I've had the pleasure of reading everyone else's 5 Things, and damn, y'all took a lot of the good ones, but here's my list:
1. Sigur Ros "Gobbledigook." The song and the video make me so. unbelieeevably happy. And not (just) because of the nudity, awmercy. It's the energy of all those naked hippies and dudes with drumsticks. You can watch and listen here. If you're over 18, of course.
2. Usher "Love in This Club" performed by
When War Machine sent me this video he probably never guessed how it would affect me. Obviously, he has no idea how many Showbiz birthday parties I attended at the shy, impressionable age of 9, before Showbiz sold out to lame-ass Chuck E. Cheese's. Shiiit. All I know is, when I saw the Cheerleader get going, I laughed, I cried...and then I laughed again because "ball pit" suddenly sounded dirty.
3. Jenny Lewis. Lately I've been loving Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - especially "You Are What You Love" - but seeing Rilo Kiley play in Providence in May is what truly sparked my killer crush. The hair. The voice. The charisma. The shiny gold tights and hot pants. Sigh, Jenny Lewis is my silver lining.
4. The Black Kids "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance." This song has been on my iPod since January but much like the sounds of Chromeo and Coconut Records this kind of funkiness just didn't seem appropriate until the temperature topped 70. (Which took, like, forever.) I loved hearing the guys on All Songs Considered grumble about this song's catchy, youthful, 'verby sound. And I different kind of loved it when those guys listed the ingredients of an infectious indie hit: yelling/chanting + nonsense sounds + numbers. "One, Two, Three, Four!"
It's kind of true, right? These are some of the ingredients that drew me to Justice and The Go! Team and even Animal Collective. The Black Kids' first album Partie Traumatic comes out on July 22 in honor of the day of my birth. But honestly, who cares about their other songs.
5. Where the hell is Matt? "14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands" says the guy who took his aerobic jig around the world and just...danced...sometimes alone, sometimes with a huge crowd of people, while a friend caught it on video. This video was spreading virally through Tumblr a few weeks ago, and I reblogged it, as did a million other people. Quite simply, it made my heart happy. Read today's NYT article, watch the video, welcome the new-agey music, and let yourself love the world for four minutes. It's summer. You deserve it.
