"honey won't you let me in" - the tallest man on earth
it took me quite a few listens to like this guy, but now i really really really do. his voice is quite nasally and most of his songs pretty dark, but that's part of the charm.
"the gardener" - the tallest man on earth
this is creepy. creepy and really sweet, by my interpretation. some people i know have vastly different views on the lyrics, and it's awesome to hear them. i love ambiguity! makes you feel like you own your specific version of the song.
"janglin" - edward sharpe and the magnetic zeroes
inspiring. i love this band - haven't heard a song by them that i dislike.
"people everyday" - arrested development
this song and the next two are all from a cd that another girl going to reed next year sent me. this is a perfect song to listen to when i drive home late at night from anywhere and think about how there could be an alien on top of my car - it's hard to hear this song and be scared of extraterrestrial life. also it makes my head bop involuntarily.
"can i kick it?" - a tribe called quest
YES YOU CAN. the rhyme sequence in this song is really soothing for some reason. also it's extremely fun to quote, even if people have no idea what you're talking about. If you feel the urge to freak, do the jitterbug.
"vocab" - fugees
i don't really know what's going on. but it's kinda cool.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Soundtracks!
So after seeing Inception and being struck in the eardrums by the magnificence of Hans Zimmer (that guy is freaking omnipresent) I started thinking a lot about soundtracks and how integral they are to movies - how large an impact the auditory backdrop has on the audience's perception of the action.
Inception is a brilliant example of music as a supplement, subtly setting the mood of the film and amping up the tension. As an audience member I tend to drift out of acknowledgment of the music, focused instead on the dialogue and visual components. But the music is still there, accelerating heartbeats and moving reactions along nicely. It's integrated into the fabric of the movie, and when the curtain falls your experience has been shaped by the tone of the music yet you're not necessarily thinking about the individual tunes.
Then there's 2001: A Space Odyssey - if you've seen this movie(and I maintain that it's required viewing for anyone who considers themselves a scifi - nay, any type of movie - fan in the slightest) then you know how legit the music is. And when you've 10 years old and terrified of aliens. . . let's just say certain eerie tunes in the movie can be scarring. Seriously. There's one part that's like Fredo Viola gone evil - all voices, but effing scary. The intriguing thing about the music in this movie is that it isn't really ever in the background. When there's music, it tends to be the focus rather than the accent. At the risk of sounding ladeedah, the music almost acts as another character. It's the perfect example of music setting the atmosphere in a film in a much more brusque and obvious way. Stare at a black screen for a few minutes as a chorus of tortured voices sings and tell me there's no effect.
So yeah, to sum up, music in films is important and can be used in different ways. Groundbreaking stuff, huh?
Inception is a brilliant example of music as a supplement, subtly setting the mood of the film and amping up the tension. As an audience member I tend to drift out of acknowledgment of the music, focused instead on the dialogue and visual components. But the music is still there, accelerating heartbeats and moving reactions along nicely. It's integrated into the fabric of the movie, and when the curtain falls your experience has been shaped by the tone of the music yet you're not necessarily thinking about the individual tunes.
Then there's 2001: A Space Odyssey - if you've seen this movie(and I maintain that it's required viewing for anyone who considers themselves a scifi - nay, any type of movie - fan in the slightest) then you know how legit the music is. And when you've 10 years old and terrified of aliens. . . let's just say certain eerie tunes in the movie can be scarring. Seriously. There's one part that's like Fredo Viola gone evil - all voices, but effing scary. The intriguing thing about the music in this movie is that it isn't really ever in the background. When there's music, it tends to be the focus rather than the accent. At the risk of sounding ladeedah, the music almost acts as another character. It's the perfect example of music setting the atmosphere in a film in a much more brusque and obvious way. Stare at a black screen for a few minutes as a chorus of tortured voices sings and tell me there's no effect.
So yeah, to sum up, music in films is important and can be used in different ways. Groundbreaking stuff, huh?
Monday, July 19, 2010
Concert and concerts!
So I went to an amazing concert today (or I guess technically yesterday) with:
The Bird and the Bee (they were pretty good, but you got the sense that they knew they weren't the band people came to see. Also the crowd was still milling around and it was just a bit less gripping than I'd have liked. But the band was good live, and awkward dancing commenced)
She & Him (I've never been a fan, and I'm still not entirely a full-fledged one, but I would say I like them now. M. Ward's voice is absolutely divine. Please, sing more and more and more. For an actress, Zooey didn't have the greatest stage presence - definitely felt like she was just getting a job done, which isn't what you want to see, you know? But overall the performance was excellent and I looooved the crowd's reaction. Example: Guy 1: "ZOOEY I LOVE YOU!" Guy 2: "ZOOOEY I LOVE YOU MOOOORE" Guy 3: "ZOOEY I LOVE YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE" Haha people were just going crazy and dancing and singing and generally exhibiting drunken behavior. It was highly enjoyable.)
The Swell Season (This is who I really was excited to see. And they were fucking BRILLIANT. There was this one point where I looked down over the crowd and the light was golden and Glen was telling a funny little anecdote and everyone was laughing and drinking and smiling and it was just pure goodness. And they sang this Irish song at the end that gave me goosebumps so strong I started shivering. Everything about their performance was amazing - "Falling Slowly" was just beautiful, especially. AHH. He had this lovely way of walking the line between straight up screaming and singing.)
Haha ever have a really nice music experience and just need to rant? Yeah.
So then we were talking in the car about what concerts we'd love to go to, and it was overwhelming imagining them all.
I think my top five are:
1. Modest Mouse
2. Arcade Fire
3. Barenaked Ladies (with Steven Page, dammit)
4. Iron & Wine
5. Fleet Foxes
But really, I'd go to any concert (except a select few country/death metal ones) if the tickets were reasonable or free, depending on who the artist was.
I LOVE CONCERTS.
The Bird and the Bee (they were pretty good, but you got the sense that they knew they weren't the band people came to see. Also the crowd was still milling around and it was just a bit less gripping than I'd have liked. But the band was good live, and awkward dancing commenced)
She & Him (I've never been a fan, and I'm still not entirely a full-fledged one, but I would say I like them now. M. Ward's voice is absolutely divine. Please, sing more and more and more. For an actress, Zooey didn't have the greatest stage presence - definitely felt like she was just getting a job done, which isn't what you want to see, you know? But overall the performance was excellent and I looooved the crowd's reaction. Example: Guy 1: "ZOOEY I LOVE YOU!" Guy 2: "ZOOOEY I LOVE YOU MOOOORE" Guy 3: "ZOOEY I LOVE YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE" Haha people were just going crazy and dancing and singing and generally exhibiting drunken behavior. It was highly enjoyable.)
The Swell Season (This is who I really was excited to see. And they were fucking BRILLIANT. There was this one point where I looked down over the crowd and the light was golden and Glen was telling a funny little anecdote and everyone was laughing and drinking and smiling and it was just pure goodness. And they sang this Irish song at the end that gave me goosebumps so strong I started shivering. Everything about their performance was amazing - "Falling Slowly" was just beautiful, especially. AHH. He had this lovely way of walking the line between straight up screaming and singing.)
Haha ever have a really nice music experience and just need to rant? Yeah.
So then we were talking in the car about what concerts we'd love to go to, and it was overwhelming imagining them all.
I think my top five are:
1. Modest Mouse
2. Arcade Fire
3. Barenaked Ladies (with Steven Page, dammit)
4. Iron & Wine
5. Fleet Foxes
But really, I'd go to any concert (except a select few country/death metal ones) if the tickets were reasonable or free, depending on who the artist was.
I LOVE CONCERTS.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
how on earth did I forget probably my favorite album? An album containing the song from which the url of this blog was birthed?
Sheesh.
We Were Dead Before the Ship even Sank - Modest Mouse
buy it, play it, love it, memorize it, live it, devour it, emit it, mock it, apologize to it, eat it, write on it, write off it, sit on it, throw it, read it, listen to it
Sheesh.
We Were Dead Before the Ship even Sank - Modest Mouse
buy it, play it, love it, memorize it, live it, devour it, emit it, mock it, apologize to it, eat it, write on it, write off it, sit on it, throw it, read it, listen to it
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