Here’s a discussion of my selections for the Eargasm mix, Volume 13 of the Green Monkey Music Project, guest-hosted by the bodacious Barbara.

Dig For Fire – The Pixies
Moment of Eargasm: 0:17
This song starts out normally enough, bassline, some percussion, a little guitar riff. Go ahead and tap your foot to it. Nice, eh? Then, when the kick drum and snare start, you realize, oops, I am off the beat! The Pixies often would do slight tweakings of the pop music soup they swam in (doing parts of many songs in a 6/4 time signature, for example). I just love how it throws me off when the drums come in, I guess.

Good Times – Sam Cooke
Moment of Eargasm: 1:30
This is a different kinda eargasm, one more tied to the lyrics, and the delivery of those lyrics:

It might be one o’clock and it might be three
Time don’t mean that much to me
I ain’t felt this good since I don’t know when
And I might not feel this good again

To me, it’s just this urgent call to passion, to living, to love. Then the damn song ends shortly after. Goddammit! I thought we were gonna let the good times roll!

Eye Know – De La Soul
Moment of Eargasm: 0:26
The album 3 Feet High And Rising is just wonderful. The songs are so pure, so fresh, even after all these years. All of the samples are used expertly, and seamlessly integrated. Every time it kicks in, I get a thrill hearing the little loop of whistling from Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”.

Maria Bethânia – Caetano Veloso
Moment of Eargasm: 1:43
Wow, look at that cover. He looks sad. He made this album while living in England, exiled by the Brazilian government for political reasons (in a nutshell, the Brazilian gov’t was populated with reactionary jerks). His sister Maria Bethânia was also a musician, and stayed in Brazil while Veloso was in exile. This song is a message to her, looking for hope in his homeland, but at the same time not being that hopeful. For me, the moment of eargasm occurs when the strings kick in with a quick little trill after the line “She has given her soul to the devil, but the devil gave his soul to God”.

Sweet & Center – U.S. Maple
Moment of Eargasm: 0:56, 1:06
I’ll say this yet again. In twenty years, everyone is going to realize how awesome U.S. Maple is. You can be one of the early adopters, or you can wait. But, why wait? This song has a nice little buildup before it gets chugging. And chug it does. When it gets going, I think of it as a lurching, drunken robot (something a little less comical than Bender, though). I love the moment the transition begins to drunken robot, at 0:56. I also love the high guitar squeal at 1:06, which is perhaps the robot punching someone in its way.

Indian Summer – Luna
Moment of Eargasm: 4:41
This is one of those uncommon occasions when the cover of a song outshines the original. In this case, it’s Luna covering a Beat Happening song. This song is probably my best example of an eargasm, and you really need to listen to the whole thing build up to it. It’s an awesome, head-nodding piece of a guitar solo that happens at 4:41. You’re welcome.