20. Tenacious D - Tribute
"And we said, 'nay, we are but men' - ROCK!"
It would take a bitter soul (or at least a strong aversion to profanity) to dislike Tenacious D. 'Tribute' is, of course, their shining moment. Shortly after defeated the shiny shining demon by playing the best song in the world (then forgetting the song shortly thereafter), the above quoted line is said and then they let loose. In that moment, the song is taken from being a great parody/homage to great rock songs of the past to being a song that surpasses the very songs that it refers to. All I know is that when they mention that the song they played that night didn't sound anything like 'Tribute', I'm not entirely convinced.
19. Outkast - B.O.B.
"The entire first verse"
There might be a technically better rap than Andre 3000's in the first verse of B.O.B. (though there would certainly have to be a discussion before I'd concede that point), but I can guarantee there aren't any that are more exhilerating. The beat sounds like it's on fire, and 'Dre raps like that fire is licking at his heels. For the duration of that verse, it's practically impossible to pry your attention from the insane goings on. Big Boi's verse is unbelieveably solid, as well, but it still
pales in comparison to the first part... heck, pretty much everything in the entire genre does.
18. David Newman - Serenity
"Eleven seconds"
For the uninformed, this is the music that is playing during the opening credits to the movie Serenity. The entire track is extremely short (under a minute in fact), and the part in question - where the solo violin meets up with the rest of the string ensemble while the title of the movie is shown - almost lasts for a shorter duration than it took just now to explain where it was in the song. However, it's an earworm of the highest order; I listened to this track a ridiculous number of times simply to hear that little sliver.
17. Modest Mouse - Parting of the Sensory
"The Carbon Freakout"
I don't mind Parting of the Sensory's first half, but it's nothing too special. It has decent lines and an okay melody, but there's nothing there that really grabs your attention when compared to other Modest Mouse stuff. Then comes the 'Carbon' portion of the song, a serious left turn where singer Isaac Brock starts ranting about how "someday you will die and somehow something's going to steal your carbon". It's simultaneously bizzare and brilliant, and while most bands probably couldn't pull it off convincingly, to Modest Mouse, it almost seems more natural than if they had simply allowed the first half to run its course.
16. Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
"Opening riff"
All aboard! Ha ha ha hahahahaha... Every guitar player I know has played the introductory riff to this song a billion times, and obviously not once has it ever felt half as alive or mennacing as the real thing. It's been sampled countless times, played in stadiums to near death, and still has the "whoa" effect every time it comes on. It almost makes a person forget that there was another three and a half minutes to the song afterwards - almost.
15. Sigur Ros - Njósnavélin (a.k.a. 'Untitled 4')
"Like a sunrise breaking through the trees"
For whatever reason, the first time I heard Sigur Rós, they didn't connect with me. I had no patience for their slow-building music, and this song in particular sounded like a funeral dirge to me. Then a year or so later, I listened to it again, and it just clicked. When those first high notes break through the murk, it almost sounds like watching the sun peek over the horizon, making it a near-perfect soundtrack to a sunrise - you know, if I didn't have a borderline vampiric dislike for mornings.
14. Broken Social Scene - It's All Gonna Break
"gonna BREEAAK!!"
'It's All Gonna Break' is a ten minute song (five seconds short, actually), but what's really amazing about it is that it barely even feels half that length. As the song gets ready for its (extremely) extended finale, Kevin Drew begins to absolutely scream the song's title. All sense of restraint is shredded into a million pieces as the band goes to town, trying to keep up with their ballistic lead singer.
13. The Hold Steady - First Night
"When they kiss, they spit white noise"
I think a big part of the reason I like the second half of 'First Night' is the way the background vocals echo "white noise" with such urgency. Part of it also has to do with how the pent up energy comes out suddenly is a rush of half-desperate emotion. Really, though, the biggest reason is that Craig Finn had spent so much time building these characters up, and suddenly you actually feel the whole thing gel into people that you actually care about.
12. Radiohead - Karma Police
"For a minute there, I lost myself"
I'm not even sure what it is about the end of 'Karma Police' that gets me. Somewhere between Thom Yorke's sighing (despairing? or relieved?) "phew, for a minute there, I lost myself", and the way the ghostly vocals in the background do their whole "aa-aaah" thing it just all works. I could listen to this a hundred times and pick out something different that I like about it with just about every listen.
11. Mewithoutyou - Gentlemen
"AND YOU'D BETTER BE ALONE"
I remember hearing this song for the first more clearly than possibly any other song I've ever heard. I was immediately drawn to the malevolent sounding guitars and even though singer/songwriter Aaron Weiss was more croak-shouting the lyrics than actually singing them, it resonated with me. Toward the end of the second verse, though, he sings "I said I'd not come back - well, I'm coming back", suddenly losing the backing music entirely as he plainly says "AND YOU'D BETTER BE ALONE" with seemingly barely controlled fury. I'm actually fairly surprised that I was able to come up with ten moments in music that I enjoy more than this (check back tomorrow!), but it's safe to say that none of them match the jaw dropping "holy cow, did that just happen" feeling that this song gave me the first time I heard it.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Favorite Moments in Music: Part Three (30-21)
Ha! By my clock, it's 11:59, so I technically got this off on Wednesday. Below are numbers 30-21, tomorrow will be 20-11.
30. Oasis - Rock 'n Roll Star
"It's just rock n Roll"
It's been said the 'Definitely Maybe' is an unintentional concept album about wanting to be a rock star, and there's no better example of that than 'Rock 'n Roll Star'. Everything about the song itself is big. The hook is big, the guitars are big, and the half sneering swagger / half hopeful confidence mixture all leads up to a big crashing finale where everything comes together as Liam Gallagher states simply "It's just rock and roll". After all, after all the over-analyzing - all the searching for the hidden meaning - sometimes, it's just rock and roll.
29. The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
"Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhh!"
It's sort of bizzare that this song is now an elaborate joke involving David Caruso, sunglasses, and some horrible pun that even James Bond would be ashamed to be associated with. CSI:Miami Probably hasn't done much to improve "Won't Get Fooled"s legacy, but the scream is still the capping moment to a truly great song.
28. P.O.S. - Stand Up (Let's Get Murdered)
"Hey yo... light that shit the fuck up!"
The song is good, and the line referenced above is certainly exciting and overall pretty kickass, but the real reason for this inclusion has more to do with fastastic memories of sitting drunkenly on a hotel room floor in Canada at three in the morning, listening to this song over and over with my best friends. We tried to rap along with it, failing hillariously every time, but this was the one line we had down pat. If I remember right, it went something like "mumble. mumble mumble... something, something mumble... HEY YO, LIGHT THAT SHIT THE FUCK UP!! Ah, this is the best song ever!!" The rest of the hotel must have been very impressed. The best song ever, indeed.
27. Boston - Foreplay / Long Time
"Foreplay"
Honestly, if a person wasn't aware, it would be easy to think the 'Foreplay' and 'Long time' sections were two completely different songs. Instead, 'Foreplay' turns into an extended intro for a song that it really doesn't share any similarities to - and what an intro it is. Whirling basslines, crazy triplets blasting every which direction. We used to pull it up into Rock Band, and once the actual meat of the song hit, we'd simply start the song over (and for the record, Longtime is actually plenty good in its own right.)
26. Radiohead - Reckoner
"...like ripples on a blank shore..."
When I got back from my honeymoon, a special present was awaiting me. Unbeknownst to me, the internet was all aflutter with news that the new Radiohead CD was going to be dropped pretty much out of nowhere within ten days. Once I got back home, I happened upon news of this, and the album happened to come online almost exactly when I did. I spent the rest of the evening listening to it. It sounded good on the first listen, but it wasn't until midway through this song that I knew how good. Put over that drum beat, Thom Yorke's voice becomes just another musical instrument, and he puts it to great use here.
25. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - We Call Upon the Author
"Prolix!"
Another one from last year's list. Nick Cave is truly a fascinating person and a great song writer. Demanding answers to deep questions, then dismissing the answers as wordy rubbish. It doesn't lead to any restful conclusion, so of course the dissonant clatter that punctuates each section of the song makes perfect sense.
24. Shiny Toy Guns - Don't Cry Out
"10, 9, 8"
We Are Pilots is one of my favorite guilty pleasure CDs. 'Don't Cry Out' is easily the highlight of the album - the song just oozes that catchy, likable synth pop sound. Something about the way everything boils over during the bridge as it transitions to the chorus just seems right. The fact that it's just about perfect summer driving music just adds bonus points.
23. Mewithoutyou - O, Porcupine
"In darkness a light shines on me..."
The emotion packed into Mewithoutyou songs (especially when combined with the songwriting greatness of Aaron Weiss) makes for a lot of harrowing moments, but it's quite possible that none of them is on par with the complete release that happens at the end of 'O, Porcupine'. It seems to come out of nowhere and suddenly hits with intense force. Mewithoutyou may be the definition of a "your milage may vary" band, but those who overlook them are missing out on something special.
22. Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage
"The punctuating organ blast"
Neon Bible's end track starts off slowly, with nothing but Win Butler's voice wafting over a very sparse drum beat. Things build a little more with every successive bit building a little more onto the skeleton. Then, around 2:10, the organ blasts its full power, the drum becomes more pronounced, the background singers become fleshed out. It's as if the song had been hiding behind tinted glass before, and has been revealed suddenly.
21. Aerosmith - Dream On
"Dream on"
You've all heard this (mutiple times, probably), so I don't really need to introduce this. With a few exceptions, I'm not a big Aerosmith fan, but the breakdown in Dream On is everything that is right in rock and roll. Steven Tyler kind of creeps me out, but if you want to see how well that he really does in that part, just check out the results when someone else tries his hand at it (skip to 1:35 if you just want to get to the 'good' part).
(Coincidentally, the "Scream On" treatment probably falls just outside my top 50, just because of how damn funny it is).
30. Oasis - Rock 'n Roll Star
"It's just rock n Roll"
It's been said the 'Definitely Maybe' is an unintentional concept album about wanting to be a rock star, and there's no better example of that than 'Rock 'n Roll Star'. Everything about the song itself is big. The hook is big, the guitars are big, and the half sneering swagger / half hopeful confidence mixture all leads up to a big crashing finale where everything comes together as Liam Gallagher states simply "It's just rock and roll". After all, after all the over-analyzing - all the searching for the hidden meaning - sometimes, it's just rock and roll.
29. The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
"Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhh!"
It's sort of bizzare that this song is now an elaborate joke involving David Caruso, sunglasses, and some horrible pun that even James Bond would be ashamed to be associated with. CSI:Miami Probably hasn't done much to improve "Won't Get Fooled"s legacy, but the scream is still the capping moment to a truly great song.
28. P.O.S. - Stand Up (Let's Get Murdered)
"Hey yo... light that shit the fuck up!"
The song is good, and the line referenced above is certainly exciting and overall pretty kickass, but the real reason for this inclusion has more to do with fastastic memories of sitting drunkenly on a hotel room floor in Canada at three in the morning, listening to this song over and over with my best friends. We tried to rap along with it, failing hillariously every time, but this was the one line we had down pat. If I remember right, it went something like "mumble. mumble mumble... something, something mumble... HEY YO, LIGHT THAT SHIT THE FUCK UP!! Ah, this is the best song ever!!" The rest of the hotel must have been very impressed. The best song ever, indeed.
27. Boston - Foreplay / Long Time
"Foreplay"
Honestly, if a person wasn't aware, it would be easy to think the 'Foreplay' and 'Long time' sections were two completely different songs. Instead, 'Foreplay' turns into an extended intro for a song that it really doesn't share any similarities to - and what an intro it is. Whirling basslines, crazy triplets blasting every which direction. We used to pull it up into Rock Band, and once the actual meat of the song hit, we'd simply start the song over (and for the record, Longtime is actually plenty good in its own right.)
26. Radiohead - Reckoner
"...like ripples on a blank shore..."
When I got back from my honeymoon, a special present was awaiting me. Unbeknownst to me, the internet was all aflutter with news that the new Radiohead CD was going to be dropped pretty much out of nowhere within ten days. Once I got back home, I happened upon news of this, and the album happened to come online almost exactly when I did. I spent the rest of the evening listening to it. It sounded good on the first listen, but it wasn't until midway through this song that I knew how good. Put over that drum beat, Thom Yorke's voice becomes just another musical instrument, and he puts it to great use here.
25. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - We Call Upon the Author
"Prolix!"
Another one from last year's list. Nick Cave is truly a fascinating person and a great song writer. Demanding answers to deep questions, then dismissing the answers as wordy rubbish. It doesn't lead to any restful conclusion, so of course the dissonant clatter that punctuates each section of the song makes perfect sense.
24. Shiny Toy Guns - Don't Cry Out
"10, 9, 8"
We Are Pilots is one of my favorite guilty pleasure CDs. 'Don't Cry Out' is easily the highlight of the album - the song just oozes that catchy, likable synth pop sound. Something about the way everything boils over during the bridge as it transitions to the chorus just seems right. The fact that it's just about perfect summer driving music just adds bonus points.
23. Mewithoutyou - O, Porcupine
"In darkness a light shines on me..."
The emotion packed into Mewithoutyou songs (especially when combined with the songwriting greatness of Aaron Weiss) makes for a lot of harrowing moments, but it's quite possible that none of them is on par with the complete release that happens at the end of 'O, Porcupine'. It seems to come out of nowhere and suddenly hits with intense force. Mewithoutyou may be the definition of a "your milage may vary" band, but those who overlook them are missing out on something special.
22. Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage
"The punctuating organ blast"
Neon Bible's end track starts off slowly, with nothing but Win Butler's voice wafting over a very sparse drum beat. Things build a little more with every successive bit building a little more onto the skeleton. Then, around 2:10, the organ blasts its full power, the drum becomes more pronounced, the background singers become fleshed out. It's as if the song had been hiding behind tinted glass before, and has been revealed suddenly.
21. Aerosmith - Dream On
"Dream on"
You've all heard this (mutiple times, probably), so I don't really need to introduce this. With a few exceptions, I'm not a big Aerosmith fan, but the breakdown in Dream On is everything that is right in rock and roll. Steven Tyler kind of creeps me out, but if you want to see how well that he really does in that part, just check out the results when someone else tries his hand at it (skip to 1:35 if you just want to get to the 'good' part).
(Coincidentally, the "Scream On" treatment probably falls just outside my top 50, just because of how damn funny it is).
Monday, August 17, 2009
Favorite Moments in Music: Part Two (40-31)
...In which we continue our journey to find one random internet user's favorite moment in music. Numbers 40 through 31 today. I was lazy yesterday, and posted the first ten without listening links. I've amended this, and they should all be there, and today's should be working as well. Listen away!
40. Metallica - One
"The machine-gun riff"
This one is almost too easy. 'One' is great, anyway, from the opening guitar line to the ridiculous solo that gets laid down in the second half of the song. The part that everyone always seems to talk about, though, is the "machine gun riff". One would think that it lasted five and a half minutes, but it actually lasts a couple of seconds, and doesn't even bookend the song, as there's another solo or two after it. Even so, it's easily the most memorable part of the song for me, and it would seem I'm not alone in that sentiment.
39. Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For the Others (live)
"All we want"
This was number three on last year's list, and I have to say that while Veckatimest is pretty darn good, I still prefer the 'Morning Becomes Eclectic' version of this song. The bridge still gets me every time I listen, and the lead back to the last chorus is still awesome. Check here for what I had to say about it last year.
38. Foo Fighters - The Best of You
"The best - the best - the best"
The Foo Fighters have no small supply of explosive crescendos, but my favorite has got to be the one found in "Best of You". As is often the case with my favorite bits of songs, everything about the song comes to a slow stop, before Dave Grohl begins shouting out the hook.
37. Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
"How does it FEEEEEEL"
As a disclaimer, I feel that it's important to note that I'm not really all that much of a Bob Dylan fan, nor do I have any reference or context to try to make any grandiose statement about his music. That being said, who can possibly resist 'Like a Rolling Stone'? Feeling schadenfreude toward someone who's been taken down a peg or two has universal appeal, and when the singer half-shouts "HOW DOES IT FEEEEEL!?", the listener knows exactly how it feels - on both sides of the coin.
36. Blonde Redhead - Spring and By Summer Fall
"Comet-tail guitars"
'Spring or By Summer Fall' is a decent song. Dreamy vocals, fuzzy guitars, and an overall feeling of being in a fog permeate the majority of it, but in between the verses the real hook to the song takes off. This guitar line, done by what the AllMusicGuide review descriptively called "comet tail" guitars, is about as blissful as anything I've heard. They're almost shoegazey, without the extra heaviness or disoriented feeling that that particular tag often assumes - just beautiful and soothing.
35. Viktor Vaughn - Let Me Watch
"Vik trips up"
Daniel Dumile (MF Doom, Viktor Vaughn, DOOM, etc, etc, etc...) is always at his best when he's in character, and he's rarely been as good or in character as he is in 'Let Me Watch'. The song chronicles the short-lived romance between Viktor Vaughn and a young girl. She thinks he's a rogue with a heart (spoiler alert: he's not). Things take a hillarious turn toward disaster when Vik's true intentions are found out. The girl goes apoplectic; Vik goes home empty-handed. Her furious rantings and his barely-interested responses take an already good song to the next level.
34. Mew - Fox Cub/Apocalypso
"As threatening as Mew could ever sound"
Mew does not make angry sounding music, prefering to usually craft loud, but wandering songs around extremely vauge lyrics. However, toward the end of "Fox Cub" (a relatively docile affair), a darkness begin to build in the music, leading up to some absolutely jagged sounding guitar in the opening notes to Apocalypso. The beggining rushes forward as if propelled by angry hornets until that ghostly, oddly high-pitched voice pulls things back together. The rest of the song sounds pretty standard for Mew, but there's still that dark undercurrent.
33. Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution - Here's To Life
"Every rebel soldier wasn't fired..."
I have envy in my heart towards my brother, he's actually seen BotAR in concert. He says they're amazing. I can believe it. My favorite song of theirs is a missive at the writer's heroes who were all taken (or took themselves) from the world far too early. The bridge slows the pace as Tomas Kalnoky sings "every rebel soldier wasn't fired... some have quit", before later raising a toast of sorts to them all and affirming (probably mostly himself most of all) "here's to life".
32. Nobuo Uematsu - Advent: One-Winged Angel
"Se-phi-roth!!"
Allow my inner nerd to get sidetracked for a moment here. Nostalgia aside, the version of "One-Winged Angel" that shows up on the original Final Fantasy VII soundtrack doesn't really pack the punch that it once did (that's not a slam against classic VGM - I actually own the soundtrack to FFVII, and continue to enjoy it - there's just no reason to listen to that particular version of the song when better ones exist).
Now that we've establised that, the Advent Children version of One Winged Angel showcases just how good a composition the original had the potential to be. The orchestra crashes all around as rocking guitars chug away. The thing everyone remembers about this OWY, though, is the vocalists. That the lyrics are in Latin makes it all the more ominous sounding, and when the name of the game's antagonist is shouted out, it just plain kicks ass. I may be a video game nerd, but this song stands up just fine against anything else out there.
31. Viva Voce - Alive With Pleasure
"The begining / ending"
With the first notes to The Heat Can Melt Your Brain, Viva Voce decided not to waste any time. They launch directly into an extremely catchy guitar & drum stomper. Turns out, though, that the begining is completely misleading. The meat of the song is nothing at all like the opening, it feels grafted on from a different song. The middle is beautiful and all, but it doesn't really feel right until the buzzing guitar comes to take back the song.
Note: I've included the semi-bizzare music video, because it's the only version I could find.
The list continues with 30-21 tomorrow!!
40. Metallica - One
"The machine-gun riff"
This one is almost too easy. 'One' is great, anyway, from the opening guitar line to the ridiculous solo that gets laid down in the second half of the song. The part that everyone always seems to talk about, though, is the "machine gun riff". One would think that it lasted five and a half minutes, but it actually lasts a couple of seconds, and doesn't even bookend the song, as there's another solo or two after it. Even so, it's easily the most memorable part of the song for me, and it would seem I'm not alone in that sentiment.
39. Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For the Others (live)
"All we want"
This was number three on last year's list, and I have to say that while Veckatimest is pretty darn good, I still prefer the 'Morning Becomes Eclectic' version of this song. The bridge still gets me every time I listen, and the lead back to the last chorus is still awesome. Check here for what I had to say about it last year.
38. Foo Fighters - The Best of You
"The best - the best - the best"
The Foo Fighters have no small supply of explosive crescendos, but my favorite has got to be the one found in "Best of You". As is often the case with my favorite bits of songs, everything about the song comes to a slow stop, before Dave Grohl begins shouting out the hook.
37. Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
"How does it FEEEEEEL"
As a disclaimer, I feel that it's important to note that I'm not really all that much of a Bob Dylan fan, nor do I have any reference or context to try to make any grandiose statement about his music. That being said, who can possibly resist 'Like a Rolling Stone'? Feeling schadenfreude toward someone who's been taken down a peg or two has universal appeal, and when the singer half-shouts "HOW DOES IT FEEEEEL!?", the listener knows exactly how it feels - on both sides of the coin.
36. Blonde Redhead - Spring and By Summer Fall
"Comet-tail guitars"
'Spring or By Summer Fall' is a decent song. Dreamy vocals, fuzzy guitars, and an overall feeling of being in a fog permeate the majority of it, but in between the verses the real hook to the song takes off. This guitar line, done by what the AllMusicGuide review descriptively called "comet tail" guitars, is about as blissful as anything I've heard. They're almost shoegazey, without the extra heaviness or disoriented feeling that that particular tag often assumes - just beautiful and soothing.
35. Viktor Vaughn - Let Me Watch
"Vik trips up"
Daniel Dumile (MF Doom, Viktor Vaughn, DOOM, etc, etc, etc...) is always at his best when he's in character, and he's rarely been as good or in character as he is in 'Let Me Watch'. The song chronicles the short-lived romance between Viktor Vaughn and a young girl. She thinks he's a rogue with a heart (spoiler alert: he's not). Things take a hillarious turn toward disaster when Vik's true intentions are found out. The girl goes apoplectic; Vik goes home empty-handed. Her furious rantings and his barely-interested responses take an already good song to the next level.
34. Mew - Fox Cub/Apocalypso
"As threatening as Mew could ever sound"
Mew does not make angry sounding music, prefering to usually craft loud, but wandering songs around extremely vauge lyrics. However, toward the end of "Fox Cub" (a relatively docile affair), a darkness begin to build in the music, leading up to some absolutely jagged sounding guitar in the opening notes to Apocalypso. The beggining rushes forward as if propelled by angry hornets until that ghostly, oddly high-pitched voice pulls things back together. The rest of the song sounds pretty standard for Mew, but there's still that dark undercurrent.
33. Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution - Here's To Life
"Every rebel soldier wasn't fired..."
I have envy in my heart towards my brother, he's actually seen BotAR in concert. He says they're amazing. I can believe it. My favorite song of theirs is a missive at the writer's heroes who were all taken (or took themselves) from the world far too early. The bridge slows the pace as Tomas Kalnoky sings "every rebel soldier wasn't fired... some have quit", before later raising a toast of sorts to them all and affirming (probably mostly himself most of all) "here's to life".
32. Nobuo Uematsu - Advent: One-Winged Angel
"Se-phi-roth!!"
Allow my inner nerd to get sidetracked for a moment here. Nostalgia aside, the version of "One-Winged Angel" that shows up on the original Final Fantasy VII soundtrack doesn't really pack the punch that it once did (that's not a slam against classic VGM - I actually own the soundtrack to FFVII, and continue to enjoy it - there's just no reason to listen to that particular version of the song when better ones exist).
Now that we've establised that, the Advent Children version of One Winged Angel showcases just how good a composition the original had the potential to be. The orchestra crashes all around as rocking guitars chug away. The thing everyone remembers about this OWY, though, is the vocalists. That the lyrics are in Latin makes it all the more ominous sounding, and when the name of the game's antagonist is shouted out, it just plain kicks ass. I may be a video game nerd, but this song stands up just fine against anything else out there.
31. Viva Voce - Alive With Pleasure
"The begining / ending"
With the first notes to The Heat Can Melt Your Brain, Viva Voce decided not to waste any time. They launch directly into an extremely catchy guitar & drum stomper. Turns out, though, that the begining is completely misleading. The meat of the song is nothing at all like the opening, it feels grafted on from a different song. The middle is beautiful and all, but it doesn't really feel right until the buzzing guitar comes to take back the song.
Note: I've included the semi-bizzare music video, because it's the only version I could find.
The list continues with 30-21 tomorrow!!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Favorite Moments in Music: Part One (50-41)
Late last year, I jotted down my 20 favorite snapshots in music for the year 2008. It was fun enough that I decided to just go ahead and chronicle my favorite moments in all of music. I'll be doing ten a day, starting today and ending on Friday with number one.
These aren't necessarily my favorite songs (though several of my favorites do show up.) These are just the tiny bits and pieces of songs that really get me - the fist pumpers, the heart melters, the plain old "what the hell??" moments that make listening to music such an enjoyable and rewarding pastime.
Behold the list. Feel free to comment. Feel even freer to sample the songs by clicking the links that I'll be including with every entry.
50. Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You
"Because you're miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine"
We'll start things off with the oldest song on the list - the novelty classic "I Put a Spell on You". The song itself jangles around unnaturally like a zombie, but it's often forgotten how good Screamin' Jay's voice really was......of course, it's hard to notice that fact when he's ranting and raving about putting spells on the object of his affections. Why? Because you're mine, of course. Or rather, becaaaaaause you're miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.
He does it a couple of times in the song, but the best one is around 1:05 in.
49. Blindside - Sleepwalking
"Goodbye."
I hadn't listened to 'Silence' in quite a while, and while not all of it resonates in quite the same way that it once did, the bridge to 'Sleepwalking' is still a shiver inducing moment of the highest order. The bridge stands out amongst the shouted verses and anthemic chorus in its laid-back sparcity, but the best part comes as the band cuts out as Christian softly sings "goodbye", before coming back in full fury for one last go at that chorus.
48. Mogwai - Friend of the Night
"The bridge fades into the chorus"
I love "Friend of the Night". I'm sure Mogwai has put out other stuff that is more "critically respected" (and a quick glance through those critics' websites tells me I'm right), but aside from "Hunted By a Freak", there's no other song in their catalog that pushes all the right buttons for me. The bridge to the song is a simple piano line repeated a bunch of times. It's beautiful, and stands in contrast to the swirling guitars and heavy drums that make up the rest of the song, but you don't realize how fantastic it really is until it starts building in intensity and allows the big, molten post-rock hook to the song to play over the top of it. All of well-respected dissonance from their earlier stuff can't match up to those 5 minutes.
47. Sölvi Blöndal - Assault Team (mp3)
"Electronica + Rock + Strings = Instant joy"
Sölvi Blöndal (from the band Quarashi) was apparently commissioned by the makers of the video game EVE-Online to make song tracks for the soundtrack, and I have to say, he did his job well - all of the tracks sound great. The standout track is "Assault Team", an edgy rock-laden electronica song that packs an energetic punch. Once the strings come in over the top of all of that, it's just too good (a very similar song, in terms of string built rock-electronica - rocktronica? - is found in Jesper Kyd's 'Access the Animus' which made its way onto the 2008 list.)
46. Hot Water Music - The Sense
"The first 22 seconds"
'Emogame 2' was a fairly terrible flash game in which the game's main characters (leading figures from various emo bands) killed celebrities and people whom the author deemed 'sellouts' by throwing LPs at them. One thing that made up for this was the fact that the main part of the soundtrack comprised itself of a loop of the first 22 seconds of this song over and over again. That would initially seem like a bad idea to hear the same 22 seconds over and over again, but the riff to 'The Sense' completely justified it. The rest of the song is decent enough, but the main riff is such an earworm that the whole track comprised of nothing except for it, and I wouldn't have batted an eye.
45. El-P - The League of Extraordinary Nobodies
"We haven't even gotten to the part where it's a joke"
When one listens to an El-P song, they generally expect to hear biting social commentary and cynically snarky lines. 'Nobodies' may be a throwaway from 'I'll Sleep When You're Dead' (maybe not "throwaway", but it's definitely not one of the showcased tracks), but it would be hard to find a song that better distills his style. The song itself is filled with great lines decrying society at large and the whole 'going through the motions' lifestyle, but then at the end, El-P launches into a rant condemning his own failings before exclaiming "I hear the cackles of the crowd, they're laughing at us / and we haven't even gotten to the part where it's a joke."
44. Rob Dougan - Furious Angels (Instrumental Version)
"Just when you think it's over... the good part comes..."
Furious Angels appears to be winding down around the 3:15 mark - right before it builds back up into a string-led, big beat driven monster. My favorite bit is right at the begining of the buildup, where the string section snakes along a melody before expanding and filling out. Strangely enough, it was another online flash game (Avalanche, this time) that turned me on to this song (odd where music gets found these days).
43. Mewithoutyou - In a Sweater Poorly Knit
"A fittingly haunted ending"
Mewithoutyou has some great moments (and this will not be the last one featured on this list), but one of my favorites is at the very end of my favorite mwY CD. The theme throughout 'Brother, Sister' has been "I do not exist, only you exist", and to close out the album, that mantra is simply sung over and over again, right before the song fades out with a harp softly played (but really, can a harp be played any other way?). It's the perfect end to a great album.
42. White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
"The opening bass guitar line"
The begining of 'Seven Nation Army' is actually played by a guitar played through an octave pedal (my bother was crestfallen when he learned that bit), but the fact remains - EVERYONE loves it. When it comes on the radio, I don't think I've ever seen the channel turned - in fact, most of the time it gets turned up. Seriously, give it another listen and tell me that's not a great riff.
41. Faith No More - Epic
"IT'S IT"
What is it? Theories range anywhere from drugs, to masturbation, to nothing at all. In the end, it really doesn't matter - what it is is a damn good song. A strong case could also be made for the soft piano playing over the fadeout. That part is also great, but "IT'S IT! (what is it?)" is pretty difficult to beat.
These aren't necessarily my favorite songs (though several of my favorites do show up.) These are just the tiny bits and pieces of songs that really get me - the fist pumpers, the heart melters, the plain old "what the hell??" moments that make listening to music such an enjoyable and rewarding pastime.
Behold the list. Feel free to comment. Feel even freer to sample the songs by clicking the links that I'll be including with every entry.
50. Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You
"Because you're miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine"
We'll start things off with the oldest song on the list - the novelty classic "I Put a Spell on You". The song itself jangles around unnaturally like a zombie, but it's often forgotten how good Screamin' Jay's voice really was......of course, it's hard to notice that fact when he's ranting and raving about putting spells on the object of his affections. Why? Because you're mine, of course. Or rather, becaaaaaause you're miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.
He does it a couple of times in the song, but the best one is around 1:05 in.
49. Blindside - Sleepwalking
"Goodbye."
I hadn't listened to 'Silence' in quite a while, and while not all of it resonates in quite the same way that it once did, the bridge to 'Sleepwalking' is still a shiver inducing moment of the highest order. The bridge stands out amongst the shouted verses and anthemic chorus in its laid-back sparcity, but the best part comes as the band cuts out as Christian softly sings "goodbye", before coming back in full fury for one last go at that chorus.
48. Mogwai - Friend of the Night
"The bridge fades into the chorus"
I love "Friend of the Night". I'm sure Mogwai has put out other stuff that is more "critically respected" (and a quick glance through those critics' websites tells me I'm right), but aside from "Hunted By a Freak", there's no other song in their catalog that pushes all the right buttons for me. The bridge to the song is a simple piano line repeated a bunch of times. It's beautiful, and stands in contrast to the swirling guitars and heavy drums that make up the rest of the song, but you don't realize how fantastic it really is until it starts building in intensity and allows the big, molten post-rock hook to the song to play over the top of it. All of well-respected dissonance from their earlier stuff can't match up to those 5 minutes.
47. Sölvi Blöndal - Assault Team (mp3)
"Electronica + Rock + Strings = Instant joy"
Sölvi Blöndal (from the band Quarashi) was apparently commissioned by the makers of the video game EVE-Online to make song tracks for the soundtrack, and I have to say, he did his job well - all of the tracks sound great. The standout track is "Assault Team", an edgy rock-laden electronica song that packs an energetic punch. Once the strings come in over the top of all of that, it's just too good (a very similar song, in terms of string built rock-electronica - rocktronica? - is found in Jesper Kyd's 'Access the Animus' which made its way onto the 2008 list.)
46. Hot Water Music - The Sense
"The first 22 seconds"
'Emogame 2' was a fairly terrible flash game in which the game's main characters (leading figures from various emo bands) killed celebrities and people whom the author deemed 'sellouts' by throwing LPs at them. One thing that made up for this was the fact that the main part of the soundtrack comprised itself of a loop of the first 22 seconds of this song over and over again. That would initially seem like a bad idea to hear the same 22 seconds over and over again, but the riff to 'The Sense' completely justified it. The rest of the song is decent enough, but the main riff is such an earworm that the whole track comprised of nothing except for it, and I wouldn't have batted an eye.
45. El-P - The League of Extraordinary Nobodies
"We haven't even gotten to the part where it's a joke"
When one listens to an El-P song, they generally expect to hear biting social commentary and cynically snarky lines. 'Nobodies' may be a throwaway from 'I'll Sleep When You're Dead' (maybe not "throwaway", but it's definitely not one of the showcased tracks), but it would be hard to find a song that better distills his style. The song itself is filled with great lines decrying society at large and the whole 'going through the motions' lifestyle, but then at the end, El-P launches into a rant condemning his own failings before exclaiming "I hear the cackles of the crowd, they're laughing at us / and we haven't even gotten to the part where it's a joke."
44. Rob Dougan - Furious Angels (Instrumental Version)
"Just when you think it's over... the good part comes..."
Furious Angels appears to be winding down around the 3:15 mark - right before it builds back up into a string-led, big beat driven monster. My favorite bit is right at the begining of the buildup, where the string section snakes along a melody before expanding and filling out. Strangely enough, it was another online flash game (Avalanche, this time) that turned me on to this song (odd where music gets found these days).
43. Mewithoutyou - In a Sweater Poorly Knit
"A fittingly haunted ending"
Mewithoutyou has some great moments (and this will not be the last one featured on this list), but one of my favorites is at the very end of my favorite mwY CD. The theme throughout 'Brother, Sister' has been "I do not exist, only you exist", and to close out the album, that mantra is simply sung over and over again, right before the song fades out with a harp softly played (but really, can a harp be played any other way?). It's the perfect end to a great album.
42. White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
"The opening bass guitar line"
The begining of 'Seven Nation Army' is actually played by a guitar played through an octave pedal (my bother was crestfallen when he learned that bit), but the fact remains - EVERYONE loves it. When it comes on the radio, I don't think I've ever seen the channel turned - in fact, most of the time it gets turned up. Seriously, give it another listen and tell me that's not a great riff.
41. Faith No More - Epic
"IT'S IT"
What is it? Theories range anywhere from drugs, to masturbation, to nothing at all. In the end, it really doesn't matter - what it is is a damn good song. A strong case could also be made for the soft piano playing over the fadeout. That part is also great, but "IT'S IT! (what is it?)" is pretty difficult to beat.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Uno!
You see, it's funny because Delmon Young always swings at the first pitch, no matter where that pitch might be located.
Coincidentally, he's got 68 strikeouts and 7 walks this year. For being advertised as coming with "plus power", he's got only six doubles in 245 plate appearances (or about one double per 41 PAs, for reference, Neifi Perez averaged one double per 23 at bats over the course of his career).
Ouch.
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