Return of Disco and Carbon Copy

Hey all, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been a little more focused on working/studying. On top of that, my ipod got perma-corrupted, so I haven't really been actively seeking new music; I can now only listen to music when I have access to my computer. I guess I have a lot more time than I think I do, but give me a break. I don't have that many devoted followers.....yet. This playlist features electronic music. For all the haters, I had to do it some time. For the fans, I hope you like it.

I'm not going to describe the songs to you; I think you should just listen to all of them. They're good, I promise. Also, I've set it up as a youtube playlist, so you can just hit up that link if you don't know where to listen. Leave a comment and let me know what songs you like!

http://www.medi/afire.com/?86wfvqc1ihkst02

Youtube Playlist:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B4F2E0AC349D2274

*the video for Black Blizzard/Red Umbrella was the best quality I could find

1. Disco Infiltrator - LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem

2. Out at the Pictures - Hot Chip - Made in the Dark

3. Pap Smear - Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (2010)

4. Out There on the Ice - Cut/Copy - In Ghost Colours

5. Black Blizzard/Red Umbrella - The Octopus Project - Hello, Avalanche

6. Driving This Road Until Death Sets You Free - Zombie Zombie - A Land for Renegades

7. Silvia - Miike Snow - Miike Snow

8. Don't Turn the Lights On - Chromeo - Business Casual

9. Sabali - Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali

10. Shadows - Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia

11. Walking on a Dream - Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream

You cannot stop the metal

It's been a while since my last post. I recently moved into a new apartment and the lack of

internet access has severely limited my useless web-surfing. I guess it's for the better, and I

doubt anyone really missed my musical musings. Anyway, I realized that I listen to a lot of

heavy music and not a lot of other people do. So this week's episode is a barrage of heavy

rock. Trust me on this one.

First up is the opener from Queens of the Stone Age's Era Vulgaris, their most recent album.

Next is An Ode to No One by an old favorite of mine, The Smashing Pumpkins. That was

actually the first album I ever bought on my own accord, and to this day I'm still proud of

that fact. Next track is Sans Cosm by Sparta, whom I always thought were inferior to the

other half of the disbanded At the Drive in (The Mars Volta), and as of recently I have been

rescinding that opinion. After that is a Tool song, albeit one that does not really represent

them too well. Either way, it's an excellent song. Then there's a track by the holy grail of

metal bands, Mastodon. Not enough can be said about Mastodon, so I won't even begin to

describe how talented they are. The song Megalodon is followed by Only by Nine Inch Nails

who, in my opinion, bear a strange resemblance to LCD Soundsystem, only much darker.

You be the judge. I threw in a Les Claypool song because I felt it fit somehow, even though it

isn't too heavy, more so dark. Blackest Eyes by Porcupine Tree is a great psychedelic metal

song; if you like progressive rock or anything quoteunquote trippy, you'll like that song. The

last song is The Outsider by A Perfect Circle, which is Tool frontman Maynard James

Keenan's short-lived side project. I thought it was a nice way to end the heavy playlist.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.medi/afire.com/?ukd057kxaa4q1xx

Turning on the Screw - Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris

An Ode to No One - The Smashing Pumpkins - Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness

Sans Cosm - Sparta - Wiretap Scars

Intension - Tool - 10,000 Days

Megalodon - Mastodon - Leviathan

Only - Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth

Up on the Roof - Les Claypool - Purple Onion

Blackest Eyes - Porcupine Tree - In Absentia

The Outsider - A Perfect Circle - The Thirteenth Step

Copland's Playlist for the Common Man

I spent the past week in our nation's capital, where my musical endeavors were a

little bit different that I would have expected. I scored a ton of '70s vinyl from a

friend, and I'll try to rip them and post them in a coming playlist asap.

Some of the songs in this playlist are those that got stuck in my head for

extended periods of time while driving to D.C., others were songs that I felt fit in

well. I originally intended to make a mix of songs with repeated choral shouts at

the end (as in Song of the Sad Assassin and Testament to Youth in Verse), but I

figured too many songs like that would be a little distracting.

First off, a great track from The Division Bell by post-Roger Waters Pink Floyd.

Followed by a song by a recent favorite of mine, Volcanoes by the Montreal-based

Islands. Then it's a poetic and emotional ode to the desolate life, Song of the Sad

Assassin by WHY?, who put on a great show when I saw them last month at

pitchfork music festival. After seeing The New Pornographers in Madison last week,

I've been listening to a lot of them, and felt T.t.Y.i.V. needed to be on my next

playlist. Then its an often looked-over title track from the even more looked-over

album Congratulations by MGMT. There's a catchy track by the Black Keys, an even

catchier track by Jeremy Messersmith, and one of my favorites from the new Arcade

Fire album, The Suburbs. Finally, the playlist ends with a fairly old song by the

world's happiest band, The Polyphonic Spree.

http://www.medi/afire.com/?d3jm1t02v0ce0y4

Poles Apart - Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Volcanoes - Islands - Return to the Sea

Song of the Sad Assassin - WHY? - Alopecia

Testament to Youth in Verse - The New Pornographers - Electric Version

Congratulations - MGMT - Congratulations

Tighten Up - The Black Keys - Brothers

Dillinger Eyes - Jeremy Messersmith - The Reluctant Graveyard

Modern Man - Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

The Championship - The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army

Old School

So I've been on an orchestral music binge lately. I think I need to share some stuff

with people before this fades. This week's entry is a bit soon after the last one, but

I guess you can never listen to too much music. So pack a bowl and put on your

headphones, because the next hour is going to school you on your grandparents

shit.

Starting off is the 2nd movement from Shostakovich's 5th. I've been loving this one

lately, even so much as to learn it on guitar (channeling my creativity somehow I

guess?). Track two is Mars from Holst's The Planets. It's pretty much orchestral

heavy metal- 5/4 timing, heavy riffs, overall darkness. Next comes a familiar piece

by Rossini; I think if you've ever seen Looney Tunes you'll like that track. A bit of

Mozart is always nice for catchy themes too. Debussy's Prelude... is a phenomenal

symphonic poem that tells the story of (you guessed it) the afternoon of a faun. I

threw in some Beethoven because he's objectively the best composer ever, and his

5th symphony is one of the most significant symphonies in history (dun dun dun

duuuuuuuuuun). Finally, The Moldau by Smetana, which is another tone poem that

describes a river.

http://www.medi/afire.com/?y9i0128rhk6hkkz

1. Symphony #5 in D minor, Movement 2 - Dmitri Shostakovich

2. Mars, The Bringer of War - Gustav Holst - The Planets

3. The Barber of Seville - Gioachino Rossini - Il Barbiere di Siviglia

4. Symphony #40 in G minor, Movement 4 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

5. Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun - Claude Debussy

- Prelude a L'apres-Midi D'un Faune

6. Symphony #5 in C Minor, Movement 4 - Ludwig Van Beethoven

7. The Moldau - Bedrich Smetana - Ma Vlast (2nd movement-The Moldau)

For those interested, here's some more info on Beethoven's 5th:

You've no doubt heard the opening motive from Beethoven's 5th symphony. It's so

deeply rooted in society that even toddlers recognize it. Beethoven premiered it in

Vienna in 1808 to a packed house. At this point, people recognized Beethoven as

both a Classical and Romantic composer*. When this piece premiered, it blew

everyone's minds. The music was exceptional, but it was the form that Ludwig Van

used to change history. Normally, symphonies are 4 movements long with pauses

in between each. The first and last are typically faster, the second slower, and the

third a scherzo (or a waltz). L.V.B. said "nah fuck that" and decided break the

standard form and segue from the third movement to the fourth. At this point,

people were already crying and orgasming because of how great it was.

The fourth movement kicks in with a regal brass theme that jump-starts the finale

of the 5th symphony. I strongly recommend listening to the whole symphony if

you can get your hands on it. See if you can hear the (dun dun dun duuuuun)

motive throughout, because it's totally present in just about every section of the

symphony.

*Brief rundown of the eras of orchestral music:

First you have Gregorian which is basically hymnal/church music, but it's all a

capella and very somber. It was essentially all a bunch of monks chanting shit that

sounded really cool. Next came the Baroque period, which was spearheaded by

guys like Johann Sebastian Bach. Baroque is really ornamental music, very

decorated and busy. Next came the Classical period, to which Mozart belonged.

The music from this period is very catchy, very memorable and easy to listen to.

For example, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT7_Y1pIBb4 ). Following the Classical era

was the Romantic Period. This period is characterized by complex, emotional

music that was not necessarily as easily memorable. It was a period characterized

by expression and devoted to conjuring up images that fit the music (imagine

listening to a Looney Tunes episode and trying to picture in your head what was

happening). Beethoven was such a badass because he practically started the

Romantic period by bridging the Classical period into more expressive areas.

After that came impressionism (like the Debussy piece above), expressionism

(crazy german music akin to Dalí paintings), and even minimalism (early techno),

jazz, and Brokencyde http://www.myspace.com/brokencyde

Hope you enjoyed that :D

The Brown Mix

Hey everybody. First entry. New playlist whenever I feel like putting one up. Not gonna preach or anything, but in my opinion all the music I will post is good. Playlists will be about an hour long, old stuff/new stuff/weird stuff/colorful stuff. This first playlist is the Brown mix, because it's totally brown. And no brown mix would be complete without Ween. Leave comments if you like any of the songs!

http://www.medi/afire.com/?chljxavjcl4j803

Title - Artist - Album

1. For Real - Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy

2. The Thanks I Get - Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

3. Solid Ground - Maps & Atlases - Perch Patchwork

4. Fearless - Pink Floyd - Meddle

5. Pounding - Doves - The Last Broadcast

6. Ancient Walls of Flowers - Marcy Playground - Marcy Playground

7. Mrs. Cold - Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence

8. Airplanes - Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

9. Lion - Peter Wolf Crier - Inter-Be

10. Oscar Wilde - Company of Thieves - Ordinary Riches

11. God? - The Dodos - Visiter

12. Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain - Ween - 12 Golden Country Greats

13. Suburban Beverage - Real Estate - Real Estate