Gin Blossoms– Lost Horizons, [New Miserable Experience]

The band that topped my list of the ten best mediocre alternative /post-grunge bands is also the only band on the list that I actually enjoy a whole album of (though I’m working on Soul Asylum’s Grave Dancer’s Union—maybe some other time). This song, the lead-off track on the Blossoms’ ‘92 debut New Miserable Experience, is a prime example of the band’s greatness. Typically self-effacing and heartbreaking lyrics (”she had nothing left to say / so she said she loved me”) with gorgeous harmonies set to the most bittersweet guitar jangle you’ve ever heard. It isn’t quite “Hey Jealousy”—which if somehow you haven’t heard, be sure to acquire before anything I’ve put up here—but it’s closer than it has any right to be, being a post-grunge album track.

[visit a Gin Blossoms’ website here, buy New Miserable Experience here, read Andrew’s Top 10 Best Mediocre Alternative / Post-Grunge Bands list here]

Lilys– Ginger, [A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns]

I tend to use opportunities to write about Lilys as excuses to expound upon the greatness of “Ginger” (my Precollection review being no exception) because it, along with “Claire Hates Me” and the Eccsame the Photon Band full-length, so dwarf the rest of the band’s catalogue. It’s a truly delectable slice of…well, I guess you could call it indie pop, but that’d be a poor approximation of just how adorable this song is. If Katie Holmes were an indie pop song, she’d be “Ginger”. You do like Katie Holmes, don’t you?

[visit Lilys’ website here, buy Lilys’ titles here, read Andrew’s Precollection review here]

Fennesz– Painted Black, [Painted Black]

This track is one of the many highlights off of last year’s Painted Black compilation from Tumult Records. I wouldn’t advise listening to this directly after the two previous songs, since their pop high will be immediately crushed by the demonic hisses and buzzes of this still quite gorgeous piece. It sounds like something from a Darren Aranofsky movie. And incredibly enough, this song only hints at the mystery, beauty, darkness and all around evil of the compilation. By Painted Black’s standards, it’s damn near accessible.

[visit Fennesz’s website here, buy Painted Black here, read Andrew’s Stylus review of Painted Black here]