Music

Play me a song, you’re the piano man

28 Comments


(Concert Poster for The Action Design)

While over visiting Dark Orpheus I saw this meme and decided, as much time as I spend listening to music and watching music videos in my down time, I had to participate.

The Rules:

* List seven songs you are into right now.
* No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring/summer.
* Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs.

What intrigued me was the “songs you are into right now“ aspect as well as the “shaping your spring/summer”.

I am certainly a child of the MTV Generation (as the old saw goes, back when there used to be music on MTV) and I have always been a fan of music videos. Further solidifying my adoration for visual music was the fact that I grew up without cable (the horror!!!) and so watching MTV, and later VH1, was a special treat that happened at other peoples’ houses and, even later in my college years, when Mary and I would babysit for the “rich folks”.

So…I’m listing my songs but also including the videos in case you want to watch them/listen to them. I decided to be 100% honest with this one, no cheating and adding more than 7 songs–that was difficult. I ended up picking 7 songs that I truly have listened to/watched a lot over the summer and/or have been in my head a bunch. Here’s a list with no pretension, just songs that are caught hold of me. Hope you enjoy…and would love to see you participate as well, either on your own site or in the comments here.

As simplistic as it may sound, the summer heat always makes me think of Dune. It is the one time during the year that I can relate way too closely to Arrakis! And of course Dune makes me think of Sting which inevitably has meant that I have had this song in my head off and on all summer. Which is okay because I really love it. (I think that Lili Haydn is the violinist in the later part of the video…which makes it extra cool in my book).

Sting: Desert Rose

I just stumbled across this band watching videos and fell hard for this song. Its driving beat and simple, kinetic video are very fun to crank up on a warm summer day.

The Action Design: Connect/Disconnect

I like Coldplay, it is as simple as that. I jumped on the Coldplay bandwagon late in the game and so haven’t gotten to the point where I have seen or heard too much of them. This latest song of theirs is so catchy that I honestly have woke up singing it almost every day for the last week. Funky but fun video. (I’ve listened to all of the new album and really like it!)

Coldplay: Viva la Vida

Another favorite band is The Killers. Their hits have all been just a little different from the last one while retaining a signature sound. And their videos are all fantastic. This one is a particular favorite because of the bizarre mixed up story (if you watch you can see various people holding up numbered placards, which give a clue as to the order the video really should be in). I don’t know if the video has anything to do with the song but its nod to the cult classic film Faster Pussycats, Kill, Kill seems obvious.

There is a little better version of the video here if you’d rather watch it on You Tube.

The Killers: All These Things That I’ve Done

Though not as upbeat as many of the other songs in this list, I cannot help but include Missy Higgins. She is a musician that I read about in a copy of Entertainment Weekly (thanks for the loan, Jeff) and was immediately drawn to her. Missy’s voice is outstanding. I have not heard a song of hers that I didn’t like. I include this one as it is the first song of hers that I listened to.

Missy Higgins: Where I Stood

This is another song/band I found when trolling through lists of videos. I don’t know if this has ever happened to you–you’ve heard a song live and liked it so much that the studio version isn’t as enjoyable to you as the live version? That is certainly the case with this song. I do like the studio version, but I am very partial to this live version.

Shout Out Louds: Tonight I Have to Leave it

This last song is another driving beat song that defines summer for me and the video is an absolute blast. The guy’s initial reactions, dancing slightly to the beat of the music, reminds me of what I believe we all feel when we hear a catchy song. Coupled with the interesting dance moves as the crowd tries to keep him separated from the mystery girl, it is pure entertainment. I just love it. Reminds me of seeing Chicago on Broadway. I particularly like the scene when the girl is dancing by herself and people are emerging from behind her…a very cool effect. Enjoy!

Finger Eleven: Paralyzer

Thanks Dark Orpheus, that was a fun meme!

Again, feel free to list your own songs in the comments or post your own lists or whatever. I love talking music and finding both new and old favorites.

Links to other people’s lists:

1. Stormfilled (with videos)
2. Dark Orpheus
3. Susan
4. Daphne
5. Ken

28 thoughts on “Play me a song, you’re the piano man”

  1. Great post, Carl. I loved watching the videos. A few were already favourites of mine….Desert Rose is on my Top-10-of-All-Time list, and I hadn’t watched the video in AGES. The Paralyzer video is so cool, isn’t it?? I’ve recently discovered a new artist… Amy McDonald from Glasgow. I think you might like her too…. Here’s a link to her video for “This is the Life”…. Her album has only just been released in the States. Enjoy!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6MRYLWJb1o

  2. Great picks, Carl! You have a knack for finding songs and artists that I end up adding to my playlist.

  3. It’s fun isn’t it? It’s a great way to exchange music bands we enjoy. 🙂

    Thanks for the Finger Eleven video.

    Love The Killers.

  4. Dark O: It is a really fun way to exchange music. The only difficulty is limiting it to 7 songs, although it is a great number to not be overwhelming. I’m so glad you did it as it has been fun to do a music post, it had been awhile.

    Mary: thanks sweetie. I’m glad we are a household that loves to have music playing. I’d hate to be the only one.

    CdnReader: Thank you so much so the Amy McDonald link…love that song and can see that she will be another added to my frequently played list. Great!

    I don’t think I had ever watched the Desert Rose video until a few months ago. I had that song and Now We Are Free from the Gladiator soundtrack in my head and decided to pop on You Tube and watch videos of both so that I could listen to them. I really like the video.

    And now that I’ve mentioned it, I have to include:

  5. Great picks Carl,

    Desert Rose is one of my all time favorites. I also happen to be listening a lot to those Coldplay and Fingers Eleven tracks. 3 out of 7 isn’t bad – which got me thinking, you might really like F.E.A.R. by Ian Brown. Check it out. I’m listening to it over and over.

    Stuart

  6. Have you heard Fleet Foxes by the way? They way they harmonizes their voices, it makes their music almost ethereal. Here’s the video of their performance on Letterman:

  9. Stuart: I do like it, thanks, I’ll embed it here for everyone. I love how he uses the letters of F.E.A.R. as words of the song. Fun video.

    And here is Dark O’s, also very cool. They sound great, thanks Dark Orpheus! Sorry the embedding wouldn’t work for you…not sure why that is, may be a security thing with my server.

  10. Thanks for embedding the video, Carl.

    And apologies for unintentionally spamming your blog with the link. Oops:)

    I’m reading the biography for the Pixies right now,(“Fool the World”), so here’s a link to a 1988 video of “Where is My Mind”. In case it sounds familiar, the song was featured on the “Fight Club” movie soundtrack:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGXdXcpNsv4

    And the video for another Pixies fav of mine, “Gigantic” – which features bassist Kim Deal on lead vocals:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK0CJqMK6f0
    Some people think “Gigantic” is really Black Francis singing about his penis. 😉

  11. How hilarious! I only recently listened to the Pixies after Swell Season talked about them in the concert I went to. Good stuff. I’ll definitely check both of these out.

    No worries, spamming from blog friends is perfectly welcome! 🙂

  12. Pingback: What’s on the Turntable… « The Between-Place

  13. Speaking of Amy MacDonald, here is a wonderful interview with her. I adore the accent…and I hope that doesn’t make me sound like I think the Irish, or the Scottish, or the English, or the French, etc are quaint or anything. I just mean that sincerely. I absolutely love accents…people’s language can be so rich and fascinating. I could listen to her talk all day:

  14. Amy MacDonald is only 19? She seems like just a nice young lady.

    I agree with you on her accent.

    We all speak with an accent actually. It’s just the particularity of geography and language. But sometimes when we hear someone from a different cullture speak, it reminds us of how differences can be a beautiful thing. Uniformity can be so dull.

    And an unusual accent forces me to pay attention to what is said – which is always a good thing.

  15. I love Amy MacDonald too! I have played her album to death. I think Poison Prince is my favourite song on the album, I love the background doo doo doos (see how musical I am?!) which reminds me of A Series of Unfortunate Events.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBzvcYD0x1M

    I’m really enjoying listening to everyone’s favourites, thanks!

  16. What a great idea for a meme!
    Here’s the seven most-played songs from my playlist for the past seven weeks:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5LHxvDyRHo
    The Greencards – Time

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtlO0RXktlo
    She and Him – Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3IPQmAtO0w
    The Replacements – Alex Chilton

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-Pm5NC3OZI
    The Gaslight Anthem – The ’59 Sound

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSNb9qVI5Nk
    Star Anna – if wishes were horses

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATMwzAseujM
    Stricken City – Tak o Tak

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEzKBUsyGYg
    Blood Red Shoes – Boring by the Sea

    …Amy MacDonald was number eight…

  17. Thanks Ken! I look forward to listening to all of these. I was expecting you to get around to this one eventually and was depending on you for recommendations. Glad to see you made it!

  18. Hi Carl,
    Great post and great blog. I recently discovered your blog, and I really enjoy it’s mix of topics. I write and record songs based on the sci-fi and fantasy novels that I read. My most recent song is based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I loved your review of the book from a few months ago. I put a link to that review on my most recent post that includes the song. I thought that you might enjoy it. (Sorry if this is a bit spammy, I would have preferred to e-mail you, but I couldn’t find it listed anywhere.)

    Thanks

  19. Alright Ken, I’ve listened to/watched your selections. Great stuff.

    Greencards immediately added to the playlist. Love that song. Has a nice thread of melancholy threaded through it that feels like an ‘end of summer’ song. I also loved the roller skating…brings up so many memories as that was ‘the thing to do’ when I was a kid. Birthday parties, school parties, etc…it all revolved around the roller rink.

    She and Him: ookie-dokie, that was bizarre. But with Zooey Deschanel I cannot help but say ‘yes!’. The video is perfect for the upcoming R.I.P. Challenge. I’d let Zooey cut my head off with an axe anytime! The music has a really timeless quality and I love her voice…more in the songs in Elf but it is really fun here as well.

    Replacements: has a great sound that reminds me of my 80’s teen years. Perfect toe-tapping, crank it up with the windows down while racing through the countryside music.

    Gaslight Anthem: Yes! Loved that! Loved the lyrics, the sound, the video, everything. Another immediate addition to the playlist.

    Star Anna: Great voice. This song sounds so familiar as does her name. I must have heard this before but don’t recall. Good choice.

    Stricken City: Fun! That girl looks so familiar, I think because she reminds me of Shannon Dougherty from her 90210 days.

    Blood Red Shoes: Great summer beat. Reminds me of a cross between what I like about the video for Connect/Disconnect and the Ting Tings video for Shut up and Let Me Go.

    You’ve certainly provided me with more fun bands to check out, thank you so much!!!

  20. That is fantastic John, not spammy at all. And what you do sounds incredibly intriguing. I’ll be by soon to check out your site!

  21. Just wanted to stop by and say thanks for visiting David’s Digital Art. Willow has a way of bringing people together.

  23. Great Susan, I’ll be checking out your list as well. And thanks. Actually all I do is copy the embed link on you tube and paste it in the body of my post. The new room came together nicely. Still more to do but it is functional and practical now. Glad I took Qugrainne’s inspiration and ran with it.

  24. What fun. I’m going to do this, I was just thinking about posting about these few songs I have been listening to over and over recently…

  25. I’ll make sure to check it out and post your link here when you’re done. I look forward to seeing your selections.

  26. Hey Carl,
    Even though I had recommended Ian Brown’s F.E.A.R., I had never actually seen the video until you posted it (just love the tune and his clever use of words). What’s equally bizarre about this track is that his video was shot in an area of Soho, London, that I used to work in, in fact, the market that he bicycles backward through was on the very street my office was on and I have/had walked through there many times. How coincidental.

  27. All right, seeing as how I have already suggested one, here’s my other six (I can’t speak for the videos in these clips, but I love the music).

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nn01AzOwDw
    One step too far. – Faithless featuring Dido

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ28SypAk80
    Who Am I? – Peace Orchestra

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_3XRx8EnuI
    Apologize – One Republic

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC4s2oASutg
    Somebody for someone – The Corrs

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VhxlE9Ipe8
    When in Rome – Nickel Creek

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8zM_9DFs5w
    Tower of Strength – The Mission

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