Matt Nathanson - Love Love Love
I had this running around in my head all yesterday, switching back and forward between this cover and The Mountain Goats’ original.
I’m seeing The Mountain Goats play at The Metro in a couple of weeks. Who knows when, or if, Matt will ever play The Metro. One day, maybe?
Day 3: Your favourite album track
Matt Nathanson - Then I’ll Be Smiling
Firstly…what the hell makes an “album track”? On most 12-track LPs, there are probably on average 9 tracks that are called “album tracks”. I had to narrow it down, because, well, most of what we listen to are “album tracks”. But how? Is an album track something that was clearly completely unsuitable for radio play? Is an album track something that would only work as part of an album? Something epic and sprawling? Something that needed the context of the surrounding tracks to make it work? In the end I went with “track that completely represented the album for me”. Represented thematically, represented musically, represented as the track that just grips you and says “this is what I’m about, do you get it?”. For it to be my favourite “album track”, the answer to that question is “YES, I GET IT”. So, here it is.
It’s from his LP ‘Still Waiting For Spring’. I’m not going to comment further on the song; you can glean everything I’d say here from the above.
Matt Nathanson - Faster
Okay, so, the first time I hit play on this track, I was fully expecting him to end up covering George Michael’s ‘Faith’. I defy you to tell me that the opening couple of bars don’t make you think the same. I’ll be honest here, I am decidedly not a fan of the single ‘Come On Get Higher’ from Matt’s last LP. My first impression of this track was that it was kind of a re-do of that. I suppose, thematically, it probably is a re-do, or maybe just an extension (although after six albums, what musician hasn’t repeated themselves on some level). But it is, to my taste, a much better song. It’s catchier for a start. The trumpets in the chorus get me every time. And this has a more pop appeal, and is the kind of cheese that you know is, well, kind of cheesy, but well…it’s quality cheese. If you tell me you’re listening to this, and haven’t ever had something to make you relate to this track, then I’m sorry, and I hope that you do one day. Because it really does feel just like this song. Even the trumpets. Especially the trumpets.
