The Strokes>On the Other Side

When I need a real lift few bands are better to listen to than The Strokes. Almost every track from their first album Is this It? (2001) is a cracker. Most of them I suspect glorify a lifestyle closer to that of Sodom and Gomorrah than John Calvin's Geneva or the Taliban's Kabul but boy do they get your foot tapping!

On my first hearing of The Strokes all I could hear was The Velvet Underground but the New Yorker's third album First Impressions of Earth (2005) moves things on a little. My favourite track has to be 'On the Other Side'. The lilt of the song sounds a bit like a cheesy American 19th century hymn but when it's set to the lyrics it just blows you away. If Jeremiah was to have a favourite song I reckon it'd be this one - the protaganist shares his agony of judging everything and everyone and getting tired of it.

Bird York>In the Deep

I figured it was time for a song written and performed by a woman. I know nothing about Bird York, but she looks a tad more beautiful than Shane MacGowan. I came across this song from the fantastic movie Crash and it is featured on her album The Velvet Hour (2005).

The lyrics and music of this track get me everytime and is the perfect soundtrack for postmodern Christians struggling to get to grips with a faith largely wrapped up in modernity. I'd rather be 'out there spinning in the deep' than pretending I really have all the answers.