Jim Newell
Mirah
C'mon Miracle
If you're a male and have yet to hear a song by Mirah, it might be best to avoid her. That's not to say she sucks, though. Actually, quite the opposite. It's just ... her voice is so seductive ... it becomes nearly impossible to concentrate on anything else while listening to her. On the Washingtonian's fourth solo outing from K Records, Mirah utilizes her startling vocals, acoustic guitar and soft piano strokes to weave a musical collage that sounds both sexy and pensive. C'mon Miracle is a gorgeous album, and surely one of the year's best ... and most distracting.
Nickie Huang
David Bowie
Hunky Dory
There was a time when all I knew about Bowie was that he married a supermodel, had a wardrobe that made me weep and wrote some dinky song called "Ziggy Stardust." Also, I have now been in therapy long enough to re-remember that I once killed a dance party with a harrowing rendition of "Space Oddity." Although I'm not quite whole enough to listen to that album again, I can say with confidence that Hunky Dory is truly exquisite, a laundry list of all things I hold near to my heart: Andy Warhol, Pretty Things, aliens and boys that wear eyeliner.
Eugenia Salvo
A-Ha
"Take On Me"
This is terrible, but I'm slightly obsessed with this '80s classic. Not just the cool video with the half-animated people (well cool for the '80s -- which I really do love), but also because showers wouldn't be the same without a mutilated version of this song playing in my head. Fine, my love of "Take On Me" may have something to do with a boy. It may be that this boy plays an instrument. I won't go into details. Either way, I once read an article about how A-Ha was one of the most under-rated bands, ever, and I said to myself -- "that's crap, but they did have that one really great single." Such is life.
