18 AMPERSAND | FEB/MAR 2014
Will Guerin (Editor’s Choice)
Drew Kirby (guitarist/vocalist, New Wives)
1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - “Hysteric” - A weightless, floating arrangement
that doesn’t sacrifice the venomous bite of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs cata
logue. The song combines the blissful reverberation of chimes and
guitar with the brash personality of Karen O’s vocals as she breaks
out of sugary verses of “flow sweetly, hang heavy, you suddenly com
plete me” into the shouted refrain of “Hysteric-al!” It strikes the right
balance with a push and pull between emotion and physicality.
2. My Bloody Valentine - “I Only Said” - You might be setting the
bar a little high with this one because if you aren’t enraptured in joy
ful love making, you’ll probably be jealous of what Kevin Shields has
going on over there with all those bleeding guitars.
3. Beach House - “Silver Soul” - Wow! What an original pick Will,
who would have thought of Beach House? And admittedly, this leans
a little too much to the mushy, “let me make love to you” side of
things. But c’mon, you can’t beat that guitar tone or Victoria Le
grand’s vocals.
4. Purity Ring - “Lofticries” - There is something that makes you
lust after “Lofticries.” Maybe it’s the pairing of Megan James’ femi
nine mystique with the brooding bass and ethereal synths. Ideally,
it would be a little faster paced, but the slow grinding tempo has it’s
benefits as well.
5. Vampire Weekend - “I Think Ur A Contra” - What’s sex without
the blissful afterglow of brushing hair out of each other’s eyes and
laying on the bed exhausted? Ezra’s aiming straight for your heart on
this one - just don’t read too much into the (somewhat deceptive)
lyrical heartbreak he pens.
1. tUnE-yArDs - “Powa” - It’s a song about sex from the woman’s
perspective, which I feel like you don’t really hear enough of. Always
loved the line “I need you to press me down before my body flies
away from me.”
2. Outkast - “Stankonia (Stanklove)” - I could put the whole album
on here really, no one writes about sex like Andre 3000. “Both brains
become one mind sensually, every nerve becoming its own individ
ual entity with its own lusts, its own needs to serve, longing for the
love of all the other nerves.”
3. “Channel Orange” by Frank Ocean - I don’t think this one needs
any explaining.
4. The Beatles - “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” - Obvious sexual over-
tones aside, all the shifts in this song kind of hit on all the different
feelings in sex - it’s smooth, then just gets real dirty and gritty, all of
the sudden it speeds up doubletime, then the whole end section feels
like a blissful release. And they did it all in 3 minutes.
5. Lil B - "F*** Me (Remix)” - Because everyone needs to keep it
positive.
Specific Song Connected With Sex - The only song I really distinctly
remember is “Ball and Biscuit” by the White Stripes. It was pretty
perfect, the song pulses really nicely and alternately explodes and
then calms down. I love the builds before the solos, there’s so much
tension that has you so ready to dive into the next loud part. The
White Stripes in general have a pretty raw, carnal sound. Not to men
tion it’s a pretty long song too, so it really feels like a trip.
