Halloween music aside, here's what I was actually listening to all through the month of October. I was almost ready to announce A Place to Bury Strangers as my new favorite band, but mostly I think they're just perfect for Halloween. I think I took note of them because of a Vince Clark (Erasure) remix of their latest single, "In Your Heart." They've obviously got the current trendy post-punk and/or shoegaze influences, but also synth pop and industrial on their remixes. If you want the new sound of The Bravery, listen to "The Problem." If you want the old sound of The Jesus and Mary Chain, listen to "Breathe" or "Missing You." If you want New Order, listen to "The Clapp Remix" of A Place to Bury Strangers' song on the following playlist. If you want to scare little children and old people on Halloween, play "To Fix the Gash in Your Head." These songs are the ABSOLUTE best songs I have come across in the last couple of months. I GUARANTEE they're all worth downloading, and for each artist featured, there are many more songs to check out. Don't get bogged down by the sheer volume of artists though - each one is different from the rest, so variety is the spice of this playlist: 1. "About to Walk" - Throw Me the Statue; I like fuzzy synths, nonsense lyrics, overactive drumming, the ukele sound and the outro reminiscient of Len's "Steal My Sunshine"
2. "Astronaut" - Amanda Palmer; she was a panelist at Comic-Con this year but I'll always remember her from 2004 when I moved to San Diego and Dresden Dolls were all the rage
3. "Bad Body Double" - Imogen Heap; rainfall, tinkling piano, rhythmic breathing and humming, multi-tracking vocals, pizzicatto harp plucking
4. "Beautiful Stranger" - Madonna; the jangly guitar and drums may be sampled from the Mamas & the Papas' "In Crowds," but the fuzzy flute and organ belong to William Orbit, who did Ray of Light, one of my all-time favorite albums; this song came after that on the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack
5. "Black Gives Way to Blue (feat. Elton John)" - Alice in Chains; new singer William DuVall sounds surprisingly like the late Layne Staley, so no change there but even more surprising is the help from Elton John on piano
6. "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" - Willie Nelson; from Zombieland; this year's greatest musical rediscovery, next to Bruce Hornsby's new version of "Mandolin Rain" on World's Greatest Dad
7. "Cotton Candy (Moonbunny Remix)" - Healamonster & Tarsier; I love the cascading piano riff and reverberating chords, the glitchy boom-bap beat and the singing sounds like One Dove
8. "Dashboard" - Modest Mouse; I regret missing them at San Diego Street Scene this year because I stuck around to watch a lame DJ set up after Deerhunter played; I also missed Cake to see Girl Talk instead - my next biggest regret (rule of thumb: new never beats familiar)
9. "Die Slow (Tobacco Remix)" - Health; the best performance at Street Scene came from the Faint; this isn't them but it could be a mellow version
10. "Fake Empire" - The National; singer reminds me of Crash Test Dummies and the horns at the end remind me of Dave Matthews Band
11. "Fools" - The Dodos; indie folk at a punk rock pace
12. "Got Nuffin" - Spoon; monotone piano plinks sound like a ringing phone
13. "Longing for Lullabies (Joakim Remix)" - Kleerup; reminds me of the "Here (Done Brothers Mix)" by Gravity Kills
14. "Mr. Farmer" - The Seeds; halfway between the Doors and the Clash
15. "My Reality" - Jay Reatard; simple song sped up with a bit of surf style
16. "Ocean" - A Place to Bury Strangers; see also "Halloween" by Siouxsie & the Banshees and "Atmosphere" by Joy Division
17. "Two Dots" - Lusine; laptop jocks cut'n'paste
18. "Up the Coast (Chris Paul and Raul Campos Lost in the Desert Remix)" - West Indian Girl; I picked up the band's remix compilation at Street Scene
19. "Walking Alone at Night" - Vivian Girls; the Go-Gos meet Hole meets the Yeah Yeah Yeahs with the drums from one of my all-time favorite songs, "Jennifer Lost the War," by the Offspring
20. "When Love Takes Over (feat. Kelly Rowland) - David Guetta; loop from "Clocks" by Coldplay versus better than Beyoncé vocals
No comments:
Post a Comment