17th
Marnie Stern
“Put All Your Eggs in One Basket and Then Watch That Basket!!”
My review of Marnie’s original demo tape, which has been commercially released as a small-run cassette and includes the original recording of this song, is up on Pitchfork today. The grade does not reflect my opinion of the songs themselves, only the demo release which I think is pretty unnecessary. Anyway, this is the song that sold me on her music when I first heard her debut album a few years ago. This is what I wrote about it in 2007:
It sounds like a band tumbling down a flight of stairs or a girly punk band fighting a wind storm, but lately, this is the song I put on when I want to feel calm. It’s like being in the eye of a hurricane, maybe. Stern’s arrangements are like meticulously crafted chaos — it spins around you, pulls you in every direction, but even when it feels like disorienting madness, there’s comfort and safety in the knowledge that every moment is organized and under control.
