We’ve gotten walloped hard with the Spring stick here in DC, and the songs that I’ve obsessed over for the last few months that haven’t quite made it to this blog find themselves winding their way into this mix, like so much stormwater draining into the Potomac, only sparkling clear instead of clogged with pollen and dog shit.

There’s some songs in here that were follow-up picks for Fine Tune Friday this year, as well as three tracks that escaped my notice when they were first released, but that I couldn’t possibly love any more. Hit play on the first track and listen through. And go outside.

Go Outside (10 Songs for Spring ’10)

Miles Kurosky, “An Apple For An Apple” (2010)
Miles Kurosky’s new record is a bit of a frustrating listen, in the same way that the PAS/CAL album was: it’s trying too hard to be complex, and even though the melodic hooks are great, they’re so fleeting that the songs never turn into the greats they could be. Still, “An Apple For An Apple”‘s melody is killer enough to have been lodged in my head more often than not in the days since I first heard it.
find it on The Desert Of Shallow Effects

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, “There She Goes, My Beautiful World” (2004)
There’s no one doing rock music better than 30-year veteran Nick Cave. This song’s chorus and it’s lead-in are HUGE. I’m sorry this song escaped me for so long.
find it on Abattoir Blues/Lyre Of Orpheus

Clinic, “The Second Line” (2000)
It kills me when songs as great as this one go without me knowing about it for so long. What other amazing songs am I missing out on?! This will be one of the contributors to my eventual total loss of sanity.

The slinkiness of the beat, the entrance of some real drums, the chord change in the chorus. Dear God…this song.
find it on Internal Wrangler

Rodrigo y Gabriela, “Diablo Rojo” (2006)
The standard line on Rodrigo y Gabriela is how they used to both play in metal bands before they discovered flamenco, and “Diablo Rojo” is one of those tracks where you can hear the metal influence, at least in the energy, but mostly in the hard chords at 2:05.

And the intro? Not drums, but just hits on the guitar top. Amazing.
find it on Rodrigo Y Gabriela

Raphael Saadiq, “Love That Girl” (2008)
A great update on Motown that’s starts the one-two punch of songs perfect for a sunny, carefree day.
find it on The Way I See It

Cults, “Go Outside” (2010)
Some lovely, creative bedroom pop that’s as springtime in title as it is in sound.
find it on the free download of the Cults 7″

Broken Bells, “Citizen” (2010)
The Broken Bells record is…good, but it has a lethargic feel that keeps it from truly sinking in. The chorus of “Citizen”, though, immediately raises it above the rest of the record, and the middle bit sounds like an update of 70′s AM gold.
find it on Broken Bells

White Hinterland, “Icarus” (2010)
Yet another record that I liked but never got to loving, the new White Hinterland album comfortably straddles a line between chillwave and mid 90′s trip-hop, though “Icarus” is more of the former. The album may not be a stunner, but it’s still recommended.
find it on Kairos

Midlake, “Fortune” (2010)
The shiniest track of the austere and often bleak new Midlake record.
find it on The Courage Of Others

Laura Marling, “I Speak Because I Can” (2010)
I can’t say that I’m completely blown away by Laura Marling’s output, but the sound of her promise is almost overwhelming. The title track is a nice, gritty neo-folk song that’s lifted by the tiniest of hooks (“for me, for he, for my”). We may not be saying that Laura Marling is a great artist, but that statement has to be followed by “…yet”.
find it on I Speak Because I Can