LEARN TO LOVE: Five-song snapshots of essential bands. Start here and dig deeper.

Nick Drake – “Cello Song”: mp3
(from Five Leaves Left, 1969)
Nick Drake – “Northern Sky”: mp3
(from Bryter Layter, 1970)
Nick Drake – “Which Will”: mp3
(from Pink Moon, 1972)
Nick Drake – “Clothes Of Sand”: mp3
(from the Time of No Reply compilation, 1986)
Nick Drake – “Blues Run The Game” (Jackson C. Frank cover): mp3
(Demo recording; available on Family Tree, 2004)

Previously: The Radio Dept.

Photo by Aylin Güngör Dedeoglu

LEARN TO LOVE: Five-song snapshots of essential bands. Start here and dig deeper.

The Radio Dept. – “Why Won’t You Talk About It”: mp3
(from Lesser Matters, 2003)
The Radio Dept. – “Pulling Our Weight”: mp3
(from Pulling Our Weight EP, 2003)
The Radio Dept. – “The Worst Taste In Music”: mp3
(from Pet Grief, 2006 — their best yet)
The Radio Dept. – “Freddie and the Trojan Horse”: mp3
(from Freddie and the Trojan Horse EP, 2008)
The Radio Dept. – “David”: mp3
(from David EP, 2009)

(Buy Radio Dept. albums from Labrador)

Happy 110th, fella.

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Learn To Love: An introduction to awesome. Every Friday. Click below for more.

In honor of Mr. Ben Folds playing in Los Angeles tonight — which will, unfathomably, be my first time seeing him proper, not counting a quickie gig he did at the Virgin Megastore a few years back — we have the second installment of Learn To Love.

Ben Folds Five seem horribly under-appreciated these days, perhaps thanks to the ubiquity and one-hit-wonderishness of “Brick,” but they’re so much more than that. Billing themselves as players of “punk for sissies,” Ben Folds Five were a relative anomaly in ’90s indie rock, matching the era’s teen angst against ’60s pop harmonies and musical chops on the level of previous piano men like Elton John and Billy Joel (but so much more gloriously unhinged). Over three albums and a b-sides & rarities collection, their songs ranged from ironic anthems (“Underground,” the best ever song about being a hipster/loser/whatever) to thoughtful ballads (“Don’t Change Your Plans”), from bass-heavy to Bacharach-tinged. They were my first favorite band; I love them dearly, and I hope you will too.

(Ben Folds Official Site)

Previously: Learn to Love: Beulah
Previously: Video: Ben Folds Five Reunion – “Don’t Change Your Plans”

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Learn To Love: An introduction to awesome. Every Friday. Click below for more.

Welcome to the first installment of Learn To Love — a new column where we introduce you to a band, year, genre, whatever. Up first: Beulah, a horn-assisted power-pop band with shades of Pavement, the Beach Boys and Big Star. While associated with Elephant Six, Beulah’s songs were more straightforward animals; the band peaked on 2001′s The Coast is Never Clear and broke up shortly after the darker, noisier Yoko. (Trivia: Michael Cera is a big fan, having used a tune in his Web series, Clark and Michael.) The film A Good Band Is Easy To Kill documents their final tour in 2003, and in the wake of BitTorrent, MySpace, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! and the surge of hipster culture, it also captures perhaps the last year when being an indie band meant doing things the old-fashioned way.

Beulah – “I Love John, She Loves Paul” (from Handsome Western States, 1997): mp3
Beulah – “If We Can Land A Man On The Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart” (from When Your Heartstrings Break, 1999): mp3
Beulah – “What Will You Do When Your Suntan Fades?” (from The Coast Is Never Clear, 2001): mp3
Beulah – “My Side Of The City” (from Yoko, 2003): mp3
Beulah – “A Man Like Me” (from Yoko Demos, 2003): mp3

(Hear more Beulah on their official site)

Previously: Bootleg: Beulah – Live at KCRW 9.25.01

Please send your suggestions for future Learn To Love columns to rawkblog at gmail dot com. Happy Halloween!

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Learn To Love: An introduction to awesome. Every Friday.