What is UUUUUUUUUUUUP???

So it’s finally that time.

My Decade of Music project is done and, like I promised I would, I must face the difficult (?) task of thinning out my Five Stars. Why am I doing this, you ask? Because a Five Star song is a very special thing to me, and I feel like while I truly enjoy all 50 songs that are currently Five Stars, not all of them bring me unadulterated joy every single time they come up on Shuffle. And that’s what a Five Star should do: bring unadulterated joy.

So we have to cull the herd.

Originally, I figured I’d have an idea of how many songs could truly be Five Stars and I’d just go from there and cut out songs until I hit that total. But I’m not sure if that’s the best way to go about it. So how about we do it “naturally” and just go through the list and see what we end up with? I’mma bold the ones that should remain Five Stars.

NOTE: Blinding Lights is on here even though that is technically a post-Decade of Music song because I’m doing this thing so late after the end of the project that I’ve already managed to get another Five Star. So yeah.

• Airwaves by Airplanes
• Algorithm (Alternate Reality Version) by Muse
• Any Way You Want It by Journey
• Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
• Breathe (LMC Extended Club Mix) by Erasure
• Call On Me by Eric Prydz
• Canada Dry (Acoustic) by Barenaked Ladies
• Check It Out by will.i.am & Nicki Minaj
• Damn Son by Tobu
• Dare You To Move by Vitamin String Quartet
• Death Sentence Lost! (Coldplay vs. Dethklok) by …And Sushi! Productions
• Doin’ It Right (feat. Panda Bear) by Daft Punk
• Door by Caroline Polachek
• Get Over It by OK Go
• Gold (Thomas Jack Radio Edit) by Gabriel Rios
• Golden Dandielions by Barns Courtney
• Gone by JR JR
• Hello (Single Edit) by Martin Solveig & Dragonette
• Here It Goes Again by OK Go
• Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap
• Hide and Seek (A Cappella Cover) by Dan Wright
• Hula Hoop (Mark Ianni Bootleg) by Omi
• Ice Cream by MIKA
• Infectious by Tobu
• Jealous (I Ain’t With It) by Chromeo
• Jealously by Robert DeLong
• Life by Tobu
• Lights and Music by Cut Copy
• Madness by Muse
• Mirrors (Radio Edit) by Justin Timberlake
• O Magnum Mysterium by Robert Shaw
• Paradise by Coldplay
• Paradise (Gabe Flaherty Remix) by Coldplay
• Peanut Butter Jelly by Galantis
• Pieces of Me by Ashlee Simpson
• Pressure (feat. the UCLA Bruin Marching Band) by Muse
• Run for Cover by The Killers
• Running Away by The Royal Foundry
• Send Me on My Way (Jesse Bloch Bootleg) by Rusted Root
• Sleepyhead by Passion Pit
• Sleepyhead (Cillo Mix) by Passion Pit
• Sleepyhead (Jazzsteppa Remix) by Passion Pit
• Something Human by Muse
• The Riddle by Gigi D’agostino
• This Is So Good (Radio Edit) by Ehrencrona
• Tightrope by WALK THE MOON
• Tilted by Christine and the Queens
• Valdres March by the Eastman Wind Ensemble & Frederick Fennell
• Viva la Vida by Coldplay
• When I Need a Friend by Coldplay
• Work This Body by WALK THE MOON

There. There are 25 that are bolded.

But I feel like this is a much tighter Five Star list, which is what I was looking for in the first place. I want it to be really hard to knock a song off of this list – which, looking at the 25 bold songs, is true. I’d have a hard time picking any of those to be demoted. Especially compared to the original list of 50; there were a good number that were very easily removed from Five Star status.

So yay? The real test will be when I find my next “ZOMG THIS IS SO FANTASTIC” song and I have to go in and actually kick something off of the bold list above. But we’ll get there when we get there.

So now that I’m no longer working on my Decade of Music project, I guess there won’t be any more end-of-year song summaries.

FEAR NOT!

I will periodically provide you with updates about groovy tunes that I find post-project.

Let’s do one now!

• Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (of course. I’m in love with this song.)
• Stupid Love by Lady Gaga
• Karma by AJR (relatable)
• Shout by Empara Mi (this song fits a good plot thread in last year’s NaNo so well, you have no idea)
• Woohoo by Raghav (he’s a Calgary dude!)
• Caution by The Killers (like every The Killers song, it’s got that sad, frantic yearning tone behind it. And for some reason that shot with the birds along with those chords at 3:56 just murdered my heart.)
• Unless It Hurts by Galantis

YO!

I know I’ve been bitching about this year being super slow for music (which it is, especially compared to last year), but there have been several good songs thus far. And since I haven’t shared music in a while, have some ear candy!

I heard this on the radio and it was instant love. It’s got kind of an old school feel to it.

I didn’t like this one at first, but it’s a four-star now.

Beautiful song; Ed Sheeran is awesome.

This was an iTunes freebie!

Okay, that’s all.

Hello again! Following yesterday’s blog, I realized that there are also quite a few songs that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Unlike all the books, however, all of these will stick with me because of their emotional impact. Most of these are on here because they remind me of the circumstances in my life surrounding the time I downloaded them (but they still sound freaking amazing, too). There are a few, though, that just rock my world ‘cause they’re so cool sounding. Here we go!

1. O Magnum Mysterium – Morten Lauridsen

This reminds me of the end of spring semester 2007, when I was kind of going through my own little enlightenment period of my life. Always fun to play in a pitch dark room at volume = 100%.

2. Nothing Else Matters – Metallica

Reminds me of Spring Break 2008. That’s all you need to know.

3. Life Is Beautiful – Vega4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR_8m9cvIvg (no embedding and live, but still good)
Another song that reminds me of the end of spring semester 2007. A very beautiful song.

4. Farewell – Apocalyptica

This one’s just badass.

5. Hide And Seek – Imogen Heap


I think I found this song randomly in an iMix one day. The one in the first link is freaking amazing, but the second link is amazing in a different way. Wait till you hear the piano at the end.

6. Summer (Part III) – Vivaldi

Yay.

7. Fix You – Coldplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBEYyHGbwto
Sad, sad, sad memories. This is my “I’m depressed” song.

8. Breathe Me – Sia

Listen to this song, then bask in the feeling of hopelessness and loneliness it conveys. This is what I listen to when I feel that way.
Also, Sia rules.

9. Fitter, Happier – Radiohead

This song is creepy as hell, but strangely wonderful.

10. Tannhaeuser Overture – Wagner

Badass.