Soundtrack for the week of October 21-October 27

These be my jams this week.

First: Asaf Avidan - One day / Reckoning Song (Wankelmut Remix)

Holy Moses, this is a brilliant remix of a song whose original was, truth be told, a tiny bit whiny. This treatment feels like a simple marking of the passage of time. It's a bit frantic, a bit sad, and incredibly hopeful. "I don't think about you all the time, but when I do I wonder why. One day, baby, we'll be old; think of all the stories that we could have told."

Second: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - Man on Fire

I feel like Edward Sharpe and his Attractive Null Sets actually just sings the songs in my heart. Maybe it's because I heard somewhere that his first album is based on a southwestern roadtrip the lead singer took when he was a child, maybe it's because the music feels like music I loved as a kid: the soul sounds of the hippies and Motown combined with upbeat parables. Maybe it's because he describes himself as a man on fire and then invites the world to dance with him. It's probably all of the above. Whatever it is, I do love it.

Third: Michael Jackson - Thriller

Thanks to the Jam Cellar, I'm learning to dance this. It has honestly taken 6 cumulative hours of instruction to learn the dance between 8:02 and 10:35. For those of you playing at home, that's two minutes and thirty-three seconds of dancing. Unlike Michael, we are not naturals.

Fourth: Logan Afyouni and Drunk Guy (Clark Chamberlin) - Caroline

I love this story. A gal with a guitar walks by, a super drunk guy begs her to stay and teach him a song. Their voices just... belong together. I love her face when she realizes what's happening and how special it is. And now they have plans to make music together. I love people.

Fifth: Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Shake That Thing

Last song of the night for me at the Jam Cellar this week. Whenever this song comes on, I try to strategically get one of the leads that will allow me to actually shake that thing. I try to dance with all levels of dancers and, as a follow, that means that I sometimes have to just chill out and do some triple-triple-rock step without too much distraction for the leads. Dancing is a ton of fun no matter what, but there are some folks with whom it's just... more fun. This week I grabbed Omar and we shook our things like nobody's business. It was awesome.