They were all in love with dying(Or Songs for the Afternoon)

It's a lovely day outside, birds are chirping, and the sky is full of visionary blue colors that might make you think of Miyazaki movies while you gradually drink and eat up on delicious cooked meat. Hope you enjoy this varied list of the perfect afternoon songs.

Butthole Surfers, Pepper, Electriclarryland
Much has been made of this extremely weird Austin band in their home city, but sadly they never really took off. “Pepper,” their biggest hit, is a whirlwind track that speaks most to the abandones of youth and how not only chaotic it can be, but also how fun it can be. I pick this song for the “Afternoon” sessions because it simmers in the heat of a bright day, where anything can happen, and if you’re lucky, they’ll be memories you have for years to come.

El-P, the Full Retard, Cancer for Cure
To me there’s no better music than rap music for a barbeque, and besides someone named West, El-P is without a doubt the most important hip hop artist of the last ten years, except you wouldn’t know it though because all the hip hop channels rap stations don’t really go for thought provoking music. Anyway, this track, off his spectacular third album, has the wiggle of a loose day turning into a long night, and his rhymes go killer hard with the bounce of his insatiable beats. It all just works in a seamless way, and trust me, you want to be knowing this guy, especially if you’re into thinking man’s music.

Feist, I Feel it All, the Reminder, the Reminder
Who doesn’t love a nice mid day bike ride? I regularly go out on adventures with my bike, and this song graced my headphones a little while ago during a fun and carefree ride through the sun in New Orleans. The song itself is one of many brilliant tracks on Feist’s smash solo album, but what is has that makes it stand out, at least to me is the realization of wrongdoings and that it doesn’t have to be the end all. The charm in the song lies not in the vocal arrangement, but the joyfulness of the instrumentation. It’s a fine line to juxtapose truthful and hurtful lyrics with upbeat music, but Leslie Feist kills it here.

Kanye West featuring T-Pain, Good Life, Graduation
This is very nearly a cliche hip hop song. It feels very much like it could have been a video filmed on a yacht in a blue ocean, but it’s the depth of the vision that makes it an actual classic, even among his best tracks. It’s a feel good track from start to finish, and for that reason it’s the perfect song for the sunshine. Even T-Pain who i think is usually quite forgettable adds flavor, even more than “popping champagne on a plane.” It’s a wonderful track that stinks of loving the world we’re in, and having no regrets.

the Strokes, the Modern Age, Is This It?
This seems like an odd choice, even to me, but for some reason the track off their colossal breakthrough found it’s way onto the list. The band has always seemed to not care about perceptions and what was expected of them, and that’s one of the best things going for them. That’s why it works so well. It’s their form of order and control in the art they chose to release into the world, and for me, afternoons, especially weekend afternoons are where stories are made and lives changed. If this seems rambling and off center I’m sorry but carefree fun doesn’t always have to make sense. I pity anyone who never gets weekends off, because that’s where the fun starts.


See you in the night time.