I’ve become a This American Life convert. I anticipate listening to it every Monday, and am rarely disappointed. I always worry a little when the show’s host Ira Glass does not say “a show in three acts, three acts”. And instead, he says “we’re dedicating the entire hour today to…”. See, if the topic doesn’t interest me, that’s the whole show shot.
Last week’s episode was such a show. It was entitled Switched at Birth, and it was fantastic. Here’s the blurb:
On a summer day in 1951, two baby girls were born in a hospital in small-town Wisconsin. The infants were accidentally switched, and went home with the wrong families. One of the mothers realized the mistake but chose to keep quiet. Until the day, more than 40 years later, when she decided to tell both daughters what happened. How the truth changed two families’ lives—and how it didn’t.
It’s an absolutely riveting show. It’s about nature vs. nurture, the big secrets in every family and the influence of the church on small town life. The producers just get everything right. They skillfully manage the large cast of characters in the two families. More importantly, the show is a classic example of radio at its best–it’s a story tailor made for the medium. Plus, it feels like a very American story. Which, of course, is what the name of the show promises.
They toured with this husband-and-wife duo of an indie band called Mates of State. I liked what I heard, so I figured I’d purchase some MP3s and give them a more extended audition in my music collection. But which songs to buy?
First stop: Wikipedia, which indicates that they have five albums, dating from 2000 to a May, 2008 release.
Next stop, eMusic, where I’m a subscriber. eMusic only offers their first three albums. eMusic says their most popular songs are, in order, “Ha Ha”, “The Kissaway” and “Fluke”.
To Amazon. Amazon claims to stock four albums, but one is, in fact, just an EP. Plus, they say that the 2004 album is Mates of State’s “latest release”. Clearly this is not the case. Top songs on Amazon: “Goods”, “Along for the Ride” and “Jellyman Kelly”.
Next, the iTunes store. I don’t usually buy from them, but I figured I’d have a look. iTunes lists six albums (including the EP). Confusingly, one album is listed twice. Assuming the 2008 album isn’t out yet (though why isn’t it available for pre-order?), iTunes has the most exhaustive catalog. Most popular songs: “Goods”, “Along for the Ride” and “Fluke”.
On YouTube, the top videos are for the songs “Fraud in the 80s”, “Get Better” and “Fluke”.
Finally, there’s Last.fm. The most popular songs there are “Ha Ha”, “Think Long” and “Like U Crazy”.
Finally, I visited the band’s website. Why did I go here last? Because band websites are often lousy, and rarely help me to answer the question “which songs should I buy?”. I see that their forthcoming album isn’t out to May 20th, 2008. Their first single is out, though, and the video features a scooter rider in rabbit mask:
There’s clearly little consensus out there on the best three Mates of States songs. Is there a market out there for a website that just answers that question? It could be FirstThreeSongs.com. It could grab data from the above (and other) sources, and produce a reasonably definitive three song starter list for every band on the planet.
