27 Apr 2012
September - Earth, Wind & Fire
We celebrated Jessica’s thirtieth birthday with a disco house party. We’d warmed up with a number of excellent New Years Eve events, but this disco party was where the house dance floor really hit solid gold. People dressed up and really got into it. Of course, disco is genetically engineered to speak directly to the booty, so there’s no denying it.
1901 - Phoenix
There was this song on the radio that kept getting stuck in Jessica’s head. She would try to sing it to me, but I had no idea what she was talking about. What the hell is “Lisztomania”?
She found the album on Zune and downloaded it in time for our trip down to Portland for my friend Carlos’ wedding. So at last I was able to hear this catchy tune. But wait, what’s this next song… “1901”?
This is… perfection. I don’t even know where to start. This song just drives the whole way through, taking you on an expertly crafted journey. I have no words for it. I’m completely in love with this song.
Later we’re at the wedding venue, but it’s the day before. We’re hanging out in the pool outdoors, and another wedding is going down nearby in the place where Carlos will be married the next night. I remember them playing another song off that Phoenix album we’d listened to on the ride down: “Girlfriend”.
Okay, it was settled. I had to explore this band for real. Upon returning from the trip I completely absorbed myself in Phoenix’s discography. Was. Not. Disappointed.
Intro - The XX
This is one of my all time favorite album intros. It’s exactly how you should prepare someone for the musical journey that follows. Simple, building, ear catching, but not overwhelming.
And what a solid album it is. A distinct point of view, and a refined sound. Generally super relaxed, but also completely capable of getting things moving in its own way. My only complaint with this album is that it’s the only one. I demand more.
Underneath the Sycamore - Death Cab For Cutie
I find that I paint best when I have music on. So when I sat down for the crazy task of painting every day for thirty days, I needed a lot of music. Which made it a great time for a new Death Cab album. I don’t think I would have listened to this album so much in immediate repeat if it hadn’t been for the fact that I was spending hours painting every single evening. Not because it isn’t excellent, because it is. I just generally try to space out my album listening more.
And at last we have caught up with the present. Thirty of years of my life, defined by the music I was listening to. 140 tracks in total.
It seems odd to just trail off here. But that’s the thing, isn’t it? Now that I’ve started this… it won’t be done until I’m dead. Who knows what music the next thirty years will bring?
25 Apr 2012
Yes - Morphine
After nine years of courtship, I finally married Jessica. We had met so early in life, neither of us expected to find such perfection by then. So we felt no need to rush. Maybe we overshot a bit, but I’m much happier that we made our own decision on our own schedule, and walked into our wedding more confident and loving than ever.
We walked down the aisle to “The Nearness Of You” by Norah Jones. And we walked out to “Yes” by Morphine. Not a typical choice, I know. But a song by a band we both loved that chanted “yes, yes, yes” seemed like the perfect song to start our marriage.
Moondance - Michael Bublé
We’d been ballroom dancing for a number of years by this point. There was zero interest in half-assing our first dance. So months before the wedding we started working on our performance. The final number had foxtrot, swing, balboa, lindyhop… seriously, we went all out. I had a spreadsheet to block the whole thing out. It was probably the only thing I was nervous about on our wedding day. I mean, that whole wedding ceremony was obviously going to be fine… but could we pull off the dance?
The dip and kiss happens at 3:30, in case it isn’t obvious.
Slow Dance - John Legend
Before the wedding Jessica’s aunt Donna gifted her greatest piece of wisdom: play this song. I don’t think I had ever heard it before. Which is a shame, because that’s too many years without this absolute treat of a song in my life.
We played it immediately after “Moondance”. The idea that was that people would join us and start the dance floor. We’d even seeded certain people in advance to set up the whole transition. But in that moment far too many of them lost their nerve. Apparently dropping a dance number like that wasn’t good for convincing the general crowd that it was time for them to dance too. Oh well, their loss. Great song.
Our love is…
Our love is…
Our love is… slow dancing together.
Loud Pipes - Ratatat
Oh hell yes, Ratatat. This was an introduction from Jevan. One of the awesome things about working on music software is how talking about music is just part of the culture. There was truly a love for music there.
Another Zune Arts video brought me Ratatat earlier, but it was so short I didn’t dig deeper into the music. I didn’t even make the connection that I’d heard the music before until a year later. But seriously, those videos are awesome. I highly recommend watching all of them.
Ratatat filled a void that Daft Punk had left empty. Instrumental, tightly mixed, conceptual but hard hitting and rhythmic. And like Daft Punk, I’m always left wondering why there isn’t more of it.
Your Touch - The Black Keys
I first heard the Black Keys while tooling around on Zune looking for new music. I believe I started with Attack & Release, since it was the new release, but it was when I traveled back in time that I found what I was looking for.
Discovering The Black Keys felt a bit like unearthing one of my dad’s old records. The band just doesn’t sound like something from this era. Clearly this can’t be music from the year 2006? What sorcery is this?
Raw simple blues rock. No tomfoolery. Heartfelt, pure, and oh so good. There are times when I find a new album, and there are times when I find a new artist to delve into completely. This was most definitely the latter.
23 Apr 2012
Dirty Laundry - Bitter Sweet
I’d been working on the same product at Microsoft for four years, and it had come time to change the scenery. My team was migrating from Media Center to work on this new music project called Zune. A friend of mine, Ian, was already over there, and was able to give me some preliminary info on what it was all about. Sometime before I’d made the switch Jessica and I were going on a trip (to San Francisco, I think) and Ian lent Jessica his Zune device for the duration.
Preloaded on the device was a number of surprisingly decent tracks. One of which was “The Mating Game” by Bitter Sweet. There was a big full sound to the band that reminded me of Supreme Beings of Leisure. So naturally I liked them immediately.
If “The Mating Game” was the entry point, “Overdue” quickly became the favorite. I love the stilted groove of that song. It hits so raw and hard with this odd collection of sounds that don’t really map to instruments in my head. It’s then swapped out for this super relaxed MMW-esque organ groove and excellent silky vocals. But it keeps coming back to that sublime groove. Love it.
However if we’re picking the song based on sheer number of memory connections then it has to be “Dirty Laundry”. One of the cooler things they did at Zune was commission these animated music videos to represent the brand. I don’t think it did much good, but the videos were pretty consistently awesome. The one for this song, titled “Moodbot”, was no exception.
I also remember recommending the album to a friend who ended up putting together a brilliant burlesque number to it. So I have not one but two visual aids for this song, one with robots and one with explosions of glitter.
And now I’m realizing that we’re starting catching up to reality. Because around a year after this point I went to see a Bitter Sweet show and blogged about it here.
All Mine - Portishead
We’d already been listening to Portishead for awhile, but there was a bit of a rebirth of Portishead around this time. And none of it more than this song.
Damn this song is sexy. It crawls, it bumps, it slides. But I’m amazed at how this live recording manages to carry more weight than the album recording. I guess that’s what happens when you bring a 35-piece orchestra to your live show.
Brick House - Commodores
My cousin Kelly got married some years before this. Halfway into their traditional first dance she and the groom broke into a surprise swing routine. It was highly entertaining, and provided the inspiration I needed to finally cave into Jessica and get some dance lessons.
So some time after that Jessica and I started partner dancing together. And then some time into that we started trying out west coast swing. It was at that point that we truly discovered the song that is “Brick House”.
It’s so perfect for a laid back sloppy west coast. It is impossible for this song to come on and for Jessica and I to not to dance to it. I couldn’t even count how many times we’ve danced to this song, yet it’s still awesome. It’s a staple at most weddings, and there’s a reason.
Move Along - The All-American Rejects
I’ve already mentioned here all sorts of music and rhythm games. Singing to Karaoke Revolution; drumming to Donkey Konga, and strumming to Guitar Hero. I even once threw a party where we had all of the above available at the same time. Thankfully someone else thought this was just as awesome as I did, because Rock Band was released and made the world a better place.
While working on Zune my team played plenty of Guitar Hero during breaks. When Rock Band came out we got a full kit for the office and kept the tradition going. The addition of drums was the newest most exciting element since they were obviously many steps above the crude bongo drums of Donkey Konga. A couple times before I had sat down in front of a real drum kit and felt immediately lost. But making a game out of it enabled me to grasp the basics.
Once I grasped the core it was possible to really feel the difference in performing various beats. This song became an absolute favorite, and one where people would fight over who got to play the drum part. It’s exactly the sort of song I never would have a relationship with if not for Rock Band. It’s total pop fluff, but I’ve had so much fun playing the song (all parts of it, even) that I unquestioningly turn up the radio when it comes along.