Loren's pick: "State of Art- A.E.I.O.U." by Jim James

Sometimes songs bring us to another medium. This track brings me right to a scene in the book, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. The protagonist, Christopher Johnson McCandless, loses his identity. The notion of names, speech, language no longer play a role. The way this song builds reminds me of that absence. Perhaps it's James's stripped down lyrics, "you need the dark, as much as the sun" and the rise of music, the use of naming out the vowels as if trying out the sound for the first time, there is a deep searching both in the music and lyrics. "It's a life worth living...you build it up strong". This song, like Krakuer's book, gets to the root of being human. With the swoons of A.E.I.O.U., some of our first sounds made and James' warning about technology and the power going out this is the most gentle warning about balancing technology and our sense of primial expression. Or maybe it was just an excuse to walk around with a t.v. on his head.

Christina's pick: "You Can Have It All" by George McCrae, and covered by Yo La Tengo

Full disclosure, I was singing the Yo La Tengo cover of this (which I thought was the original) when my Mom chimed in and started singing along. "How do you know this song?" I asked her. "Haha, how do YOU know this song?" she snapped back.

Turns out disco girl was right! This is a great groove that probably would have been totally lost over time had it not been covered by Yo La Tengo. I love how a song can take on such a new life that it sheds its former one. Yo La Tengo's version, for me, is melancholic car rides or walks through the park. For my Mom, it's sequins and tearing up the dance floor. Here are both versions, in all their unique glory: