Spotify Me Part 2: A Familiar Sound
Mark’s Discover Weekly Playlist for 9/9/2015
You all know what its like. You
wake up in the morning (late morning in my case) and immediately go about
preparing for the workday. You put food inside you, some caffeinated beverage,
cover yourself in the standard Human wrappings of professional attire, and hop
in the car and plug in your music device. These are the things I have been lead
to believe humans do aver the past few years. I should know. I’m a Human.
But when you, in early September,
plug in the device and “crank the jamz”, you do not necessarily expect to hear
the sound of the video game you fell asleep playing the night before. You
certainly don’t expect to hear Halloween Music, unless you’re really into
Halloween I guess. Half the songs on this weeks list were from game
soundtracks, about games, from TV soundtracks, about TV, or one Halloween song.
It made for an interesting commute, but a fun one all the same.
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| FTL Original Soundrack Art by Justin Ma |
This song does a great job for setting the tone of the game
“Faster than Light”, which is kind of like the Oregon Trail in space. The game
on its own is frustrating, and can turn on you with a clicks notice. But at the
start of the game, you are hopeful, and full of wonder. This song compliments
that atmosphere well. And surprisingly, it does a great job standing on its own.
Words I keep thinking while listening to the song are “small” and “quiet”. The
tiny “bleeps” and “bloops” that make up the song are soft spoken and reserved,
which makes for a great quiet song. Also, it does a good job of introducing new
melodies and sounds without becoming distracting. The song is peaceful, like
you are floating in space.
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| Not a Trampoline Produced by Gregtronic |
This is by far, one of the most oddly inspiring songs I may
have ever listened to, While at the same time, filling me with strange a
defeatist attitude. It comments on how hopeless life’s endeavors are, stating
that many of them may outright destroy you. But at the same time, the singer is
keen to remind us that He is determined to keep going. He will keep fighting on
even though He is somewhat aware that he will be a broken person at the end of
his journey. While this is going on, the
song switches between anger and glee smoothly, in accordance with the lyrics.
And even during the grungier sections of the song, it carries a certain swing
and charm, making the song great fun to listen to.
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| Moon Money Produced by Ninja Tune |
As you would expect from a song with this title, there is a
mysterious and sinister atmosphere about this song. Without being outright
horror, the song manages to create a sort of innocent haunting. The listener is
not taken to the drowning of this kid, but rather, to the scene several years
later, where young campers spread rumor about ghosts and stories around the
fire at night. The tune is actually delightful in ways, reminding me more of
the culture of a campfire ghost story rather than a ghost itself. It’s another
quiet, and somewhat soft-spoken song, and with the title paired with the music
itself, inspires the listeners imagination to fill in a scene of their own.
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| Album One Produced by Steam Powered Giraffe |
I have actually known bout this band for several years now.
But to be very honest with you, this is the first song of theirs I’ve ever
actually listened to. I don’t know why I have been reluctant to give them a
shot for so long. The face paint, along with other things kept me from taking
them too seriously. But now that I have heard them, I’m glad I gave the song a
shot. The listener is told the story of a captain, by the same name of the
song, who had many a great adventure at sea. The story ends of course, with the
captain going down with his ship, to have his story told by those who knew him.
It’s such a sweet song that has a great sense of fantasy and melancholy. I find
I can’t help cracking a small smile when I listen.
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| Perennial Favorites Produced by Mammoth Records |
It seems that ghosts are a popular topic on my list this
week. This song is a bit more aggressive, and has an almost angry tone. I
really enjoy swing music, which is part of the reason this song caught my ear.
But where most swing songs are playful, this one is bitter, and crude, which
really works for the song. The lyrics bring to mind an angry drunk, shouting
nonsensical judgments into the wind. This narrator is a defeated man, but
rather than keep fighting like in “I’m Gonna Win” from earlier in this article,
this narrator says “Screw it”. The song is ridiculous, but great fun to listen
to, and would certainly make great swing dance music.
(The album artwork in this article is not owned by the authors of this blog, but by the producers of the albums themselves.)
(The album artwork in this article is not owned by the authors of this blog, but by the producers of the albums themselves.)
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