Thursday, October 25, 2007

Somer synopsis says sally sucks strawberries

The following is a highly complex and clever review of my latest mix disc "Somer". I think i may enjoy this review more than the mix itself. Only time will tell. Be forewarned; Zac IS a renaissance man. Some parts were, ehem, edited for all audiences


(1. Justice: D.A.N.C.E) The first song, Hanson's Revenge, gets a live blog breakdown, since the event is burned into my memory down to the second.

(0:00-0:16) hey cute intro, I wonder what this leads into
(0:17-0:32) oh ok same thing, repeated, and louder. Nice melody, but I hope this goes somewhere else soon
(0:33-0:42) uh oh now I'm worried, they're developing the intro and really bringing in the instrumentals to back this up-- oh shit was that the hook
(0:42-1:15) ok stay calm, just focus on the funky Daft Punk bass, and try not to think about how much you viscerally despise Hanson. oh maan this is really bad-- ok that was definitely the hook
(1:16-1:33) back to the intro for round 2. NOT TERRIBLE
(1:34-2:07) second, verse, same as the first, and if you're over 6, then go ahead and curse
(2:07-2:24) yayy is this what is referred to in music as a "bridge"? If so then I hope it takes me to the unfrosted side of the miniwheat
(2:24-2:42) aaaaaaaarrrrrgghhhga *click*
(2:42-end) I don't know SEAN because I've never made it that far

SS: Wow, so i guess that song is an hommage to Michael Jackson. So you were close!

(2. Figurine: Way Too Good) Awesome, very Postal Service. I am memorizing this song for singing purposes. Perhaps someday some lucky :) will get a rad serenade from me. Make his :) day.

SS: This sounds like Postal Service because it is exactly one half of them, the electronic one to be precise.

(3. Stars: Window Bird) Also awesome. I need to know who this is.

SS: And they are Canadian, works totally well for you mister!

(4. The Sounds: Rock 'N Roll) This one bugged me. The rhymes were disturbingly disjointed (am I missing the point here? it strikes me as lazy), the main melody is super unoriginal, and the chorus was yet another Pachelbel Cannn redux

(5. The Dandy Warhols: The Last High) One of my favorites on the album. Also gonna memorize this one.

(6. Bent: Handbrake) Wow sounds like Sean Lennon. Fun to sing along to, but ultimately forgettable.

(7. Tracey Thorn: Easy) I liked this song a lot more on my headphones than in my car for some reason (some songs are like that, aren't they?). Touching. Sad. Completely gay.

(8. The Soft Lightes: 1983) Another favorite. I love the neo 80s sound and the lyrics are refreshingly cognizant and life-affirming. Wait, is this a gay song too? I can't never tell if it's the song or just me.

(9. Unkle: Keys to the Kingdom) Rockin'

(10. Digitalism: Pogo) So Rockin'

(11. Naked Ape: Fashion Freak) Hahaha fuck you SO ROCKIN. you wouldn't believe how many people I almost kill when this song comes on in my car (hint: MANY)

SS: You should see the video for this. Zombie models cleaning a car while the band sits inside. Amazing!

(12. Vitalic: Poney, Pt.1) Great song. Dark, driving, brooding, creepy and hilarious all at once (I want to master some pseudo german matching the timbre the pony speaks). Love that whole Vitalics album.

SS: Based on a French childrens story about a pony who wants kids to know how miserable he is working in a fare.

(13. Tiga: You Gonna Want Me) Super dancy, super rad. Poney somehow fits with this really well. In my singing practice I am also trying to sound like a black woman.

(14. The Knife: Heartbeats (Rex The Dog Mix)) This wins the award of Most Listened To song. Everything about it rocks. The minute and a half intro, that chick's voice, the melody, the completely-not-overbearing neo-Cindy-Lauper instrumentals, the rockin' breakdown at the end.

Great job Sean! YOU FROZE MY DOUBLE DRAGON.

Zac

PS OK I went ahead and listened to the rest of song 1, and I thought the last 20 seconds was pretty good, like Daft Punk had kids that will ultimately grow up to disappoint them and those who depend on them. Perhaps.

8 comments:

nabbercow said...

Hee hee, first I am on the news, and now I am internet famous! I think that makes me a DOUBLE THREAT. And thanks for putting in that artist info, that's helpful!

nabbercow said...

Hee hee, first I am on the news, and now I am internet famous! I think that makes me a DOUBLE THREAT. And thanks for putting in that artist info, that's helpful!

Jason Hupka said...

I feel so out of touch when I recognize only one of the bands on that mix list (The Dandy Warhols). Although my recent music tastes have shifted back to stuff I listened to in the 90's for nostalgia sake - mainly because I've been ripping old CDs to put on my MP3 player, and then get hooked on a particular artist or genre for a month or so.

The worst part was when my Depeche Mode Violator CD kept locking up my computer when trying to rip it...for some reason any MP3 encoder I tried to use hosed itself during that CD as if DM foresaw the future and created an un-rippable melody.

Sean Sutherland said...

Man, that's some bad news regarding the Mode ripping. Life without Violator would be bad bad bad. Jason, you should really check out some of these bands. I think you would really dig pretty much any of them. "Bent" would be of particular interest to you. Digitalism and Tiga are a couple others that would crossover well to what i remember your collection containing. It wouldn't TOTALLY suprise me if you ended up digging JUSTICE but it may be a long shot. Definitely pretty far from the reggae dub stuff you were mentioning listening to in our past conv.

Jason Hupka said...

I'll have to check those bands out...

After going to the Stephen Marley concert a second time about a month ago, I've settled out of the reggae/dub stuff a bit. But I did get to meet Stephen on his tour bus after the concert, and he was a *very* cool guy - extremely nice and humble.

I've also been on a really big Beatles kick lately, especially since picking up the LOVE album that's the soundtrack to their Vegas show. It's really good if you like the Beatles.

One day I'll get the Violator ripped. I just tabled it after that one frustrating day filled with lots of cursing.

Jason Hupka said...

I took a stroll this morning through iTunes to listen to these songs. I was definitely hampered with the 30 seconds of flavor Apple gave me for each one, so I didn't have the luxury of Zac's full meal experience.


Justice: D.A.N.C.E - Like every other review I found of this band, I too heard "Daft Punk Clone." But I wonder if Justice is a bit more original than Daft Punk in their sampling. I was very saddened when I heard some of the side by side comparisons of DP and their sampled songs and how little effort seemed to go into using the sample. I listened to some of Justice's other stuff on iTunes, and it was tasty in a "I don't really have to pay attention to every second of this song, yet it's good to have on in the background while coding." So their Cross album might be worth picking up. I know Collin would like it - he's a big Daft Punk fan, and I tried convincing Amanda to let me take him to the DP concert this past summer, but she thought age 7 was a little young...maybe next year.

Figurine: Way Too Good - This song screams "Sean" to me. It has that electronic sound that I always associate with you.

Stars: Window Bird - The lead singer has a gorgeous voice. They're also playing at the Gothic Theatre tonight (Nov 6th)

Unkle: Keys to the Kingdom - It had a nice 80's U2 Sound, I liked.

Digitalism:Pogo - This is very awesome. I really like the grungy bassline - I'm a sucker for any in-your-face bassline. . While listening to this on iTunes, I found a Digitalism remix of David Gahan's Kingdom track. Same dirty bass, so I liked.

Vitalic: Poney, Pt.1 - Another song with a nice bassline driving the song.

Tiga: You Gonna Want Me - Like Zac, I enjoyed this. But unlike Zac, I'm not trying to sing like a black woman.


Most of the other tracks were ok, nothing that really stuck out to me via the short iTunes clip - I didn't dislike any of them. Several of the other songs fit into the female-vocal-indie-rock sound like Stars, which while a great sub-genre, nothing really hit me hard right now. I'm so moody when it comes to music - what I may really be into one day will be totally different the next. I liked the Digitalism song the best, and was very excited to find that Gahan remix. Thanks, Sean, for the great music I probably would have never stumbled across on my own...


BTW - Hi, Zac, haven't talked to you in forever. Hope things are all well.

nabbercow said...

Hey Jason what's up dude? It has been ages indeed. Glad to see you're reading Sean's SUPERBLOG. I hear you're going for your 14th or 15th child now. Congratulations! :)

Jason Hupka said...

Hmmm...since there's been no activity around here lately, I'll add this. A video of Justice performing D.A.N.C.E. on Jimmy Kimmel from 10/2007. Or rather, it's some great icons performing it:

YouTube Vid