15 Apr 2012
Inner City Blues - Marvin Gaye
I don’t know what inspired Jessica to start delving into a 1971 album all of the sudden in 2003, but she did. It was less of a discovery of Marvin Gaye and more of a rediscovery. What’s Going On is a great album, but there was no question about what song to put in here. Makes me wanna holler…
Love and Happiness - Al Green
At the same time as Jessica was rolling out the Marvin Gaye she was also dropping the Al Green. I think she did this specifically to confuse me. They sound very different to me now, but at the time I was very mixed up. Al Green seems to on average have a groovier sexier sound, but Marvin Gaye is the one to really call out “Let’s Get It On” and lay down some “Sexual Healing”. However Marvin Gaye is the one with the thoughtful social commentary, while Al Green is the Reverend. It was a bit disorienting.
But ever since I’m prone to, as Morphine put it, “put the Al Green on”. You really can’t go wrong. Everybody wins.
I Believe In A Thing Called Love - The Darkness
Music games. They’re a huge thing now (or maybe a huge thing that’s jumped the shark a bit), but not so long ago they were new and niche.
I remember Ben first bringing around Karaoke Revolution to our gaming gatherings. His idea was simple: he wanted to get better at singing, and a game seemed like a great feedback mechanism to make that happen. The idea of a game judging your musical ability was still a novel idea back then. So we played this game, and soon it became clear that non-gamer people were interested in this too. Even, gasp, girls.
Fast forward to the sequel, and we have a growing crowd of people. But no one has the balls to tackle this song. Until Rand does. And he fucking nails it. He committed, he delivered, and it was awesome.
For years I was waiting for this song to make it to Rock Band. It always seemed like an obvious pick. Fun and challenging vocals, rocking guitars, and of course a big cup of awesome flair. I mean, have you seen the video? One of the best ever. Anyway, someone had once figured out the rights to get this song into a music game, so what was the hold up? I did eventually get my wish, although only a year ago. I’m still waiting for someone to really step it up and deliver the vocals…
Habanera - Carmen (Donkey Konga)
Okay, so no orchestral recording of this song is going to accurately represent how this song exists in my head. Thankfully bored people on the internet exist to archive this stuff for me.
So, somehow this crazy Gamecube game that came with a plastic bongo controller made it stateside. The track selection was… well… I’d be generous even calling it “uneven”. But beating drums to music is pretty much fun no matter what. Even if they’re fake drums, and even if the music is often terrible.
By the time Donkey Konga 2 came around we had a setup with a TV and two bongo controllers at work. When the mood was right at the end of the day we’d have some drinks, bang some bongos, and have an all awesome time.
Oddly enough, this song was the best one. So many times Jon and I would be scrolling through the track list, pondering, and just end up back on Habanera. It makes zero sense until you’ve actually drummed along to it.
Go It Alone - Beck
Beck, you’re not so sad anymore are you? You’ve had years to heal that broken heart, and as a result you were able to give birth to Guero. Which I like to believe is so much better for the heartbreak that preceded it. So… thanks for taking one for the team.
This song… yum. It’s a foot stomping, snappin’, can’t help but bob your head kind of a groove-a-long. A minimalistic triumph. So. Good.
I actually first hit this album via the GameBoy Variations remix. Okay, it’s not all proper chip tune mixes, but the thought is still there. I actually prefer the remix version of “Hell Yes” to the album version. The “Girl” remix is also pretty rad.
12 Apr 2012
Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
I remember listening to this song, lying face-up on the floor of the townhouse we lived in at the time. Jessica had put on this album on and it was this song that first stood out to me. Which is saying something, because the song is pretty deep into the album, and there are a lot of great songs that come before it. But it was the one that operated on the wavelength I needed.
I think the reason for that is that this song isn’t as concerned with being, well, a song. It finds a space, and then it spends some time just existing there. Building without building. I can see myself lying there on the floor, listening, and then really starting to feel it as the song enters its latter half of pure jam. Then at 6:31 the vocals come on in this lifting way that’s perfectly justified and made more powerful by what preceded them. And then of course it just expertly blends into the next track. Album planning for the win.
Once my ear was cocked, I delved into Death Cab pretty deeply, and they quickly became a favorite. This was the bridge.
Catch Me - Supreme Beings of Leisure
I discovered Supreme Beings of Leisure in a bit of a roundabout way. I got the Animatrix DVD as a gift. I want to say that the soundtrack came with it, but it’s possible I just followed up and checked it out later. Doesn’t matter. There were a couple interesting tracks on it, but the one that matters here is called “Under the Gun” by Supreme Beings of Leisure. I enjoyed it, but didn’t immediately dig deeper.
It took hearing the name a second time, from Francis if I recall, to lead me to Divine Operating System. And with that came many things, but especially the excellent James Bond anthem that never was: “Catch Me”. This band is one sexy, classy act.
Somersault - Zero 7
Ambient chill background music, it’s a thing. Here is some more. But there’s a bit of a story to go with this one.
I remember hearing about this band on the pilot episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. For those first couple episodes they had some other dude sitting in the questionable “culture” seat. I remember him riffling through the subject’s CD collection and criticizing it. Making fun of a dude’s clothes and lame bachelor apartment is one thing, but it’s something else entirely to hate on their music. Sure, I think some music is less than worthy; not all of it is good. But it’s ridiculous to think that you can take someone’s entire music history, dump it in the trash, and replace it with something hip. They can’t un-experience all of that. Maybe other people don’t have the emotional nostalgic connection to music that I do, but I can’t imagine completely changing my music tastes overnight. I mean, that’s why I’m doing this whole thing - I consider music to be part of my identity.
Anyway, the culture guy had the subject put on this Zero 7 album in the background during his date. It’s odd how despite my negative reaction to the whole scene I actually looked up the album. The thing is, it’s not the music recommendation that I found repulsive; it was the request that the subject also throw out their pass.
The album actually has a number of good tracks on it. Super soft, super chill, but good.
Panther Dash - The Go! Team
This is something that my officemate Krishna brought to my attention. We would close our door, crank up the volume, and groove to Go Team.
The entire album sounds like it was duct-taped together in a basement with bargain bin recording equipment. But there’s so much energy in the music that it doesn’t matter. Actually, I prefer it this way. It’s raw. The only downside is that this makes it incredibly difficult to insert into a mix with more-produced music.
I mean, this whole album is bat shit crazy. It’s got this bizarre backbone of cheerleading chants. Mix that with funk, and pop, and hip hop. And a harmonica. And trashcan drums. And a string section. And… holy crap what the hell is happening and why is it so awesome? How did I get this huge grin on my face?
The sort of raw delight that this music can induce is probably why they decided to use “Get It Together” as the theme for the adorable Little Big Planet. Which is a good pairing. But despite that huge marketing association Go Team always takes me back to those times with in that office with Krishna.
10 Apr 2012
Sure Thing - Saint Germain
Okay, one more ambient track before we move on. Groovy, bluesy, relaxed, repetitive. Good for programming and parties. I like it, partially because of the fact that it doesn’t tax my brain.
Undress Me Now - Morcheeba
Jessica finally made it out to a Morcheeba show, at the Moore. It was around the release of their album Charango, but I remember that we hadn’t heard it. Either it wasn’t out, or we hadn’t picked it up yet, I can’t remember which. What I definitely remember is that it was very fortunate that we caught this show. Shortly after the band split ways with the lead singer, Skye Edwards, in pretty much the Worst Idea Ever. I don’t care if you have artistic differences and are miserable, it’s your job to suffer through that and keep bringing me more music. I have needs.
I remember her singing this song at the show. She was entirely wrapped up in the performance. When the song was over it was as if she woke up and just then realized what she had been singing. “Undress me now, you know how / Using my mind”. Suddenly she had returned to earth and was blushing and embarrassed. It was adorable.
We Will Become Silhouettes - The Postal Service
There’s something special about The Postal Service. The way the electronic elements blend with Ben Gibbard’s vocals is so… something. Wistful? It sounds nostalgic to me now, but I’m pretty sure it always has.
I remember listening to this album while playing Halo with the boys (Alex, Ben, and Rob). It doesn’t seem like the most obvious pairing, but there’s something about the genesis of this music that works so well for a bunch of programmers playing video games.
I think it was actually in response to Daft Punk, and it was probably two years earlier, but I distinctly remember a car conversation with Rob where he made a critical connection for me. Our generation grew up with Nintendo. The only way to communicate music on this hardware was with glorified bleeps and bloops. What the musicians of the time were able to accomplish with this was actually pretty incredible, but the important point is that we as kids were absorbing this new kind of music slowly, and in an enjoyable context. Those seeds laid dormant for years and years and eventually blossomed into brain receptors that were attuned to things like The Postal Service or Daft Punk. We had never thought of ourselves as being listeners of electronic music, but without knowing it we had been prepared for this since childhood.
I adore this album. I’ve heard it countless times, and it still totally works. It’s simple, and joyful, and just lovely. Except for the last track. I recommend erasing it from existence.
I Know You (Pt. III) - Morphine
Back when I was in college I used Napster to fuel my music discovery. There wasn’t much barrier to trying something new. Then they shut down Napster and that all became hard again. People still did it with torrents and such, but at this point I had a job and a paycheck and didn’t feel comfortable stealing music off the internet. Music is important to me, and when I find something I like I don’t have a problem paying for it. But in this legitimate world how do you discover new music?
Into this situation was born the music subscription. Pay a fixed fee for access to all the music you want. I started doing this when Napster relaunched as a service, and I’ve been doing it ever since (although now with Zune). Under this system there’s absolutely nothing getting in the way of finding new music, which is how it should be.
Another aspect of this newfound access is that I could dig into my back catalog of artists. Despite my love of Morphine I hadn’t really had a chance to listen to their older albums. As soon as I hooked up to the music subscription fire hose I was able to check out everything else they had ever put out.
This song is off of Like Swimming, and it’s amazing. It’s so deep and dirty. Soulful. I love how it rolls into the chorus with those paired sax hits. It’s sexy, sultry, and oh so good.
Chicago - Groove Armada
Through work I got on the Halo 2 multiplayer beta. I had played my fair share of local LAN multiplayer on the first Halo. In the sequel they were doing some pretty revolutionary stuff with how they brought this online, and that’s what I was supposed to be testing.
What does this have to do with music? Well, I had both my Xbox and my Media Center hooked up to the TV. I had a Napster app on the PC that let me stream pretty much whatever I wanted. I figured out a workable setup where I could get the audio from that in addition to the audio and video from the Xbox. I set this up right around the time I got on that multiplayer beta, so the whole time I was playing I could listen to music.
This song is completely linked to the “Ivory Tower” map from that game. As it grooves along I can see myself running around in that space. The song and the environment and the game just all fit together for me. It’s one of those crazy tight links that I keep talking about here - personal but undeniable.