Day 7 - The timing of the release, content, and my age were such that it hit me like a ton of bricks.
It was very hard to listen to for quite some time afterwards...
Reminds me of the Groovin' The Moo music festival which I went to earlier this year. Every band I saw was awesome, including a couple who I'd never really listened to before such as Datarock, Bliss N Eso and The Jezabels. I still can't split who my favourite performance was from that day, but since I have already used Birds of Tokyo earlier and have a Wombats song planned for a different day, I'll go with Art Vs. Science. Obviously, the song has to be A.I.M. Fire! since I've been using it in my avatar and sig for a while now.
Day 08, Song that you know all the words to Missa l'Homme Armé Sexti Toni by Josquin des Prez
Pretty straight forward liturgical stuff. The Agnus Dei is the most sublime music ever written, in my opinion.
In addition to being one of the few techno-metal bands that is legitimately awesome, I use E Nomine to teach myself German and refresh my Latin a bit. Schwarze Sonne in particular has one of the coolest verses ever:
Du erscheinst in meinem Traum
Du liebkost mein schwarzes Herz
Spendest Licht dem Lebensbaum
Du befreist mich von dem Schmerz
Und eigentlich
Erschreckst Du mich
Auf ewiglich
Schwarze Sonne
I don't really have a least favourite song because I don't listen to music I dislike long enough to pick any specific tune. That said, there is one "song" that actually actively offends me and causes feelings of revulsion and anger. Not because of the song itself, but because of what was done to it and why.
That "song" the act of Kenny G's 'musical necrophilia' - overdubbing himself onto the legendary Louis Armstrong's "It's a Wonderful World" recording.
In a purely cynical, profit-driven move, Kenneth Gorelick dubbed his own cheesy, vacuous soprano sax licks over this classic Armstrong tune and then released it on his own record. Not covering the tune, but actually using the Armstrong recording and just dubbing his own crappy playing over top of it. It's awful musically, ethically, and artistically. Pat Metheny put it better than I can, and it's certainly much closer to home for Metheny than it is for me, since he composes plays this music with sincerity and purity of intent. Here's an excerpt from his essay (spoilered for length).
Spoiler:
...Not long ago, kenny g put out a recording where he overdubbed himself on top of a 30+ year old louis armstrong record, the track "what a wonderful world." with this single move, kenny g became one of the few people on earth i can say that i really can't use at all - as a man, for his incredible arrogance to even consider such a thing, and as a musician, for presuming to share the stage with the single most important figure in our music. <snip>
when kenny g decided that it was appropriate for him to defile the music of the man who is probably the greatest jazz musician that has ever lived by spewing his lame-ass, jive, pseudo bluesy, out-of-tune, noodling, wimped out, [screwed]-up playing all over one of the great Louis tracks (even one of his lesser ones), he did something that i would not have imagined possible. he, in one move, through his unbelievably pretentious and calloused musical decision to embark on this most cynical of musical paths, [crapped] all over the graves of all the musicians past and present who have risked their lives by going out there on the road for years and years developing their own music inspired by the standards of grace that louis armstrong brought to every single note he played over an amazing lifetime as a musician.
by disrespecting louis, his legacy and by default, everyone who has ever tried to do something positive with improvised music and what it can be, kenny g has created a new low point in modern culture -something that we all should be totally embarrassed about - and afraid of. we ignore this, let it slide, at our own peril. his callous disregard for the larger issues of what this crass gesture implies is exacerbated by the fact that the only reason he possibly have for doing something this inherently wrong (on both human and musical terms) was for the record sales and the money it would bring.
This song has always put me into a good mood. It's a song featuring two of the greatest blues men of all time, singing a song about having a bbq and sitting around playing guitar with some friends. The tempo is upbeat and chipper. It's just a fun song, and probably not the last one I'll be taking from this album.
For a brief period in seventh grade, which ended up being one of the most important formative periods of my life, I was obsessed with Weird Al's music. I bought the CDs (successfully missing the beginning of the iPod Era by a few months) and listened to them all the friggin time. I still like pretty much all of his music, too, although I really don't listen to it that much these days.
Anyway, the second album I got, Running with Scissors, had this little gem at the end of it. "Little" here means "just over eleven minutes long". Not quite as long as the ass-spraying mound of fecal toxins that constitutes prog rock (thinking of "anything by Yes" and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" here), let alone the genial "Alice's Restaurant", but pretty damn long. And, unlike Arlo Guthrie, Al keeps it funny for the whole eleven minutes. Being one of those white-boy types who failed to discover rap until high school (and then damn did I discover it), this was pretty much the closest thing I had to that, and it was awesome. So I burned it into my brain, while riding the bus, while playing Advance Wars instead of doing homework, while reading Star Wars books (having not discovered history quite yet), and pretty much during anything that didn't involve actually talking to people (and a lot that did). And then, like a thunderclap, within a year, I had moved on. Still remember the lyrics, though.
I guess I picked this one over all the others (and I think I have a particular talent for remembering lyrics and lines from movies, TV shows, and video games, even if I don't listen to/watch them hundreds of times) because it's way the hell long and extremely funny. I never thought much of the albinoblacksheep video that accompanies the song in the YouTube link, but I guess it's all right. Great stuff.
When I got my (now ex-)dreads done a few years back, this record was playing in the hairdressers, and since this was the big, overplayed single, it's the only one I recognised.
I think Superjay knew this one is coming. For me this is quite simply the most depressing song I have ever heard. The opening line is glum, and the whole song is about a man drifting away and all he'd like is to have some friends with him when he goes. Ultimately, however, his death is insignificant. My first memory of this song was when I was listening to it in a car with my folks when I was 16 and watching the song bring my dad to tears (and my mom cracking up about it because the song never ceases to bring my dad to tears). This song always makes me cry too.
Benny Benassi vs. Global DJs - San Francisco Dreaming
Mostly because it's one of the few songs I actually have danced to without making a complete ass out of myself, if you call it "dancing". Went to a live performance in DC a few years ago. Great fun.
It was a weirdly close race for this, by the way, between this song and Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Down at the Twist and Shout". Never thought I'd put those two together for any reason.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
