What We're Listening To: I Fought The Law Edition

TNG Music Editor Rocky submits this post for your listening pleasure.

So yesterday, for the first time in my life, I was called for jury duty. I'm of two minds. Part of me feels as though it's my civic responsibility, and something we all have to do in order to preserve our relatively just, civil society. Plus, it's interesting to see our actual judicial system at work rather than Jack McCoy, and it's a change from my normal routine. But the other part of me is annoyed. Why? Because I was actually picked to be on the jury. Apparently, of the fifty people in the courtroom, I was deemed one of the twelve sanest and most rational. Me! I can't even begin to tell you how messed up that is. But even if that's what I have to do all week, it doesn't mean you guys shouldn't get your mixtape fix, so welcome to What We're Listening To! This is TNG's weekly rundown of the music that we don't in any way object to. On the menu this week, we've got: Lily Allen, Lilofee, Go West, The Vince Guaraldi Trio and Ra Ra Riot. Check out our reviews, plus the mixtape below the fold...

Lily Allen—It's Not Me, It's You

I really don't know much about Lily Allen except that she has a pretty, slightly warbly British-accented voice and makes great pop songs. We got a copy of her January 2009 release, It's Not Me, It's You, here at TNG headquarters a few weeks ago, and I got slowly drawn in. The music is as to be expected, pretty pop songs, light and airy, elegant, blissful. The lyrics provide a strong contrast to the musical timbre. The first track ("Everyone's At It") is about how everyone is on drugs. Track 3 ("Not Fair") is how her boyfriend has problems with premature ejaculation and is really bad in bed. Track 8 ("F*** You") is an amazingly up-beat middle-finger to awful people (including homophones! Thanks Lily!). However, the song that nearly brings me to tears cry is Track 10 ("Chinese") where she sings to her boyfriend how she's coming home from a long trip and all she wants do to is come home, see his face, drink some tea, order chinese food and watch TV. Someone hand me a hankie. - Michael

Lilofee—"Lock and Key"

I discovered San Francisco-based band Lilofee, aka Kimi Recor and Rob Easson, last week and I can't get enough of their dark pop style. While Kimi is on record saying that she has a hard time writing anything besides fairy tales, the song I first became obsessed with is "Lock and Key" off of their album The Only Years - a synth-y ode to pansexuality and free love. What keeps the song from straying into "I Kissed a Girl" territory is the fun, clever and unapologetic nature of the lyrics. The first lines of the song set the cultural tone ("I'm part of generation sexually ambiguous/All the girls kiss all the girls/And the boys don't know what to do/So they borrow our pants and our shoes and our eyeliner too), the chorus offers a provocative challenge (Hey Mister, Hey Mister/I kissed your kid sister/Whatcha gonna do?) and the second verse explains the title (We were made to be explored by others physically/Like a lock with many, many, many different keys/And I play safe but I don't play by the rules...). Even if you don't listen to the words, the music is catchy and utterly danceable - I haven't been able to get it out of my head all week. - Jolly

Go West—Dancing On the Couch

An album of imponderable questions. What does that damned red couch have to do with anything? What are “Chinese Whispers,” and does it matter when the song sounds so good? Why did lead singer Peter Cox sabotage his future as a rock star to sing lounge-y songs like “From Baltimore to Paris” and “The King is Dead”? Is it an absolute requirement that every ‘80s album have one socially-conscious song like “Crossfire”? Why did the boys decide to include a slightly redone version of “Don’t Look Down” from their first album? Is heaven an Alan Murphy guitar solo? And can anyone work a metaphor like Go West? Cox’s sexy, tormented vocals on “Masque of Love” use dancing and boxing as stand-ins for the difficult negotiations of a relationship’s end and run double puns on the meanings of “masque” and “mask.” Trust me, it totally works, and for ‘80s pop music, this is brilliant writing. What can I say? I used to be an English teacher, I’m still a dork, and I get all riled up about this stuff. - Philip

Vince Guaraldi Trio—Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus

My boss has been out all week which means I can listen to music in the office. So, what album to turn to when I want great music that doesn't distract while I work? Vince Guaraldi's 1962 album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus is easy-breezy listening but structurally solid. Guaraldi was inspired by the 1959 film Black Orpheus, which took the ancient Orfeo and Eurydice legend and set it in Rio during Carnaval. Guaraldi's take on this film's soundtrack is filled with fantastic bossa and samba dance rhythms, strong choruses and freewheeling improv exchanges. And if Guaraldi's smooth piano tricks make you think of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, it's for a good reason: Guaraldi did all of the original music for the Peanuts movies. As great as those soundtracks are, they shouldn't overshadow this album or his other work. - Chris

Ra Ra Riot—"Can You Tell"

I haven't fallen this hard for a song in ages. I'm obsessed. Seriously. According to iTunes, in the past four days, I've listened to it 54 times. I'm listening to it right now. It's just such a sweet, sexy little love song that also happens to rock. Oh, and the strings just absolutely kill me. Now, admittedly, I don't know a whole lot about Ra Ra Riot, but the song is from their album, The Rhumb Line, and if "Can You Tell" is any indication, that album is probably amazing. I'll let you know, if I ever get past it. Also, the video is new my favorite thing, not only because the leader singer is so hot I don't even know what to with myself, but it's so simple and cute and clever that your heart might start doing cartwheels. Now before you say anything, yes, it seems to be about falling in love with your girlfriend's sister, but in a sweet, totally non-skanky way, so chill and enjoy! - Rocky


And without any further ado... THE MIXTAPE!

Click me!

As always, I added a few extra songs. This week's theme is pretty simple: classic songs about breakin' the law, son! Here's the playlist:

The Clash - "I Fought The Law"
Ra Ra Riot - "Can You Tell"
Lilofee - "Lock and Key" (Jolly)
Velvet Underground - "Waiting For My Man"
The Vince Guaraldi Trio - "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" (Chris)
Mobb Deep - "Shook Ones"
Sublime - "Scarlet Begonias"
Steve Miller Band - "Take the Money and Run"
Serge Gainsbourg - "Bonnie and Clyde"
Lily Allen - "Chinese" (Michael)

Unfortunately, Philip's selection was unavailable this week, but he was kind enough to provide us with a video, which you can access by pressing this.

And with that, I shall bid you a fond adieu. Hopefully, the government will have given me my life back by next week, and WWLT will be back at full strength. Have a happy week!