Song of the Week #15

Lindsey Stirling - Crystallize

So it's been a while since I've spammed you with a song so here's another one by Lindsey Stirling!

TWIST THE KNIFE

Just discovered these guys. I guess I'm way behind the times.

Song of the Week #14

David Guetta - Titanium ft Sia

I've been pretty busy and sick this week and really couldn't be arsed to blog much. Hence another music vid for you all to enjoy! I love this song and can't believe I've only just discovered it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHNNY...

...you cool motherfucker, you.

(And one for fun.)

THE DOOR OPENS

Finally got around to see The Woman in Black. A nice, old-fashioned Gothic ghost story. It was refreshing to see a horror film for adults.

Marco Beltrami's film score work is pretty hit and miss with me, but I rather liked his stuff for TWIB.

My favorite track:

Song of the Week #13

Lindsey Stirling - Shadows

Yet another violin piece but frankly, I don't care. It's too cool not to share!

Song of the Week #12

Mulan - I'll Make A Man Out Of You

So if you read my previous post then you'll know that I was in a bit of a down and out mood yesterday. This song is therefore thanks to Fang because he said to get out of my depressive mood soon as my happy posts are more fun and so I'm posting this because it is my go to "happy song"

I just adore it. 

Song of the Week #11

Escaflowne - Memories of Fanelia

So I recently mentioned that I finished rewatching the anime Escaflowne. It was a childhood favourite of mine and still is to this day. This song is one of my favourites from the soundtrack. It's absolutely beautiful and just goes to show how amazing the violin is...

INTO THE FRAY

I have seen The Grey twice now and it's absolutely fantastic. A movie sold as Taken with Wolves is actually a very humbling tale of a group of men struggling to survive against the elements, animalkind, and each other. Do not be fooled. The movie has brains and heart as well as balls.

The soundtrack is great, too. My favorite track, Alpha, is below:

Song of the Week #10

Lindsey Stirling - Electric Daisy Violin

Learning to play the violin is one of my all time Life Ambitions. And because of this, I'm extremely jealous of this young artist. I seriously want to be her...

THE THIRD TWIN

 
I won't be bringing this up terribly often, but I was a huge fan of 2010's TRON: Legacy. I loved everything about it, including the amazing visuals and the awesome soundtrack by Daft Punk. Yes, I recognize the film's story itself is weak. I really don't care. I will, however, freely admit that, had I not fallen so deeply in love with the film's score prior to my having seen the film, my reaction to the film might have been lukewarm at best. But that's not important. Bottom line: I love it now.

When the soundtrack was released, an interesting—almost conspiratorial—rumor began circulating; that there was something not on-the-level with the final product of the film's score. Unfounded, unconfirmed, and even downright denied rumors that Disney were unhappy with the famed duo's first musical submission, which was more along the lines of their signature style of crunchy beats and inordinate melodies, exploded across blogs and forums. Allegedly, Disney, expecting something more traditional and orchestral, tossed the music into the trash and told the French robots to start from scratch. (I personally don't believe any of this to be true—any musician who makes the rare foray into film composition ultimately creates something completely unlike anything they previously created under their more famous monikers: ie, Jonny Greenwood for There Will Be Blood; Damon Albarn for Ravenous; John Cale for American Psycho.)

A collection of music silently appeared on the Internets, full of crunchy beats and inordinate melodies, as well as looped vocals and found audio. The music was credited to The Third Twin, a band no one had heard of up to that point. And then the conspiracy became widely known: The Third Twin was actually Daft Punk, who were decidedly unhappy with Disney's treatment of their original compositions for TRON: Legacy, and so were leaking the music they had created. The Third Twin was used as their alias so as to avoid legal ramifications from such an act. This, of course, has been vehemently denied by Disney, as well as by Daft Punk and their representatives. The following statement was actually released after a Spanish newspaper called El Periódico Mediterráneo reported the French duo were scheduled to perform at the Arenal Sound Festival as their new alter ego The Third Twin:

"It has been brought to the attention of Daft Punk's management that the promoters for the Arenal Sound Festival in Spain have recently issued a press release in which they claim that a band called The Third Twin is 'directly connected' to Daft Punk. This is completely untrue. Recent press reports are based on rumors instead of facts. Daft Punk is in no way associated with The Third Twin and the promoters for the Arenal Sound Festival are promoting the show under false pretenses."

Further:

"We never threw out any of their material, ever," says Mitchell Leib, [President of Music and Soundtracks for Walt Disney Pictures and Disney Music Group].  "I want to dispel any of the rumors about that material by that alias group being any derivative of our TRON music, because it's not at all. There's nothing about that music that has anything to do with TRON or any of the original conceptual music that was done."

The conspiracy became quite specific, leading to the claim that one of TTT's songs, Give Us Your Energy, was actually an early test version of Outlands, a track featured on the official TRON: Legacy soundtrack.*

But the rumors don't end there. According to the latest rumor (which is already a year old in what appears to be the now-dead conspiracy), the members of The Third Twin are actually nephews of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, one half of Daft Punk.

Tracking all the rumors can get exhausting after a while, so feel free to Wiki this and see all the additional rumors that have subsisted since TTT first breached American shores two years ago. After that, check this out, because it just keeps going.

The point is this: music released online by The Third Twin remains free, and quite good. Fans of early Daft Punk should dig it, as well as new listeners.

Tracklists for both releases are as follows. You can snag both albums in one handy zip file below.

Homemade (2010)

1. Technolers
2. Evil Minds
3. Chicago Soul
4. Justice Free
5. Ra Men Kepher
6. Americ Family
7. Empty Fire
8. Worm Earth
9. The Time Is Over
10. Arecibo's Song
11. This Is Love

 Direkttt (EP) (2011)

1. Give Us Your Energy*

2. Euphoria

3. The Nightmare

4. Posioned

5. Impulse



GET

Note: This music is being posted here under the assumption that it is to be considered promotional material, as direct links on the band's official website lead to free downloads off LastFM. If this is no longer the case, please contact the blog and it will be immediately removed.

I wanna be a kid again...

Recently, B from The Opposite of That posted a song from the game Skyrim and said her "cool card" would be revoked for doing so in a post where she also posted a song from the band Alice in Chains.

Now considering I've never heard of the band Alice in Chains I personally thought that including a song from a video game was extremely awesome! Her post in fact, inspired me to therefore share with you a few tracks I adore from games I have played. Alas, I am not a huge gamer anymore. The only games I've played since becoming an adult have been the Professor Layton games and Sims.

Therefore all these tracks are from games I played as child and as a teenager. Please enjoy as I reminisce...

Eternal Champions - Main Theme

Eternal Champions - Jetta's Theme (Jetta was my favourite fighter)

Jurassic Park - (Embarrassingly I never finished this game lol!)

Kingdom Hearts - Destati (I actually adore every song in this game but obviously I can't post them all)

Mickey's Wild Adventure - The Mad Doctor

Mickey's Wild Adventure - The Mad Doctor 2

Song of the Week #9

Lana Del Ray - Born to Die

My favourite bit is the chorus...

Ick Factor

Has anyone ever said anything to you that has completely ruined something for you?

I'm aware that that sentence probably makes no sense so instead I'll move swiftly on to my example...

Years ago, Leona Lewis released a song called "Bleeding Love". I do not like this song but I admit that the chorus is quite catchy. An old friend of mine completely ruined this song for me however with one tiny little comment....

Me: "What do you think of Leona Lewis's new song?"

Sally: "I don't like it, it's like she's singing about her period"

Me: "Ewww!"

So yeah, thanks Sally! I cannot listen to that song anymore without thinking of what she said...

Do you guys have any similar stories? Or did I just keep really weird company?

OLD APPARATUS

Old Apparatus Music

MEIN LAND

These German fellows bring me immense joy.

CROSSROADS

Meeting with the Devil at the Crossroads

A “vision,” as told by Henry Goodman

Robert Johnson been playing down in Yazoo City and over at Beulah trying to get back up to Helena, ride left him out on a road next to the levee, walking up the highway, guitar in his hand propped up on his shoulder. October cool night, full moon filling up the dark sky, Robert Johnson thinking about Son House preaching to him, “Put that guitar down, boy, you drivin’ people nuts.” Robert Johnson needing as always a woman and some whiskey. Big trees all around, dark and lonesome road, a crazed, poisoned dog howling and moaning in a ditch alongside the road sending electrified chills up and down Robert Johnson’s spine, coming up on a crossroads just south of Rosedale. Robert Johnson, feeling bad and lonesome, knows people up the highway in Gunnison. Can get a drink of whiskey and more up there. Man sitting off to the side of the road on a log at the crossroads says, “You’re late, Robert Johnson.” Robert Johnson drops to his knees and says, “Maybe not.”

The man stands up, tall, barrel-chested, and black as the forever-closed eyes of Robert Johnson’s stillborn baby, and walks out to the middle of the crossroads where Robert Johnson kneels. He says, “Stand up, Robert Johnson. You want to throw that guitar over there in that ditch with that hairless dog and go on back up to Robinsonville and play the harp with Willie Brown and Son, because you just another guitar player like all the rest, or you want to play that guitar like nobody ever played it before? Make a sound nobody ever heard before? You want to be the King of the Delta Blues and have all the whiskey and women you want?”

“That’s a lot of whiskey and women, Devil-Man.”

“I know you, Robert Johnson,” says the man.

Robert Johnson, feels the moonlight bearing down on his head and the back of his neck as the moon seems to be growing bigger and bigger and brighter and brighter. He feels it like the heat of the noonday sun bearing down, and the howling and moaning of the dog in the ditch penetrates his soul, coming up through his feet and the tips of his fingers through his legs and arms, settling in that big empty place beneath his breastbone causing him to shake and shudder like a man with the palsy. Robert Johnson says, “That dog gone mad.”

The man laughs. “That hound belong to me. He ain’t mad, he’s got the Blues. I got his soul in my hand.”

The dog lets out a low, long soulful moan, a howling like never heard before, rhythmic, syncopated grunts, yelps, and barks, seizing Robert Johnson like a Grand Mal, and causing the strings on his guitar to vibrate, hum, and sing with a sound dark and blue, beautiful, soulful chords and notes possessing Robert Johnson, taking him over, spinning him around, losing him inside of his own self, wasting him, lifting him up into the sky. Robert Johnson looks over in the ditch and sees the eyes of the dog reflecting the bright moonlight or, more likely so it seems to Robert Johnson, glowing on their own, a deep violet penetrating glow, and Robert Johnson knows and feels that he is staring into the eyes of a Hellhound as his body shudders from head to toe.

The man says, “The dog ain’t for sale, Robert Johnson, but the sound can be yours. That’s the sound of the Delta Blues.”

“I got to have that sound, Devil-Man. That sound is mine. Where do I sign?”

The man says, “You ain’t got a pencil, Robert Johnson. Your word is good enough. All you got to do is keep walking north. But you better be prepared. There are consequences.”

“Prepared for what, Devil-man?”

“You know where you are, Robert Johnson? You are standing in the middle of the crossroads. At midnight, that full moon is right over your head. You take one more step, you’ll be in Rosedale. You take this road to the east, you’ll get back over to Highway 61 in Cleveland, or you can turn around and go back down to Beulah or just go to the west and sit up on the levee and look at the River. But if you take one more step in the direction you’re headed, you going to be in Rosedale at midnight under this full October moon, and you are going to have the Blues like never known to this world. My left hand will be forever wrapped around your soul, and your music will possess all who hear it. That’s what’s going to happen. That’s what you better be prepared for. Your soul will belong to me. This is not just any crossroads. I put this “X” here for a reason, and I been waiting on you.”

Robert Johnson rolls his head around, his eyes upwards in their sockets to stare at the blinding light of the moon which has now completely filled tie pitch-black Delta night, piercing his right eye like a bolt of lightning as the midnight hour hits. He looks the big man squarely in the eyes and says, “Step back, Devil-Man, I’m going to Rosedale. I am the Blues.”

The man moves to one side and says, “Go on, Robert Johnson. You the King of the Delta Blues. Go on home to Rosedale. And when you get on up in town, you get you a plate of hot tamales because you going to be needing something on your stomach where you’re headed.”

More. 

Festive Spirit

As a child I always looked forward to Christmas without fail. But as I grew older, I kinda grew out of it. What I mean is, I didn't get as excited for it. The only thing I looked forward to was being off school for the holidays and my mum's Christmas dinner! I hated being at school at Christmas time, what with doing nothing all day but playing stupid games and listening to stupid Christmas songs. I hate that Mariah Carey song. I guess I just became more bitter with age!

BUT! Something miraculous has happened this year. For some reason, I have been in a very festive mood - even since Halloween! This is very rare for me because I never feel like this. But I'm enjoying it immensely. So much so, that I've been dying to watch Home Alone and for the snow to fall.

I've also been listening to my favourite songs:

Carol of the Bells,

Walking in the Air,

and O' Holy Night

Although I love the normal Christmas songs by Wizard etc, those three always win out. I guess I'm just a snob that way...

I've also been fantasising about how much fun it will be to decorate my own home at Christmas someday and open presents before watching movies and eating sweets. Or having an Christmas party! Gah I want it so badly lol.

I'll leave you with my current favourite Christmas advert!

MUSIC FOR FILM: RAVENOUS

 

Ravenous will be the subject of an upcoming Unsung Horrors post.  In the meantime, listen to one track from one of my favorite film scores. Tonally, the score is all over the place - from goofy to vintage patriotic to adrenalin pumping to downright creepy (like this one).

Song of the Week #8

Coldplay - Paradise

I adore this song but everytime he says "paradise" I expect him to say "parrot" instead haha!