#20: Phantogram, "When I'm Small"

This list continues to evolve even as it’s created. This slot had been destined for the Local Natives until continued listens (listenings?, what’s the right word there) left me doubting myself. Thankfully, Saratoga Springs, NY, duo Phantogram were warming up in the bullpen ready to step in.

Having opened for at least one band that will appear later on the list (I’ll leave you guessing) and one (the xx) who would have scored highly had I done this last year (thought for future post: retrospective Top 24 for 2009), Phantogram are another electro-groove band. But this isn’t the get up and move vibe of a Fat Boy Slim or a deadmau5; this is nighttime dance in your chair music similar to Portishead.

The lyrics leave me completely guessing to what the song is about, but it doesn’t sound like good news for Lucy. That holds the song back for me. But, with some songs, I’m willing to treat the vocals as if they were just another instrument. “When I’m Small” fits that bill.

Get ye to the Hype Machine: http://hypem.com/#!/search/phantogram/1/.

And the video feed makes its return from a triumphant tour of Europe, Asia, and the subcontinent.