The crew at NPR’s All Songs Considered recently released a podcast in which they discussed the best music of 2011 so far (listen to them here). During this podcast, producer Robin Hilton says that his favorite song of the year (so far) is the song Helplessness Blues from the Fleet Foxes’ latest album of the same name (click here to download the track for free, or scroll down to listen). He describes the song as follows:
“Every year I’m happier and happier to have my 20s behind me because it was just one long existential crisis for me, you know, ‘what is the meaning of anything, what is all this for, what does work matter’… and this song is all about coming to the understanding that your life doesn’t have to be remarkable to be fulfilling, that you don’t have to build a rocket ship and fly it to the moon or invent a drug to cure cancer or something to have a meaningful, important life, and I feel like this song should be required listening for all twenty-somethings who may be dealing with these same issues and questions…The narrator in that song comes to the understanding that, ‘you know, I want to serve something greater than me, even if I’m a small part of whatever that is.”
Robin hit the nail on the head. I’ve been told, many times, that your twenties are for figuring things out, for “finding yourself” (whatever that means), going through heartache, and working like a dog. I think there is constant pressure for twenty-somethings to figure out what you want to do with your life and go into it full force, when many of us haven’t the foggiest idea what exactly that might be. The song isn’t sad or melodramatic, though; there’s a sense of hope once the vocal harmony kicks in, and you get the feeling that the narrator accepts his situation with a shrug. The opening lyrics of the song are especially fitting:
I was raised up believin’
I was somehow unique
Like a snowflake, distinct among snowflakes
unique in each way you can see
And now after some thinkin’
I’d say I’d rather be
A functioning cog in some great machinery
serving something beyond me
But I don’t know I don’t know what that will be
I’ll get back to you someday
Soon you will see
Take a listen to Helplessness Blues–
Filed under: Movies
While we’re on the topic of Oscar-worthy scores…
..grab a box of tissues before you watch this one.
This isn’t exactly a spoiler to Disney-Pixar’s 2009 film Up, because it’s from the first 10 or 15 minutes of the movie, but if you don’t want anything spoiled and haven’t seen it (why haven’t you SEEN it!?), don’t watch.
There is no way this montage would be the same without the music. Perfect match of music + storytelling. Just perfect. Hats off to you, Michael Giacchino.
If you’re suffering from post-Oscar blues, chin up! This week on NPR, they are streaming a station called Songs and Scores from Oscars past (click here to listen). It’s really great, especially for the uber music nerd. Here’s a list of a few of the highlights:
-”Leaving Port” (James Horner), from the score for Titanic – Winner, 1997
-“Carl Goes Up” (Michael Giacchino), from the score for Up – Winner, 2009 (one of my favorites!)
-”The Immigrant” (Nino Rota), from the score for The Godfather Part II – Winner, 1974
-”You’ve Got A Friend In Me” (Randy Newman), song from Toy Story – Nominee, 1995
-”Under The Sea” (Samuel E. Wright), song from The Little Mermaid – Winner, 1989
-”Radical Notion” (Hans Zimmer), from the score for Inception — Nominee, 2010
-”What A Feeling” (Irene Cara), song from Flashdance — Winner, 1983
-”Trees Break the Fall” (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross), from the score for The Social Network — Winner, 2010
And, last but not least:
-”Theme” (Vangelis) from Chariots of Fire — Winner, 1981… you might not know this one by name, but you know it.
Any thoughts on this year’s award going to Trent Reznor (formerly of Nine Inch Nails) and Atticus Ross for their work on The Social Network? Deserved or not?
Lost: all interesting plotlines; all good music. Please return to glee ASAP.
We didn’t really have a glee club at my high school; we had choir, musicals, and forensics (no, not that kind of forensics, this kind), all of which allowed us musical and theatrical kids to do our thing. No, fox network’s glee reminds me more of a nerdier version of collegiate a cappella, only the kids are 5 years younger and there are a smattering of instruments thrown in most of the time. All of this being said, I was definitely gleeked out over glee during the show’s first season.
Fast forward to season two, and i’m not feeling like such a gleek anymore. Aside from Kurt’s storyline, there’s really nothing happening in the plot of the show that makes me want to tune in. I don’t care about Finn and Rachel. I don’t care about Quinn and New Guy. I don’t even really care that Miss OCD is now married to John Stamos. But most importantly, I don’t care about the music anymore. Let’s face it, it’s not the plot that makes us tune in to glee, it’s 1. quick quips by Jane Lynch’s character, Su Sylvester, (example: “Your hair looks like a briar patch. I keep expecting racist, animated Disney characters to pop up and start singing about living on the bayou”) and 2. the funny/creative ways in which they would incorporate different songs.
However, recently it seems like the songs are just plopped into each episode randomly (and they aren’t even that good). Exhibit A: Dog Days Are Over, originally by Florence + the Machine. I love that song, but the glee version made me reach for the remote. And don’t even get me started on the Christmas episode. Decorating a tree in the choir room and singing The Most Wonderful Day of the Year from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Yuck. I get the attempt to show that the members of glee club are supposedly a bunch of “misfits,” but come on. I much prefer this version:
Really the only song this season where the glee version far exceeds the real version was their rendition of Teenage Dream. Luckily, we have a break from the show until 2011, so hopefully the powers-that-be over there will get their act together.
Filed under: Songs that would be great a cappella, Two Cents | Tags: Freelance Whales, Twitter
This video is so hip, there are no words.
…Ok, maybe a few…
I have been waiting for music from the Freelance Whales to appear in a show, film, commercial, something! And here they are in all their glory with their tune Generator ^ First Floor as the background in a “here’s what’s next for Twitter” vid. (Listen to the song in full here). The powers-that-be at Twitter were even kind enough to show us a vinyl copy of the record in the video. They even throw some TOMS shoes in there. They might as well have said “use Twitter, and you can be hip like these peeps…er…tweeps.”
As reported by Paste Magazine (and as seen during commercial breaks of your favorite CW shows), Honda has a new commercial for the 2011 CR-Z Sport Hybrid, featuring the song Riot Rhythm by the Sleigh Bells. ”Complete opposites in complete harmony,” says the narrator. I don’t know if I’d apply the phrase “complete harmony” to the bizarre (but annoyingly addicting) music of the Sleigh Bells, who classify themselves as “Noise Pop,” but the airy, etherial voice of Alexis Krauss combined with the hardcore guitar stylings of former Poison and the Well member Derek Miller definitely work as complete opposites. And, it somehow works in the commercial. You’re welcome.
(Oh, and if you want to hear the whole song, click here to listen… The whole album is on youtube, but if you start, consider your mind taken over for at least the next 24 hours).
Filed under: Music Videos | Tags: Florence + The Machine, Songs that would be great a cappella (shh)
I love this song. I mean it. Earlier this summer, I drove from Nashville to Detroit and listened to only this song for at least an hour on repeat. I’d just purchased the Eclipse soundtrack as a little present to myself (which was purposely not blogged about… I only saw the movie once, and I didn’t notice any exceptional music placement in it, aside from the Black Keys song in the opening. Nothing says grungy bar or dirty alley like a riff from the Black Keys).
So back to “Heavy In Your Arms.” Some might be annoyed by singer Florence Welch’s voice. I understand that, but, I happen to like it a lot; it’s different than mainstream pop voices (no screeching, no screaming, no breathiness). She almost has a Fiona Apple/Regina Spektor hybrid kind of thing goin’ on. But her voice isn’t the draw for me, even though I’m not quite sure what it is, because it’s not exactly an uplifting song, it’s just insanely interesting. The effect at the beginning of the song (which actually continues throughout the song) is really eerie, and the bass line that starts around the 0:54 mark contributes to the dramatic flair and intense darkness of the song. I love the lyrics, too; She talks about being a “heavy heart to carry” and that her “love has concrete feet” and is an “iron ball wrapped around your ankle over a waterfall.” I know, dark. But it creates a certain image, right? Heavy love, A heavy heart… not in the sense in which it’s commonly used, but heavy in the sense that her love weighs her man down. It could be interpreted as baggage, but I think it’s a bit more serious than baggage. An all-consuming love that is so intense it literally weighs down the other person. So dark! But so is the song, even if you erase the lyrics. The instrumentation and background vocals set the mood; that moment at 2:59 gives me goosebumps.
The music video for this song was just released. It basically encompasses what I just described, but with an almost ghostly edge. The video also takes it a step further… she’s heavy, too (so much so that she can’t move herself). Humor your somber side and enjoy:
Just because MTV doesn’t play them anymore, doesn’t mean music videos are dead. Take a look at the latest from The Arcade Fire. The band has teamed up with Google to push the music-video envelope. Though my computer won’t support Google Chrome, I was able to get the jist of The Wilderness Downtown experience, and it’s pretty nifty. The video features their new track, We Used to Walk, off of The Arcade Fire’s most recent album, The Suburbs.
Of course any song has the power to make you nostalgic for something. (It doesn’t even have to be a good song. You can hear a song by the Spice Girls and remember riding the bus home on a particular day in seventh grade). But this is something totally new. Here, it’s the video put together with the song that will make you nostalgic, even if you’ve never heard the song before. The Arcade Fire will make you think about the place where you “used to wait” and “waste hours just walking around“… the neighborhood where perhaps you played hide-and-go-seek, scraped your knees, and ran until your lungs felt like they might explode. Click here to experience it for yourself (and do not be alarmed by the popping up of many windows… that’s supposed to happen).
Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last
Last night I saw the film Inception, and while that was a fantastic movie (featuring some cool Edith Piaf music), after leaving the theater I found myself thinking about trailer they showed for The Social Network, otherwise known as the facebook movie. The trailer begins by showing various facebook photos, status updates, and wall posts set to a choral arrangement of Radiohead’s Creep, written by frontman Thom Yorke. This really disturbed me. Now, I’ll pause here and concede that I’m as regular a facebook user as the average joe… I’ll post pictures, update my status, “like” things, and be alerted to the goings on of 700 people I’m either friends with or (more likely) acquainted with. Isn’t all of this what facebook is about? Heck, 95% of you reading this are doing so because I posted a link on facebook.
However, after seeing this trailer and hearing those self-loathing lyrics coming from creepy (no pun intended) and forlorn children voices, I was honestly kind of sad. I became nostalgic for my first year and a half of college where we didn’t have facebook, and thought about how different (and maybe better) people’s lives would be if there were no facebook. Now I’m not a total hypocrite–facebook is great for a lot of reasons, too. But watch the trailer and pay attention to the lyrics and the way they express a desperate need to feel cool, special, wanted… maybe that’s what facebook is all about.
I don’t care if it hurts
I wanna have control
I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul
I want you to notice when I’m not around
I wish I was special…
Summer means many things to many people, but for a not-so-small group of us, it means the return of True Blood on HBO. What a great opening sequence this show has… The song is of the raunchy-country-rock variety (kind of like the show), and the visual that goes along with it totally encompasses the themes in True Blood… the sexy, the disgusting (that decomposing fox is gross, but it works), the creepy, the hokey (have you seen True Blood?), and the spiritual battle between good and evil (where the seemingly good are actually evil, and vice versa). See for yourself (warning, PG-13):
