one Asian under a groove

Acen: “Trip II the Moon (Parts 1 & 2)”: “I can’t believe these feelings!” Some pursue the pharmaceutical path to this mindset, but for lawfuls like me, it very much seems that an element of horror accompanies the thrill — when the drums drop out, you don’t know what’s going to jump at you out of the dark. As for James Bond, living in his world seems terrifying as well.

Amerie ft. Eve: “1 Thing”: Start with four bars of Ziggy Modeliste. Get Rich Harrison to go-go them up, using guitar stabs like bowling bumpers to keep the track on track. Write a song over it, making sure to leave room for layers of your sweet upper register. If you can get Eve to drop a cameo, you’ll be queen for three-and-a-half minutes.

Aphex Twin: “Girl/Boy Song”: Arbitrarily selected non-ambient work.

Ash: “Petrol”: The joy of a room of one’s own. The joy of not having to know everything. The joy of a window that faces east. The joy of being able to make haste. The joy of discovering one can be independent. The joy of being taken seriously. The joy of a secret place.

Backstreet Boys: “I Want It That Way”: Hey, sometimes ambiguity works in pop! When I did this with my friend Spencer in my best-ever karaoke performance (in 2003, the last time I could hit that high B cleanly), it made it clear the song really gets great starting from the middle eight. Then when we return to the formerly innocuous verse, the true meaning is revealed: “You are… you are… you are… you are.”