manages to be both melancholy and uplifting at the same time.

Odalisque by the Decemberists, from Castaways and Cutouts
Oh, how I love the Decemberists. This song starts out mournful and switches abruptly to being quite angry, so nothing to dance to, really. But I like it. It might slip into 6/8 too – I've not taken a music lesson for, oh, 15 years, so I can't be sure. It certainly slips into a Beatles riff at the 4:30 mark. (It sounds like I Want You (She's So Heavy) to me, which is also partly in 6/8 – close enough – bonus track! If you don't have Abbey Road, I don't know if we can be friends.)

My Mother Was A Chinese Trapeze Artist by the Decemberists, from 5 Songs
I was planning on doing one song per artist, but I was amazed at how many songs the Decemberists (and Death Cab) have recorded in 3/4. This is generally understood to be the song that gave birth to the Decemberists; it's a falsified family history that's so absurd it'll make you and your weird family seem totally normal. Unless your mother was a spy-come-prostitute who lost you in a card game to a sailor.

Styrofoam Plates by Death Cab for Cutie, from The Photo Album
It should be understood that I love sad songs. If they're sad and angry, all the better. If they're in an interesting time signature, it's perfect. Written after attending the funeral of a friend's, shall we say, less than perfect father, this is probably the most vitriolic you'll hear Ben Gibbard on an album. (It should also be noted that half of Plans is also in 3/4 time, but I don't have the time to upload it all.)

Line of Best Fit by Andrew Kenny, from Home: Volume 5
I saw Ben Gibbard last week and finally picked up this album at the merch table. It was the best $7 I'd spent all month. Andrew Kenny of American Analog Set covers Death Cab's "Line of Best Fit" on this split EP. It takes a little bit of the beautiful droning quality out of it, but replaces it with double-tracked guitars and voices that make it a bit ethereal. I think it's the squeaking of fingers on acoustic guitar strings that really kills me.

From California (Acoustic Version) by the New Amsterdams, from Worse for the Wear
This is the first song that I thought of, with its very strong 3-note pattern and la-da-da chorus. Matt Pryor claims that there "suddenly seems to be promise in California," but I think he's just saying it to be nice. Worse for the Wear is, by the way, one of the few perfect albums in this world. (I actually have six versions of this song on my iTunes; I also suggest the acousticversion on Another Year on the Streets vol. 3.)

The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades by Sufjan Stevens, from Illinois
Everyone loves Sufjan, I think. If you don't, download this. Sit down and listen to it. Close your eyes. Don't do anything. Just listen. There's nothing about it that's not beautiful. And I think you could waltz to it – but only if you're barefoot in a field of tall grass and wildflowers.

All songs .mp4, hosted by box.net, which I've never used before. Let me know if things go horribly awry. (Considering this was started at 11pm in an attempt to avoid finals, it's very likely that things will be far from perfect. Sorry.)