Inspired by @sheepchase doing this, and by @LadyMarth01 posting her album of the day, I'm gonna get in on the fun and do the #30DaySongChallenge for August!
Since I'm starting a few days late, I'll catch up, then do one a day.
I don't remember how I first came across this album (Minor Shadows), but I remember where: MySpace Music. I loved the slow, contemplative nature, the way it could conjure emotion in me without lyrics, and how the speech sampled hit so hard as a result. This is one of the more extreme examples, as the rage and frustration and exasperation just made me so uncomfortable in a really thrilling way.
@auzzy I claim to be no expert on the genre. This is the first I've heard of this band. Thought, "This is pretty good."
Looked up the album. Listening to the first song, I hear them sampling the same bit that The Avalanches nabbed from Streetwise for their album Wildflower.
As for The Avalanches, plunderphonics! Love the first two albums; the third one was fine, but it didn't quite gel with me the couple of times I listened. Maybe I'll give it another shot.
It took quite a few listens before their first single Lazy Eye grew on me. But it did, and I've been all in ever since. SSPU is one of the few bands I think consistently gets better on each release. This remains one of my favorite songs of theirs, however.
Somewhere along the way, I stumbled into trip-hop (honestly, probably from Angel XD). And combined with my love of dream pop, lead to a bunch of electronic and hybrid stuff getting mixed in there via Pandora stations. Such chill stuff to just groove to, feels like a summer breeze, ya know?
Day 4: reminds you of someone you'd rather forget.
"Loveology" by Regina Spektor.
Just last year, Spektor released a studio recording of this song for the first time. But I linked the rough, raw, live recording that we had at the relevant point in my life.
Honestly, I kept changing my mind between different songs by The Prodigy. Their run of "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned", "Invaders Must Die", and "The Day Is My Enemy" is just about perfect. I'd only heard "The Fat Of the Land" until a friend in college introduced me to the title track from "Invaders Must Die", and I was hooked.
Listen. I know. I would never claim this is a GOOD song.
But I grew up doing this line dance at various events, like school dances or weddings or whatever. And I had this almost pathological need to keep going through the entire song, even though it was often remixed to be longer than this 3-minute version.
And you bet your ass I danced to this at my own wedding.
I don't actually like anything else by Muemath, as it turns out. But this is a banger. The way it starts at such high octane, dips down for the verse, then crescendos into a crashing, driving chorus, repeats that a few times, and culminates in such beautiful organized chaos just energizes me to no end.
My dad introduced me to Sabbath as a kid, and Master of Reality was my favorite album, with "Sweet Leaf" y favorite song, The slow, simple, crunchy guitars, the somewhat nonstandard structure, the multiple guitar lines, everything was perfect.
It was only today when thinking for this entry that I thought "Sweet Leaf is probably about pot, isn't it?" and a brief Google showed I was right.
I came to dark cat through a blend of my love of chip-tunes (eg Anamanaguchi) and adjacent electronic music (Fat Rat), and stuff like The Prodigy. All their songs are so peppy, and the art is adorable. And for this song in particular, I think of these goofy hand gestures my wife does whenever it comes on. It's just so wonderful.
I have to mention the other two songs I almost picked.
"Snow Day" by Hyper Potions.
Honestly, very similar reasons to dark cat, as much of their music is in the same sonic ballpark, although they're two very different artists. And draw themselves as two super happy corgis! =D
Something about that main throughline, the one that stays the sole melody for the first minute or so, just devastates me. Add in Caspian's penchant for slow crescendos that last most of the song, strip down for a minute, then come roaring back bigger than before, and I'm floored.
I was lucky enough to see them in their hometown show with an orchestra, and I'm pretty sure this one made me cry.
This was introduced to me as the sound of a futuristic car crash, and I've yet to find anything more accurate. I find the droning and peddle effects and beat and momentary crescendos hypnotic in the best way. It really does make me feel like I'm whipping through some futuristic city, surrounded by tall, strange buildings and other unrecognizable vehicles.
There are quite a few I could pick, but if I'm being honest, this was the first one to come to mind. I was obsessed with it as a child, as well as its dumb parodies. So it was especially surreal for me when a remix of it called "I'm Blue" by Softest Hard and T-Pain started showing up last year.
I have no idea where I first heard this track, but it was a while ago, and I instantly fell in love with its minimalist and very odd style. I've been meaning to dive into the rest of Kraftwerk's discography, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
This was the song I walked down the aisle to. No, I'm not kidding. I even put together a version edited for length and timed it out during our rehearsal.
When I was in high school, I was mowing my parents' lawn, listening to Jimmy Eat World's album "Bleed American" as I had many, many times before. All of a sudden, the phrase "punkin' instigator" caught my ear, and I stopped in my tracks.
Despite also loving The Prodigy, it wasn't until that moment I realized this was a cover. The style is so different, it's so their own version. I adore it.
The weirdest thing to me about both Gloria Jones' original and Soft Cell's more popular cover is how upbeat they are. That tone clashes so harshly with the lyrics. It's not a song celebrating escaping an awful relationship, it's lamenting the wasted time and anguish it caused.
I had a brief classic rock phase back in junior high when I came across my dad's vinyl and cassette collection. Which isn't to say I dislike it now. But for a few years, it's all I would listen to. The few Pink Floyd albums were some of my favorites. And although that love didn't last, this and "Time" still would get me whenever they came on the radio.
Not a typical style for karaoke, but that's fine by me. =)
I feel like it'd be super fun to bust out beauty and the beast vocals. So I had to go with a band whom I came across in college and immediately fell in love with. The contrast is so fantastic I would show it to all my friends, none of whom cared anywhere near as much as I did. XD Oh well, their loss!
Of course, I could have gone with the song I've actually sung duet at karaoke, being "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence. But it was more fun to think of a theoretical one.
I also enjoy mentioning bands and songs you're likely to be less familiar with. I love having my musical horizons expanded, so I try to do the same for others.
Lucky for me, one of my favorite albums came out the year of my birth. I was torn between this and "Something I Can Never Have", but I could have chosen any track off Pretty Hate Machine. Every single track is a banger.
It blows my mind how seamlessly Reznor transitioned from an incredible rock star to one of our best composers of movie scores (with his creative partner Atticus Ross, of course).
I can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe it's the yearning. Maybe it's the dreamlike quality. Maybe it's the beautiful construction, just a little bit off, and slowly adding more and more elements to construct the song. I don't know.
I just know when it comes on, I close my eyes, tilt my head back, and just feel it wash over me.
This is tough, because I don't often think much about my music or the meaning of the lyrics or anything. So for me, any meaning is imbued by outside factors combined with the emotion caused by the sound, without consideration for what it's really about.
This song reminds me of great times goofing off with a friend, whom I haven't spoken to in 5+ years for messy reasons I'm not getting into.
Although, if I'm being honest, I'd never seen the whole thing, just the "HEYEYEY" part. I don't think I even knew there WAS a whole version! So thanks for this. =)
I'm not normally a country fan, be it modern or old. One of my least favorite genres, in fact.
But I was introduced to a bunch of Dolly Parton's stuff by the podcast miniseries "Dolly Parton's America", (a spin-off of Radiolab). And I was shocked to find how much I loved it. When they put out an episode just containing music from the series performed live, I listened to it repeatedly.
@DemocracySpot I had not! Just listened to it, and it's not bad. More mournful than the desperation of the original, as if he knows he's already lost his love, which is an interesting take.
I definitely prefer the original, though. I like how Parton's voice climbs up and down, and feels like she's pleading with Jolene. I also ADORE that little guitar lick that runs through the background.
"Search:Party:Animal" by And So I Watch You From Afar
I'm taking this to mean high energy, fist pumping, energizing.
I could put basically the whole album Gangs on here. There some slowdowns, which help balance things out, right before they crescendo into more frenetic excitement.
But this one. Man. That driving guitar line throughout is undeniable. I feel my blood pumping as soon as it comes on.
Some of my favorite shows have been when I went for the headliner, but came away more in love with an opener I'd never heard of.
Angel Vivaldi was pretty good, but Blind Revision absolutely stole the show. I bought their EP on the spot. The crunchy guitars while remaining prog influenced, and Jen Janet's perfectly complimentary voice.
Hour Before Dawn is a band I've never been able to find online, even back when I saw them in 2009. But I know they existed, because I have their EP, which they were giving away. It was a bar concert (headlined by Trust Company? Weird show), so they were probably some super short lived local band. But damn, they were fantastic.
I came home after seeing Mandy in theaters so freaking amped. I adore it for oh so many reasons, and the score is no small part. I've listened to it so many times. The heavily clanging metal, big synths, and atmosphere hanging over the whole thing.
I was quite sad to learn we'd hear no more from him: he accidentally OD'd earlier in 2018. But exploring the rest of his work remains a treat.
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