Musings on Music

• I'm obsessed with Love Lockdown by Kanye West.
• I'm also obsessed with Human by The Killers.
• And let's face it: I love pop music. So I'm also really into Circus by Britney. Judge me if you must. But the song is killer. And she's actually dancing again in the video.

Now, let's talk about Robyn. First famous for her song "Show Me Love," Robyn disappeared from the American pop scene to release two albums in her native Sweden, form her own record company, and garner success in Europe. She's back in the States. I just bought the album off iTunes. There are two songs I particularly like. Please listen to these and tell me what you think in the comments.

First one is Cobra Style.

The second is Handle Me. Although I've included a clip of the original album version below, I prefer the RedOne remix.

Enjoy!

Welcome to Swedish Net Radio

Peter, my Swedish podmate, commandeered my computer, pointing the browser to sr.se. As a result, I am now listening to Swedish net radio.

So far, the music is well charged and pleasant, with English lyrics that are only a little campy. Will let you know how this plays out.

Now playing: Suzanne (Vi Kan Inte Gå Hand I Hand)

Regina Spektor

My coworker Meredith is a curious sort. She has the amazing ability to monitor 50+ sites on a very regular, even daily basis. She is the queen of RSS feeds, news alerts, and who-knows-what-else to assist her in this quest. I often receive articles about the online recruitment industry, pop culture, and random news of interest. She's a good person to know.

Yesterday she sent me a link to perezhilton.com. I don't usually frequent the site, especially at work, but decided to check it out. To my surprise I found a new song from singer/pianist Regina Spektor. Regina probably deserves her own post with an obsession label. She's got a Tori Amos-thing going on, what with the piano playing and the hair, but brings a different perspective to the keys. I first fell in love with Fidelity (via YouTube) then went crazy for Samson (via YouTube). Her voice is great, her music beautiful, and her look singular.

I followed Meredith's link and found an in-line player for a new song called The Call. I pushed play and sat back at my desk. From the opening bars I was in love.

I picked up my iPod Touch, started the iTunes Music Store application, clicked search, and typed in Regina Spektor. The Call came up. I was ready to buy, ready to give my money to the man so I could listen to the song again and again. (Me obsessing about music is another post.) Album: Prince Caspian soundtrack. Cool. I can support the Mouse. I clicked to view the tracks on the album. BAM! It hit me. The little icon next to The Call: album only. What?!? I haven't seen the movie. I don't know if I'm going to see the movie. I am a sucker for movie soundtracks, but I need to see the movie first. I want to give you my money and you are limiting me? Haven't we learned anything about digital media? The expectation is that the consumer can access whatever they want whenever they want. I can go to YouTube or the link Meredith sent me above to listen to the song. I want to support this artist. I want to buy the single. Why won't you let me?

Yes, I understand Disney is using this as a ploy to push complete album sales. A quick glance of the user reviews of the Prince Caspian soundtrack on iTunes shows a similar sentiment regarding a song by Switchfoot on the album. Why. As one who can access the music in other ways, who was willing to pay, I was annoyed.

Regardless of the Mouse's marketing ploys, this is one great song. Go, check it out. Give it a listen. And when the pull their heads out of their derrieres, maybe we can buy the song and listen to it again, and again, and again...

Update: Have been listening to the song on endless repeat. I'm up to 25 plays. It takes 64 listens to be in my Top 25 Most Listened. 100 gets you in the top 5. And in first place with 141 listens we have Apologize by OneRepublic. Odds on Regina conquering the list?

New Alanis Video

A follow-up to this post about Alanais' new album. Her first video has been released. Song is titled Underneath.

New Music

I needed the Borders logo for this post, so I surfed my way over to borders.com. On their main page I saw that Alanis Morissette has a new album coming out June 10th. I'm a fan, so I decided to see what info they had on the project. From the product description:

The first studio album from Alanis Morissette since 2004, Flavors Of Entanglement fuses the organic and the techno prompted by producer Guy Sigsworth (Madonna, Björk). Incorporating beats, loops and synthesizers, the album was designed, says Morissette, so listeners can dance your face off. Balancing introspective confession and delirious joy, the global and the personal, Flavors Of Entanglement is a tasty new musical feast from one of pop's most intriguing artists.

Three guesses as to why I ran into the bedroom, interrupting Kristin reading a book and said, "You won't believe what's happening on June 10th!!!!"

If you guessed Guy Sigsworth, then you're right!

The writer of the description above should be shot for not mentioning that Guy Sigsworth is half of one of my favorite bands, Frou Frou. But that's not all. Guy Sigsworth worked with Seal on "Crazy," three of Björk's early albums, Imogen Heap's first solo effort before they became Frou Frou, and with Lamb. The guy is the man.

So I know what I'm going to do with some of my iTunes money on June 10th. Get me a little Alanis + Guy goodness. It best not disappoint.

Educate thyselves

Chasing Sobriety

Okay. I love Evanescence. Cool bad. Hot lead singer. Hard sound without the lameness of most rock bands. They get play on almost every radio station in town. Shouldn't be a bad thing, right?

WRONG.

When someone gets play on every station in town (okay, not WPGC, the top station in the city, urban music) they become what? Overplayed. Most evenings you can't listen to the radio for five minutes without hearing that song. Don't get me wrong. I like the song. I'm just done listening to it.

Same thing is happening with the new Snow Patrol song. Chasing Cars is a great song. Chasing Cars has appeal on hard rock and pop stations. Chasing Cars even has a cool video. Unfortunately, Chasing Cars is overplayed.

Oliver's Top 10 Songs

At work the other day Thalia's Amor a la Mexicana came on my iPod. I took out my headphones, turned to my coworker Sonja and said, "I think this is probably my all-time favorite song." Sonja took off her glasses, looked at me, and said, "Oliver, you'd be hard pressed to come up with a top ten list." After denying her repeatedly, I decided to take up the charge.

That night upon arriving home I opened iTunes (7.0.2), created a playlist "Oliver Top 10," and combed through my music library adding the songs I felt deserved to be on my Top 10 List.

It's 34 songs long. I think I lost.

The list:

• Breathe - Télépopmusik
• Amor a la Mexicana - Thalia
• Cells - The Servant
• Politik - Coldplay
• The Scientist - Coldplay
• Fix You - Coldplay
• I Miss You - Blink-182
• Tibet (A Passage To...) - Tibet Project
• Karma [Extended Mix] - Karma
• Yo Vivire - Celia Cruz
• Black Dada (Edo-mae Mix) - Fantastic Plastic Machine
• In the Deep - Bird York
• Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
• Dare - Gorillaz
• Let Go - Frou Frou
• Somnambulist - BT
• Force Of Gravity - BT
• Firewater - BT
• Feel Good Inc (Single Edit) - Gorillaz
• Raspberry Swirl - Tori Amos
• The District Sleeps Alone Tonight - The Postal Service
• Float On - Modest Mouse
• It's In Our Hands - Björk
• Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
• Ojos Así - Shakira
• Satellite - BT
• Drowned World/Substitute For Love - Madonna
• Ray Of Light - Madonna
• Redemption's Son - Joseph Arthur
• Dreaming in Colour - Art of Noise
• Rock Paper Scissors - Ani DiFranco
• Headlock - Imogen Heap
• Jung At Heart - Master Cylinder
• Ja Sei Namorar - Tribalistas

Click here to view...

Christmas in ... October: An accusation and a confession.

On the evening of October 11th while refilling the Brita I saw something out our kitchen window that GREATLY disturbed me. Check it out:

{Okay I don't have the picture yet, but will put it in here when I take it.}

That's right. Christmas lights on the neighbor's house. In early/mid OCTOBER. I understand that Costco has Christmas decorations for sale in September. They have to have room in November and December for toys/gifts. I don't like it, but it's understandable. But why in heaven's name would you put up your Christmas lights in October?

I was raised that there are rules about these sorts of things. Christmas trees, lights on the house, and Christmas music all come out the day after Thanksgiving. Growing up, the day after Thanksgiving was spent bringing the Christmas boxes up from the basement, setting up the nativities, watching Dad hang the lights on the exterior of the house, and - most importantly - breaking out the Christmas CDs. (It's all about The Andy Williams Christmas Album.) To quote a great movie, "[I was] brought up right."

The night after seeing the lights out the kitchen window we drove down the neighboring street and saw that FOUR houses had Christmas lights up. That's almost 15% of the street! ... Okay, I've calmed down.

And now the confession. While downloading the album art for my iTunes collection - love of iTunes 7 - I came across a MoTab Christmas CD I'd never seen before. As I mentioned, Christmas music is a big part of the holidays for me. I have a pretty formidable collection of Christmas music. I thought I had the best MoTab Christmas CD until I listened to some of the previews for A Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas. The choir is accompanied by the Orchestra at Temple Square and both choir and orchestra are in top form. The arrangements are musically strong and original enough to be interesting, without straying too far from the familiar. One such song is Fantasy on "What Child Is This?". Go check it out. Absolutely amazing. Other strong offerings are Carol of the Bells, Masters in This Hall, Pat-a-pan.

To say that I have been listening to this non-stop is an understatement.

New Moby feat. Debbie Harry

Last time I embedded a video in a blog post it slowed down the loading of our blog's index page, so no embedding this time. However, I think this is too funny/cool/crazy/Moby to miss.


Moby has a new song out called New York, New York. If you are new to Moby, a good place to start is the song South Side, a duet with Gwen Stefani, off the album Play. The music found on Play has been used in TV shows (X-Files), commercials, and movies. He's fun to listen to.

The new song has a strong beat, electronic/dance sound, and Debbie Harry's unique voice. (Debbie Harry is the lead singer for the 80s band Blondie.) The video features four people exploring New York City. Very funny. The dancing is crazy. It is worth a chuckle. GO NOW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbQNgOKzZh8

Musical Bliss

A few weeks ago, my friend Stuart gave me a call to let me know that BT has a new album. This Binary Universe is not only a full-length album, but also a movie consisting of an animated music video for each song. BT screened the movie/videos at different theatres around the country - including the Bethesda Row Cinema. Stuart bought a group of tickets and invited me to go!!

Stuart, John Whall, Nick Hunter and I caught dinner at The Austin Grill. After we walked around downtown Bethesda to kill time before the 9:30p showing. The 7:30p showing went late, so we didn't get to take our seats until 10:15ish. We were very near the front of the line, so we got seats in the middle of the theatre about 3/4 the way back.

After everyone was seated, BT walked in, to great applause, and introduced This Binary Universe. He explained that three things influenced the album: first, the sound track to the movie Monster he had recently completed; second, jazz; and third, classical music. He told us that the first piece was written entirely in code (ASCII characters in a text editor) using a programming language called CSound. He then took his seat in the audience (TWO ROWS IN FRONT OF ME) and the movie began.

It was incredible. Every song was composed with full 5.1 surround sound. Sound was coming from every direction. Each piece was just as amazing as the last. My favorites were The Internal Locus, 1.618, and The Antikythera Mechanism. I was completely mesmerized. A few times during the screening I had the thought run through my mind, which I only have when listening to BT, "this is perfect music." Both visually and musically I was blown away.

Afterwards BT took questions from the audience. Someone asked if fractals were used in 1.618, then asked if there were any fractals in the music. BT responded that this was the best question he had received during a post-screening QA. There were, indeed, fractals used during the piece. And there are also fractals in the music. At one point he compressed the entire song (or movement, can't remember), then compressed it again, and again, and again, all in a four bar sequence. It was absolutely amazing. He explained that there are many other items hidden in the music that one can only discover by studying the audio files.

As Stuart put it, as he dropped me off at my house at one a.m., "That was one of the most amazing hours of my life."