Thursday, April 26, 2012

I just got finished watching Hanna for the first time and holy cow that movie was awesome. The Devil is in the Details by the Chemical Brothers is featured prominently throughout the movie, and is a pretty amazing song on its own.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

During my brief foray into Dubstep, I rediscovered my love for Big Beat techno. I used to listen to Big Beat all the time in high school, and one of my favorite groups was The Propeller Heads. These guys were awesome, but sadly they only put out one album. My absolute favorite song was one they did with De La Soul called 360.


Sunday, April 22, 2012

I have been watching TED talks since I got home from work a couple of hours ago, and I just finished watching one by Ze Frank. Ze has a blog where he puts together projects for people to do all over the world as a way of bringing people together. A little while ago, a reader asked him to write a song for her to listen to when she got overwhelmed by life. This is the story behind the song. When I heard the song, I was amazed at what a short song can do to effect your mood. Music for me is a form of catharsis, an emotional purging. I've mentioned that I have playlists for what ever mood I am in, and this is definitely going on my bad mood playlist, probably at the very beginning. Here it is, Chillout by Ze Frank.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

I had an old man moment the other day. I keep hearing people talk about how amazing dubstep is, but I haven't really enjoyed anything I have heard so far. The other day, someone posted a metal cover of a Skrillex song and I really liked it. I mean, it blew my mind how awesome it was.
Like I said, awesome. So I decided to give dubstep one more chance. I listened to the original version, and I just don't get it. I am very open minded about music, and tend to at least appreciate anything as long as it is done well, but I just don't understand dubstep. I love techno, especially Big Beat like Apollo 440 and The Crystal Method. But I just don't like dubstep. Maybe I am getting old. Or maybe it just sucks.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

I was a nerd back in high school. I am still a nerd, but I was one in high school too. This isn't to say I got beat up all the time, or people picked on me, I actually got along with the popular kids (not close friends or anything, but the occasional passing hello in the halls). I call myself a nerd because I was intelligent and actually enjoyed going to school. I would help people with their homework, but never actually did someone the work for them. High school wasn't particularly hard for me either academically or socially, but if I had known about the Descendents when I was there, this song would have been my anthem. Not necessarily the parts about getting beat up or picked on, but the part about proving my worth through my grades. Here it is for your listening pleasure, Mass Nerder.

Monday, April 16, 2012

I am a huge fan of the Scott Pilgrim franchise (comics, movies, video game, etc.). I was particularly impressed with the movie soundtrack. It was filled with awesome bands like T. Rex, Broken Social Scene and Frank Black (former front man of the Pixies). My absolute favorite song on the entire soundtrack is Black Sheep by Metric. I loved how it was "performed" by The Clash at Demonhead. Here is Metric performing at ComicCon as part of the publicity for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

So a while ago I was introduced to a band called Roper. Roper is a Christian pop-punk band lead by singer Reese Roper, formerly of Five Iron Frenzy. I am not typically a fan of Christian music, but these guys do it right. Granted, several songs are secular and, truth be told, I prefer these songs to the Christian ones. One of my favorites off of their album Brace Yourself for the Mediocre is You're With Stupid. It is about a guy who sees a girl walk into a bar with her asshole boyfriend and he wants to go up and tell her that she is "with stupid." That her boyfriend should count his blessings that he gets to be with such an amazing girl.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

I talk about playlists I have made a lot, but I realized I haven't shared any of them. So here is a play list I made at the request of a friend of mine. She and I would talk music at work and would share bands whenever possible. She asked me to make a mix of love songs, and so I made one that told the story of a couple meeting, falling in love and eventually getting married.

1. The Diggs - Recovery Forever "You're always on my mind, it's what I mean to say when I say hi."
2. She & Him - I Was Made For You "When I saw you smile I saw a dream come true So I asked you, maybe Baby whatcha gonna do?"
3. Weezer - My Best Friend "You're my best friend and I love you"
4.Bela Fleck & The Flecktones - Let Me Be The One "I could be the one to care for you, a thousand dreams would all come true, if you'd let me be the one."
5.The Damned - Love Song "Just for you here's a love song"
6. Descendents - Nothing With You "I'm not lazy, I'm in love"
7. They Might Be Giants - Yeh Yeh "My baby loves me, she gets me feelin so fine And when she loves me, she lets me know that she's mine And when she kisses, i feel the fire get hot She never misses, she gives it all that she's got"
8. Dexter Freebish - Twilight "She's my private paradise"
9. Gym Class Heroes - Cupid's Chokehold "call it dumb, call it luck, call it love or whatever you call it but
everywhere i go i keep her picture in my wallet like here"
10. Styx - Lady '95 - I'm not going to lie, the only reason I put this song on the list is because of that scene in Freaks and Geeks when Nick professes his love to Lindsay by singing this song.
11. The Beach Boys - God Only Knows "I may not always love you, but long as there are stars above you you never need to doubt it"
12. Massive Attack - Teardrop "Love love is a verb, love is a giving word"
13. Pixies - La La Love You "All I'm sayin' pretty baby, la la love ya don't mean maybe"
14. Eels - P.S. You Rock My World "I was at a funeral the day I realized I wanted to spend my life with you"
15. The Old 97s - The Question "Baby tonight, I've got a question for you"
16. Jump, Little Children - By The Way They Dance "'Cause everyone knows they're in love by the way they dance"

Monday, April 9, 2012

A couple of years ago, an interesting documentary popped up on my Netflix suggestions. The documentary was about the "Godfather of Nerdcore" on his first tour. I decided to give it a try and I was not disappointed. MC Frontalot combines incredibly intelligent lyrics about growing up as a nerd with some of the most awkward yet at the same time amazing beats. Here is the title track off of the documentary.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

One of my favorite things (other than music) is zombie movies. I freaking loved Romero's Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead; not to mention Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's love letter to zombie movies, Shaun of the Dead. Phantom Planet managed to combine these two great things into one AMAZING music video. Here it is, Big Brat.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Today's song is by an underrated band. Yeah, they were big in the late 90s and early 00s, but how many people really listened to anything they did other than their big hit "One Week"? I loved the entire album Stunt and would be hard pressed to name one bad song off of it. That is quite an accomplishment for a band to produce an album without one bad song or even a mediocre one. Today's song is my favorite off of Stunt. 

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Here is a little April Fools Day music for you. I honestly can't get enough Rufus Wainwright.