The pure verbiage soundtrack, volume one

Instead of just having one song at a time, I've just made a playlist of everything I've uploaded so far (plus a few new ones). A little blurb on each (already wrote about Amsterdam here):

The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich. Arguably my favorite band of the past ten years, the Plan were a great DC group who still sound like no one else. Their rhythms are sometimes crazy; the lyrics always have a sense of humor or great mini-epiphanies; their enthusiasm is never lacking. This song's a little eccentric even by their standards, but I've never grown tired of it.

Back Like That. I don't listen to much rap anymore, and the R&B-style chorus can grate after a while, but Ghostface is so talented (and insane - check out his getup in the photo) it doesn't matter. This one's got a bit of something for everyone, including soul samples and some pretty ruthless lyrics for an ostensibly radio-ready track.

Catastrophe and the Cure. Though I hate the song title, I love the band. Explosions in the Sky did most of the Friday Night Lights soundtrack, so you might be familiar with their all-instrumental approach. It sounds boring, but lyrics would do these songs a disservice. If you like Sigur Ros, there's a good chance you'll enjoy this.

Another One Goes By. Just a great simple pop song by a somewhat under-the-radar Philadelphia band. I only discovered them when they opened for the Walkmen, who in turn covered this song on their last proper album.

Decades. Joy Division is a band that can take a while to fully get into, especially if you were weaned on shitty 80s music (like myself), and their records aren't exactly upbeat and hopeful, but they had very few bad songs. It's hard not to listen to this, the closer on their second and final album, without thinking of Ian Curtis' suicide.