This will probably be my only blog entry for a week or so because i have to go to Reading on Monday for my apprenticeship...
I've spent most of this week playing Lost Odyssey, i'm 22 hours into it and i'm enjoying it but it's begining to drag a little bit, there is just too much fmv and not enough action... I will persevere though.
Out of boredom i've decided to write about the next five songs that randomly play on my mp3 player (no matter how strange they may be) and jot down my thoughts of them for as long as the song lasts...
1, Lucky Seven By The Skatelites
: This song is from a compilation called Trojan Mod Reggae (which is a brilliant boxset that i would recommend to anyone) that is filled with old ska and reggae that make me wish i was old enough to have been around when they originally came out. Listening to this song make me want to wear a hat and dance around a bit. If you're into your ska-punk that made a come back x amount of years ago (reel big fish, capdown et al) then i'd suggest getting this box set, or at least downloading this song, t'is great.
2, Gone by M83: French post-rock with a healthy dose of electronica in it. I'm a massive fan of Mogwai and whilst M83 don't dip into the heavy guitar noise as much as them i still think that they are brilliant. This song builds up slowly and them begins to whirl around with a blend of guitar, synths and drum, that can only be described as beautiful noise. I can imagine this music being used in a huge Sci-Fi epic of a game and in my head this would be playing at the closing credits of Dead Space... It's probably not the best song by M83 because i don't think it ends strongly, it really could have done with a huge crecendo.
3, I'm a song by ooioo: I have no idea how to pronounce the name of this band. The only way that i could describe the sound of this song would be that it would quite easily slot into 'We love Katamari'. Sometimes i like to listen to a band that depress the hell out of me, the kind of band that are quite happy to deal with dark, dark imagery and excel in introspective reflection and then sometimes i like to listen to a band that sound like Rick Wakeman on industrial grade acid. I'd say that these guys fall into the latter category.
4, Last Day of The miner's strike by Pulp. Jarvis Cocker is a genius. I find it upsetting that when most people think of britpop they think of Blur and Oasis when Pulp were by far the greatest thing about the decade. Pulp managed to go unnoticed for about 15 years, releasing some iffy records and some works of genius. The John Peel Sessions are incredible and is a good way of gauging how much they developed and perfected their Northern critique on modern life. This song is great, it spans across a number of years and proclaims that 'the north is rising', which as a northerner i can profess is true. I really like the sadness and bitterness in "87 socialism gave way to socialising", the idea that everyone became more interested in themselves instead of uniting together to make things better. The way that Jarvis screams 'Get it on' by the end of the song is like a really vacant rallying cry that after everything that has happened doesn't mean too much. Jarvis Cocker is a Genius.
5, Tom Waits rip off by sweet baboo
This song sounds like it was recorded in a bath, but in a good way. This is an honest, open song that seems irreverant at first singing about B-movie heroes "Bruce Campbell was a man, with a chainsaw for a hand and he killed the undead but was bad and i wish that was me" then Sweet Baboo (babs to his mates) begins to plead with God to not let him die because he is 'The new phil spector', i love his self deprecating lyrics; are humourous and leftfield that manage to still sound right for the lo-fi gospel sound of the song.
Like any good cd, here is a....
Bonus Track...That's where it's at by Sam Cooke: I've been playing this song a lot lately when my girlfriend is around because i'm determined to have this song played at our wedding (we're not getting married yet or anything, i haven't even proposed, but i love her and if i am going to marry her, this will be the song that we will dance to). Sam Cooke was incredible, his voice is beautiful and soulful and the production of his songs are perfect. There is no better sound than old soul from the motown and stax days, if pop music sounded like this today i think that people would be happier and respect each other more (idealistic you may say, but in 40 years time and we look back at our '****c' pop songs we will have Gareth Gates, Westlife and Robbie Williams, who would you rather dance to, them? or Marvin Gaye, The Temptations and Sam Cooke?), and if people were still full of hate and anger after listening to those songs at least we can then dismiss them as being criminally insane.