Smells Mellow

Great Lake Swimmers -- Various Stages (3.8mb mp3 from the band's SXSW2006 page, which won't last)

Banjo, harmonica and a lazily strumming guitar -- I've never been a Neil Young fan and this doesn't tend to be my style. I'm not a big lyric geek either and songs about manic depression wouldn't usually turn my crank. BUT, this is a truly top-notch song from a talented Canadian indie band. I think it's mostly the smoothness of the singer's voice, and the meandering melodies. Melancholy lines stick in your head for days after the second or third listen, along with the repeated opening, I have seen you in various stages of undress. I have seen you through various stages of madness.