| 5 ATM: The Mood Edition |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|04:02 pm] |
Damien Rice - Moody Monday. I've only just gotten into Rice - late, yes, I know - but so far, I've liked what I've heard, a lot, especially the less cozy, more experimental tracks. "Moody Monday" isn't his usual fare - it's off his B-Sides, and lacks the usual complicated relationship dynamics and deft lyrics - or indeed, any comprehensible lyrics at all. It's the sheer amount of emotion in this piece that fells me. The title isn't just hype or classification - the song feels exactly like a Monday morning, when it's far too early and your heart's still swept up in Sunday, sitting in class and staring out windows into grey rain; daydreaming hazy, half-thought Monday dreams.
Buy B-Sides
Frederico Garcia Lorca - Cancion de Jinete (Song of the Rider), as performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. I'm not usually into choral music - too boring, for the most part - but this is a definite exception. I heard this performed by a high school District Choir once, a few years ago. They were untrained but sung it beautifully, and I recall that their tenor, especially, impressed me - he had a purely lovely voice, that slid over his lines like clear water. This recording isn't quite as good, but it still showcases the genius of this piece. "Moody Monday" sounded like a Monday and this sounds like a midnight ride: that underlying tension and movement, the sudden landmarks looming up out of the dark, the steady galloping rhythm underneath you, up and down, up and down, towards the inevitable conclusion. Very suspenseful, and very short, but effective all the same.
Buy Baltic Voices One
Placebo - I'll Be Yours & I'll Be Yours (Version 4 AM). This remix takes all the anxiety and purpose of the original - that drive to become all the things the singer talks about, father and mother and lover, the forward motion of it - and turns it into a dark, laid back slow-dance, giving it a tectonic inevitability that seems as useless to fight against as it would be to fight the drag of the earth. What will be, will be. It's at once both expansive and claustrophobic, and more prophesy than promise: these things will come to pass, no matter what you do, no matter how far you run.
I can't find a place that sells it, but it's off one of Placebo's many B-Sides.
Nancy Elizabeth - Battle and Victory. Another rainy-day song. I don't know why this song calls out to me. It's probably one of my favorites, all-time, and certainly encapsulates that Nancy Elizabeth wistfulness (and hint of electric guitar!), but doesn't have the instrumental or lyrical complexity of some of her other works. I suppose it's the movement I find in it - back roads and dark streets, highways at night, this song is about things changing, currents moving under the surface - slowly, almost invisibly, destination unknown, but inevitably moving nonetheless. It's not always apparent on the surface, but things are really moving... it's dark ways and dark skies and I can't see a way that it will ever change. But it will change. Apt, for the world right now. I suppose you could say that this is my darker Obama song. My Iran song. The existentialist anthem. It's not always apparent if the world is changing for the better, but change it does, and that's the one thing we can't stop, no matter how hard we dig in our heels. Stop and you just get - swept away, into that endless procession, and this song feels like the realization of that.
Buy Battle and Victory
Giant Jr. - I Want to Be Evil. After all that angst, let's end things on a lighter note, shall we? Probably the only Giant Jr. song that I actually like, this is a heavily remixed version of an Eartha Kitt song, same name. For all of you who are curious, it's this one. Different, no? I don't like the original, but this version is just pure fun. I wanna be wicked, I want to tell lies / I wanna be mean, and roll my thighs. Whee! *bops*
Buy Wherever You Are In the World, Here Are Directions Home |
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| Top 5 and by 5 I mean 3 |
[Jun. 27th, 2009|01:50 pm] |
That is to say, songs of my heart.
The Octopus Project - Elq Milq // This is a tremendous, crashing sound that knocks itself down and then builds itself back up into a beauty of indietronica, topped off with a theremin. // site
Jonathan Johansson - Aldrig Ensam // Sweet and pretty, synthpop with an 80s flavor. The pitch I heard: "Warning: it may not be in English, but the refrain will cut you to ribbons." // myspace
Ulrich Schnauss - Look at the Sky // This song soars. It makes my heart sing. The pitch that completely sold me: "The song takes flight like a Da Vinci helicopter sketch come to life with synths and piano, cloudkissed and pumping furiously to keep itself airborne. From down below, the divine looks effortless." // site
If you download, let me know what you think. ♥ |
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| Theme: Members' Choice (Covers) |
[Jun. 2nd, 2009|09:12 pm] |
While I was skimming through the past themes "Covers" happened to catch my eye, so I thought I'd share three very different covers of one of my favourite songs, Hunters & Collectors' "Throw Your Arms Around Me".
Doug Anthony All Stars - An anarchic, confrontational musical comedy trio from the late eighties/early nineties whose CDs featured track titles like "I F**k Dogs", "Necroromancer" and "I Want to Spill the Blood of a Hippy", you wouldn't expect DAAS to be big on the ballads. But those boys could really sing, and just when they'd pushed the audience to the edge of their tolerance with their aggressive humour, they'd pull back with a heartbreaking rendition of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" or "Throw Your Arms Around Me". This may still be my favourite cover of the song.
Crowded House - I love Crowded House and I really like this energetic, upbeat cover. It makes me feel all shiny.
Tripod - Oh, Tripod. I love these guys (along with Tim Minchin, they're without a doubt my favourite musical comedians) and this silly cover - done in the style of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" - always puts a smile on my face.
( Buy them! ) |
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| Members Choice: QUIRKY SONG NAMES |
[May. 26th, 2009|02:36 pm] |
Quirky titles are fantastic for giving you an idea of what a band's like before ever hearing any of their music. Sometimes this is great (such as what I've uploaded) and sometimes it turns out terribly (I'm looking at you Haste The Day. "InstruMETAL" sounded really cool, before I bought it and found out it was Christian screamo). But anyway, hopefully I've managed to avoid that second category.
Pansy Division's "He Whipped My Ass In Tennis (Then I Fucked His Ass In Bed)"
Honestly, how could you not fall for a title like that? Pansy Division writes some of the greatest gay rock songs (although their more recent stuff is very pop) in an unabashedly crude and fun way. This song contains what is possibly the greatest tennis pun of all time:
When he and I are going at it, you know there's gonna be a racket.
Buy Pansy Division.
The Arrogant Worms' "Johnny Came Home Headless"
A touching song about a special friendship and also accidental decapitation. It's very silly and folksy, has some terrible puns, but is actually very sweet.
Buy Dirt!.
Blue Oyster Cult's "The Siege and Investiture of Baron Von Frankenstein's Castle at Weisseria"
This title is 100% accurate in the sense that if I were going to open siege on Frankenstein's castle, this is the song I would choose to play while I was doing it. It feels big and climactic, and just very, very cool.
Buy Imaginos. |
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| Theme For The Week: Week 213 (May 24- May 31 ) |
[May. 25th, 2009|07:03 pm] |
I'm trying a new idea, so go with me here.
It's week 213 here at ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) audiography. Roughly 213 different musical themes for all you shiny, happy people. We've covered punk and pop, history and lyrics and time periods. Colors, numbers, you name it, we've done it. And we still have so much more to do.
For this week, though, take a look back in the archive. Look at all the different themes and choose ONE to do a post on. Maybe you're new and are sad you missed the post about punk music. Maybe you always wanted to try your hand at songs with colors in the title. Tell us in the subject what theme you're doing and go wild! This is YOUR chance to decide what you want to do, to make up for that theme you just never got around to doing. This week, it's all about you baby!
MEMBERS CHOICE
- Quality over quantity, kids.
- When in doubt, Google!
- State your reason for choosing each song. Everyone here likes details.
- Buy-me links are mandatory.
- Make sure the theme is pasted on the subject of your post.
- Themes are non-restricting.
( Archive ) |
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| 90s + meaningful = twenty-for-one, partially-OT |
[May. 19th, 2009|09:04 pm] |
I meant to post this last week, but it turns out it's largely applicable to this week as well, so, score! Not all of the songs will be 90s, but many are (late 90s, anyway), and those that miss by a bit are very closely linked in my memory. Some are obvious and/or hits, some not. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Now, back in the day...
Long, long ago, or so it seems, I went on a date with my first "real" boyfriend. He was sixteen-ish at the time, and it didn't last, of course, but we stayed friends and at some point later (guessing from finding the albums for this, 2001, which feels like yesterday despite the eight years in between), he made me a mix CD. I kept it, cherished it, and then promptly lost it, only to rediscover it a year or two ago, unharmed and all the better for the time that's passed. It is a perfect encapsulation of the stereotypical teenage boy, or at least, the teenage boy who came of age in the 90s. I've tweaked it very slightly in the last few years - not too much, added a few songs, re-ordered some of the others - for optimum teenage-boy-ness, and it makes me smile absolutely every time. Not only is it one of the first mix CDs I ever got, but it's an automatic trip on the wayback machine, to a time before work, bills, college, serious relationships, adult responsibilities... just a cheesily sexy swagger and not a care in the world. I say that with love! Also satire!
( Best listened to loud, in your mom's old car with the windows rolled down. Daft Punk, REM, Barenaked Ladies, Marcy Playground, Mortal Kombat, System of a Down, Blind Luck, Wheatus, Monkees, Right Said Fred, Blink 182, The Living End, Incubus, The Bloodhound Gang, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Zebrahead, Todd Rundgren, Jimmy Soul, Vengaboys ) |
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| The Height Of '90s Sonic Distinction |
[May. 17th, 2009|10:37 pm] |
Beck - Sissyneck
Year: 1996
Notes: There are a lot of great Beck sounds from the '90s, but I chose this one because no matter what the circumstances, I can play this while driving around and feel completely better after having played it (and sung along with the chorus). I just found out a year or two ago that there are actually dogs that look like that on the cover.
Buy Odelay
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| Theme For The Week: Week 212 (May 17 - May 24 ) |
[May. 16th, 2009|10:40 pm] |
I'm sick and I've taken Nyquil, so we're gonna make this short and sweet and fun.
The radio station I listen to sometimes is doing 90s weekend. I've completely forgotten how awesome the 90s were in terms of music. It's so easy to get caught up in the new music sometimes. The 90s didn't have MGMT or the Decemberists. There was no emo. It was GRUNGE and the quick rise and fall of boybands and pop music. The 90s were amazing for music though and I've spent my rides to work going "yeah, I remember this!" to stuff from Eve6, Gin Blossoms, Smashing Pumpkins... it's really incredible to realize just how far away the 90s are now. I sorta miss it.
So, in honor of nostalgia for good music, post stuff this week from the 90s! 1990 to 1999!
THE 90s III
- Quality over quantity, kids.
- When in doubt, Google!
- State your reason for choosing each song. Everyone here likes details.
- Buy-me links are mandatory.
- Make sure the theme is pasted on the subject of your post.
- Themes are non-restricting.
( Archive ) |
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| Meaningful song (and probably TMI) |
[May. 12th, 2009|07:09 pm] |
So I just wrote this essay about iconic songs for Crawdaddy!. I still need to edit it and tweak it a bit, but since it fits the theme here so nicely, I thought I'd post it - along with a song of course. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks!
As I stumbled across the quad, he took swigs of vodka from a Listerine bottle. Having just left some lame house party, we idly chatted amongst the field of revelers, never having spoken before that night. We were united in a common loathing of our Fundamentals of Music professor. This dislike provided an impetus to drunkenly engage in fervent conversation about how he inanely made us utter Gregorian chants. We cursed “Kyrie Eleisons” in slurred, disdainful tones. But when the subject turned to “real music” – our music— the kind reserved for collegian elitists, there was really only one relatively obscure band that mattered: Beulah.
Fast-forward two years to the fall of 2007: I attended a panel during CMJ in which the matter of “iconic songs” was discussed. Mele Mel spoke about the socio-cultural significance of hip hop classic “The Message” and his role in performing it as an integral member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. He talked at length about how it memorably presented gritty urban realities, especially the crack epidemic of the eighties to a mainstream audience. Then Rick Carnes, president of the Songwriters' Guild of America talked about the historic importance of “Brother Can You Spare a Dime”, again significant of harsh economic conditions during the Great Depression. Pretty heavy stuff. These were songs that were symbolic of cultural moments bigger then the songs themselves.
But then critic Robert Christgau took the mic and spoke completely and unironically about Kris Kross’s “Jump” the hip hop novelty tween sensation of the early nineties – because for one brief moment in 1992, these two boys reigned supreme and even had us wearing our overalls backwards as we leapt in ecstasy. Even if the era of inconvenient fashions left as swiftly as it came, “Jump” was indeed iconic of the not only the brevity of cultural zeitgeist but the sheer awesomeness of novelty pop –the one-and-one-time-only time, place and conditions in which such awesomeness can exist. In this instance, a mall in Atlanta where a then 19 year of Jermaine Dupri discovered Chris “Daddy Mack” Smith and Chris “Mack Daddy” Kelly and thus the fastest-selling single in fifteen years was born.
This unorthodox and fairly democratic approach to determining “iconic” song stature got me thinking about the songs that not only soundtracked my life, but the ones that symbolized it. About the songs that matter when the moments exceed the song. In the case of the vodka chugging boy, it was “You’re Only King Once” An orchestral indie pop gem off the Beulah’s final, bittersweet album Yoko, the ultimate symbolic name for a breakup album if there ever was one.
I’m not quite sure what possessed me to tell him that was my favorite song by his favorite band. Maybe the moonlight, probably the alcohol. He was impressed I knew them from more then The OC soundtrack and doubly impressed that I could use the term “Elephant 6 Collective” in proper context. Which lead to a kiss. And thus began a three week stint of make-outs, minor music gabbing, more making out and not much more. He ditched me on Halloween. And that was that. We never saw each other again, except for in class where we awkwardly pretended we never met while mindlessly chanting ancient Latin chants, because acknowledging the truth would have undoubtedly been more awkward.
It was your standard collegiate hook-up. Nothing out of the ordinary. And yet it lingers more then the ordinary anything. Because of that one little song with the line about “wanting more then just another kiss goodnight” It’s truly a magnificent thing when a song has a tangible effect on your life and the people that wander in and out of it, like extras on a movie set. Especially when one of these people’s tongues winds up in your mouth. And in that sense “You’re Only King Once” will always be iconic. Of a time (just after midnight) and a place (the grassy knoll by the senior town house) and a condition (smitten and inebriated). Representative of a moment, that while brief and superficial proved just how much can be caused by so little. And just like Kris Kross it left as quickly as it came.
You're Only King Once - Beulah
Buy YOKO
For more musings on music check out my blog, Volume Knob
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| Theme For The Week: Week 211 (May 10 - May 17 ) |
[May. 11th, 2009|11:48 pm] |
Beyond lyrics and singers and that favorite drum solo, everyone has a handful of songs that are important because they are meaningful. It may not be the best song in the world, maybe not even your favorite, but it's the song you remember linked to that epic event in your life. Was it on the radio as you crashed your first car? The song you listened to as you cried over a failed relationship. The song you had on as you wrote that essay for college, or the one that reminds you of your favorite summer, of birthdays and road trips, the one your mother sang to you.
Songs are emotional save points. Just hearing the opening bars of a song can evoke intense memories. They capture moments of our lives so precious, scary, important that they're forever marked because of it. This week, we celebrate these songs. While they may not be the most incredible song ever, they're important mementos, keepsakes in music form.
MEANINGFUL SONGS
- Quality over quantity, kids.
- When in doubt, Google!
- State your reason for choosing each song. Everyone here likes details.
- Buy-me links are mandatory.
- Make sure the theme is pasted on the subject of your post.
- Themes are non-restricting.
( Archive ) |
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| origins |
[May. 8th, 2009|11:16 am] |
It must have been Sring 1999. I was driving home from work, it must have been eleven at night. I was listening to Y100, and they were doing a british rock show. i think they just finished playing a stone roses and the dj just kept talking and talking, until finally he put on the next song. it started slow, i was intrigued, clearly the song was building towards something, i started to get frustrated because i was almost home and i kept waiting for the song to "break." I was home and it was still building...so I decided to sit in the car and wait for it. When it broke, it killed me. And then the outro, incredible! I got home, ran upstairs, dialed in, loaded up audiogalaxy (beta) and qued up Muse's Muscle Museum. Got it about half-hour later, listened it to it a few more times before going to bed. downloading the entire album was too daunting on dial-up, so, i bought the album a week later at best buy. It only took them 5 years to come to America, and I finally got to see them live in 2004, and they rocked...hard.
buy showbiz |
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| my first, my last, my everything |
[May. 6th, 2009|12:22 am] |
it's possibly too late at night, and i'm possibly too tipsy to be doing this now but seize the day & so on. i had trouble with this firsts thing for a while but then things started popping into my head, so here you go.
dinosaur jr - feel the pain
i first heard/saw this song on max tv [the nz version of MTV]. i fell in love with it, and after discovering that my local record store was giving away a free t shirt with the album, broke open the piggybank to make one of my earliest album purchases. since then i've found dinosaur jr songs i love more, but this remains the first and for that i am thankful.
[buy without a sound]
the knife - you take my breath away
just like you, i love downloading random songs off the internet. i went through a period where i couldn't keep up with the downloads so i banned myself from new things and just listened to what i already had. this song kept coming up on random shuffle, and 'the colour red' just kept sticking in my brain until i realised what an amazing song this was. thus began my love affair with the knife, and it ain't over yet... fever ray are playing at sonar this year & i plan to see them, it might partially make up for missing out on seeing the knife there a few years ago!
[buy deep cuts]
the cure - friday i'm in love
this song carries with it a whole host of weird sexual connotations. i first heard it at my older cousins' house when i was around 12 or 13. there is a darkened room & several couples making out, with me left to pretend it's nothing out of the ordinary, even though it was one of my first [if not the first] sexual experiences. does it count as an experience if you're just an observer? anyway, it was a weird night, totally freaked me out, but it gave me the cure so it can't have been all bad eh.
[buy wish]
patrick wolf - the childcatcher
whilst i was lying semi-comatose on the couch one lazy afternoon my flat/room/housemate played me a song he thought i'd like, off a mix his girlfriend had made him. i enjoyed the song he wanted me to hear but it was actually the track that came on afterwards that made me listen properly. when he came back into the room just as that song was ending, i declared that i wanted to marry whoever had sung it, and that was that. my favourite patrick wolf song varies depending on my mood but the childcatcher remains beloved no matter what. i have an amazing sticker on my laptop of patrick riding a carousel which makes me want to never ever have to retire my computer!
[buy lycanthropy]
or get the whole lot right here.
now i'm getting my drunken self to bed.
ps. i just this evening saw beardyman's complete & utter shambles, a brilliant combination of his usual beatboxing with a lot of comedy, some improv & a bunch of excellent musicians/djs/mcs. i definitely recommend checking it out if it ever appears anywhere near you! |
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| The First Time |
[May. 5th, 2009|01:46 pm] |
...As delineated by audiography.
The Decemberists- The first time i heard The Decemberists i was sitting in a deck chair by a pool, smoking a cigarette and talking to my new friends Gary and Donna. The music was so captivating. I was in the middle of a very ugly time personally, my boyfriend was moving out and i was so devastated. He loved The Decemberists, and I had always avoided them because of him. Music was just another item on a long list of things i felt he was more enthusiastic about than me. The bands he loved were, in effect, the other woman. ( Read more... )
Buy The Decemberists.
The Cramps- The first time i heard The Cramps' record Flamejob, my mind was blown. I was a freshman in high school, and it was just so... DIRTY! ...and fun and unique and interesting and unlike anything I'd ever heard before. The band looked, acted and sounded so deviantly different that i was completely captivated. I liked them so much, i became a superfan long before the advent of the internet as we know it today. Rest in zombie fetishism, Lux Interior. You are sorely missed.
Buy The Cramps
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- This is pretty embarrassing, but the first time i really heard them was at Coachella this year. Watching Karen O on the big screen, grinning, holding out her hands and keening "Wait... They don't love you like i love you!" was arresting to say the least. They have been on constant rotation ever since, and i am rabid about seeing them live in a smaller setting. I want to touch the hem of her garment.
Buy Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Franz Ferdinand- The eponymous album is immensely special to me. I heard that record upon arrival in Portland, OR after a road trip with a couple of girlfriends. I was caught up in a serious case of musical ennui at the time, and the opening bars of "Jacqueline" made my heart pound like no unfamiliar band had done since high school. They made me want to jump around and dance and smile... To this day, they still bring me tons of joy.
Buy Franz Ferdinand
The Cure- "Fire in Cairo" is the song that made me like The Cure. I was an impressionable lass, and hung around with a lot of guys that liked punk and thought The Cure was bullshit. I would hear them on the radio and change it immediately, and always flick away from their videos on MTV. One day, i heard "Fire in Cairo" and thought it kicked ass. Couple that with the fact that my best friend loved them, and i was moved to give them another chance. It wasn't long before i was going by myself to see them and scream and cry and sing along to all the songs.
Buy The Cure
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| THE FIRST TIME |
[May. 6th, 2009|03:53 am] |
Tom Waits - Alice
Yes, I still remember hearing Alice for the first time.
The melancholy just went straight to my heart, into my veins and skin.
It was on repeat for a few weeks. Lastfm can testify to this.
I love the lyrics, fragmented, but coherent. Sketching a picture of the everlasting wait.
Buy Alice.
Miles Davis - Blue In Green
It's not until I heard Blue In Green by Miles Davis that I got hooked on Blue In Green.
The first time I heard Blue In Green was with Bill Evans.
But this song is important because it was what made me want more of Mr. Davis.
Soft, soft, and he starts. This was also on repeat.
Buy Kind of Blue.
Bill Evans - Detour Ahead - Evening Set 3, Take 2
There are two Detour Ahead on The Complete Village Vanguard album
but the first one I heard and the first that got me was Evening Set 3, Take 2 of Detour Ahead.
Everything was just right.
Buy The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings 1961.
Chet Baker - My Funny Valentine
I have heard and fallen in love with plenty of Baker's songs over the years.
And I was tempted to put not the above. Somewhere between 'I Get Along Without You Very Well', or 'I Fall In Love Too Easily'.
But this was the first Chet Baker that I fell in love with.
His voice so smooth, so young, so nice.
Hear him sing please. Buy The Best of Chet Baker Sings.
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| Theme For The Week: Week 210 (May 3 - May 10 ) |
[May. 3rd, 2009|10:31 pm] |
I am so happy lyrics week was a success. This place has a pulse!
This week is something a little different as well. We all have bands and musicians we love. We pay gobs of money to see them live, we proudly emblazon their logos on our t-shirts and convince every person we know to listen to them. Like a scene in Garden State, we helpfully hold out our headphones and assure our friend that "this song will change your life".
At some point though, WE were the ones sitting with proffered headphones in our hands, unsure about this band that will somehow complete our lives. We didn't know, in that moment, that we would come to love the band like crazy, learn every lyric by heart, adorn walls with their pictures and go see their shows.
This week, think about your favorite singers and bands and show us what song you first heard by them, what made you love them. Was it the way Bono howls? The way Slash plays? Was it the whisper and whine of Colin Meloy or the sweetness of Tori Amos? Tell us and relive that first moment all over again.
THE FIRST TIME
- Quality over quantity, kids.
- When in doubt, Google!
- State your reason for choosing each song. Everyone here likes details.
- Buy-me links are mandatory.
- Make sure the theme is pasted on the subject of your post.
- Themes are non-restricting.
( Archive ) |
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