Name that tune!

May 26, 2007 5:52 PM

Name that tune: rock/pop, heavily-repeated catchy "na na na na" chorus, nylon-strung open guitar chords, heavily-reverbed Asian-language (or French) female vocals, and string section. Slow, lilting, sad, and haunting. Reminiscent of "Crimson and Clover", but a little less psychedelic.

So I'm sitting in an Austin indie coffeeshop and hear an amazing song. I ask the barrista, and says it's a mix cd a friend gave him so he doesn't know.

The "na na na na" chorus at the end went on forever, and I believe the final few measures were just the singer and the strummed guitar - the violins and band had dropped out. I could have sworn it was French, but the barista assured me that it was an Asian language.

The production values sounded like the warmth of the 60s/70s, but perhaps this is some clever current indie band/songwriter?

Any ideas? Throwing out any names would be much appreciated.

posted by acehigh to media & arts (13 comments total)

I think this probably isn't it, but just in case - could it be "Sugar Water" by Cibo Matto? You can hear a sample of it on Amazon (though the sample doesn't include any of the "na na na" bits).
posted by cadge at 6:27 PM on May 26, 2007

Another guess which probably isn't it: Metisse - Boom Boom Ba?
posted by Comrade_robot at 6:41 PM on May 26, 2007

nope, sorry cadge, that ain't it. thanks for trying.
posted by acehigh at 6:43 PM on May 26, 2007

that ain't it either, comrade. This may be unsolvable.

Think more along the lines of Mazzy Star + Mark Kozelek in Japanese, whatever that means.

Despite the above references, it actually sounded like it could have been a mainstream song (not in the U.S., but in Asia) from a few decades ago.

I'm pretty sure the time was 4/4 and the chords were basic major/minor, nothing flowery or complicated.
posted by acehigh at 6:51 PM on May 26, 2007

The Supremes - Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)? Obviously heavily mixed, probably some weird cover, but when you say "na na na na" that's definitely what I think of. (And oh gods now it's stuck in my head....thanks!) (Oh, and it's probably been covered manymany times judging by the wikipedia article.)
posted by anaelith at 7:44 PM on May 26, 2007

'jikan ryokou' by DCT? real-audio here. Ending here.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 7:51 PM on May 26, 2007

er, real-audio here. . .
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 7:54 PM on May 26, 2007

There is a band called Dengue Fever that has a vibe similar to what your describe. Asian Pop mixed with 60s Psychodelia.

It could be their song 'One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula'. But I don't think there is an acoustic bit in that song.. so maybe not.

A few of their songs have popped up in movies and on TV so you're more indie types would have it on their Mix CDs.

There are on iTunes if you wanna hear a preview.
posted by TheOtherGuy at 10:55 PM on May 26, 2007

I could have sworn it was French,

I know that one song by Nine Inch Nails (La Mer - I thought you might be referring to this song at first) uses a Cajun/NOLA form (?) of French. Entirely possible that it's something along these lines.
posted by saturnine at 5:30 AM on May 27, 2007

Oh I think I know the one you're talking about.

Is it...

Cibo Matto, 'Super Relax'?
posted by waxbanks at 6:21 AM on May 27, 2007

You may want to check out the various Asian volumes of the Love, Peace, and Poetry collections. Each CD collects unknown psychedelic gems from an area of the world. While some of the tracks have relatively dated or juvenile production values, there are others that make you wonder how the nobodies in question ever did that in the late 60s/early 70s.
posted by modernpoverty at 7:15 AM on May 27, 2007

From the description you just described the entire Cocteau Twins back catalogue.

But maybe it's Air you're looking for.
posted by genghis at 8:02 AM on May 27, 2007

Thanks for all the suggestions. We're still not there yet. If things get really desperate I'll go back to the coffeeshop and ask to encode the cd on my laptop.
posted by acehigh at 7:34 AM on May 28, 2007