65 replies to this topic

[Donkeymog]

A figure this would be a good way of sharing music so that we can all discover what musical gems we are concealing in our mind vaults.

So without further adieu I present to ye:

DJ_Beardsquirt's Contraversial Meditations Upon the Nature of Pop Music

01. Radiohead - Split Sides
02. Vic Chesnutt - Coward
03. Madvillian - Shadows of Tomorrow
04. The XX - Islands
05. Low - Murderer
06. Errors - A Rumour in Africa
07. Gorillaz - Rhinestone Eyes
08. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - Kollapz Tradixional (Thee Olde Dirty Flag)
09. Joanna Newsom - Go Long
10. Thee Regional Ambience Preservation Committee - Lost Tramways of East Anglia

Link: http://www.mediafire...g7bfhvd6g5482qz

This is fairly representative of what I was listening to through the winter months. I have a summer one that I'm still compiling.

[Monkeydog]

This is a really neat idea and I'll make one/listen to yours soon Beanie.

I just wanted to say I thought it was neat, because I do think that.

On the Decemberists' forum we used to do something similar. Every week a member would do a themed podcast, about an hour long, introducing songs and their theme and what have you. It was fun, while it lasted.

[Vicious Parker]

On the Decemberists' forum we used to do something similar. Every week a member would do a themed podcast, about an hour long, introducing songs and their theme and what have you. It was fun, while it lasted.

I bet it would have lasted longer if they focused on being 30-40 minutes each week, instead of an hour. That's a surprising amount of content to have to come up with each week.

Also, I agree, I like the idea, too. Downloading your's, bean. I may through something together, but I haven't been having a lot of new music come my way lately, so I don't know how creative I'm going to be if I try to create a list of my own.

[Monkeydog]

On the Decemberists' forum we used to do something similar. Every week a member would do a themed podcast, about an hour long, introducing songs and their theme and what have you. It was fun, while it lasted.

I bet it would have lasted longer if they focused on being 30-40 minutes each week, instead of an hour. That's a surprising amount of content to have to come up with each week.

Well it lasted about half a year. And it was between 30 minutes to an hour, which averaged about 10 songs a podcast. There wasn't a strict time limit. It really only died out because people became too busy with their lives. Or kept forgetting (like people named Matt).

[Amethyst]

Downloaded. Listening. Note I've never heard any of these before.


Split Sides- A winter-y song if ever I've heard one. Not at all what I know of Radiohead though. Super peaceful, least until those voices kick in. That was creepy. Why it's called Split Sides I will never understand.

Coward- Started off not really liking this one. Electric guitar came in and spiked my interest, and the heavy/deep drum beat kept it after that. Some intriguing choices with the beat on this, though I'm not sure if I honestly like the sound of it.

Shadows of Tomorrow- Woah, wtf? Okay, it's evening out into a song, kinda... Not appreciating the mono-note base spam though... The rest of it I can live with, but this is a bit too far out for my tastes...

Islands- Love the beat to this right off the bat. Though random taps are random. Guy vocalist comes in... Eh, I was fine with just the girl. This song in particular has completely re-awoken my habit of tapping along compulsively... And I'm predicting all the fills nearly perfectly. Woo. And new beat, also interesting. I really like this one. Aw, it's over already.

Murderer- Cymbals on this are trippy, but interesting. I'm assuming those are symbols anyway. Song itself is a bit flat for my tastes though- Although the snare makes me think it'll get interesting all of the sudden aaaaaand it doesn't. Meh.

A Rumour In Africa- 80'sish? But lively, in a good way... Depending on where it goes... Aaaaand? Hm. I borderline like this one but I don't wanna type more about it because then I can't tap and this is fun to tap to. Taptaptap. Would tap with feet but feet cold.

Rhinestone Eyes- Trippy. I don't even know what a rhinestone is. This is also kind of 80'sish with the instrumental. Kinda. ...Gargoyles, whatever happened to that show? I don't have much of an opinion on this song. Don't like it but don't mind it at all.

Kollapz Tradixional- Dun like the singer's voice. For a brief moment it reminded me of Scarborough Faire though... How did that happen? o.o In any case this is certainly not what I was expecting from a song with this sort of name.

Go Long- Okay, this reminds me of so many things. One song is popular, I can't remember the name or lyrics though, only the tune, dammit... Mixed with the more somber songs of Spring Awakening... Hm... The lyrics themselves are kinda depressing though. Singer has a nice voice, but she pronounces somethings oddly... Joanna Newsom? Isn't that who Monkey or Vicious and whoever were arguing about a long time ago? The string part in the background towards the end is neat though. ...And then the instrumental seems out of place. Sounds good itself- just an abrupt change of mood.

Lost Tramways of East Angelina- ...Over before I had even realized it started. Interesting sound though- I thought it was only setting a mood for more to come. Guess not. :s


Neat mix overall. I would do one, but I know that my taste in music is crap, so I'll refrain.

[Donkeymog]

Why it's called Split Sides I will never understand.

It's music Radiohead performed live for a ballet by the choreographer Merce Cunningham. It's called Split Sides because the dance was split into two seperate sides and so was the music (Sigur Ros performed the other side). To determine which side of music would accompany which side of the dance a dice was used.

Cheers for the feedback, I'm glad you found some stuff you enjoyed. I'd definitely recommend checking out the XX's album if you liked Islands.

[Monkeydog]

I listened to your mix a few days ago Beanie, and I liked it a lot. Although, I did know a lot of the songs before hand...so I'm not going to do what Bear did. (plus I'm lazy)

I will say, I'm now very interested in this "Thee Regional Ambience Preservation Committee" thing. And I now feel like I should truly listen to Vic Chesnutt.

Bear, you should just make a mix, who cares what we think?

I made one, I tried to make it not be too long. It doesn't really have a title, or a theme. It's just what I've been listening to a lot recently. (Well not everything, because it would have been really long)

And it's really all just pop stuff. Nothing weird.

1. Margot and the Nuclear So & So's - Waking Up and Walking Out
2. Land of Talk - Some are lakes
3. Nana Grizol - Motion In The Ocean
4. Owen Pallett - Don't stop
5. Patrick Park - Something Pretty
6. Ryan Adams - Sylvia Plath
7. Broken Bells - Mongrel Heart
8. Grandaddy - Hewlett's Daughter
9. of Montreal - Famine Affair
10. The Decemberists - Rise To Me (live)

http://monkeypro.net...20something.zip

[Vicious Parker]

OK so here's the thing. It's almost 5 in the morning and my wife would probably get after me if she knew I were still awake doing this, but I made something for you guys, including something that took for literal freaking ever.

Also, added value. A MADE ALBUM ART BITCHES.

My theme is kinda silly, though. But I don't know if that's because i'm tired. ALSO BE SURE TO LISTEN TO ALL SONGS.. Twice. if necessary. from the download, though, not IF YOU ALREADY HAVE them. nto good enough. I'm betting that if you listen to them in order they tell a story of some sort, but if you're loooking for that, you're looking too for serious hard. frak I'm tired.

WELCOME TO OUTER SPACE!!!
 AlbumArt.jpg   869.78K   13 downloads
This totally killer set includes:

Bat For Lashes - Glass
Daft Punk - Around the World
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising
Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien
Muse - Starlight
Gorillaz - Every Planet We Reach is Dead
Johny Cash - Highwayman
The Beatles - Across the Universe
King Chrimson - Moonchild
My Brightest Diamond - To Pluto's Moon
Smog - Teenage Spaceship
Kila - The Hour Before Dawn

http://monkeypro.net...Space Opera.zip

[Donkeymog]

That is some pretty bitchin' cover art you made, Invince, but you forgot to upload the actual compilation. Unless I'm just being blind.

I'm downloading Monkey's and I'll give it a listen on my walk to a friend's.

[Vicious Parker]

Fixed. Oops.

[Amethyst]

Again, I'm a shut-in and don't know any of these:


Walking Up and Walking Out- ...Starts off.. country-ish... Gets better, okay. It's alright, I guess- not something I would listen to, but not something I mind.

Some Are Lakes- ...My media player rejected this file. Sad. =(

Motion In the Ocean- I don't like the singer, but I do like the music. It's calming and uplifting at the same time, especially with the bells. Meh, I don't like the dude's voice, but I don't like most dude's voices. ...Odd end, but overall I like it.

Don't Stop- Strings! Yay, strings. And I don't just mean guitar, that's so popular I hardly count it. Well, this guy's voice is better, but I still don't like it. Maybe I'm just musically sexist. Quite possible. Especially the instrumental at the end- it reminds me of... Shoot, what does it remind me of? And it ends, also abruptly, before I can figure out. What? I can just go back and relisten to it until I remember, you say? Nonsense.

Something Pretty- Not as pretty as I'd like, but I also don't mind the voice in this one, or else I'm just becoming desensitized. Music is decent, not as cool as Dont Stop, I think though. And yay for not totally ending abruptly. I don't know, I liked the clicks.

Sylvia Plath- I like this one just for the name. I don't recall any of her work in specific, but I do remember that I like her. However, the song itself is too placid to keep my attention... It's probably apparent by now, but I'm not a lyrics-person. I listen to the sounds, not the words, so a song like this, where all of the energy is in the lyrics (which are flat-out difficult for me to focus on)-- it's just lost on me...

Mongrel Heart- And now for a total change of pace! I like the high pitched piano in the background, to start... Later develops kind of an electronic sound to it, but it has a beat and I like it. Aaand the obsessive tapping begins. Definite approve.

Hewlett's Daughter-Background sounds are trippy, but for some reason the lyrics are jumping out at me in this. Probably becomes of their short simplicity. Gives them a punch. Or maybe I'm just paying attention now. Who knows. I vote that I was just paying attention, because I stopped paying attention and then- holy drum fill, batman, where did that come from- I stopped hearing the words. I do like the bridge's melody though.

Famine Affair- Back to not liking the voice, but I do like the music, which is odd because, at least to start, it's not terribly unique. But taptaptap, that's all I do with my life taptaptap away. And then the song gets very interesting indeed. Approve (but i still dont like his voice). Although I don't like the part towards the end as much... But still.

Rise To Me- Calm, and- again we have the problem of me not listening to lyrics, which the music seems to only be a background for, with some ambience and- I notice there's a lot of that one ambient sound in a lot of these. Hm. Anyway- It's not bad, it's just not my style. ...Wow, I just realized this song is ridiculously long. Or not. I guess my slider-bar thing was just glitching. That's... kind of a relief. Not a bad song, but I don't think I could have stood 40 minutes of it.
------------------------------------------------------
And now for the... Space Opera...

Glass- ...pretty voice... The echo effect helps. Drum beat kicks in, is interesting... Song stays pretty and interesting and pretty interesting... I like it, that's all.

Around the World- Well, it's one of the two songs on this list that I have heard before, and it's Daft Punk, which I think means if you don't like it you probably don't have a soul.

Bad Moon Rising- Talk about a change in atmosphere. This sounds like a swing tune from the 30's, and while I realize it is neither swing nor from the 30's and that I probably just gave some musical historian somewhere an ulcer, that's just the feeling I get from it. Just as a matter of personal taste... don't like the style... I'm just waiting for this to end, honestly.

Subterranean Homesick Alien- That's quite the title you got there, Radiohead. But whatever twirls your tutu. Ambience at the beginning is okay. I'm back to not like the guy's voice. It's always "the guy". Maybe more of my musical sexism, but with girls I refer to them by their name and usually positively- in this case, it's always just "the guy." Oh, that guy. Anyway. Look, it's two thirty in the morning I'm allowed to ramble a little. But every other though I have about this song involves the word ambience, and I try not to be too redundant. The echoey-droppy melody is neat though.

Starlight- Oh, Starlight. Muse, I am a fan of, and honestly, I have nothing bad to say about this song. It is a pretty cool guy and doesn't afraid of anything, but I'm sick of it. Blame covering it and rehearsing it what seems like notably more than our other songs for- a reason I can't even remember. And the drum beat is snare, kick, snaresnare, kick, snare, kick, snaresnaresnare, and I do that for an hour straight and it's not a particularly exciting song to play, and I mean it's not bad, but I'm just tired of it. Oh, but I like the break. If only because I get to play on the cymbals for a bit instead. Only the first break of course, doing it the second time too would be too repetitive, so let's switch to an even more standard beat at that point. Don't get me wrong, I like the song.

Every Planet We Reach is Dead- Gorillaz. The songs of theirs I have heard I have liked, but I have not heard this one so let us see. Though those said songs are only Feel Good and that other popular one that I never know the name of... This is so tame compared to those though- the bridge is interesting, weeweewahwahwaaaah... I'm allowed to make weird sound-words in this post, don't judge me. If he can put his compilation together when he's tired, I can listen to and comment on it when I'm tired. The instrumental is flavorful at least though. I wouldn't call it a solo, because it seems to feature every instrument, not just won. That's a like a... multo. Anyway. Wow, after considering the name of this song, it's kinda really depressing.

Highwaymen- What this has to do with space I don't know. I don't usually like Johnny Cash, but I'm not disliking this. It's got it's own, very not country-ish feel. Oh, now they're talking about starships, I get it now. I like the song though, but I'm not writing another paragraph, no sirree.

Across the Universe- Note the only time I've heard this before was in the movie of the same name and that brings back memories... Hm, I miss her, despite the fact that I have Kitty now. Wow, this is like the most depressing song in the world to me right now. Fail.

Moonchild- So shortly after I started this, I had to go let the dog out, and in my time away it occurred to me that the fifteen or so second I had heard of this had already gotten stuck in my head. Please don't be one -those- songs. But it's not. It's very calm and atmospheric, and I don't know if that ting-tang is a triangle or not-oh, but that sound definitely was- anyway, it's pretty unique, but with my currently energy, it's about to put me to sleep. Then echoey fluid sounds, yay, but what is happening in the rest of this song...
...And after that seven minute lingering dream sequence...

To Plutos Moon- Back to pretty melodicness, yay! General likedness to this one. This ending part is picking up suspense though, will it go anywhere...? .............? .................................? ......................................................................??! ......nope.

Teenage Spaceship- "Smeels like Teen Spaceships?" Okay, the vocals don't seem to fit in with the background... They just seem kinda there, only both parts happen to be there at the same time. Got used to it, though. Stopped caring about the song part way through, sadly. Too tame.

The Hour Before Dawn- Kila. I know you sent me Baroki a long time, and I do enjoy that very much, so I'm expecting good things, and so far the intro doesn't lead me to suspect disappointment. One hour before dawn later, I'm not. Don't really have much to say. It was mellow, and nice. I like Baroki better still.

SECRET =O- Oh god. What is this? I have no clue what this is, but at least it doesn't hurt to listen to. And that's a wrap! I'mmmmm going to sleep now.

[Donkeymog]

I gave Monkeydog's compilation a spin and it was very listenable. There was so much whimsy on display that it got a bit samey but generally it was a fairly poptastic indie offering. I particularly enjoyed Land of Talk, who I hadn't heard of before, predominantly because of how nostalgic their guitar tone makes me. Nice melodies too. Broken Bells are another I was unfamiliar with and they've got some merit about them, but I don't get on with the singer. Other than that I think I was fairly familiar with everyone else before I got started and my opinion is largely unchanged regarding people like Owen Pallett and Ryan Adams.

[Monkeydog]

Some Are Lakes- ...My media player rejected this file. Sad. =(

Meh, I don't like the dude's voice, but I don't like most dude's voices

I find it funny, because Land of Talk has a female singer. The one song that has a female singer you can't play.

Do you not like Mr. Pallett or Adams, Beanie?

And I'll listen to Invince's mix later today, since I have the day off. Yay.

[Donkeymog]

I'm afraid I don't. Not sure why, they just come across as a bit melodramatic and obnoxious at times.

I've listened to Invince's compilation and crikey it's good. He's set a new standard in terms of smoothness of transitions between tracks, which I'll have to try to keep up with. The second the super secret song came on I literally burst out laughing. The whole thing was really great to listen to and there were a few tracks that blew me away, particularly Moonchild and To Pluto's Moon. I actually thought an hour was a bit too long for my tastes but I was gripped the whole way through. My only criticism would be that Muse are terrible and not only that but Starlight is one of the most terrible of all Muse songs. So I skipped that one. Everything else was gold.

[Vicious Parker]

I'm sorry you don't like Muse, Bean :(. I've actually just started getting in to them. Go figure. I am glad that you liked Moonchild and To Pluto's Moon so much. Both of which are fantastic songs.

And I'm glad you noticed the transition, which is actually something I put some thought in to. And Bear, I agree that CCR does kinda break up the flow near the beginning, and the Johnny Cash song does a little later (if you missed the spacey part, just listen to that song again, and listen to the lyrics). But for some reason I had it in my head that I could almost create a narrative order to the songs... which may or may not have succeeded. And the differences in genre made it hard to keep consistent, but it was fun. Or maybe I was just insanely tired when I put it all together, which I was. you might say I was... spaced out!!! (seriously though, I was out of it at the time, if you guys couldn't tell by my other activity on the forums)

Also, after the wife goes to bed, I'ma start with Beans combolation now that I'll have some time to sit and listen to new musics. Monkey, I'll get to yours shortly. Promise. I'll also probably throw another one together soon. I love doing this kind of stuff. Though I do sense a repeat of artists coming on. Not being a pirate, and not using my time online for music, my new music discovery is a lot slower than it used to be.

[Donkeymog]

I meant to mention it but I must have overlooked it!

I loved the space opera narrative! I enjoyed the ambiguity of it all. I knew I was making up connections that obviously never existed (because the songs were never intended to be ordered like this) but it did get me wondering what the hell kind of connections you were making, Invince. There were more than a couple of repeated ideas (the idea of "sailing" through space seemed to turn up).

In my compilations I try to avoid constructing any over-arching narrative but I do definitely have certain musical ideas in mind. It's actually usually little musical ideas that I use to create a structure, repetition of certain peculiar instruments or similar melodies/atmospheres. I've never really been one to listen too much to lyrics. A lot of meta-stuff creeps in too, that no-one would really care about unless they're as anal as me about band and genre histories.

Anyways, my second compilation is near complete. Tentative Title: DJ_Beardsquirt - In McDonalds: A Thorough and Scientific Critique of Contemporary Consumer Culture

[Amethyst]

Oh, nah, I got the space connection of Highwaymen just by noticing snippets of the words as it went on. Bad Moon Rising is the only one I really didn't like, but that's whatever.

-----------------------------------------------
1. Spring Awakening- Those You've Known
2. Kerli- Walking on Air
3. Emilite Autumn- Swallow
4. Arashi- Truth
5. ALI Project- The Domain of The Holy Girl
6. Klear Up ft. Lykke Li- Until We Bleed
7. Utada Hikaru- Simple and Clean (PlanitB remix)
8. Vocaloid (Ren and Lin Kagamine)- Trick or Treat
9. Aural Vampire- Freeeeze!
10. Kanon Wakeshima- celmisia

Frostblight

[Vicious Parker]

Alright, I finally got around to listening to Bean's. Good stuff, and a lot of new stuff for me.

I've already listened to the Gorillaz and Joanna Newsom to death, but I was happy they made an appearance. Especially Joanna... How I love her. (Bean, did I ever tell you that I saw her in concert? My it was wonderful.)

I couldn't get in to Shadows of Tomorrow. When I liked the vocals, the music didn't work. When I liked the music, the vocals didn't work. :(

Or kollapz tradixional. I've tried getting in to the Godspeed spin offs... but I think I know why Godspeed did so well without lyrics -- because none of them can sing.

Everything else was pretty great, though. I loved Split Sides and am sad with myself for never having heard it before. And I REALLY loved Coward. It was pretty epic, and I think I'm going to have to go find more from the artist.

[Vicious Parker]

My second compilation was inspired by a quote from Bob Dylan:

"Here's the thing with me and the religious thing. This is the flat-out truth: I find the religiosity and philosophy in the music. I don't find it anywhere else. Songs like "Let Me Rest on a Peaceful Mountain" or "I Saw the Light"—that's my religion. I don't adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that. I've learned more from the songs than I've learned from any of this kind of entity. The songs are my lexicon. I believe the songs." -Bob Dylan

Well, because I agree with it. I went from a born and raised Christian to an atheist heathen within these last happy few years of my life, but for some reason religious music still speaks to me. I've noticed that when an artist truly means what they're singing, I find that I believe them more than I believe most people when they talk about religion. That's probably why some churches just play music constantly... but that's another story.

However, christian pop/rock/contemporary anything just blows major monkey balls and does not at all come close to what I'm describing, and I would like to think that it doesn't come close to what Dylan is describing, either.

Though my list isn't all happy cheery... Well.. Just give it a listen. I tried to be all gay again by pretending I knew how to create a narrative with songs. This list is shorter, though, so hopefully you all will forgive me.

Playlist:

Bob Dylan - Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
Johnny Cash - The Wanderer (Technically a U2 song featuring Cash, but still. I had to include it. When Cash sings about religion, you believe him)
Gillian Welch - I'll Fly Away
Conjure One - Pilgrimage
John Lennon - Instant Karma
First Aid Kit - Hard Believer
Radiohead - There There
George Harrison - Art of Dying
David Ford - St. Peter
Camphor - Enjoy the Struggle

http://monkeypro.net...ion Imagery.zip

[toysintheattic]

I think I needed this thread, because it's been sort of difficult to come up with 30 minutes of music.

I'll get around to listening to these, and finishing my playlist soon. Fun idea.