If you want a song with a story attached, there's no better man than Podge McNamee of chart-topping Irish band HamsandwicH to offer one up. When Niamh Farrell and Podge arrived in to offer up their take on Songs in the Key of Life, it seemed like every song belonging to Podge's selection had a tale attached.
Take the reason he chose Modest Mouse's Float On: "We had a house party in Drimnagh a few years ago and played Modest Mouse's 'Float On' eight times in a row. Our neighbour ran into the house and smashed the hi-fi. But. . . there were two hi-fis. The music still played."
Or there's his nostalgic reasoning for picking the Pixies. "I used to go to this pub in Kells called The Chaser and sing to the Pixies' Debaser: 'I want to grow/Up to drink/In The Chaser'".
Niamh, meanwhile, picked songs of a very different variety, veering towards female artists with beautiful - sometimes doomily beautiful -- vocals, and often a tragic life, such as Karen Carpenter and Whitney Houston. "Women like Karen Carpenter and Amy Winehouse get put into a box," she said of the music industry life. "It ends up destroying them."
Hamsandwich have a gorgeous new single out called Bodies -- which you can hear on the show as well -- and they plan to finish recording their fourth album in 2018. Listen back to their show by clicking the play button above.
Let us know what you think of their selections by tweeting @songsinthekey or @nadineoregan.
Podge and Niamh's Playlist:
- HamsandwicH 'In Perfect Rhymes'
- Modest Mouse 'Float On' (Podge)
- Whitney Houston 'I Have Nothing' (Niamh)
- Pixies 'Gigantic' (Podge)
- The Carpenters 'Rainy Days and Mondays' (Niamh)
- HamsandwicH 'Bodies'
- Loah 'The Bailey' (Niamh)
- Chaos Chaos 'Do You Feel It' (Niamh)
- Mazzy Star 'Look On Down from the Bridge' (Niamh)
- Rollerskate Skinny 'Speed to My Side' (Podge)
- Pavement 'Carrot Rope' (Podge)
- Lambchop 'Up with People' (Podge)
- The National 'Sons and Daughters of the Soho Riots' (Podge)
- Halo Benders 'Virginia Reels around the fountain' (Podge)
