Jessi - Music Director
The Magnetic Fields is the last word in love songs, as one might expect from a band that issued a three album set entitled 69 Love Songs. In particular, they seem to specialize in highlighting the painful, the awful, and the bleak aspects of love. A couple standouts from their deep catalog are "I Don't Want to Get Over You" and "Yeah! Oh, Yeah."
The first is a favorite because it is deeply and pathetically relatable. Everyone has had that pitiful feeling-sorry-for-yourself attitude that sometimes results from heartbreak and this song just totally rubs your nose in it. "Yeah, Oh Yeah" is equal parts horrifying and hilarious. It's about love gone awry to hyperbolic proportions, finally ending with the lines, "Was my whole life just a lie? Yeah! Oh, Yeah!"
Alisha - Morning Show Host
I've been dateless and I've been serenaded by saxophone. Also, I've received Girl Scout cookies in lieu of a box of chocolates.
As a radio host, Valentine's Day is a yearly excuse to revisit my favorite love songs by Yo La Tengo. My top five changes each year and "My Heart's Reflection" and "Our Way To Fall" undoubtedly tie for the top spot.
I don't care if I get swept off my feet, and I certainly don't feel entitled to romance just because it's February 14th. At the end of the day, I'll always have Yo La Tengo to fill my heart with tales of true love. Alisha + Love = Yo La Tengo.
Brandee - Afternoon Host
I'm going to be straight with you - I kinda dig Valentine's Day. Love rules my world, so I, without fail, turn almost every song into a love song. Even if it's just me singing it to my dog in the kitchen in a lovey-dovey voice, anything can hold a feeling of love, especially something like music that naturally brings people together.
But what if you're going through heartbreak? What if the last thing you want to hear is a love song? What if you feel like you may rip your own heart out if one more dude croons on about how beautiful that dame's eyes are? Here's what you do: Listen to NY hip hop group, The Beatnuts. Take it from me and a month I spent listening to them and only them around 2006, not a lovey dovey thing in the mix, guaranteed. Kinda gritty, pretty grimey, you may want to cover your ears once or twice and you'll spend your time split between wanting to dance and trying to figure out what they're saying. Heartache be gone!
Happy Valentine's Day!
