Walking a Mile with Someone Else's iPod: Playlist #2

When I came up with the idea for this series of posts, I wondered if I would get a weird mix of songs. Everyone's personal musical taste is so distinct that it may not mix well with others. My goal with this series was to test the idea that, given the effort and time, whatever chasm of musical preference lay between us could be bridged. Last week supported this idea. Though I was presented with five very different songs, I honestly connected with all five of them. With a couple it was on the first listen, with others it was after I got to know the stories behind the compositions. Either way, after a week of getting to know the tracks, when it came time to write the blog entry, it was rather simple to tell their story and pair them with songs from my own personal collection. It was a very validating experience.

We have a weird mix of songs this week.

But wait! This story has a happy ending! It took me more effort this week to connect with the songs. Part of this is because these five tracks could not be more different from each other, so they make quite a disjointed playlist. We have funk-rock, video game power-metal, jazz-pop, indie-rap, and concert band for our genres today. And since I did not have the immediate connection I had last week, I worried it might not come. Nevertheless, I have grown fascinated by these songs and there are stories to tell! Enjoy!

Warning: If you are offended by potty language, two of this week's tracks are sitting in the corner with soap in their mouths, namely "Make Yourself" and "The Opposite of Fair."

Track #1: Incubus - Make Yourself

Submitted by: Lauren Gale

What she had to say about it: “Because if you're paper mâché at distance you're strong but when the wind blows you'll crumble and blow away.”

Which I learned pretty quickly are lyrics from the song, so my first impressions mainly focused on the track's message.

NAUGHTY LANGUAGE AHEAD!

Incubus - Make Yourself

First impressions: It is nice to have a headbanger on the playlist! The song is about being yourself even when pressured to be something else. That way, if we screw up royally, at least we can own it.

Over the course of the week: The lyric that I connect with most from the song is this one: You should make amends with you/If only for better health. I am one of those people who can too easily obsess over imperfect decisions and guilt. Eight years ago it was enough to give me anxiety issues and some fantastic self-loathing. But once I learned to just accept myself, mistakes included, I was able to get my life back. So I wholeheartedly endorse Brandon Boyd's suggestion and confirm its health-improving properties. Also, as I searched through lyric page and YouTube comment sections (not recommended for health-improvement), I have found that many people have a deep connection with this song to the point of taking it upon themselves as a personal mantra or tattooing lyrics from it onto their bodies.

Fun fact! To achieve some of the distorted vocals on this song, Boyd sang through a guitar's pick-ups!

Pairs nicely with: This is where I struggled with this song. Even today I spent more than an hour testing different tracks against "Make Yourself." Should I find a song that is similar in its philosophy or should I pair it with a song that is comparable musically? Guys, this really stressed me out. But I made a decision: Coheed and Cambria - Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry the Defiant

Coheed and Cambria - Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry the Defiant

Ever since I made the decision to go with "Sentry," it has seemed like the obvious choice. It is sonically similar and makes the statement of "I will be me, even if it costs me my life." Claudio Sanchez wrote "Sentry" after somebody upstairs suggested that he write something more radio-friendly. This made him angry, and as a result he put out a two-sided concept album complete with dialogue, seven-word titles with Roman numerals, and eight-minute long tracks, which, if you listen to The Heed, you know is true to form. Or should I say, making themselves?

Track #2: Familyjules7x (Jules Conroy) - Power Medley

Submitted by: Michael Harrell

What he had to say about it: “I feel like actually talented musicians continue to be phased out of contemporary music in favor of clones that put out moronic, dime a dozen, empowerment anthems. The art of expressing feeling through an instrument is what I really look for. This kid can play a guitar. I can't wait to see where he goes once he starts composing his own music.”

Familyjules7x - Power Medley

First impressions: I love me some metal guitar. I love the bass tap solo. I need to play my guitar more. Why did I never learn to shred? Jealousy.

Over the course of the week: At first, I got why people got this song, without getting it myself. I agreed with Mike; I am also drawn to artists that excel at their instruments. I love Dave Grohl's sentiment that as long as there a still kids playing live drums in bands, there is still hope for rock and roll. I also know the draw of a perfect video game soundtrack. Ask anyone who has played an individual game for more than five hours, the music, if done right, can stick with you for a lifetime ever after. Just last week, I shared a song from the game Final Fantasy VII and (spoiler alert) I will be sharing another one today.

A scene from VVVVVV

But I had never played the indie game VVVVVV (pronounced 'Vee-vee-vee-vee-vee-vee' or simply 'Vees'), so, at first, this cover version was just power metal, which can be technically impressive while lacking in substance if you do not have a context to place it in. To remedy this, I checked out VVVVVV's soundtrack. It is a chiptune composition, which, if you have never heard of chiptune, is the type of music you have likely heard in the old Mario games. It turns out that the composer, Magnus Pålsson's work here is considered to be one of the best chiptune soundtracks of all time. It has soul, in spite of its inorganic-ness. It is engaging and funny at the same time. Here's a sample:

VVVVVV: Pushing Onwards

Then Familyjules7x brought it to life with his cover version. Pålsson liked it so much, that he worked with Jules to produce an entire album of power metal versions of VVVVVV's soundtrack. At this point I thought I understood the appeal of Familyjules7x, until last night when I got sucked into his YouTube channel. It turns out he has been making video game cover songs for three years, but that is not the impressive part. For the past two years, he has produced a video every week! Some of you might remember that in 2011 I tried to do a similar, though less ambitious project, of recording two random cover songs twice a month for a year. I never hit 24 songs and they were never as well produced as Jules'. I do not know how he managed it. (By the way, you can find my project here: Marshall vs. The Machine) He just recently concluded this epic undertaking by recording a 17-minute-long tribute to the history of video game music:

Familyjules7x - Replay

He does make the mistake of not including even one Final Fantasy song in that video, while revisiting Zelda four times, but oh well. When he did hit on songs from games I knew well, the hairs on my arms went up. In that moment, I got it! Jules definitely has the talent; I am interested to see what he does from here on out. Check out his channel to see if he has covered a game that you have played!

Pairs nicely with: The Black Mages - To Those Who Fight Further

The Black Mages - To Those Who Fight Further

There is no question here! This is another power metal cover of a video game song, but I challenge you to play this song during your next work out. I can almost see a training montage set to it, with a freeze frame high-five at the end. You might notice that I am two for two in recommending Final Fantasy songs in my posts. Honestly, it was the music of Final Fantasy VII that made me fascinated with composing in middle school and much of my obsession of music stemmed from that.

Fun fact! The Black Mages is unique in that the original composer of the music, Nobuo Uematsu, is a band member, rocking the keyboards.

Track #3: Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk
Submitted by: Jessica Clay

What she had to say about it: “I like how the music kind of builds up and falls away. I like his voice too, AND how it (the song) makes me want to dance like this (does a snazzy, jazzy, walking/sliding along dance).”

Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk

First Impressions: My head started nodding right away. I like the sneaky way the dissonance creeps into the poppy melody. He goes from sounding like Bublé to Beck.

Over the course of the week: One of the first things I learned was that Wainwright toured with Guster, so he earned an automatic 10 bonus points there. After repeated listenings, my favorite part of the song remained how it starts so simplistic and poppy as he sings about his bad, but culturally acceptable vices, but then a layer of dissonant instruments slides over the bouncy, happy piano as he sings:

And then there's those other things
Which for several reasons we won't mention
Everything about them is a little bit stranger
A little bit harder
A little bit deadly

The reason for this tonal shift becomes even more interesting when you learn that Wainwright was addicted to crystal meth at the time. Suddenly, the playfulness of the song seems mischievous and the lyrics feel somewhat darker with this context. I think it is brilliantly subversive. The song seems happy, but he is singing "Sitting here remembering me."

But Jessica is ultimately right. This song is all about snazzy, jazzy, walking/sliding along dancing.

Pairs nicely with: Crowded House - Four Seasons in One Day

Crowded House - Four Seasons in One Day

People are going to think I am crazy this time. How do these two songs go together at all? Well, it took me a great deal of time trying to find a match for "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" and maybe I have just lost my mind, but the key, chord progression, and melody of the two songs are amazingly similar. Wainwright and Neil Finn both share deliciously smooth vocals. And where the first track is a melancholy song pretending to be happy, "Four Seasons in One Day" is just melancholy. But, I think they are strange siblings one to another. You can still dance to "Four Seasons..", but it's a head down, shoulder's slumped, walking/shuffling kind of dance.

Nevertheless, it is one of my all time favorite recordings. Remember in the first blog where I said my family venerates certain bands? Well, Crowded House is the crown emperor of bands in the Alley Clan.

Which basically makes Neil Finn god emperor of Dune.

 Song #4: The Chicharones - Opposite of Fair

Submitted by: Drew Adamson

What he had to say about it: “I love the rhythm The Chicharones have. That song in itself reminds me of past relationships, & it's a good reminder of why I'm better off now. Retrospectively relatable I guess lol.”

NAUGHTY LANGUAGE AHEAD!

The Chicharones - Opposite of Fair

First Impressions: The song hits its power when they start playing off of each other’s vocals near the end. Makes for a good climax. Drew is right: great rhythm.

Over the course of the week: The story in this song can slip past you on the first, casual listen. It was only after I looked up the lyrics that I figured out that each verse shifts perspective from a series of characters who briefly encounter each other, first from a jealous ex-husband, then to his exotic dancer of an ex-wife, then to a beggar on the street, then to a neglected child, then to a dying old man, and finally the paramedics who arrive to the scene. Each character, except maybe the paramedic, is immobilized by something in their life, so the question asked at the end of the song is, basically, are you going to let the past hold you back? Your time is short, so the time to act is now.

Pairs nicely with: The Knux - Bang! Bang!

The Knux - Bang! Bang!

Maybe the only thing in common with these two songs is that they are both by lesser known rap groups that feature awesome beats. Either way, I do not think that anybody will be disappointed for checking out "Bang! Bang!", one of my favorite hip-hop songs.

Song #5: Robert W. Smith - Twelve Seconds to the Moon

Submitted by: Ricky Wyman

What he had to say about it: “It’s actually a band piece called ‘Twelve Seconds to the Moon’ composed by Robert W. Smith. This piece would get grouped with classical before most of the pieces you've probably received. It might fall out of the scope of what you're looking for the blog piece. Nonetheless, I listen to this piece and other pieces from the genre alongside my Train and Linkin Park.”

Robert W. Smith - Twelve Seconds to the Moon

First Impressions: Playlist #2 is a weird one, but it looks like we will have the unofficial tradition of closing on a classical piece. I like the dynamics and melody changes. The song very much gives that “moving through space” feel. I love the industrial percussion. Like I said last week, in a piece like this, there is a full-fledged plot to the piece, a story. When the jet passed by, I honestly jumped in my seat! Genius having the band mimic the sound of rocket engines.

Over the course of the week: It did not take me long to figure out that most renditions of this composition do not include the sound of a jet roaring by, but rather that was an addition by the Band of the U.S. Air Force Reserves. This song tells the story of man's leap in aviation ability, starting from the Wright Brother's 12 second flight to mankind's first steps on the moon. The composer, Robert W. Smith, narrates this in an ingenious way through the percussion section. You can hear the surge of industry immediately before the Wrights take their first flight as the drummers use mallets to simulate factory sounds. The climatic moment of the song is where the sheet music likely reads "Go crazy with it, guys. Fortissississimo." The entire orchestra turns into a rocket's engines. I imagine Ricky played this in a concert band and probably had a blast (no pun intended). Understandable he still listens to it today.

Pairs nicely with: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Marche Slave

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Marche Slave

Just as Ricky likely came to love "Twelve Seconds to the Moon" by performing it, the same goes for me and "Marche Slave." I, too, will listen to this song along with my Coheed and Cambria and Guster. Tchaikovsky wrote this song to stir up the patriotic feelings of his Russian counterparts to come to the aid of their Serbian neighbors, who were at war with the Ottoman Empire. When you hear the tone of the song and consider its patriotic intent, I think you will understand why Russia does some of the stuff Russia does.

Anyway, this song also tells a progressive story. It starts with Serbia's cry for help. Russia is then represented with a folk dance and then their national anthem, "God Save the Tsar," as they answer the plea. Finally, the Slavic people join forces and win the day! You might recognize some similarities with Tchaikovsky's more famous piece, "1812 Overture."

That's it for this week! Have fun!