For some reason, when I discover a new bit of media that I like, I like, REALLY get into it. I binge on as much as I can, and learn as much as I can about it, and then try to evangelize for it. Usually just to Richard, but then I remembered—hey! I have a blog.
Also, remember on LiveJournal, at the top of each post you could put how you were feeling and what you were listening too? Yes you do. Don’t kid yourself. Anyway I can chronicle what I’m crazy about on here, then go back and reminisce after I’ve moved on and forgotten all about it. ‘Cause I go deep but then I pull out and move on.
Gross.
I mean, I let it wash over me like a beautiful golden shower and then I wash it off like a beautiful water-colored shower.
Double gross. Dammit.
Anyway here goes my first [ostensibly-regular but most likely very sporadic] media rant. This one’s about music, and these are some artists I was bananas about last year but still kind of dig.
Pull up this handy YouTube Playlist if you’d like to play along.
The Neighbourhood
Discovered via Pandora, at approximately the same time everyone else did. Then they came to perform at The Fox in Oakland, and we were like, hell yeah! But the show was full of children, and the main singer was kind of a douche—I don’t know why I expected him to be a little nerdier or more humble, but he certainly had his Big Boy Rock Star pants on up there. No shirt to speak of, but definitely pants. I believe they were leather.
You probably heard Sweater Weather (maybe even on the radio? If that’s a thing?), and they had a song on the Amazing Spider-Man 2 soundtrack so I guess they’re officially OVER.
But I really like their song Let It Go. Nope, not that one. Although if The Neighbourhood is reading this (likely), it seems like a real missed opportunity not to cover the other version.
This one has a great beat, a good white-guy flow, and an epic carillon-backed chorus. More likely they’re just synthetic chimes, but how often do you get to throw out the term carillon?
Bad Suns
Actually, the best thing about the The Neighbourhood concert was their second opener, Bad Suns. They were really fun, had some great dancy-kinda-throwback songs, and wore an appropriate number of shirts per person.
I’d start with their single, Cardiac Arrest, with a damn infectious hook, We Move Like the Ocean, a beachy, new-California-surfer, similarly catchy as hell tune, and Dancing on Quicksand, an 80’s-licous groover with a killer bass line. Bonus points for the most sweetly-sung “you’re fucked” you’ll ever hear.
Hurts
Warning: Uncontrollable epicness ensuing.
Hurts came from a Muse-seeded Pandora station, I think. It must have really. In fact I thought they were Muse for a long time. And I mean, I like Muse, but sometimes they’re too Muse-y. So if you want some but not quite Muse, give Hurts a shot.
Illuminated is maybe the most Muse-y complete with dead simple lyrics and measured singing only on the beat, sudden and otherwise unannounced INCREASES IN VOLUME, and breathy vocal stylings in the key of “ahhhhhhh.” If you want to twist the dramatic knob up to 11, try this live version. I mean, who has a backup opera singer on stage with them?
But my favorite of theirs is Sunday, more melodic and freaking catchy. I couldn’t stop singing that chorus. And do you get the music video??????? I think it Orpheus and Eurydice, but it’s subtle. If you look closely you’ll see a “Don’t Look Back” sign in a bright red circle right at the beginning in a lingering shot and then again later just in case you missed it.
For some reason Better Than Love makes me want to put on a leotard and leg warmers and do an 80s dance workout montage. Bonus: Illuminati-based YouTube comments.
But I’ll wrap up with the SOMEHOW MORE EPIC Evelyn. So melodramatic. Bordering on laughable, or parody if we’re feeling generous. Like, settle the hell down, bud. I HEAR YOU.
https://youtu.be/c3BvW56tjB0
Any music recommendations you’d like to share? Epic or otherwise?
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