Songs called songs: Tiger Mountain Peasant Song

Fleet Foxes: Tiger Mountain Peasant Song

[purchase]

This blog tends to focus on well established bands and artists that have stood the test of time. We have an informal, but pretty well adhered to, rule around here that we stay away from the hot new bands that are burning up the blogosphere. I hope my colleagues will forgive me if I make an exception for the favorite sons of the music blog universe, Fleet Foxes.

I have told my wife a few times that Fleet Foxes have actually changed my life. I know that sounds absurdly hyperbolic, but it's actually true. I remember when I was younger I used to buy a new album by a beloved band and play it over and over and over again. I would memorize every note and every word. It would go with me everywhere I went, sometimes for months. These albums became intertwined with certain eras of my life in ways that are still powerfully evocative today. However, the advent of the digital age changed all of that. I started acquiring a lot more music, and I started paying a lot less attention to it. There were still great albums coming out, but even the best of them were competing in such a rich field that they were never able to dominate my mental space the way certain music did when I was in high school and college.

Then along came Fleet Foxes. This album has reminded me what it's like to truly love an album. I know every note, every word. I have played it a few times a week for a year now. It is powerfully intertwined into this era of my life.

Maybe they aren't your taste, and maybe they're too modern for this blog, but when I saw a chance to post a song from a band that I truly love, I couldn't resist.

Check it!