Set 1

“Lightspeed” by Matt and Kim

From their self-titled first album. It came out on a really small label called iheartcomix, which I know nothing about outside of this context. I was really into this album as a tween, and this song is one of the highlights for me.

“Relay” by Fiona Apple

One of my favorite tracks off the new album. I need to go back and listen to it again, though; it’s the kind of album I feel like you need to be in a certain place to listen to.

“Stare Into the Sun” by Graffiti6

Another song I liked as a tween. I honesty know nothing about these guys other than this song.

“Powerful Man” by Hop Along

Lead singer Frances Quinlan (who I recently realized is my new celebrity crush) is one of those songwriters who keeps a journal and uses it to write songs; this one was one of them, based on a real incident.

“In the Army Now” by Joyce Manor

This whole album is honestly a classic of the 2010s. It’s the type you need to listen to in full, but this and a few other songs do play well on their own as well.

“Someone You Should Know” by Lisa Loeb

She’s mostly known as a one-hit wonder for “Stay (I Missed You)”, but she did have a few other, minor hits, and I think she’s worth a listen. This one’s from her 2002 album Cake and Pie, which was rereleased with a slightly different track listing the same year under the title Hello Lisa. (She’s also my other celebrity crush.)

Set 2

“L.E.S. Artistes” by Santigold

If you’re not familiar with the French language and New York City, this song’s title probably doesn’t register. It refers the Lower East Side and its music and arts scene in the early 2000s, but it’s also a pun: “les artistes” is french for “the artists.”

“Georgia” by Yuck

Not much to say about this one.

“Dressed Sharply” by An Horse

Another song from my tween years. I actually found this one because it was the iTunes free single of the week.

“Fall In” by Cloud Nothings

I feel like this is the least dark song on Attack on Memory, at least in its sound.

“Alive With the Glory of Love” by Say Anything

I was going to say this is the best song about love during the Holocaust, but then I remembered that that’s basically half of the songs on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Regardless, it’s a catchy ass song. I’m not sure how embarrassed I should be that I first heard it on Scrubs, though.

Closing

“Heartbeats” by the Knife

The Knife don’t really have any other songs that sound quite like this classic, which is a bit of a shame. Their other stuff isn’t bad, but a lot of it is too weird for me.

Streaming