Song of the Week: The Good Times Are Killing Me

The Good Times Are Killing Me - Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News

After the March Madness posts thought it might be a nice idea to detox a little bit with good kind Modest Mouse. For me, this is the song that most represents the albums title, its a cheery simple summer song that is actually sad, and the news that is alluded to as good in the title is only good if you happen to love bad news. Its still good news, just as the times are still good, but you just have to love bad news, and the good times aren't actually good, they end up killing you. Even with this depressing message I still think its just a really happy song, mostly because it has a reflective feel to me. Almost as if hes saying, the good times are killing me, but I'll be alright. Thoughts aside about meaning, I love the singer and the album as a whole is one of my favorites.


Song: Here

Live Performance Special: To the Grain - Junip

Till today I had never heard of this band, and it was purely by chance (accidentally clicking on a related video) that I did stumble on them. The guitarist is definitely an apt folk player, and the overall sound immediately made me think of Pentangle except, of course, with a male vocalist. The reason I chose the live entry of this over the album version was that it captures the strongest part of Junip's music, the vocals, and puts them even more into the forefront of the music. It makes a very powerful ethereal voice very real. It always amazes me to watch someone sing beautifully, and to do it live, with what looks like little effort. The tone is minimalist in its instrumentation and orchestration (reminiscent of The XX and Crystallized, which the Gorillaz did a fantastic live cover of) but I view this as a strength as all the focus can be put on the beautiful guitar and voice.

Performance: Here