For our column Jams We Love, we're turning you onto the songs that keep us going every day. We'll showcase a new playlist every week so you can start things off right. Today, we give you a collection of bright, sparkly songs that could cheer anyone out of a gloomy, weather-induced funk.
1. Cocteau Twins, "Lorelei"
One of the most important new wave/dream pop bands to come out of the UK, the Cocteau Twins are almost unparalled in the emotional intensity of their music. Singer Elizabeth Fraser pretty much always sings nonsense-words (correct term: glossolalia), yet somehow each line manages to sound like an epiphany–especially when matched with the shrill synths and gorgeously screeching guitar lines. This song is off their 1984 album Treasure.
Electronic Renaissance - Belle & Sebastian by drixx
2. Belle & Sebastian, "Electronic Renaissance"
Harkening back to the raverkid days of the 1990s, singer Stuart Murdoch instructs us to "drop a pill and let's say hello" over warm, pulsing synth lines in this unusual departure from B&S's album-to-album sound. Instead of laying around in a heap on the couch, it magically makes you feel like dancing and jumping around at warp speed. Ah, the power of music.
Dominant Legs, "Darling Girls" by 7x7SF
3. Dominant Legs, "Darling Girls"
From this summer's sleek Invitation album, this is a glittering, 80s-tinged pop track that perfectly encapsulates that whole "why am I attracted to this person even though they treat me like dirt?" mental push-and-pull that seems to haunt your entire young life.
4. Gorillaz, "DARE"
Dredged up from the deep caverns of my brain, I remembered this gem from 2005's Demon Days album as an excellent pick me up during my rainy, windy college days in Washington state. When I needed something to forget it was nothing but puddles outside, I put this on and pretended I was at the most rollerdisco party of all time.
5. Cut Copy, "Feel The Love"
This Australian band's set at Treasure Island Music Fest rekindled my love for this hedonistic anthem from their 2008 album In Ghost Colours. Full of soaring, layered oohing and skyscraping sound effects, this is one of the most unabashedly blissed-out songs of Cut Copy's entire oeuvre.
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