I like music. I like it a lot. I obsess with it. Heh, I pretty much obsess with everything, but I save a special place in my obsessions vault for music that is good, touching and worth getting obsessed with. Some crap makes its way in there every once in a while but I am also a crap collector so this should come as no surprise.
Everyone here knows I have a history obsessing with bands, Nine Inch Nails in particular, lest we forget. That's what happens when something hits me so hard it makes me question the very foundation of my taste... and my life, for that matter. I have come a long way from my pre-NIN, U2/Metallica-loving days, thank goodness, yet I'm just as, if not twice as, obsessive as I was back then. I was originally gonna put a couple songs here that I spent the whole of last year listening to on repeat until my ears bled (from too much awesomeness of course), but since I obsessed with a whole fucking lot of songs last year, I'm gonna have to make two installments of this blog. And I'm gonna try and be a good person and go multimedia on you people, for your convenience. I'm gonna try.
In no particular order, here are 25 tracks that evidence how I would just implode without music.
Elbow- The Bones of YouElbow were fairly ok in my book. Then I caught this song on TV once and it was good enough. No, it was better than that. TV tells me what I should and shouldn't like, because I'm such an easy target for their consumerist bullshit. Maybe my next post will be how Lady GaGa's The Fame is the most inspired album anyone's ever made. Stay tuned to find out.
Does It Offend You, Yeah? - With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)Two words: Gossip Girl. Shame on me.
New Order - Sunrise.I have had my fair share of New Order obsession. All of Substance has been a staple in my obsessions list for years now. This track, from Low-Life, has always been a favorite. I can't explain what happened to make me love it so, but it probably has something to do with my stargazing while listening to it. Trippy shit.
Pleasure Forever - Wicked Shivering ColumbineThank you
Epitonic for turning me onto this disgustingly catchy band. Also, fuck you Epitonic for being down.
The Cure - The KissThis song feels like a slap across the face, but instead of a bruise, it leaves fire in my heart. I'm so goth, I know...
Kings of Leon - CloserMentioned this one before, won't say anything this time. Ok, maybe I will: The Kings of Leon are the biggest turdsters in old-school indie, but in all their turditude, they managed to come up with something slightly resembling a good song. Must be the drugs.
Nine Inch Nails - All the Love in the WorldGo
here. Ahhh Reznor, I remember when you were cool...
Portishead - Machine GunI remember when this album came out. I remember how I didn't want to jump on the Third bandwagon. I put up one hell of a fight, dammit. It still won. I gave in, happily. I blame this song.
Shriekback - Everything that Rises Must ConvergeAs new wave as new wave can get, happy as happy gets. Just thinking about this song makes me giggle. :)
Bat for Lashes - DanielI love you.
Santogold - L.E.S. ArtistesHaha, this song is cool and so very true. Still, the L.E.S. is awesome, posers and all.
Concrete Blonde - CarolineAlways a Concrete Blonde fan, never saw this song as cool as I did last year. Happens to the best of us, we miss the best things in life even when they are right before our eyes/ears.
Depeche Mode - In Your RoomIt was all because of a blip. It was all thanks to a blip. You know who you are, awesome person in my life. Thank you.
Fleet Foxes - Your ProtectorThis album would easily make my all-time-favorites list, or at least the favorite-albums-of-the-decade list, so this is kind of a given. This song is probably one of the strongest in an album filled with strong tracks. This one is a winner.
Arcade Fire - Wake UpCan't believe I hated this song, even after I got obsessed with Arcade Fire. Someone please remind me why I hated this and who performed the miraculous brain surgery that got rid of my shit taste.
Desert Sessions - Powdered Wig MachineI hate you, Josh Homme. I am totally blaming this on PJ Harvey, cause she's awesome and you're not.
Julian Plenti - Games for DaysProof that I'm a raving Interpol fangirl, even though I hate admitting it. And fuck you haters, I love ALL of Interpol's albums, and this one too. Magnetic Morning too.
PJ Harvey - This Mess We're InHard to describe how this song makes me feel. That guitar work is gorgeous. Thom Yorke isn't so bad either. I mean, his falsetto is annoying, yes, but this song is so beautiful I don't give a shit. Ultimately, I have an undying love for anything PJ Harvey, so even if she'd got Jon Bon Jovi instead of whiny Thom Yorke, I would have liked it anyway.
Leonard Cohen - SuzanneI love Leonard Cohen and everyone knows I'd pick him over fucking Dylan any day. He's the man. Plus, he always makes me cry like a little bitch. Well, not with his '70s/'80s showtune-y stuff, but pretty much all his early work is so emotional and lyrically brutal it just knocks me to the ground and makes me curl up in a ball and cry, cry, cry.
Interpol - Take You on a CruiseSee
Julian Plenti - Games for Days above.
M.I.A. - Bird FluI hate the fact that this album made a household name out of M.I.A. and got her working with... ugh, only thinking about that name makes me cringe... Timbaland. This is cool though, makes me dance and that hardly ever happens. That drum thing throughout the song is fucking sexy.
Radiohead - Spirit Street (Fade Out)Brings back memories of my teenage years when The Bends was my favorite Radiohead album and there was no In Rainbows in sight. Depressing Radiohead is a different kind of depressing. It can seriously make a happy person slit their wrists. That's the kind of idea this song gives me.
The Horrors - New Ice AgeReminds me of Strange House-era The Horrors, which can be good sometimes. It is good here.
Saul Williams - Black History MonthThis is what NIN would sound like if anyone'd encouraged Trent Reznor to keep rapping after Down in It, only this is less whiny and loads more original. You can tell Saul's influence is stronger than Trent's in this track though, and considering Reznor's megalomania, that's a huge accomplishment.
TV on the Radio - DLZA remnant from '08's best-of-the-year albums list, this track enchanted me all year long, and will probably do so this year as well. This song feels warm and humid, like rain in the African jungle, but it comes with its own umbrella made in Brooklyn to keep the listener protected.
Bonus
A Perfect Circle - The PackageHere's one to offset the longing for new APC!!! Never thought I'd miss them so much. :(
Ok, this is my rant of the day. Should be back tomorrow, or next year, with part two of this long ass bitch of a post. Links should work fine, except for that Saul Williams track, which is on Youtube. You should see a little play button thingee before the name of the songs.
Heh, that's all.
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Now playing:
New Age Steppers - Fade Awayvia FoxyTunes
