I don’t know where you are in your Prince grieving process, but if you’re like me, you’ve probably accepted by now that we are indeed living in a Prince-less world.  Which is not a better world by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it’s one where we still have his music (though it’d be nice if his music was a little more available on streaming services and whatnot).  Luckily, I have a handful of his albums in my iTunes, and even a couple in physical format, and have been revisiting them while also trying to enjoy whatever other Prince I can get my hands on. 

But right now, I’d say I’m in my “appreciation phase” of mourning.  It’s a phase I similarly went through with the recent death of David Bowie, where after the initial heartbreak of this monumental loss, I found myself going back through his discography and being in awe of just how many great songs he wrote and recorded.  And while there have been a fair number of songs that have popped up for me as being gems I’d never given their due (“Controversy” is one I’ve been majorly into), it’s become pretty apparent that the song “Purple Rain” is almost certainly Prince’s masterpiece.

Song: “Purple Rain” by Prince And The Revolution
Album: Purple Rain
Year: 1984
Written By: Prince Continue reading →

I’m just getting over listening to KEXP’s awesomely thorough dissection of Paul’s Boutique that went on all day Friday, and in general have just been in a Beastie Boys mood lately.  So I see no reason not to write about my absolute favorite song by this now-defunct band who somehow seem to grow more and more essential with each passing day.  Also, I realize this piece turned into a long rambling ode to the Beasties as a whole more than just this one particular song, but I suppose that’s the kind of passion these guys tend to evoke.

Song: “Sure Shot” by Beastie Boys
Album: Ill Communication
Year: 1994
Written By: Beastie Boys, DJ Hurricane, Mario Caldato, Jr., Jeremy Steig

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The Mountain Goats are coming out with a new album tomorrow called Beat The Champ.  And sure, I could’ve attempted to do a Retrospecticus chronicling all their albums, but they have a lot of albums and I haven’t listened to any of their early lo-fi ones besides 2002’s All Hail West Texas.  So instead I will reduce their entire discography down to one song, and see how much I can squeeze out of it.

Song: “This Year” by The Mountain Goats
Album: The Sunset Tree
Year: 2005
Written By: John Darnielle

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Look, I know.  My love of this song has been documented before on our T3 Christmas podcast as well as an old C.A.T. of Phil Spector’s Christmas Gift For You that’s probably so poorly written that I’m not going to include a link to it.  But you know, ’tis the season.

Song: “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love
Album: A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Year: 1963
Written By: Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector

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I’m seeing The Hold Steady live in two days, so I feel like writing about them.  Deal with it.

Song: “Stuck Between Stations” by The Hold Steady
Album: Boys And Girls In America
Year: 2006
Written By: Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, and Franz Nicolay

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This might not strictly meet the criteria of Obsessongs, but I’m trying to keep the post-a-day thing going as long as we can. So here’s a chance to write about probably the best song on one of my favorite albums this year that I haven’t had a chance to write about yet. Are you going to complain about that? You shouldn’t. This song’s really good, have you heard it yet?

Song: “Song for Zula” by Phosphorescent
Album: Muchacho
Year: 2013
Written By: Matthew Houck
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