Tuesday, January 23, 2007
chris 25-21
25 "anti-anti." 
snowden.
anti-anti.
[jade tree].
"getting down in the town that makes no sound / you say there's nothing wrong but i can't hear it."
one of the few songs on the countdown where at first i was like, "this is tolerable," and then upon a ridiculous amount of forced listenings thanks to radio k, it eventually changed my life. ESPECIALLY when i was like, "i wonder if i'd like this more with headphones on. so i scrounged through some mp3 blogs and found a high bit-rate copy of the song, put the 'phones on, and almost immediately orgasmed thrice. from the just-outta-the-bag-crisp drumming to that simple guitar melody that hits just the right notes to curl my heart like toes during sex, i had been had by slacker interpol wannabes. but the difference is rather than merely sounding like brightly giving up (antics), it sounds like giving up brightly and longingly (turn on the bright lights).
24 "the first song."
band of horses.
everything all the time.
[sub pop].
"we've suffered enough."
very appropriately, this was the FIRST song that changed my life this year. 2006 had come along and i was starting to feel everything i had worked for at radio k was coming to an eventual close and due to 2 years of musical overexposure, i had basically disliked all music, longing for my high school days of death cab and d-plan where i was passionate and crazed. i remember it clearly - i was in my office at the station, exhausted beyond belief from grad school and working mundane music director tasks. i put in another random cd, seeing that the best music assistant i could have ever asked for (pushkar, now music director) had highly recommended this band of horses cd. as my ass hit my chair from doneness-with-life and this song's sprawling sparkling chords started a sudden and steady beat, i felt comfortable. when the chords started building and the joan of arc guitar line accompanied a six parts seven lapsteel to an epiphany of a chorus, i literally FELT resurgence in my body. music is good. music is there. music in me.
23 "nefi + girly."
asobi seksu.
citrus.
[friendly fire].
"awaiting an audience /we're waiting on ornaments."*
this song was probably going to be more like 30-something or 40-something on the list. then i played it for my great friend pat while visiting him in chicago. one of my favorite things about my great friend pat is how he reacts to and falls in love with music. ever since i've known him, pat and i and his car have had many interactions with both awesome and terrible music. whether it was in his geo metro listening to the self-titled verve pipe album trying to make it through "kiss me idle" without pressing "next track" or playing mum at full blast and laughing joyously when the harmonium kicks in, listening to music with pat in the car is the BEST. and when i played him this song thinking it was a surefire way to win pat's heart (ridiculous drumming, spacey guitars, and a cute-as-all-get-out female singer) and his eyes widened and he slapped his forehead when the hi-hat was tickled faster than a cheetah, i said, "thank you asobi seksu." *i don't care if this is actually what they're singing or not. it's what i hear.
22 "what's the altitude (feat. hymnal)."
cut chemist.
the audience's listening.
[warner bros.].
"she gave me head / phones / said, 'have you heard this sound?'"
whoooaaaa that's pretty high on the countdown for a hip-hop song on a list compiled by a suburban white kid who felt nervous buying "license to ill" on cassette. this is one more reason why hip-hop by djs FEATURING rappers is so much better than a single rapper's attempt at overshadowing mediocre dj work with mediocre lyrics. especially when it's some guy named hymnal who's a brilliant cross between mf doom and del tha funky homosapien, AND actually has something to say while being goofy and fun at the same time. let's not forget the demented acoustic guitar lick and cowbell that will become an automatic reprise throughout your day if you listen to this song even just once. the dirty fake-vinyl crackle and old-school "YEAH!" in the background are just two more reasons why this is, to date, my favorite hip-hop song ever. obviously not too big of a deal, since it's still just #22, but it's one more step toward me wanting to listen to and absorb more and more hip-hop in the future.
21 "it fit when i was a kid."
liars.
drum's not dead.
[mute].
"i aim my eyebrow into a question."
when the singer with the lowest unaltered voice in the history of avant-rock (and probably rock music in general) "sings" the aforementioned silly yet admittedly creepy lyric, the pause that precedes it always scares the CRAP out of me. i've never heard a song that has made me feel so tense and scared AND was pleasurable to listen to at the same time. the methodic and barbaric percussion and low-end in this song do something to one's listening experience that film music does a subconscious level when you're engrossed in the cinema experience, but this song DEMANDS your attention. it will slit your throat and drink your blood if you ignore it. and if you think it's over before the doom organ slinks on out of nowhere, then your life will be over before you know it. the looming baritone singer will forget about scaring you and hypnotize you with his thom yorke falsetto until you submit to his lulling, swooning, transfixing death tune. BEWARE!
qualler might show up any second with his top 25 songs of 2006 so keep on the look out if you're sick of reading my pathetic diary entries!!! oh and of course, #s 20-16 are on deck.
¶ posted by chris at 4:06 PM
snowden.
anti-anti.
[jade tree].
"getting down in the town that makes no sound / you say there's nothing wrong but i can't hear it."
one of the few songs on the countdown where at first i was like, "this is tolerable," and then upon a ridiculous amount of forced listenings thanks to radio k, it eventually changed my life. ESPECIALLY when i was like, "i wonder if i'd like this more with headphones on. so i scrounged through some mp3 blogs and found a high bit-rate copy of the song, put the 'phones on, and almost immediately orgasmed thrice. from the just-outta-the-bag-crisp drumming to that simple guitar melody that hits just the right notes to curl my heart like toes during sex, i had been had by slacker interpol wannabes. but the difference is rather than merely sounding like brightly giving up (antics), it sounds like giving up brightly and longingly (turn on the bright lights).
24 "the first song."
band of horses.
everything all the time.
[sub pop].
"we've suffered enough."
very appropriately, this was the FIRST song that changed my life this year. 2006 had come along and i was starting to feel everything i had worked for at radio k was coming to an eventual close and due to 2 years of musical overexposure, i had basically disliked all music, longing for my high school days of death cab and d-plan where i was passionate and crazed. i remember it clearly - i was in my office at the station, exhausted beyond belief from grad school and working mundane music director tasks. i put in another random cd, seeing that the best music assistant i could have ever asked for (pushkar, now music director) had highly recommended this band of horses cd. as my ass hit my chair from doneness-with-life and this song's sprawling sparkling chords started a sudden and steady beat, i felt comfortable. when the chords started building and the joan of arc guitar line accompanied a six parts seven lapsteel to an epiphany of a chorus, i literally FELT resurgence in my body. music is good. music is there. music in me.
23 "nefi + girly." asobi seksu.
citrus.
[friendly fire].
"awaiting an audience /we're waiting on ornaments."*
this song was probably going to be more like 30-something or 40-something on the list. then i played it for my great friend pat while visiting him in chicago. one of my favorite things about my great friend pat is how he reacts to and falls in love with music. ever since i've known him, pat and i and his car have had many interactions with both awesome and terrible music. whether it was in his geo metro listening to the self-titled verve pipe album trying to make it through "kiss me idle" without pressing "next track" or playing mum at full blast and laughing joyously when the harmonium kicks in, listening to music with pat in the car is the BEST. and when i played him this song thinking it was a surefire way to win pat's heart (ridiculous drumming, spacey guitars, and a cute-as-all-get-out female singer) and his eyes widened and he slapped his forehead when the hi-hat was tickled faster than a cheetah, i said, "thank you asobi seksu." *i don't care if this is actually what they're singing or not. it's what i hear.
22 "what's the altitude (feat. hymnal)."
cut chemist.
the audience's listening.
[warner bros.].
"she gave me head / phones / said, 'have you heard this sound?'"
whoooaaaa that's pretty high on the countdown for a hip-hop song on a list compiled by a suburban white kid who felt nervous buying "license to ill" on cassette. this is one more reason why hip-hop by djs FEATURING rappers is so much better than a single rapper's attempt at overshadowing mediocre dj work with mediocre lyrics. especially when it's some guy named hymnal who's a brilliant cross between mf doom and del tha funky homosapien, AND actually has something to say while being goofy and fun at the same time. let's not forget the demented acoustic guitar lick and cowbell that will become an automatic reprise throughout your day if you listen to this song even just once. the dirty fake-vinyl crackle and old-school "YEAH!" in the background are just two more reasons why this is, to date, my favorite hip-hop song ever. obviously not too big of a deal, since it's still just #22, but it's one more step toward me wanting to listen to and absorb more and more hip-hop in the future.
21 "it fit when i was a kid." liars.
drum's not dead.
[mute].
"i aim my eyebrow into a question."
when the singer with the lowest unaltered voice in the history of avant-rock (and probably rock music in general) "sings" the aforementioned silly yet admittedly creepy lyric, the pause that precedes it always scares the CRAP out of me. i've never heard a song that has made me feel so tense and scared AND was pleasurable to listen to at the same time. the methodic and barbaric percussion and low-end in this song do something to one's listening experience that film music does a subconscious level when you're engrossed in the cinema experience, but this song DEMANDS your attention. it will slit your throat and drink your blood if you ignore it. and if you think it's over before the doom organ slinks on out of nowhere, then your life will be over before you know it. the looming baritone singer will forget about scaring you and hypnotize you with his thom yorke falsetto until you submit to his lulling, swooning, transfixing death tune. BEWARE!
qualler might show up any second with his top 25 songs of 2006 so keep on the look out if you're sick of reading my pathetic diary entries!!! oh and of course, #s 20-16 are on deck.
¶ posted by chris at 4:06 PM
