Today's playlist, inspired by Heroes and Villains: The Battle for Good in India’s Comics (opening tomorrow), was a fun one to make. How could it not be when the exhibition shares its title with one of the greatest songs the Beach Boys ever wrote? The theme also happens to lend itself to some of my favorite songs by the Flaming Lips, Serge Gainsbourg, Big Star, and Black Flag (though the latter two, I think, are not popular opinions). There must be something about comics and superheroes that inspire great work from rock bands—probably because the fantasy of wanting to be a superhero and wanting to be a rock star are rooted in the same desire to be bigger than life.
Here’s what I came up with—as always, available for download on iTunes:
- The Beach Boys: Heroes and Villains
- Big Star: The India Song
- Serge Gainsbourg: Comic Strip
- Madlib: Indian Bells
- The Flaming Lips: Waitin’ for a Superman
- Leonard Cohen: A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes
- The Libertines: Time for Heroes
- The Fiery Furnaces: Cabaret of the Seven Devils
- Dan Deacon: Pink Batman
- Black Flag: You’re Not Evil
Thanks to @eugeniedfraval, @Itxi_Itx, @CreativesInc, and the blog Follow that Ostrich (who did a whole playlist of their own) for their suggestions and contributions, which included the Dan Deacon, Leonard Cohen, and Libertines tracks.