Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Song Spotter: Spoon, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Monday night i was watching Kitchen Confidential on Fox. One might ask me, "Why?". I may answer, "Because i like it and it was on after Arrested Development." Like AD, i know KitchCon (i made that up) is only gonna be on a few more times before the idiots at Fox give it the axe, so i watch it looking for good qualities in order to prove just how stupid the Fox Execs are.
Anyway..Monday's episode focused on a feud between KitchCon's main character - a flawed but likeable chef at an upscale restaurant - and a chef at a rival restaurant, who is also flawed, but not ostensibly likeable. He's a womanizing, conniving, vile pig of a man. And he's French. His name is Michel. During the final scene, we learn that his last name is Valentine. My favorite Spoon song, The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine, immediately comes to mind, and seconds later, that very song comes on the TV! Wow! We then learn that Mishel V. isn't so conniving, and is not quite as vile as we had thought (but he's still a womanizing smelly Frenchman). As the show fades to black and the credits roll, you hear, "..Til you know the two sides of Monsieur Valentine." That's a tidy way to end an otherwise mediocre episode of a doomed show. It makes me wonder if the writers liked the song to begin with and wrote the whole episode around it.

I was watching The Office on NBC a coupla weeks ago. "But dude, that show is just an unimaginative American clone of the original BBC series!" I thought it sucked at first too, Mr. Inner Contrarian Dialogue Man, especially because the first few episodes consisted mostly of recycled scenes from the original. "Phooey!" i said in disapointment. But i kept watching, and i'm glad i did. It has since found its own space and i no longer find myself constantly comparing the American characters with their British counterparts. Not to mention Steve Carrel seems to have been born to play the role of Office boss Michael Scott.
Anyway...On this episode, Jim throws a party, and playing in the background is a fmiliar tune that takes me a minute to recognize. Then finally i realize it's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's song, The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth. i can't believe it took my brain that long to register it, since i've been listening to that album nonstop for a coupla months now. i think the file retreival system in my head inexplicably comes up 404 sometimes. Early dimentia?
So here are the songs i spotted on the TV for your aural pleasure. Keep in mind that these songs are for sampling purposes only. If you've not heard these two bands before and like them, seek them out. Go to their shows, buy an album or two, purchase a t-shirt. To save these songs to your computer, right click, save as...

Spoon (actually, it's just Britt Daniel) : The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine Live on KEXP
buy Spoon albums here.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah : The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth - album version
visit CYHSY here.
Enjoy!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Excellent songs. My wife watches Grey's Anatomy, which means I watch Grey's Anatomy, and while not nearly as fun or interesting as The Office, they surprise me by throwing some decent tunes in as well.