Since my last 'musak' post, I've tagged 5.5 new songs, and I like them all. The 0.5 comes from one being a remake. I got the remake AND the original. Only one is a truly 'new' song, while the others are years old but still 'new to me'.
Before I get into the songs themselves, lemme go over the various ways I listen to music. There are currently three primary ways I consume my tuneage. Sitting here at the computer I have my simple Bose Companion 2 series 1 speakers. Yeah yeah, they ARE Bose so for a two speaker set up they are fairly nice, but they aren't really all that good. They highs and mids are crystal clear, and while the bass isn't distorted, it IS diminished. I have the car speakers. Fiona's system was grand. It was VERY bass heavy, but that was due to the 6 inch sub-woofer in a proper box. Ginger's system is a more full sound, but not nearly as good at loud levels. She has two subs, but they are sitting in the back deck behind the rear seats. They don't have a good box underneath them, so they aren't very loud. When the volume goes up the various speakers (I think there's 11 speakers in Ginger) start to distort long before I get to max volume The last method used to be my clock radio, but is now my phone. Thankfuly the Nexus 6 has stereo speakers that are perfectly balanced at quiet levels. At 'normal' listening levels and certainly at loud levels the speakers come across as very "tinny", but while drifting off to sleep and the speakers at almost off levels, they sound pretty good.
The reason I mention my consumption methods, is that certain songs sound good on one or two of them, but rarely sound good on all of them. One thing that has me so excited right now is that this group of new music sounds good on ALL of them. Maybe it's just losing the 'loud' listening in Ginger, but I'm very impressed with these songs in all presentation methods.
So... let's start in chronological order.
I've really enjoyed the band 'Foster the People". It's one of those bands that I probably woulnd't have given much time too on my own. But back when I was gaming and playing TF2, the forum that I frequented had a 'what are you listening to' thread and this band came highly recomended. If you know them, you probably know them from "Pumped up Kicks" which was their first hit. My actual favorite (and the song that solidified them as a band that I would follow) was "Helena Beat"
I love the intro, I love the instrumentation, I love the voice. I just really dig this song. It can calm me down or excite me... it really fits just about any mood.
So the newwest song after my last post was one of Foster the People's new hits, Houdini:
Similar beat to Helena beat, but a little more 'pop' than I tend to go for. But again, now that I'm following the band, I can get past the pop feel and focus more on the underlying music... and it's pretty good.
The next one is a remake of Poison's "Talk Dirty to Me". I loved that song when it first came out, but that love affair didn't last. Like most glam hair bands, I grew out of the music of Poison. Even their power ballad 'Every Rose Has It's Thorns" can grate on me now.
But hearing their lyrics in the tone of Reel Big Fish makes it all good again:
That just cracks me up and makes me smile in a whole new way.
Next up is another song from the Kills. The Kills really intrigue me as they seem to cover a lot of ground. Not all of their songs sound similar, and I'll often hear a new one from them and not even recognize it's them until I search for it online. Their new one that got my attention is Black Balloon. Just a really good chill song:
Here are some other Kills songs that I have and love:
No Wow
U.R.A. Fever
Cheap and Cheerful (Sebastien Remix)
Future Starts Slow
I was turned on to the Kills via iTunes. It was actually one of the first songs/bands that their recommendation system pointed me to. The other was The Black Keys. And those are the only two recommendations that iTunes made for me that I have both enjoyed AND has stood up to the test of time.
Anywho... Here's a song that I actually tried to not like. You Are the Best Thing by Ray LaMontagne. I heard it on some internet radio station at work and thought it was a fun 70s style jam. But the voice hit an odd chord within me. It didn't take long for me to recognize it from a television commercial:
The song used here is 'Trouble'. And trouble it was. I saw the commercial, enjoyed the song, got it... and promptly started to hate it. I don't know why it got so deeply under my skin, but it was something that I started to actually avoid listening to.
So when I found out that the artist behind that 'Trouble' song was responsible for "You Are the Best Thing" I figured I'd save myself the... ahem... trouble, and not get it. I'd just end up hating like his other single.
Well... the internet radio station certainly seemed to love it and played it often enough that I couldn't deny it's apeall. So I bought it, have listened to it about a dozen times, and am still enamoured by it. We'll see how long of legs this song has with me.
And last up in my recent Musak gold mine is Saturday Night by the Misfits. I don't know why, but I've recently started listening to a music channel based around Rancid at work. I recognize most of the artists on there, but I never dove deep enough to get past their one or two hits. This is a good example. If you asked me if I knew of the band The Misfits, I'd say yes. I couldn't describe any one of their songs or even say if I liked them or not, but I certainly knew the name. So when 'Saturday Night' started coming up, I was surprised... yes, the Misfits are a little punky and dark, but this song actually....
... umm... I just looked up the lyrics. Wow, this song is DARK. I think it's about murdering a past girlfriend and then being sad that she's gone.
Anywho... the song actually sounds really good.
------------
As long as I'm writing up a post, I'll mention that I went to Chicago this past weekend. It was as much fun as I ever expect from the city. My buddy and I went to Buddy Guy's Legends Bar (great blues), checked out the Museum of Science and Industry (SCIENCE!), attempted a pub crawl (WAY to cold for that), and visited the Chicago Auto Show. We ate well, enjoyed the sights and sounds of the city, stayed downtown at the Congress Plaza (very old, very history, very run down hotel in a GREAT location), visited Cloud Gate and the Billy Goat, ate at Gino's East, and just overall had a great time.
The only thing that we both would have changed is that February in the middle of a cold spell (single digit temps, -30s with the windchill), is the wrong time to see the city. Sure, the 90s or 100s of the summer would be equally awful, but the cold was just to extreme. We agree to head back in May or June for a quick overnight stay.
So now I have a trip to San Fran, a trip to Dallas, a short trip to Chicago, and a possible international trip (Thailand? Cabo? Jamaica?) all on the horizon. Thank god I have over a weeks worth of vacation saved up now!
No comments:
Post a Comment