Courtesy of Truly Gadgets

It‰’s almost clichÌ© at this point to say that music “does things‰” to you. We all know it can affect one‰’s mood, often independent of the lyrical subject matter that may or may not be present. And it goes without saying that there are specific moments within songs that, well, “do things‰” to me. Mostly positive things, but for every song that makes me want to dance around my dorm room like an ass, there‰’s one that makes me want to curl into a ball and cry (I wrote about one of those last year). So this week, to keep with the past few good days I‰’ve had, we‰’ll be looking at some of my favorite examples of the former. Also, it‰’s nearing the end of the year, so “best moments‰” articles are en vogue.

Continuing with clichÌ©s, it‰’s almost clichÌ©d to have a passionate love for the phenomenal dance-punk act that was LCD Soundsystem. As someone who only discovered them around the release of their final record, This is Happening, I kind of feel like I missed out. But I soon delved into this discography and loved every single minute. So some of you probably already know what moment I may be talking about, but for those unfamiliar with the band, I think you should take a listen to the first song of theirs I heard, the opening track of the aforementioned record, “Dance Yrself Clean:‰Û

Yeah, it‰’s a long song, but trust me: it‰’s worth it. I‰’d give a time code to the moment in question, but I really don‰’t want people to just skip to it, as it‰’s truly the build up to the moment in question—one of the best beat drops in recent memory—that honestly truly makes it so special. This is one that, when alone and listening to it, I cannot help but dance around whatever room I may happen to be in. And anybody who has seen me dance knows that I honestly look like a confused dad chaperoning their teenage daughter‰’s prom when I dance. And even with one of the catchiest beats in recent memory, James Murphy manages to sneak in a few jibes at the modern music industry, comparing it to Marxism. It‰’s not often you get social commentary when turning up in da club.

Courtesy of LCD Soundsystem

Another one of my favorite moments in music occurs on punk-bluegrass band Larry & His Flask‰’s most recent album, By the Lamplight. The second track, “Barleywine Bump‰” has one of the most infectiously rousing choruses ever, and the final repetition makes me want to go to the quad and scream along in absolute resolve:

So jump in the barleywine,
Dive to the bottom and close your eyes
We‰’ll flow forever like dreams that were cast to the sea
All at the cost of a dime
And impossible
Is nothing when you have a dream to hold
We find our dreams in the glorious ever-loving
Bottomless pot of gold

Nothing at all

The final chorus comes as the resolution to a distorted, minor-key trumpet solo of a bridge with shouted outbursts like “It feels so good to be alive!‰” and “Oh, my heart, it still bleeds!‰” before ending with “Oh baby, come with me!!‰” The combination of the resolution this chorus provides with the gang-vocal like quality it has just instills a sense of resolve in my heart like few other songs. It reminds me that, despite how awful things may seem, most things will end up resolving. And even if they don‰’t, that is okay too. And that‰’s a reminder that I think every single human being alive could use at one point or another in their life.

Courtesy of Bend