Hey music lovers,
This is my first ever podcast on here (and in life) and it is on none other than PRINCE and his 2004 album – Musicology. Hope you find your new music fix.
Wednesday Podcasts – #1: Prince, MusicologyCreepy TV: Theme Songs & Composers
Hemlock Grove. American Horror Story. Dexter. Sleepy Hollow. All great shows, all with awesome themes and title motion graphics. I’ve always loved dark themes when it comes to television and movies. The moods of the music moves throughout these types of shows and echo into the far-reaching, deep-seated psyches of its characters. Below is a list of songs worth adding to your writing playlist*.
Hemlock Grove (Netflix) – by Nathan Barr
Netflix has definitely stepped up with their content. The background images of Hemlock Grove‘s opening theme reminds me of the opening of the show House, but HG‘s are more sinister – a brain engulfed in bloody smoke; a disturbing diagram of a monster baby in a womb. Either way, it makes you wonder…what is this show about anyway? I won’t give it away (because that’s part of the mystery of the show), but let’s just say that baby isn’t human.
Want more of Nathan Barr? Here’s an awesome interview on this Emmy-nominated composer and his wonderful (and successful) relationship with FX shows like The Americans, True Blood, as well as other projects.
American Horror Story (FX) – by César Dávila-Irizarry and Charlie Clouser
Don’t block my blog, but I don’t – can’t – watch AHS. I can’t even get through the opening credits. I messes with me. But if I just use my ears instead of my eyes, I get a feel for what the show is like. It’s like watching Chainsaw Massacre, Saw, and War of the Worlds. There’s a steady beat to it. You hear a TV buzzing, crashing sounds, a couple of drops for the scare effect, fires burning, and an incessant “oooh-EE-errh”, three-beat sound. Each season’s theme seems to sound different, like they tweaked some things here and there, which I like. In the background of each opening, there’s a calm tempo playing.
Charlie Clouser, former Nine Inch Nails bandmate, had apparently been brought on board to compose music for the second season, but all homage goes to the “spontaneous magic” of the original track created by César Dávila-Irizarry. Dávila-Irizarry had composed the title song in 1998, long before AHS came to fruition. Clouser had to recreate the song by giving each sound its own track. Contrary to what I thought were the sounds featured in the song, there is “clattering metal hangers, dripping water and white noise” – all the small things that make AHS’s theme intriguing and unique. For more info on how the title sequence and music was created, click here.
Dexter (Showtime) – by Daniel Licht
In Dexter, the main character, by day, is a blood splatter expert for the Miami Police Department. However, by night, he is a serial killer who kills bad people who do bad things. His friends and family don’t know this, and eventually his philosophy wavers throughout the show as he becomes emotionally involved (for some reason, his sister always gets in the middle of things).
It is a great show with a great concept, and with it, you need a great opening. The opening however was a bit quirky and humorous for this post, so I included the end credits theme instead. What (arguably) gets at the true character development and feel of the show is this theme composed by Daniel Licht, entitled “Blood Theme”. It rolls into a luring piano, and then adds creeping, jagged echoes and what sounds like violins, zigzagging and rolling over each other quite sadly. The piano returns in a slurred kind of way, and then a rumbling beat and crashing waves of voices end as the eerie piano finishes it off. It’s creepy, but in a good way, telling the story of a man with a secret affliction that is, in some way, a form of sanity to him. It is his curse, but it is also his power.
Daniel Licht has a plethora of work on his website (as every composer should). Take a listen here.
Sleepy Hollow (Fox) – by Bryan Tyler and Robert Grant LyDecker
So, if you don’t know by now, Sleepy Hollow, the television show, is a revamped version of the original tale by Washington Irving and stars a really pissed off Headless Horseman looking for its too main characters (The Two Witnesses in the Bible’s book of Revelations) to kill them and have this evil beast named Moloch take over the world and bring about pain and suffering and so forth.
The best parts are heard in the actual show’s opening on primetime, but this version (above) is cooler because it’s longer and it builds. The exciting, suspenseful violins really work because there’s a mystery in the show around every corner, and the theme climaxes to a rather perilous sound. The town of Sleepy Hollow – and the world – are in trouble if Moloch reaches the world outside of Purgatory, and Lt. Abigail Mills and resurrected soldier Ichabod Crane must do everything in their power to stop him.
Brownie Points: Bryan Tyler‘s portfolio also includes music for major blockbusters such as: Avengers: Age of Ultron, the recent remake of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Fast Five. LyDecker has teamed up with Tyler for the TMNT remake, Iron Man 3, and Now You See Me, an impressive resume for a young composer. Both are Emmy- and BAFTA-nominated composers.
I love the music that goes into television shows because they are supposed to encompass the show and really bring home the underlying mood of its characters, the sets, the themes, and the major conflicts in the show. To the composers, I dedicate this post to you.
BONUS: There’s another folklore artist/composer I want you to know about. His name is Ben Michel. His song (below) resonated with me, especially for shows like American Horror Story: Freak Show because it’s entitled “Bread and Circuses Are Back”. It has a really creepy fizzling out of the violin at the end, and an unexpected moment of banjo that WORKS. Take a listen. His full album, Realtime, is available for free (or with tip) on Noisetrade.com.
*I’ll be posting a follow-up list for FILM SCORES with the kind of same themes.
I hope you found your new music fix.
Creepy TV: Theme Songs & Composers
Are you feeling good this week? Have you had the best day of your life (well, maybe not your life) – but a day better than the past couple of weeks?
Because dudes and gentlewomen, I have had that kind of day.
All this to say, have faith, and believe that your blessing(s) is right around the corner.
The Good Day Playlist/11.20.14
Feeling GoodGood Afternoon Charlie
Hey everyone,
Made this playlist because I recently watched Charlie’s Angels and I felt reminiscent. The soundtrack to that movie is still epic. It gets me going! Also, “Smack My Bitch Up”, although I am offended by the title (who cares?) I will forever love it. So pipe down inner feminist. This song also reminds me of the snowboarding video game SSX Tricky. I love that soundtrack too. Check it out here if you want a walk down memory lane.
There’s also a mixture on here of pop sensations Hilary Duff, Ariana Grande, Jessie J, and hip hop artist Nicki Minaj. Loving their new songs – the trio idea was awesome for Bang Bang, but as for Hilary Duff’s new song – I’m a loyal fan of hers, and the song makes me happy, but it’s so…la-dee-dah. I’ll support it, but it’s forgettable.
Lastly, no child of mine will go into this world without these bands on here: The Eastern Sea, 30 Seconds to Mars, Duologue, and the Shins. Maroon 5 – I’m still on the fence with their new stuff because I think their first album was perfect, but their upbeat, 80s sounding techno/dance ballads (similar to Madness by Muse and Busy P’s Rainbow Man, which is on this list btw), have quite an appealing sound. Makes me wanna go make the world a better place. The Shins song does too – it was featured in the trailer for Zach Braff’s new movie Wish I Was Here. I love how the song starts off with my favorite (and only recognizable) part of the song I know! Haha. 🙂 Reminds me of The Beach Boys, the How I Met Your Mother theme song, and good times.
Enjoy the music, and keep pressin’ on fellow music brethren!
Life Has a Funny Way of Proving You Right/Wrong
Hey world,
I’m not going to do that much like I said I would. Right now I don’t have time for that (mostly because of my work at my internship and prepping for school and stuff.)
But there’s a bigger reason: I thought I was an artist that no one understood. I was wrapped up in everything I wasn’t. I believed I could be something I’m not. Sure, I’ve got some artistic ability, but not to live a life on it. I’m a writer. First and foremost, as with many others. How bout I appreciate art from afar, eh? 😉
So I’ll just stick to writing about music. Because I’m loving just who I am right now, and I don’t want to change that.
Thanks for listening, and thanks for coming back.
Here’s some of my favorite songs right now. Devour ’em, ya’ll.
Pharrell Williams – COME GET IT BAE
The Neighbourhood – HONEST
Janelle Monae – WITHOUT A FIGHT
The Pixies – WHERE IS MY MIND?
A New Way to See the World…
Hello fellow music lovers,
Previously, I have given you words and phrases to describe some of the best kept secrets in the alternative rock medium.
No more.
I’m gonna make it even better.
From now on, my posts won’t just be humdrum or innocent little mock-ups of what music does to our eardrums. That’s boring.
I’ve decided that I’m going to:
1) Write even more enthralling details behind why alternative artists splay my soul to pieces
2) Adjunctly, I will also relate the music I find to movies I feel go along with them (and vice versa), and YOU can comment, add on to the list of songs that go with the movie scene/trailer, down in the comments below.
3) Then, I will produce my own piece of artwork from listening to the music, and put it alongside the music, the movie scene.
4) This just might as well be a whatever-I-want website, where I can blend everything I can’t blend in reality. Ya dig? Poetry, art, music, film. Let it engulf me here.
Why do I do all of this? Are my creative genes more pertinent than normal? No. I just feel, at this part in my life, I’m not sure of what I’m capable of. It’s not that sad; I’m learning, and you can love the process or you can hate it. This is me loving it. Through my ups and downs, my triumphs and trials, I hope to always be able to express myself. Someway, somehow. Even if I’m not saying anything it all (that’s what American sign language is for! haha – love that language).
I also do this because people deserve to get all the inspiration they can get. There’s Pinterest, and then there’s me and my baby website.
Don’t give up on your dreams people. Nothing is ever temporary. And remember….”The magic never has to stop” (Disney World commerical reference). After this post, our powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.
Auf Wiedersehen meine Freunde, (translation)
Adiós mis amigos,
Later Alligators,
J. de Black
(Did I mention I was learning German? And that I love languages?)
Duologue and the Story of the Conflicted Character
Hey readers! How’s it going? Haven’t been on here in a bit. Sorry to leave you hanging. I’ve returned with the thought you might want more artists to discover. Also, shout out to all the commentators! I appreciate your comments a lot.
Now, down to business: Duologue.
They’re sound is close to Linkin Park, as they shift in between fizzes, pops, builds, melodic guitar picking, and some other mechanistic/mysterious sounds on their tracks. I like the fact that they experiment. Listening to Duologue is like witnessing a science project with a mad scientist and you’re the willing subject. Also, the lead singer, Tim Digby-Bell, sounds like Incubus’s Brandon Boyd, but his croons cross between Boyd, Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. (What can I say, I’m a sucker for those types of voices—they’re so muffled and yet so complimenting, they have the ability to sound drunken and sobering at the same time).
It’s controlled chaos when listening to this London-based band. I really enjoy writing to them as well: I can pen tense scenes that could be used for spies creeping around deserted corners or, if we’re talking movies, can be used to analyze Leonardo DiCaprio’s calculating, but conflicted character in Inception—the possibilities are endless.
Maybe it’s the echoes of the voices, or the lyrics that are on repeat and build and dance and create this whirlwind melody that makes you want to go running (Digby-Bell and bandmates). Maybe it’s the perfect violin that breathes into every song just as you breathe out (thank you violinist Seb Dilleyston). Maybe it’s the beats that resemble the song’s heartbeat (armed by beats programmer Toby Leeming). Or maybe it’s the piano chords that wash over the song (Digby-Bell). Bassist Ross Stone and guitarist Toby Lee own their riffs as well. No drummer? It works for them in the best of ways.
Ever since I found them on Noisetrade, I’ve had them on loop. Dark, dramatic tones exist within their songs, like Sinner and Push It, but no song is the same. The only thing that I am grateful to stay the same is Digby-Bell’s lip-curled tone. Give their songs a story in your head and see where it takes you.
If this band were a character, they’d be a conflicted one, trying to find the light in their inner darkness. When I listen, I root for this character and for them to find their way out of this crazy world that is created by the music. “How did I become so lost?” I don’t know, Tim, but I’m glad I’m lost along with you guys. Keep rockin’ out.
*Bonus Points: If it’s any consolation, check out they’re video for their song, Zeros. Why? Sleepy Hollow fans unite! Tom Mison makes a cameo! With short hair! Gotta love surprise cameos.
Sound: Absorbing, raw, alternative-pop, crooning, strum-heavy, on loop, emotional investment, conflicting characters, writing, hazy, electronica/dubstep/pop, dramatic
Top Songs: Cut And Run, Underworld, Gift Horse, Push It, Sinner (All of them!)
Experimental Songs to Go Along/More Crooners:
~AWOLNATION, “Sail”
~Atoms For Peace, “Amok”
~Radiohead, “Paranoid Android”, “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”, “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”, “15 Step”
~Lovedrug, “Happy Apple Poison”
Artists with Something To Say: Grace Petrie, Kimya Dawson, And Rory McLeod
I came across two artists and started thinking about one I already knew. I don’t know why, but I like artists that are different….that say what they mean and mean what they say. They spark something in me, and all three of these artists are great acoustic musicians and aren’t too mainstream. Under the radar and underestimated American artist Kimya Dawson writes much more than cute happy songs that are used in pregnant-adolescent teen movies. One of her alternative listenings include the dark, but beautiful song “Driving Driving Driving”.
I had already known Kimya Dawson’s style of music from the movie Juno (does the song “Tire Swing” ring a bell?), but I hadn’t met Grace Petrie or Rory McLeod. This morning, while checking my e-mails, I came across Grace Petrie. How did I go from checking e-mails, to searching this British social justice songbird? Well, it has to do with this e-mail I saw about this really cool writing festival in London going on soon called WriteIdea Festival (Nov. 15-17), which I plan on going to. It’s freaking free! :] Check it out –> http://writeideafestival.org/events/
On that website, I found that Grace Petrie will be performing at the WriteIdea Festival’s event called Festival Fringe, so I decided to look her up. At first glance, she’s got a short boyish haircut and an opinionated voice like Ellen Paige’s character Juno. She’s down to earth and has things to say about the government system in Britain, Margaret Thatcher (British Prime MInister 1979-90), and even has a song called “Farewell to Welfare”. Clever, no?
She’s got angst and fire, and that’s what I like about her sound. She uses her voice as a tool to get across the way she sees the world, and isn’t afraid to say so. If you’re into political musicians and acoustic sounds with meaning that are pleasing to the ear, Grace Petrie’s your girl. She kills her performances, and I’m really looking forward to seeing her perform that November weekend.
After seeing Petrie’s song, I clicked on the suggested videos list on the side and saw fellow UK artist Rory McLeod’s video for his song, “Farewell Welfare”. It’s definitely not the same song, but has just as much impact, if not more. His skill is stellar, something I’ve never seen before, and it rocked my socks off. He’s been around for a while, but I’m impressed with his style and talent all the more.
Consequently, I’m blaming my sudden interest in political artists on my British politics class. We’ve been discussing the Liberals vs. the Labour vs. the Conservatives (or the Tories, as they call them), and it’s really cool. Even though I don’t know everything about the Brits and their history, I like finding connections with what I’m learning and the hobbies I have. It helps me to be a well-rounded person, and makes life a bit more interesting. :]
Peter Bjorn and John/”Start to Melt”
What can I say about this unconventional three-man band? Peter Bjorn and John (bandmates Peter, Bjorn, and John) create interesting images with their sound…from pounding piano and mood-mimicking bass hooks to static-y echo vocals you wish you could recreate. Their lyrics blend blissfully behind it all and submerge you into a world that is synced to the happy endings of indie movies. But of course that happens. They’re an indie band.
If you haven’t heard of them, they’re this Swedish indie pop band that blew up in 2006/2007 with their song “Young Folks” off their Writer’s Block album (vocals accompanied by Victoria Bergsman). However, this is not their first debut. They actually formed in 1999, and their music has been featured on movies like 21 (“You got me up against the wall” –> their “Up Against the Wall” song), and TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Melrose Place, Parenthood, and Gossip Girl. They’ve been around for awhile to say the least, and their latest head-bobbing hit “Lies” (off their 2011 album Gimme Some) is quite fetching (<–Mean Girls reference – couldn’t resist).
I personally started listening when I heard “Young Folks”, but I went deeper into Writer’s Block, bought the CD, and secured one of my favorites to be “Start to Melt”. It’s a mirage of sounds that make you want to melt, you’re so happy. It sure puts a smile on my face when I listen to it. I hope it puts one on yours. (The following is a mix between “Start to Melt” and “Up Against the Wall”).
Top Musical Influences: The obvious: John Lennon, John Cage, Bob Dylan, R.E.M., Sonic Youth; the not-so-obvious: Jay-Z, AC/DC, Prince, ABBA, the O’Jays, “girlfriends, politics, art, dogs….”
Top Songs: Young Folks, Second Chance, It Don’t Move Me, Amsterdam
Sound: nostalgic, pop-indie, feel-good, quirky
Let’s Talk About Canon Blue
Canon Blue is a pleasant surprise. This seemingly band-sounding orchestra is actually a solo act by the name of Daniel James. He collaborates with other musicians to produce an tender, solid piece of art. “Rumspringa”, his latest masterpiece, is unreal, reminding me of a movie soundtrack of traveling and discovery and just breathing in life as it comes to the lungs. It’s just the right amount of simple, and has dashes of genius melodies to catch yourself tapping your foot to. I stumbled upon him when I was on Noisetrade ( Noisetrade ), practically on the first page of their website, along with other featured artists.
He’s American, resting his home base in Nashville (like Civil Twilight, I might add), and has toured with Danish indie-rockers Efterklang, and worked on his “Rumspringa” album in their Copenhagen studio. Needless to say, he’s got foreign friends who have a passion for what he does.
Music is the great bond we all have to share. Canon Blue’s music can be purchased on Amazon and Itunes, but NoiseTrade also offers it free with the option of giving a suggested tip as small as $6. Not bad, right? Oh, don’t be stingy. I donated. And I couldn’t feel any happier: my money was well spent.
Top Musical Influences: Boards of Canada, Nick Drake, Serge Gainsbourg, Autechre
Top Songs: Bows and Arrows, Lulls, A Native, Rumspringa, Indian Summer
Sound: Alternative-Classical mix, Pop, Orchestral, Dramatic
*Bonus Tip: If you try to Google the album “Rumspringa”, put Canon Blue in with your search. There’s a band out there called that, and that isn’t him at all. Happy Listening! 🙂