Shellac—Riding Bikes. The bassline is catchy and the lyrics are fun. Steve Albini is consistently awesome.
Foxy Shazam—Don’t Give In. A change from Foxy’s last few albums (also awesome). The newest album is much simpler. Foxy was suffering from production creep as they got more popular, so it’s a welcome change.
Swans—A Little God In My Hands. I wasn’t a fan of some of the other songs on the album, but some of them were excellent.
Ariel Pink—Put Your Number In My Phone. Eclectic as ever. If anyone figures out what’s going on in the video, I’d like to know.
I thought it was pretty straightforward? The protagonist/singer has some sort of crippling medical condition, and is lonely and seeking female companionship (disabled men need love too; see also Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Two-Headed Boy, Pt. 2”). So he’s boned up on PUA, and he’s hired a young guy to assist him, appropriately peacocked up with the hair and hat and lipstick etc, and they’ve gone to the mall to hunt for phone numbers (one of the key steps). He fails dismally, as one would predict. This is a mix of sad/pitiable and optimistic: it may seem hopeless, and he has indeed failed, but there is always tomorrow, and if they make enough approaches, who knows? Maybe one day they’ll succeed.
(I realize that watching it, you might think the scenario is that it’s a young PUA forced to drag along his crippled older brother, completely ruining his chances, but this does not fit the tone or lyrics too well, and if you watch carefully, there seems to be hints that the wheelchair man is in charge; consider the phone tapping at 2:10 - it’s not the young guy’s phone which is the subject of the title, but the wheelchair guy’s phone.)
Music Thread
Touhou:
“Sixth Movement Dawn of East End” (MORRIGAN feat. 三澤秋; Symphonic Tarantella “Lily” -Illusionary Waltz: Belladonna Lily- {M3-27}) [orchestral]
“Fifth Movement 9th moon / Pale Indigo Dream” (MORRIGAN feat. 三澤秋; Symphonic Tarantella “Lily” -Illusionary Waltz: Belladonna Lily- {M3-27}) [orchestral]
“The Black Eyes” (Swing Holic Band; SWING HOLIC VOL.9 {R9}) [jazz]
“NEMESIS” (Sanokan; SWING HOLIC VOL.9 {R9}) [brass]
“ON FIRE” (Maurits”禅”Cornelis feat. Vivienne; DANCE with WOLVES {C86}) [house]
“Fantasia Nightbug” (激戦の人 feat. 迷犬; Summer Festival {C86}) [Rock]
“Eternal Steam Engine” (Suzumu feat.Sae Tsukiyama; Summer Festival {C86}) [vocal]
“To the Limit” (あとぐる feat. Mai Kotoge; 悠啼 YU-NARI {C78}) [rock]
Doujin:
“Prelude (Instrumental)” (Treow; KOLLECTION+OI {2012}) [electronica]
“A Longing” (yuxuki waga; Evergreen {VM23}) [ambient]
Kantai Collection:
“ThroBBing (母港BGM)” (W*M; Splash! {C85}) [instrumental]
Vocaloid:
“Sunrise” (Miku; akayaka; KARENT presents Skylight Theater {Trans city}) [ambient]
“トウキョウトガリ” (Miku; Kobayashi Onyx; LOG {2010}) [electronic]
“サイハテ(ver,LOG)” (Miku; Kobayashi Onyx; LOG {2010}) [electronic]
“Moon Walker” (Gumi & Piko; KTG; FREEZE {2011}) [electronic]
“Welcome to the Future” (Miku; 青屋夏生; Welcome to the Future {2014}) [Jpop/trance]
“Light Falls” (Miku; yuxuki waga {2011}) [Jpop]
“ヒトリの誕生日” (Miku; ため; 7 Kilometer {VM28}) [Jpop]
“ルッキング・フォー・ザ・ヘヴン” (Yukari; カミウラ, カミウラレコーズ; Lavender and White Rose {2013}) [vocal]
Best songs of 2014.
Rock:
Shellac—Riding Bikes. The bassline is catchy and the lyrics are fun. Steve Albini is consistently awesome.
Foxy Shazam—Don’t Give In. A change from Foxy’s last few albums (also awesome). The newest album is much simpler. Foxy was suffering from production creep as they got more popular, so it’s a welcome change.
Swans—A Little God In My Hands. I wasn’t a fan of some of the other songs on the album, but some of them were excellent.
Niel Cicierega—Wndrwll.
Niel Cicierega—Modest Mouth.
Pop:
Ariel Pink—Put Your Number In My Phone. Eclectic as ever. If anyone figures out what’s going on in the video, I’d like to know.
Sia—Chandelier. Don’t need to say much, probably everyone already knows this one.
Taylor Swift—Shake It Off. I definitely don’t need to say anything about this one. Good show.
Liars—Mess on a Mission. Catchy song, nice music video.
Post-rock:
Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra—What We Loved Was Not Enough. Moving.
Mogwai—Remurdered. Didn’t like this album as much as the last, but a few of the songs were good.
This Will Destroy You—Another Language. The whole album is good.
Metal:
Behemoth—Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer. Song starts at 0:57.
Behemoth—O Father O Satan O Sun.
Agalloch—Birth and Death of the Pillars of Creation. The album wasn’t spectacular like their last few, but several songs were great.
Thou—Free Will. Good album.
Sabaton—To Hell And Back. Guilty pleasure.
I thought it was pretty straightforward? The protagonist/singer has some sort of crippling medical condition, and is lonely and seeking female companionship (disabled men need love too; see also Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Two-Headed Boy, Pt. 2”). So he’s boned up on PUA, and he’s hired a young guy to assist him, appropriately peacocked up with the hair and hat and lipstick etc, and they’ve gone to the mall to hunt for phone numbers (one of the key steps). He fails dismally, as one would predict. This is a mix of sad/pitiable and optimistic: it may seem hopeless, and he has indeed failed, but there is always tomorrow, and if they make enough approaches, who knows? Maybe one day they’ll succeed.
(I realize that watching it, you might think the scenario is that it’s a young PUA forced to drag along his crippled older brother, completely ruining his chances, but this does not fit the tone or lyrics too well, and if you watch carefully, there seems to be hints that the wheelchair man is in charge; consider the phone tapping at 2:10 - it’s not the young guy’s phone which is the subject of the title, but the wheelchair guy’s phone.)
Music for Programming—Several downloadable mixes of electronica meant to be background music while you’re doing something that requires attention.
After reading a biography of Hugh Everett, I checked out his son’s music and was pleasntly surprised. I especially liked this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYvj7oeIMCc