This is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard in my life.
I don’t listen to a lot of songs for their lyrics. I listen for the music. The beat. The chords.
But this song has all of it. Wonderful strings, wonderful tension, and these are perhaps the most impactful, painful, wonderful lyrics I’ve ever heard from a song in my life.
“Hurt and grieve, but don’t suffer alone / engage with the pain as a motive.”
“It’s more courageous to overcome.”
And the two different “voices” singing? Jesus.
This song is a work of art. I have never sobbed so cathartically.
It’s also right in my vocal range, so I’ve been singing it constantly, too.
Frontier
So I was pretty sure I’d mentioned this song on here somewhere at some point, but I searched my archives and found NOTHING, so I present to you The Avalanches’ “Frontier Psychiatrist.”
This song is a trip.
I first heard it in a Clock Crew Collab like 17 years ago:
Man, that brings back memories. Wanting to be a part of the Clock Crew was one of my main motivators for learning (or trying to learn) Flash.
NEW WEEZER??? ? ?
So I’ve gotten into Weezer as of late, as their OK Computer album had STRINGS and their Van Weezer album had ROCK and I like a lot of their other songs too.
ANYWAY.
It sounds like their new project is called SZNZ. They’re going to release an EP for each season this year.
And since Spring just began on Sunday, their spring EP has released! Check it out here:
A Little Bit of Love is great. Angels on Vacation is good too.
EXCUSE ME, HANS ZIMMER…
What gives you the right to make the Interstellar soundtrack so frisson-inducing?
What gives you the right.
Nate and I watched Interstellar the other night. It was the first time either of us had seen it. The movie itself was quite good, but the soundtrack?
HOLY.
GALACTIC.
BALLS.
BATMAN.
It’s Hans Zimmer, so of course it’s going to be good, but JEEBUS.
I listened to the following song (No Time for Caution) on my cheap-ass $5 walking headphones and I got frisson so badly at the 2:35–minute mark that I felt it in my groin.
The STRINGS. They BURN SO GOOD.
I’d heard Mountains before ever watching the movie, but No Time for Caution is so much better.
HNNNNNNNG.
Piano Party 90s Style
I took piano lessons back when I was a youngster (like…6, 7 years old?). I hated it. I don’t know why I didn’t like it, but I never bonded with the piano like I did with wind instruments. Maybe because I didn’t start with wind instruments until I was a few years older…who knows.
Anyway.
In the spirit of N O S T A L G I A, I looked up the old books I used to use at my lessons and behold…they’re still a thing!
I don’t remember what level I got to (mom, do you remember?), but I remember these books.
Music: 2021 Edition
Hello NERDS!
So just like last year, since my Decade of Music project is over, I think I’m just going to do a very informal “these are the songs I liked” thing for 2021’s music.
Is that okay?
(If not, too bad!)
Here we go. Top five songs of the year:
♡ by Coldplay
This is a breathtaking song. Chris Martin’s voice hurts my soul in the best way, and the chords here are so…pure. For some reason this song makes me think of Vancouver.
King of Pride Rock by Hans Zimmer
I’m pretty sure Hans Zimmer is not of this planet. From about 3:40 to the end is just packed with so much emotion, and of course 4:21 is everything.
Grapes of Wrath by Weezer
This is the most Weezer song I’ve ever heard. And of course this is from their album where they discovered stringed instruments and there are violins and cellos EVERYWHERE, which I love.
And the music video, like many of their music videos, is great.
RAININ’ FELLAS by Todrick Hall
This is a very Lady Gaga-esque song (and music video). The chorus is banging and is very easy to get stuck in your head.
The Luckiest by VOCES8
Okay, so VOCES8 didn’t write this song, but this is a gorgeous cover of it. The chord at 4:26 is stunning. This group has such strong bass.
DONE!
Let’s Mash Up 2021
This seems to be a well-liked one. It’s not my favorite, though, but that might be because I can’t recognize what song the main background is coming from.
Edit: after listening to it a few times, it’s grown on me a bit. Still not my favorite, but it’s better than 2016 and 2010 at least.
WOO!
Zowza
Wow. This is a beautiful, haunting cover of “Where is My Mind” by The Pixies. It sounds like a song that would play in the background as a character in a movie loses their mind or something.
UM, EXCUSE ME
This is fire.
Coldplay!
So Coldplay streamed their concert on YouTube tonight and my wonderful husband put up with my “ZOMG COLDPLAY!!!!!!!1!” insanity and we watched it live.
So.
Good.
I love everything about Chris Martin’s voice and I love how much enthusiasm they all have.
Going to a Coldplay concert would be a dream, yo. I would lose my mind and probably cry the whole way through.
THERE IS A NEW COLDPLAY ALBUM
I REPEAT: THERE IS A NEW COLDPLAY ALBUM
Gonna get. Gonna listen.
Edit: GOD I LOVE THIS GROUP. Favorite songs from this album:
- Humankind (love the energy)
- Human Heart (soooooo pretty)
- People of the Pride (very Muse-esque)
- My Universe (BTS is great)
YAY
A Song-Type Thingy
So.
Tiktok.
I’ve found lots of songs from it. One of the best, I think, is this song from “The Greatest Showman”:
Around the 2:00 mark it picks up and gets really good. The strings in the chorus? TASTY.
Sorry, that’s all for today.
COMPOSE YOURSELF
Heyo BUTTBOMBS, let’s spend today’s blog talking about my favorite film and video game composers, huh? Because I’ve been Sennheiser-ing it out at night and listening to my favorite scores and it’s hot on my brain at the moment.
Let’s do a ranking, as always. My top 5, starting with the 5th most favorite and ending with my most favorite.
5. Alan Menken
Menken is kind of the “hidden” composer on this list in the sense that I don’t know if many people know who he is (as compared to the two dudes at the top of this list). But I’m putting him as my #5 because he is responsible for many of the classic Disney songs. And those are so connected to childhood that they’re going to forever be important.
Here’s a video showing a lot of his best songs.
[Edit: God, even just listening to those Little Mermaid songs at the start bring back so many memories, haha]
[Edit again: I haven’t watched Beauty and the Beast in forever and HOLY SHIT THE ANIMATION SLKDFJSLKFJSLF]
4. John Murphy
Murphy is on here because of Sunshine. I don’t know any of his other works, but the music in Sunshine is so heartbreakingly beautiful and stressful and haunting all at the same time, making the movie one of my favorites just because of the music alone. Like…listen to Adagio in D Minor and tell me it doesn’t make your heart hurt and soar at the same time.
3. Christopher Tin
Among other things, Tin has done music for the video games Civilization IV and for Civilization VI. Baba Yetu, the song from Civ IV, won a Grammy. But I think Sogno di Volare (Civ VI) is one of the most epic, frisson-inducing songs I’ve ever heard. I’ve posted it here before, but here it is again. Get some Sennheisers and crank this; you won’t regret it.
2. Hans Zimmer
C’mon. Do I really have to explain? Zimmer’s music is so phenomenal that it can’t be explained anyway. I think my favorite thing about Zimmer that is fairly consistent across his work is how so many of his songs swell to an insanely beautiful peak around the 5/6th mark of the song. Here are just a few of what I consider to be his absolute best songs.
3:00 and onwards is stellar.
4:21 and onward.
1. James Horner
Horner and Zimmer are basically tied, but if I HAD to pick a #1, it would be Horner. The main reason is because he is behind the music for two of my favorite movies (Apollo 13 and Titanic). And I’m pretty sure a huge reason why I like these two movies so much is because of their scores. I just really like everything about his style. He uses TUBULAR BELLS, for god’s sake. Examples:
(This is probably my favorite piece from any movie)
The other reason is because of the music in An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. As a kid, this was the first movie where I remember consciously paying attention to the music. It was enthralling. I think it’s what really got me into music.
I LOVED this part as a kid.
POOT PARTY
Songs that have castanets in them when they don’t really need castanets IRRATIONALLY PISS ME OFF
I don’t know why, so don’t ask me to explain, dawwg.
A Series of Mashups
Y’all know I love mashups. So have some good ones.
That last one is fire.
Bye.
Beautiful
I love VOCES8, yo. This is such a pretty song.
That is all.
Oh my GOD, Todrick…
This is the catchiest freaking song, yo, holy hell.
HAHAHA WHAT THE HELL
Whoever is doing that Pavarotti impersonation is pretty fantastic, not gonna lie.
Also, I can’t tell if this is nightmare fuel or fantastic. Or both.
Every night, man. EVERY. NIGHT.
Me: lol I’m sad
Me: the Sennheisers will help!
Me: *puts on Sennheisers*
Me: *plays the saddest songs I own at max volume*
Me: lol why am I still sad
I love that I like physically can’t go to bed until like 6 AM ‘cause I’m too busy being…sad. How stupid is that?
Weezer, what the HELL IS THIS??
I love this, holy freaking crap. That chorus is catchy as hell.
Van Weezer – which I’m assuming will contain songs with this type of sound – comes out on May 7th. Contrast this sound with the sound of the OK Human album they just released at the beginning of the year:
I like when bands experiment with different sounds like this. Coldplay has gotten a lot of crap for this kind of thing, but people need to lay off because Coldplay is untouchable goodness allowed to experiment just like everyone else.
I don’t have anything else to say today, haha. I just wanted to make you aware of this fantastic song in case you hadn’t heard it.
Jingle Bells 2: Jesus’ Revenge
Back in December 2019 (GOD, REMEMBER NORMALITY?????), I posted this awesome 7/8 time version of Sleigh Ride:
Well, now you get this beautiful piece:
Welcome to TIME SIGNATURE HELL, CHILDREN
I don’t know if it’s the sleep deprivation or because today was horrible or what, but that key smash in that first 1/8 time bar is hysterical.
Some of the comments are great, too.
- i was like “hey this isn’t so bad” then i was proven extremely wrong
- Everybody gangster till the quadratic formula finds its way into music theory
- First 10 second I thought “well it’s not the worst”, couple of seconds later I got anxiety
- “Oh it’s actually not that bad” Key smash “Oh ok”
- I can’t get over the 25 whole notes at 1000 beats per minute in 100/4 time.
- Ah yes, the snare solo is my favorite part of jingle bells
Love it.
Music-Driven Nostalgia
I don’t know why DJ Earworm has suddenly ramped up his non-Decade of Pop uploads, but I am DIGGING IT.
Here’s his latest:
I love that this mashup contains music from decade right before I started my Decade of Music Project (well, okay, it contains 2009 which was technically in my Decade, but whatevs). This is music from junior high, high school, and undergrad for me. Thus, TONS of nostalgia. There’s a lot of those early- to mid-2000s songs that I only ever got to hear on the radio while I was in my room making stupid stop-motion movies. I didn’t yet have an iPod and because CDs were too freaking expensive. There are also a good number of songs in there that were some of my first purchases on iTunes.
Super cool! Is it nostalgic for you, too?
It’s Anosmia Awareness Day!
So have something completely unrelated: saxophones!
I have mixed feelings about the sound of saxophones. A saxophone might be my least favorite instrument to hear on its own. I don’t know why. There’s something kind of grating about its sound, at least to me.
But this guy plays all four of those saxophones very well and I don’t mind how they sound. This is also one of my favorite Holst pieces, so yeah.
WOO!
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