song of the day

It’s time for “The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana),” as covered by Liz Phair with Material Issue, off of the 1995 Saturday Morning Cartoons’ Greatest Hits compilation.

I’m a big fan of that album, even when I wasn’t a big fan of the shows the theme songs came from. (I don’t think I had even heard of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour before this.) And this is a wonderfully silly and fun song to kick it off with.

How about a little Beck? A little “Devil’s Haircut” in fact.

I think this is the first song that turned me on to Beck, who before this I knew mostly, if not exclusively, from his first breakthrough hit “Loser,” of which I wasn’t the biggest fan. (It now feels like more of a piece with the rest of his work, but at the time it sounded more like a one-off novelty act.) I first heard the song on an episode of Saturday Night Live, an episode hosted by Kevin Spacey in 1997, with guest appearances by John Cleese and Michael Palin. I still think it’s one of the best episodes of the show I’ve ever seen — which, depending on your view of the show or a particular season could mean a lot of different things. Shortly after the show, I knew I wanted a copy of Beck’s album Odelay, with this song on it, and I got a copy for my birthday that March.

I would have been a sophomore in college at the time. I find it frankly unbelievable that that was thirteen years ago, but that’s what the dates on the calendar tell me. Anyway, enjoy the song.

Today, Florence + the Machine and “Dog Days Are Over.”

And I never wanted anything from you
Except everything you had
And what was left after that too

The video (in fact, both of them) is a little weird, but I defy you not to turn up the volume on this.

At this moment, because I happened to have time-stamped this post to appear in the future, I should be attending American Idiot on Broadway with my sister and her husband. So, while I’m seeing one show, what better opportunity to share a song from the show I saw on Thursday — namely “Breathe” from In the Heights?

I heard this song (on satellite radio, on the way to or from my sister’s home in Maryland) several months before there was even an idea of seeing the entire show live. Even out of context, I liked it. Like the show itself, it doesn’t get much deeper than that.

Today’s song, which some of you may remember from my “Best of 2009” mix CD, is A Fine Frenzy’s “Blow Away.” I first heard it on some free 2009 music sampler, but I think it’s since been appropriated for a few commercials and/or movie trailers. I just really like the song. Honestly, that’s the only reason I’m posting any of these.

The video, which I can’t believe I’ve never watched until now, is pretty cute, too.