Music Meme Day 30: Your Favorite Song at this Time Last Year

day 30 - your favorite song at this time last year

Probably one of these:
Jónsi "Boy Lillikoi"
CocoRosie "Animals"
Jeremy Enigk "Chewing Gum"

Oh my, the music meme is over and I had to leave out so much magnificent material. Now I feel compelled to blather a bit. I have music on all the time here, finding it elevates and enhances life in myriad ways. If you have no idea what I mean, try listening to Sigur Rós "Ágætis byrjun" next time you fold the laundry.

Music Meme Day 29: A Song From Your Childhood

day 29 - a song from your childhood

The first thing I thought of was how, sometime between the ages of 5 and 9, I used to drive my mother crazy with asking her to put on "The Wild Bull" by Morton Subotnick. This early synthesizer composition evoked visions for me…visions of rabbits being murdered by chainsaws, and for some reason I enjoyed the horror of it. I'm sure it paved the way for some of the horrifying music I enjoy today.

Music Meme Day 28: A Song That Makes You Feel Guilty

day 28 - a song that makes you feel guilty

Huh? Guilty? Mm. Well how about this. I used to really love Bright Eyes. I've seen 'em live four times, more than any other band. But after "Lifted," their music lost its soul and passion to me. Conor Oberst learned how to sing and write songs with proper meter on his lyrics, and they just weren't the same. So not only do I feel bad for not liking their newer stuff, I also feel bad that I'm just not as much in the mood for teenage boy angst these days. That said, here's the track that turned me onto Bright Eyes in the first place "Calendar Hung Itself."

Music Meme Day 27: A Song That You Wish You Could Play

day 27 - a song that you wish you could play

"Opal" by Syd Barrett. I wanted to learn this on guitar, but I couldn't find the guitar tab, and couldn't figure it out from listening to it. The bridge is one of the most awesome things ever, imo.

Music Meme Day 26: A Song That You Can Play on an Instrument

day 26 - a song that you can play on an instrument

I could probably still fake my way through "Two Headed Boy Pt 2" by Neutral Milk Hotel if I had the guitar chords in front of me. And of course my own original songs.

Music Meme Day 25: A Song That Makes You Laugh

day 25 - a song that makes you laugh

I believe Strong Bad's polka-inspired "Sweet Cuppin Cakes" is likely to amuse anyone who spends the 1 minute necessary to listen to it. It certainly does me. But I prefer to dance to it. It takes a certain kind of humor to make me laugh out loud.

Music Meme Day 24: A Song That You Want to Play at Your Funeral

day 24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral

Well I talked about my funeral on Day 22. But there's also Antony & the Johnsons "Bird Gerhl" which I think is the perfect funeral song for a transgendered man who wishes to be a girl. Oh, I guess I'm not really a transgendered man, but some days I feel like there's one hidden inside me.

Music Meme Day 23: A Song That You Want To Play at Your Wedding

day 23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding

Already had a wedding…and I already mentioned "Come on Fhqwhgads" in Day 7 so how about the opening track of our wedding soundtrack, which was Bel Canto's "Mornixuur."

Music Meme Day 22: A Song That You Listen to When You're Sad

day 22 - a song that you listen to when you’re sad

Sigur Rós "Von" is so creepingly epic in its sadness I want it played at my funeral just for the catharsis effect. Then afterward I expect someone to break out the beverages (how about Kraken rum, Sangria and Thai Iced Coffee), and the party can begin. I hope to see (from my soul hole up in the corner of the venue) hula hooping and aerial acts, a puppet show acting out my life story, and people cosplaying characters from my favorite mangas. (The reality is my funeral will probably end up as boring as the rest of 'em, but I can dream). Oh and then people will ritually wrap my body in a piece of cloth they've all written wishes and prayers on, and dump me in a hole in the ground. No coffin please. Let the worms eat me.

Music Meme Day 21: A Song That You Listen to When You're Happy

day 21 - a song that you listen to when you’re happy

Hard to pick something I haven't already posted…I don't have a lot of happy songs in my collection. So I just picked something from my "Absolutely Joy" playlist (which only has 11 songs in it). Here's Kate Bush "The Big Sky"

A Vocal Mystery Solved

In a previous post I debated whether the high soprano vocals of TwinSisterMoon and Natural Snow Buildings could possibly belong to male Mehdi Ameziane. Then I found this video, which proves that they do! If you go to minute 15:00 you can see the man himself is the owner of that pretty voice. Sweet!

Mehdi Ameziane at Dwars Festival, 2008

Music Meme Day 20: A Song That You Listen to When You're Angry

day 20 - a song that you listen to when you’re angry

Deftones "When Girls Telephone Boys" is a good one for that purpose. Deftones have saved my sanity on multiple occasions, most notably when I needed to calm down after a f&c$in% tai chi / yoga class.

Music Meme Day 19: A Song From Your Favorite Album

day 19 - a song from your favorite album

That means I have to pick a favorite album! Impossible! Okay it's tough, because to be a favorite album, I should probably like darn near every track on it, right? Most Sigur Rós albums are like that for me, and some Sunny Day Real Estate albums, too. Since I have already handed you the former, how about something from the latter. Here's something from a Sunny Day Real Estate album that almost never got finished and released. By the time the album was done, the band was so fed up they didn't even want to bother choosing a cover, which is how the cover ended up plain pink and simply called "The Pink Album." The whole thing is a meandering bliss fest for those of us who appreciate whiney emo bands. Here's the opening track, "Friday."

Music Meme Day 18: A Song That You Wish You Heard on the Radio

day 18 - a song that you wish you heard on the radio

I'm going to give you three:
Jónsi & Alex "Happiness"

Paavoharju "Tuoksu tarttuu meihin"

Natural Snow Buildings "The Ice Fortress"

Because we need an entire freaking radio station that sounds like it's playing a soundtrack for the post-apocalypse through a defective transmitter while I lie in a grassy meadow on a warm summer day with breeze blowing across my face. Please?

Failing that, listen to my blip.fm station.

Music Meme Day 17: A Song That You Hear Often on the Radio

day 17 - a song that you hear often on the radio

I hear that Owl City "Fireflies" song in every store I walk into, it seems. Luckily, the inhuman sounding vocal enhancements are not audible in such environments, and that almost makes the song bearable. But I still prefer Her Space Holiday, which is who I mistook Owl City for first time I heard them. You may not hear any resemblance, but there's something about the cadence of the singing and the scales they use, I think, that is similar.

Music Meme Day 16: A Song That You Used to Love But Now Hate

day 16 - a song that you used to love but now hate

I can't think of any song like this. Normally if I love a song I will always at least 'like' it, even years later. If anything, I might find a song I hate and later find something to like about it.

Music Meme Day 15: A Song That Describes You

day 15 - a song that describes you

The obvious choice is this one...

"Only Human"

original version by Heidi Berry (lyrics in the second person)

or cover version by The Hope Blister (lyrics in first person)

Music Meme Day 14: A Song That No One Would Expect You To Love

day 14 - a song that no one would expect you to love

Well, that certainly depends on your impression of me, doesn't it?
If you think I'm a middle aged old bag, then you might not expect me to love "Spit it out" by Slipknot, but I do.

Music Meme Day 13: A Song That Is a Guilty Pleasure

day 13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure

"The Prayer" by Celine Dion w/ Andrea Bocelli. The lyrics are so cringeworthy I wish they were ALL in Italian so I wouldn't be able to understand them. But the way they tweak the melody and harmony throughout the course of the song is just wonderful, imo.

Music Meme Day 12: A Song From a Band You Hate

day 12 - a song from a band you hate

I tried to think of which hated song by the hated Bee Gees I should include, and "Stayin' Alive"'s irritating chorus popped into my head.

Music Meme Day 11: A Song From Your Favorite Band

day 11 - a song from your favorite band

Any random Sigur Rós song? Okay how about this one that has an epic video (about two twelve year old boys who fall in love) to go along with it.

Music Meme Day 10: A Song That Makes You Fall Asleep

day 10 - a song that makes you fall asleep

Stars of the Lid "A Lovesong (For Cubs)" (in three parts!) and several other SOTL tracks have lulled me to sleep on occasion.

Music Meme Day 9: A Song That You Can Dance To

day 09 - a song that you can dance to

Scraping Foetus off the Wheel "Water Torture" has provided many enjoyable moments of dancing joy during the witching hour when everyone is on the short end of a long day and trying not to lose it. With this song, you can lose it in a manner that is almost socially acceptable.