Chris Glein Game Design and Life

Music Made Me - Part 29

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?

Music Made Me - Part 28

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.

Music Made Me - Part 27

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.

Music Made Me - Part 26

Proper Hoodidge - Amon Tobin

I was at the Experience Music Project for some reason that I can no longer recall. I remember getting my dad a pass as a Christmas gift, but this particular time I know that I was there alone. Regardless of the reason, I found myself in the attached music store, which actually had a decent sampling setup. I found myself reading some staff reviews and trying out some albums in the store.

Amon Tobin didn’t sound like anything I had heard before. It was electronic music on a more fundamental level than I was accustomed to. It wasn’t just lightly remixed, it was as if someone was crafting music out of the raw waveforms in the ether.

It can be challenging to listen to. Not always satisfactory, but always interesting. Because of the uneven listen-ability of the album as a whole it’s not something I can generally just put on, but there are many sparks of brilliance at work here.

Stitched Up - Herbie Hancock & John Mayer

I’m in Oslo, Norway. I’ve got a Creative Zen Micro and a pair of headphones. I’m sitting in a park, enjoying the scenery and the (unrelenting) sun. My dad is there too, and we’re talking a bit about music. I remember playing a couple songs for him then, and just sitting there to enjoy the moment.

I know this was one of the songs. I’m not positive, but I think the others were The Shins “New Slang” and The Postal Service “We Will Become Silhouettes”.

New Slang - The Shins

I was introduced to this song by that scene in “Garden State”. And ever since The Shins have had this folksy throwback feel to me. Like that melancholy moment at the end of The Graduate where “The Sounds of Silence” plays. I guess there’s just something Simon and Garfunkel-y about them.

The Shins have more versatility than I expect of them. “Kissing the Lipless” surprises me every time. And there’s that the raw energy when “Sleeping Lessons” breaks through. I feel like I’ve put The Shins in a box, and I keep forgetting about how much more they have to offer. That initial association was so strong that it’s hard to overcome for me.

Vultures - John Mayer

With Continuum John Mayer was officially forgiven of any prior trespasses. The pop is dialed way back here and makes way for the likes of “I Don’t Trust Myself”, which sounds more like a modern blues song, or “Gravity”, with its excellently nerdy choice of a scapegoat. And of course “Vultures”.

This is the album I was hoping from Mayer all along. It feels like what he wanted too, but he just needed some distance from being confused as just some pop heartthrob. Hard when the ladies are throwing their money and themselves at you.

Canned Heat - Jamiroquai

I’d guess that most people think of this scene from Napoleon Dynamite when they hear this song. I personally didn’t find that movie nearly as funny as everyone else seemed to, so that association never formed for me. I had already long ago filed Jamiroquai and this song filed under “awesome”.

It’s time for CES, and I’ve decided to hitch along with some coworkers for their trip to Vegas to work the booth. This is at the same time as the launch of Windows Vista, and there’s a corresponding party at some club at Caesar’s. Naturally, we go.

The DJ at this event is notably awesome (I look up this “DJ AM” later and find him to be “kind of a big deal”). He has a knack for being able to play completely un-danceable songs and make them awesome without compromising their familiarity. I keep trying to get another drink from the open bar, but find myself pulled back to the dance floor by mix after awesome mix.

Despite the talent on display this is of course a party with too many geeks and not enough dancing. I decide that we need more Jamiroquai. But of course it’s loud and verbally communicating a request to the DJ is not possible. I improvise, type “Canned Heat” into my phone and hold it up for him to see. He sees it, nods, and shortly thereafter makes it happen.

When the song comes on the dance floor gets a surge of new energy. It implants this idea in my head that “Canned Heat” is a song with magical powers. This is an idea that has yet to fail me; the song somehow always delivers. It took me some time to realize that this is probably mostly related to that scene from Napoleon Dynamite. Which is a bit disappointing for me, but whatever it takes to get the bodies dancing.

Music Made Me - Part 25

Brothers On A Hotel Bed - Death Cab for Cutie

I remember having a rather vivid, deeply sad dream with this song as the soundtrack. I don’t think my dreams generally have soundtracks, but this one did. I hear the song now, and my breathing instinctively slows. It’s so sad, and so beautiful. Thankfully I know that I don’t process lyrics well enough for that dream to actually be about what the song is about. I can pick up on emotion, and melody, but lyrical comprehension is not my strong point.

I Bow Down and Pray to Every Woman I See - Chuck Prophet

Jessica got this album as a recommendation off of the radio. And I’m glad, because it’s a solid album through and through. There’s some blend of folksy and groovy happening on it, and I dig it.

There are lots of songs I could pick from this album. I was deeply considering “Summertime Thing”, with its heartfelt nostalgia. Or the sweet album send-off that is “Old Friends”. “I Bow Down” won over on account of just how damned slick it is.

Eple - Royksopp

While we were playing games Rob put this on and introduced it as “Swedish Daft Punk”. Well, they’re technically Norwegian, but I guess that’s close enough. It’s a softer sound that Daft Punk for sure, but I could see what he was getting at.

He burned me a sampler disc which I know now as a subset of Melody A.M.. It’s odd when someone pre-filters an album for you. Because later you can come across the album in full and become curious about those unexplored tracks between. Are they undiscovered treasures, or awful that you were mercifully spared from? Do you trust your friend’s taste or not?

I general I think Rob pulled out the high notes, but he maybe didn’t need to filter so heavily. But it’s all good, it just gave me some b-sides to search for later.

Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan

This odd little game came out that required a plastic guitar as a controller. I didn’t even technically own a PS2 of my own, but I bought a copy of Guitar Hero because it was just so damned awesome. Sure it wasn’t playing a real guitar, but it was still freaking cool. Much cooler than bongos.

I was already quite familiar with this song, but playing it in the game was an entirely new experience. Stevie Ray was far out of my range on a real guitar (and it’s not as if I’d picked one up in years anyway), but in the game I could incrementally close that gap. A false sense of accomplishment maybe, but it didn’t feel like it. Striving to keep up with Stevie felt deeply satisfying. Gamer me and musician me were finding some common middle ground.

Train - Goldfrapp

Goldfrapp rocks my face. After listening to them I’m always left wondering why I don’t listen to them more often. Great super-danceable grooves, gritty electronic elements, sultry vocals. There are so many totally ass-kicking-ly awesome tracks to choose from. How is it that I keep forgetting to come back to them? What’s wrong with me?