Ton plat favori: Malajube MP3s

I won't lie. I've felt bored and uninspired all day. For no real reason, I found myself ambling down streets all day in a daze. I barely noticed the in-season plums coloring the the fruit market or the punch of soy sauce outside the dim sum joints like I usually do. I didn't feel like studying anyone's face as they passed or hypothesizing how that homeless teenager on Park Presidio ended up that way or even going running. And the very last thing I felt like doing was listening to music. I didn't want to devote that energy to being awed or awakened or excited. All I really wanted to do was go back to sleep and start the day over. Call it a loss and move on. Not listening to music lasted for about half an hour. I tried putting on some Joanna Newsom, which was predictably lovely but couldn't break my spell. She kept trying to make balloons, peaches and clams seem fantastical, which made me feel even more ordinary by comparison. I threw on Sonic Youth's Goo next to no avail. Eventually, I gave up and put my MP3 directory on shuffle. Skip. Skip. Skip. Skip. Skip. Skip.... Skip... Skip... I started enjoying the five second snippets of intros I let play more than the songs. And then I finally heard something that got my head bobbing. My heel tentatively joined in for the chorus. It was Malajube's "Montréal -40˚C," a track I'd downloaded a while ago but never really given its due. But here it was, fun, hooky, energetic, loud, French-Canadian! And generous enough to lament the freezing northern winters while pumping out the sunshine. Glad the lyrics were in French, I didn't have to worry about associations or meanings. I denied the urge to immediately dissect the band down to their influences. And since I hadn't heard much about them (and hadn't even sought out the song), I didn't approach it with any expectations. This was all about sound--simple, primal, smart, rocking pop that demanded my ear. I'm sure I could've turned to similar bands for that shot of adrenaline pop (Enon, The Unicorns, The New Pornographers), but Malajube was all it took. Tomorrow, I'm going to wake up listening to their sophomore album Trompe L'oeil. Not because I think I'll have any unexplained spells to break after tonight. It's just that I'm hopelessly hooked now. * MP3: "Montréal -40˚C" - Malajube from Trompe L'oeil * MP3: "Fille À Plumes" - Malajube from Trompe L'oeil [Buy it] * Band Website: Malajube