Antarctica, you stole our hearts!

Who doesn't love Antarctica? I mean, it's a continent, but it's uninhabited. It's on a pole. They've got penguins. It's home to the Antarctic Treaty System, the first arms control treaty of the Cold War, which required that it be left free of military incursions, to remain a home for scientific exploration and inquiry. And then there's the fantastic "Scott of the Antarctic" sketch by Monty Python. I mean, seriously.

Movies of Antarctica - Stars of Track and Field

I like movies. I like Antarctica. So I should like "Movies of Antarctica," right? Fortunately, Stars of Track and Field do not disappoint. This song is a drenching burst of 90s-inspired rock, with just enough of the shoegaze mentality to keep it unique. Their album Centuries Before Love and War won't be released on CD for quite a while, but you can pick it up on iTunes right now.

I started with just a quick post about this song, but then I got all excited about Antarctica and had to share a few more of my favorites about that southernmost of continents.

Antarctica - Antarctica Takes It!

What a fantastic song! Antarctica Takes It! certainly deserve that exclamation mark! At times soft and tender, at others gloriously carefree, it careens through a number of different tones but never loses its pure beauty. It's lo-fi as can be, but is astonishingly well-constructed. This is one of my favorite songs I've heard in the last couple months. You can order the album from their myspace page.

Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michel Foucault In Paris, 1961) - Weakerthans

A great song from John K Samson's post-Propagandhi band from their best album Reconstruction Site. The subject (as the lengthy title suggests) is an imaginary meeting between Michel Foucault and a member of the Shackleton expedition to Antarctica. The interplay between a postmodern icon and the weary explorer is delightful. As much as I love Foucault, I do appreciate the sentiment that perhaps we might be better detaching ourselves from the study of biopower and getting back to Antarctica.

Oh Larsen B - British Sea Power

British Sea Power has an amazing ability (similar to the Decemberists) to sing songs about obscure or bizarre subjects and give them an emotional heft you could never expect. This song, from their album Open Season, which was my 5th favorite album of 2005, is a great example. It's an ode to the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica which collapsed in 2002. It has the feel of a sincere, and touching, love song, and it's only when you realize that he's singing "Oh Larsen B, desalinate the barren sea" that you realize what's going on. But somehow, it fits.

Antarctica (My Beloved Home) - Page France

I've never gotten that into Page France, but it's more because of laziness on my part than any problem with them. Those songs that I have heard have been (for the most part) quirky, fun, and personable, like many Mountain Goats songs. This track fits that mould well.

And, finally, while I won't post a song, I would be remiss to neglect mentioning Modest Mouse's Moon and Antarctica (not my favorite but perhaps the best of their albums), devoted to the subject of the alienation of the pysche, fittingly titled after the two most desolate locations left to us.

For a site with more on the subject of Antarctic-themed music than you could even imagine existed, check out The Antarctic Circle.