Music: Metric's *Dead Disco*

I consider the bands The Bird and the Bee and Metric to be two sides of one coin in my musical tastes. When in a quiet and romantically longing mood, I enjoy Inara George's sweet and affectionate voice, and the face that matches it, but in my more energetic and flirtatious mindsets, Emily Haines' spiciness and rambunctious singing is the key. This video may be slightly naughty, but surely you're mature enough for it. I love the sharp yet smooth tones in Haines' high-pitched voice, and how the lyrics just make you want to dance to utter exhaustion.



On a note of personal beauty, I must admit that, judging only on surface aesthetics, I find Emily Haines (photo) to be one of the most attractive women I've ever seen. Her slightly mussed up hair and dominant lips screams high-powered beauty. Inara George (photo), on another key, I find to be very delicate and soothing to the eye, and her brushed red cheeks all too cute and innocent. (*Sigh*)

Music: *Funeral March of a Marionette*

Most all of you have probably already heard this theme. It's one of those pieces that becomes so famous that it gets absorbed seamlessly into the culture, and you can go many years hearing it an endless amount of times without ever knowing or hearing its title. But it's unmistakable: It's the Alfred Hitchcock theme. I wanted to tease you by withholding the information to force you to find out through the music itself, but the video uploader has ruined my plan with Hitchcock's photo.

In truth, I'm not much inspired by this piece, but it nonetheless becomes noteworthy in how it gets stuck in my consciousness. I've been enjoying Hitchcock's television shows as of late, and at periods in my day I sometimes get a tinge of pleasure when this theme randomly sneaks into the audio of my mind. It's devious, yet gentle. I associate it with army marches and parades, rather than death.



It's not saying much given my lack of thinking on directors, but I've been amazed by how masterful Hitchcock is. I've come across Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Hulu and have become instantly attached to it, becoming motivated to seek out his whole line of works, excepting maybe his silent films, as I couldn't bear to finish The Farmer's Wife. I'd link you to the Hulu location that hosts his television show, but they're taking the series down promptly tomrow, so I won't borother constructing a link so soon to expire. At the very least, I give a hearty endorsement to Strangers on a Train.

Music: Cold Play's *Clocks*

I haven't partaken in much of Cold Play's works, but this song was one of my favorites during my late teenage years. The lyrics strike me as odd: They're very pondering and full of longing, but the instrumentals give off a giddy atmosphere. In my most content moods I've found this song to be the perfect accompaniment, making me daydream of cold spring air, refreshing water, beautiful crystal, and attractive women out on a gorgeous day. A weird mix of images, but songs tend to invoke pictures of objects, situations, and people for me in isolation, often without uniting for a integrated whole.



The great barrier to my enjoying music is that my hearing-impairment often leaves me unable to comprehend the lyrics, so I often like songs even if I can't understand a word, and have even been slightly shy at finding embarrassing lyrics to a song I really like, so I tend to prefer instrumentals more than anything. But whatever the case, enjoyable music is enjoyable music: Enrich your life.

Music: Thievery Corporation's *Shadow of Ourselves*

This one is pretty similar to the theme of Angela, I now realize. Thievery Corporation is one of my top favorite artists. They classify themselves as a sort of acid jazz band I think, with heavy emphasis on tranquil melodies. If anything, this is probably one of the best bands to space out to. So smooth, so soft, so gentle, so quiet . . .



Of course, it does occur to me to contemplate whether this band is actually anti-America given their title and some questionable song titles, such as "Amerimacka." I haven't heard any objectionable stances by this band though, so I say enjoy the fact they produce music as their primary and most important pursuit. I don't own any music right now, but I think I might undertake to grab up a few of their records in the future.

Music: J-Punch's *Afterglow*

I had almost forgotten about this until I saw it bookmarked in my Pandora profile. Here's a very delicate romance song, one that seems to be suitable for those peak physically intimate moments in a relationship. The smoothness of the melody and female vocals are very good.



I've been a neglectful person towards my music lately I admit, however. I've got to be careful lest I make music an unjustly treated value in my life, giving it bare attention and little concentration. It does add to the spiritual value of my life, so I need to take more care to maintain that value. I think overall I need to work harder at pressing my mental faculties, as I seem to be most receptive to music when I'm mentally exhausted and want to do nothing except lie on the floor and contemplate.

Music: Bob James' *Angela (Theme from Taxi)*

I never watched Taxi as a child, though I know it used to play on Nick at Night all the time, so it's taken me a few years to come across this piece. It suddenly came to my head while at work this week, which is why now I've been motivated to post it. It's very gentle with only a touch of sadness, but I think the overall theme is that of nostalgia for past romance. I positively love the smoothness of the flute and sharpness of the keyboard.



I have no idea why a football is the photo, so don't ask. Given that this is the theme to the television show Taxi it tends to generate images of a pub like the one seen in Cheers, given the darkish atmosphere and how great night is for reflecting upon things.

Music: Scatman John's *Scatman*

Scatman John is another one of my favorite artists, though I have difficulty coming in contact with a wider selection of his work. This particular piece is just bursting with giddiness I'd say, and all the hyperactive dancing in the video almost tempts me to stomp along, though I know my landlord downstairs wouldn't appreciate that. And aesthetically I have to say I admire the mustache.



The weird thing I think about the video are those instances when a person's lips don't match the vocals in the least. Rather awkward.

Other selections I've come across which I've found to be good are The Invisible Man, Scatman's World, and Only You. I've hardly gotten to know Mr. John's character to any great extent through writing, but the great and vibrant sense of life permeating his songs gives me the impression of someone who deserves to live, so I find sadness in his dying at age 57. His music lives on, at least, for all our comfort.

Music: Gorillaz's *19-2000*

Why is this song titled as it is? I don't know, but I love what I consider to be its goofy tone, even though it puts itself off as serious. It's music to listen to when in a bubbly mood, and the video is entertaining too.



Overall, however, I have a negative opinion of Gorillaz. While I like songs such as this and DARE, much of their stuff comes off as very malevolent and depressing, portraying life as hopeless and painful. You can even deduce it from the way the characters are animated, such as 2-D's (blue haired guy) awful teeth and black eye sockets, and Russ' (big guy in back of vehicle) pupil-less eyes and scornful face. The only exception seems to be Noodle (the girl), who is happy and joyful most of the time. I used to like Murdoc's (driver) aggressive and quiet attitude, but viewing recent portrayals of him repulses me with his cheesy demeanor and disease-like green skin color. Most recently the fictional characters are even portrayed as living on an island made entirely of garbage.

Oh well. What values there are, there are. Enjoy the good things as they come.

Music: Remix of Donkey Kong Country's *Aquatic Ambiance*

Yes. Video game music. I'm embarrassed to admit that I do like some pieces from this medium, but years ago I used to be a hard-core gamer whose exposure to music was almost limited solely to this realm. My favorite attribute of these pieces is how they're meant to loop, as I tend to enjoy listening to the same song several times in a row to satisfy a mood, which video game music does perfectly with its infinity.

This is a rendition of the theme to the underwater levels in Donkey Kong Country, a very well done game (though my favorite is the second). It not only has beautiful graphics, but also wonderfully produced music, this piece perhaps being the most famous. It's simply beautiful. It conveys the theme of an underwater world perfectly and soothes like a scented bath would. The vision that dances in my head is going swimming in a deep stream during a full moon bright enough to case shadows.



The thrill is a little too loud at the beginning, but once it quiets down it's just wonderful.

Music: Daedelus' Humdrum Headspin

I'd classify Daedelus as one of those artists that seemingly has no explicit standards for their music, so what you end up with is a lot of random and incoherent crap seasoned with a few interesting prospects here and there. In other words, perhaps good Daedelus pieces are born of accident, not consistent musical standards. I was utterly surprised with what screeching and crackly randomness came from the Pandora station I created for this artist, considering the taunting playfulness of Fair Weather Friends from the same artist. What in the world?

Anyways, I like the groovy theme of this piece, which is silly, bouncy, and carefree. Though, there are some slight random elements as I spoke of above given some buzzy static and stomping midway through, but it's a very short diversion that doesn't distract from the piece as a whole.



I'll keep my ears open to this artist to see if they develop any kind of consistency in their standards, but right now it seems to be hit-or-miss between something that qualifies as music and just random noise. It goes to show that when you don't develop explicit views regarding art you lose control over the quality of your work. For now, let's bounce around to this wonky jive.

Music: David Bowie's Space Oddity

Overall I have a mixed opinion of David Bowie, but this piece, along with China Girl*, I consider very thought-inspiring music. The spacey rhythm and consistent singing tone makes me think of technology and a strict, intense concentration on important matters at hand, but at the same time made me feel mildly sad. It reminds me of the present-day culture where one's achievements and excellence can be punished for their good nature, as marked by the worrisome and frantic finish to the song hinting at Major Tom's possible disaster.

(*Video embedding was disabled at the time this article was written.)



And unless I'm mistaken, isn't there a sort of female remix of this? I saw a car commercial once where a seductive female voice was conducting a launch countdown and transitioning into something similar to this, but I know nothing about the song and have forgotten the car brand. Might somebody know what I'm talking about?

Music: The Bird and the Bee's Polite Dance Song

I confess that The Bird and the Bee is my guilty pleasure. I like listening to them when I'm in sentimental or contemplative moods; Inara George's sweet voice is just the ticket to fit the bill. However far I've come in developing my musical tastes, however, I find I still harbor the trait of wanting to listen to one song over and over again on end, so I still need to work on making myself more open to perusing other artists rather than establishing a routine.

I really, really detest the video they did for this. In comparison to Love Letter to Japan this is much more nihilistic and second-handed (considering the borrowing of aesthetic elements from Napoleon Dynamite), almost as if they're making fun of themselves. I've noticed this trend in some of their other videos too. I think this is a legitimately good song, so I'm put off that they would make a shot at themselves like this. Listen without watching the video, since it detracts from the music.

Music: Daedelus' Fair Weather Friends

Ah, I love the cheery jump-around-and-be-happy vibe of this music, though confess I can't comprehend the lyrics. Blasted hearing-impairment. The video itself is quite interesting too, even. One of the barriers to my posting music videos is that so many times I see the video itself is atrocious and actually detracting from the music. I discover most things through Pandora, so it's an unpleasant contrast. I wish I could black out the video sometimes and just have the audio stream.



I've done well to cultivate my musical tastes, first starting with a very lazy approach, not even remembering songs and artists, to now having several favorite artists. It seems at this point I benefit from music the most when I'm experiencing intense emotion or an immense desire to contemplate. I don't enjoy having pieces play in the background all the time, or trying to listen when I'm engaging in another intellectual activity such as writing.

To date, I'd say my favorite artists are: Thievery Corporation (contemplative), The Bird and the Bee (soothing and sentimental), Metric (energetic and sexy), and Scatman John (happy). To date, my favorite song is still Danse Macabre.