Like most of you, I grew up on a steady television diet of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street.

Some of my fondest memories are of sitting in front of the television (waaaaay too close, my mother would say) on our pink shag carpet, with apple juice and animal crackers in hand, watching, learning and singing along with my pals on 123 Sesame Street.

I learned how to count to nine in Spanish. I learned that la-la-la-lemon is spelled with an L. I learned how to share, how to count, how to read, that it wasn’t easy being green and that cookies were the most coveted food in the world, all while being highly entertained by Jim Henson’s awe-inspiring imagination.

Sesame Street set the bar high for children’s shows and nothing since its birth in 1969 has come close to its magic.

This month Sesame Street turns the big 4-0 and to celebrate this milestone I would like to dedicate this week’s column to the brilliant show with a special list of my Top 10 favourite original songs.

To this day, I still sing these songs to myself all the time. This was an extremely difficult list to compile with so many fantastic original tunes over the show's 40 years. Check out some of my past columns on the show – the Top 10 musical guest spots and how the show has taken the term “street cred” to a whole new level.

Happy birthday, Sesame Street!

 

Click here for 'Sesame Street's Top 10 original songs

 

Clearly this is just my Top 10 list of favourite original songs – what are some of yours? Any thoughts or questions? Email me at jessica.russell@tvguide.ca.

 

TELLY TUNAGE

Outdoor Miners “Twelve Hundred Dollars”

Atlas Sound “The Screens”

The Mary Onettes “Dare”

Dirty Projectors “No Intention”

Memory Tapes “Easy Pert Mom”

 

JESSICA’S JUKEBOX: FRESH TUNES YOU GOTTA HEAR

The Swell Season – Strict Joy (Anti)
Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard and Czech singer-pianist Marketa Irglova captivated audiences in their stunning 2007 indie flick, Once, and equally charmed Oscar viewers that year when they performed the emotionally driven “Falling Slowly” from the film. They took home a gold statue that night for best original song and instantly ears perked up around the world. People were immediately drawn to their chemistry, their story and their songs (Once’s soundtrack sold close to one million copies). Now two years later, though the real-life romance has fizzled between these two, their chemistry still warrants their ability to make beautiful music together on this followup, Strict Joy. Hansard’s expressive Van Morrison-like voice complements Irglova’s faint whispers perfectly as they harmonize their mixtures of slow-building, but powerful piano ballads and tender acoustic sentiments. They don’t stray very far from their formula, but that’s the beauty of this excellent companion piece to the award-winning soundtrack.
Recommended if you dig ... Van Morrison or Damien Rice.

 

Lullabye Arkestra – Threats/Worship (Vice)
Hardcore has evolved past the repetitive three-chord burst of anger that it started with. Canadian groups have been at the forefront of this change. Case in point? The members of this year’s Polaris winning group, F*cked Up, and their pals in Lullabye Arkestra. Really, it would be inaccurate to consider Lullabye Arkestra solely in terms of hardcore, because once you give it that label you realize how much more is going on in this record. First, the vocals are incredible shrieking duets between husband-and-wife duo Katia and Justin Taylor-Small. Do Make Say Think member Justin growls in true garage spirit and Katia howls like a possessed Chan Marshall of Cat Power. On the surprising closer “Sad Sad Story,” Katia sings like an alt-country torch singer. But for the most part, Lullabye is an abrasive monster, haunting hardcore, metal, garage and any other aggressive music you can name. Lullabye Arkestra is the real thing, producing dangerous music that when played loudly really can hurt your ears.
Recommended if you dig … F***ed Up, Fugazi or Nick Cave.

 

Built To Spill – There Is No Enemy (Warner)
Built To Spill returns to close out the 2000s with its strongest album in the decade. Songwriter Doug Martsch has regained his ability to blend wailing, chiming, walls of guitars with his keen sense of indie-pop melody. The standout track, “Hindsight,” begins with a ringing, near-slide guitar and, halfway through, spontaneously shifts to a new gear and even better song about – not kidding – a paradise called Canada. While the lyrics are often driven by with cynical ennui, the music stretches out in a beautifully shimmering soundscape of mostly guitars, but there are layers of horns, strings and other production tricks mixed in. Only in the nearly danceable “Good Ol’ Boredom,” in which the band locks into a groove, and the fuzzy, punkier “Pat” does the group diverge and tighten up its organic, indie-pop, shoegazing, headphone jams, although Martsch’s signature vocals always pull the listener back into Built To Spill’s dream world. Fans can rejoice Built To Spill is finally back.
Recommended if you dig … Neil Young, The Shins or Modest Mouse.

 

LAKE – Let’s Build a Roof (K Records)
K Records supergroup/collective LAKE creates the sweet, twee, indie pop you’d expect from the label, yet it’s so well-crafted it transcends any lo-fi fears. Recalling the lush, MOR rock of the ‘70s Beach Boys, the depth of sound and range of instrumentation (including horns, strings, various percussion, programming and complex vocal harmonies) come together to create a sunny outdoor environment. LAKE, like K records colleague Mount Eerie, creates something that is still twee and fits the K catalogue, but challenges any indie ideas about lo-fi. There is a sense of the natural world as subject matter, and capturing this vast organic influence requires much greater depth than the typical guitar, drum and bass. The songs feel like a single entity of sound, or one strange voice in the wind. This is an interesting, experimental record that shows that twee indie pop has evolved into something quite grand and overblown without getting schmaltzy or overly sentimental.
Recommended if you dig ... Mount Eerie or the Pastels.

 

 

Jessica’s musical nerdiness started at a very young age thanks to Jem and the Holograms, CFNY’s Free At Last compilations and an early introduction to Nirvana. She has since developed a penchant for effeminate indie rock, soul/mod revivalists, Scandinavian singers and old school hip-hop.

After a stint as a music writer at Toronto’s acclaimed NOW magazine, Jessica now aims to make the couch potatoes of the world a little more music savvy in her column Telly Tunes.

 

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