This song is like noise rock meets video game music (and there is nothing wrong with either noise rock or video game music). I don’t know if I love this song or not, and yet I can’t help but push the “play” button over and over. The video is the same way. Just cannot stop watching.
I need to shake it off. The zombie rock is flowing through my blood. I FEEL IT! At least I’ll have something to listen to when the zombies do take over, right?
PS: I don’t think there is actually a “zombie rock” genre out there, but there should be. I think it has to have an element of dissonance and also lyrics or vocals that are distorted and maybe a little ethereal in nature. So for all you crazy kids looking for Halloween appropriate tunes, check it out!
OMG! You have to watch the video for Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks”. The kids are so creepy. Then what happens to them is creepier. And in a church! (I knew there was a good reason not to go.) So creepy, yet mesmerizing and oddly perfect for the song.
For me Fiona Apple’s “Tidal” is an autumnal album. Something about that crisp air, the melancholy of summer and vacation being over, and the sun setting earlier and earlier, reminds me of her innocence lost and despondent lyrics. The feeling is strengthened by the soulful bluesy quality of many of her songs. I find her to be thoughtful and passionate, but without joy in this album. The perfect soundtrack to remembering good times with old friends or old flames who are long gone. Bittersweet.
Although it is still August, it is a cool, crisp, and cloudy autumn day here in my town. The weather is a preview of more to come, and I’ve been holding back on posting any Fiona up until this time when the feeling in the air was right. Like many of my “Must Own Albums” on the list, I am quite content to put this one on repeat and listen to each and every song. It has a level of quality I think Fiona has failed to match since.
Here are my 5 favorites from the album, with “Never Is a Promise” being my favorite.
With summer coming to a close, and no vacation on the horizon, I am back to work at my day job. A cog in the machine of corporate America. Turning the wheels of progress for the future… blah blah blah. We (human race) could be doing so much better were it not for greed. This song reminds me of that 1950s post-industrial corporate mentality of perfectly progressing plastic people and places. Poppycock! Faster, easier, and cheaper are not always better.
In my mind, this album (and perhaps her following album “Post”) are the cream of the crop in Björk’s many decades of making music, including her time as part of “The Sugarcubes”. Debut is clearly my favorite. In college, my roommate and turned on music to sleep to and there were only a handful of albums we both agreed to, and this was one of them.
In this album Björk really struck a balance between a popular dance sound, her own experimentation, and her sometimes folk-ish sound. She was unlike anything else, and yet familiar enough to be accessible. I thought it was brilliant. I still listen to this one more than any of her others before or since. I also thought mixing the faster paced dance tunes with some songs that are so beautiful and thoughtful really showed her range. She cannot be pigeon-holed into one genre easily. She may be quirky at times, or even come across as elite, eccentric, or haughty with her experimental sound, but that makes her all the more human and real to me.
Here are my 5 favorites from the album, with “Come To Me” being my favorite. “Come To Me” is not the obvious choice, but it is so good. Comforting & familiar. Smooth & warm. Really a great yet mostly unknown love song.
I love their creepy visual style, like horror movies of old. The real genius is the music, of course: the sparse but powerful backup instruments, gentle and yet forceful voice, the barely present percussion and bass.
Woof! I spent a good chunk of today setting up my blip.fm account with ALL the songs I have posted thus far. Now you’ll be able to just ‘push play’ at “http://blip.fm/msotd” and listen to the songs I’ve posted. It is basically my online radio station because my posting a song or two a day I am essentially a DJ, in slow motion.
Anyone who has paid even a little attention to music influences, especially in electronic, new wave, and post-punk genres over the past almost 40 years has seen Brian Eno’s name A LOT. He is a musician, singer, composer, producer, and musical theorist. He has worked with seemingly countless artists over the years including John Cage, David Bowie, Talking Heads, U2, Coldplay, James, Dido, and Sinéad O’Connor, to name a few. I’m serious. The list is huge.
ALSO “Ambient” music (and all related genres) would possibly not even exist as they do today without him. It was my understanding before reading his wiki page that he is basically the father of ambient music. He is a legend! (I feel like I owe him a favor, a thank you, a fruit basket, …something!)
To top it off, he makes his own music and albums, averaging one about every two years. He has 25 by my count. And that excludes the 5,000,000 collaborative albums he has worked on or produced! (Maybe I should send flowers?)
“This” song impressed me in 2005, though frankly I only have a fraction of the music he himself has made. (Money. I think that’s what he really would appreciate. Nah he’s probably rolling in it by this point!)
Also, a bit of trivia for you, his full name is “Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno”. Crazy huh?
G was watching Dogma last night and as the credits rolled I remembered how much I really liked Alanis Morissette’s music and voice. (I thought her being cast as God was brilliant too.) I have missed her presence on the radio. I’m sure any of you listening to the radio in the late 90s heard today’s song of the day about 5,000,000 times. The video was cool too. Watching it now I am reminded of the image of River being relieved in “Firefly”.
I also remember how Alanis Morissette was very divisive among my peers. People either loved her or hated her. She was different and edgy enough to be a sensation at the time, but too pop and industry to deserve any recognition for it… or so they said. Some of my peers are music snobs. Of course my tastes are diverse enough that most people come across as music snobs to me.
If you love it, enjoy! If you hate it, then how about some Bach instead?
I’ve been posting individual songs, but most of the time, I am an album listener. I have decided I need to communicate my love for certain albums to the world. As the owner of albums by over 700 artists, I’ve decided I could easily post one album a week for the next year or two and not run out of albums that everyone should listen to, and perhaps even own. In my mind any album with at least 5 solid songs meets this criteria, and I will be happy to tell you which albums are deserving from my point of view.
This first one I am posting about, “OK Computer” by Radiohead, I still speak of as the crown jewel of awesome solid albums. When this album came out I was blown away and I listen to it today 12 years later and it is still a knockout. It is SO good, I think Radiohead has been working hard to create a set of songs as solid and unable to surpass this masterpiece. The first 6 songs alone would qualify this album as one of the best ever I think.
When released it was viewed as experimental musically, politically, …perhaps even spiritually. They clearly paved the way for bands like Coldplay and Muse. I am frequently disappointed in those who do not appreciate Radiohead OR even those who are fans but do not see this album as an apex in its day, a change in the wind of music at that time. I feel like they are missing out. Alas. *sigh*
Following with my 5 solid song criteria, here are my 5 favorites from the album, with “Paranoid Android” probably being my favorite. It is like 3 songs in one.
The rest are also solid songs, and “No Surprises” was a single. “Lucky” also hit the charts. Really if you like the songs above, just get it. It is best if listened to in order because I believe to this day they arranged order of the songs perfectly so one after another they’d either feed into or contrast ‘just right’.
Today’s bonus song was my song of the day on 3/11. I first saw this group when they opened for The Decemberists last fall, 2008. I had never heard of them before then but I was VERY impressed. I bought their album “Paper The Walls” from them that night after the show and I think (and hope) we have only just seen the beginning of what they have to offer the world. They provide a folk rock sound not unlike chamber music, and absolutely riveting. Creative lyrics, songs, progressions, instruments, singing …the whole works. They offer a refreshing escape from the electronic pop and the world in general. I look forward to seeing them perform again should I ever have the chance.
As I recall, this was my song of the day on 3/17 because I had watched “Say Anything” the night before and felt like channeling Lloyd Dobler played by John Cusack. I want to have his attitude. I think I’d be happier. To quote him in the movie “I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.”
Unfortunately I do a lot of that. I lack an exit strategy too. Any ideas?
Listen on Blip.fm!
