Sweet 17 or 25

Sweet 17 because soon enough I'm going to be married for 17 years and am feeling sentimental about that. 25 because, I've got 25 songs to share and they're sort of sweet, I guess. Call it semi-sweet, better than baker's chocolate at least. But back to the 17 thing again. 17 has always been a very pleasant number for me. According to this numerology site (which I don't subscribe to but I always find it interesting how people can pull patterns) there is an incredible number of associations for the number 17 and it's variations (seriously, check it out. That was ONE number). Example, the ancient Greeks, 17 represents the number of consonants of the alphabet; it is divided in 9 (number of the dumb consonants) and in 8 (number of the semivowels or semi-consonants). These numbers were also in relation with the musical theory and the harmony of the spheres. Pretty cool, eh? And that's just the Greeks. For myself, I've always just liked the number. It felt harmonious. And also, who doesn't love the age of 17, Janis Ian excepted of course. The truth for a guy at 17 is that you can pretty much get away with anything and your constitution is superhuman. I can't speak of anything magical about the 17th marriage anniversary yet but then I've got weeks to go still.

But anyway the music, the semi-sweet 25 songs I gathered from the year 2011. It's kind of coherent, bunch of white folks playing guitars and drums (save for Dirty Beaches), but genre-wise it's a bit more varied, some indie pop-rock, some country-fried Stonesy rock & roll, and then some new wavey-inspired pop. More or less split into a side 1/side 2, so dump what you hate and keep what you love. There's a metaphor there I'm sure. Special props to The Two Koreas (track 17) for branding my new favourite subgenre name: Glacier Garage. Doesn't that sound cool, literally and figuratively? It even rolls off the tongue (17 muscles in the tongue, by the way) nicely. And Matters? Release the album already, the song is on repeat in my head constantly and it needs to be replaced.

25 from 2011

1. Stomp & Holler - Hayes Carll

2. Old Gin Road - Ponderosa

3. Kick Me Where It Hurts - The Booze

4. I Don't Get By - The Sheepdogs

5. Sunshine Love - Bing Ji Ling

6. The Rain Song - Yep

7. Time Spent in Los Angeles - D*wes

8. Alabama Pines - Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit

9. Cry Cry Cry - Nicole Atkins

10 Creep Me Out - Ruby Coast

11. I've Gotta Know - Sloan

12. King of Kreuzberg - Shotgun Jimmie

13. Tornado '87 - The Rural Alberta Advantage

14. Work - One Hudred Dollars

15. Holdin' Onto Black Metal - My Morning Jacket

16. Red Hunting Jacket - Little Scream

17. Disco Slave-Songs - The Two Koreas

18. Get In or Get Out - Matters

19. Baby Don't Dance - Mother Mother

20. Under Cover of Darkness - The Strokes

21. I Want the Lights On After Dark - Memphis

22. Never Speak of It Again - The Holiday Crowd

23. Sad Song - The Cars'

24. Never Saw the Point - Cults

25. Sweet 17 - Dirty Beaches