The slow-mo episode wrap-up song has been a staple of TV drama since at least summer 2005, when Claire drove off at the end of Six Feet Under to the strains of Sia's "Breathe Me." And it's a (sickeningly) perfect device because the song usually acts as both an amplifier and a mirror for the emotions, tensions and fears in the storyline. There's no shortage of artists with songs ready to provide that tearful heart-shaped bump, but Detroit's Silent Violet (aka Mariam McCarthy) is right there too. On Sounds of a Dirty City, her debut full-length, the whispers and intakes of breath are in place over the synthesized velvet of her keyboards and programming. In keeping with our Lust Issue, we asked Mariam for five "Heart Cheeze" love songs off her iPod.
5. Postal Service — "Such Great Heights": Did someone really say that God made us into corresponding shapes like puzzle pieces? Because I think that's just really well said.
4. Sarah McLachlan — "I Love You": This song's one big, beautiful, melancholy sigh. "I grieve in my condition for I cannot find the words to say, 'I need you so bad.'"
3. Death Cab for Cutie —"Transatlanticism": The mystery of new and old love, and always needing that person so much closer.
2. Cat Power — "Good Woman": The thought of not being able to change or change someone else and walking away, but knowing that the love between you and that person will never die.
1. The Flaming Lips — "Do You Realize?": OK, whether it's a love song or not is debatable. But every girl wants to hear that she has the most beautiful face, right?
Saturday, Feb. 17, at Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248-544-3030. With Ben Cyllus.
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