Philosofette taught a lesson this week in her English class demonstrating how mood and tone were different things. She used music to give the example. There were two different approaches, and I was thinking maybe we could take a stab at both of them this week? Seemed like a fun conversation.
#1 "Pumped Up Kicks"
The song sounds happy, upbeat, light even. The lyrics are horrifying. I'm not sure which of those was supposed to be mood, and which was tone, but the "song that sounds one way, but means a different way" thing demonstrates something, right?
#2 "How Do You Like Me Now?"
Strategy #2 was to pick two (or more) songs that fit a common theme. My submission for her class was "happiness" and I guessed I narrowed it further by focusing on songs with a tone of "achievement." Two songs that couldn't be more different in mood, but both fit that tone, are Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now" and Etta James' "At Last." Completely different, but somewhat the same too.
Anyway, what contrasting mood/tone songs do ya got? Happy ones? Sad ones? Mad ones? (I think that covers all the emotions, right?). Have at it!
First example that always comes to my head is "Casimir Pulaski Day" by Sufjan. I always liked the song and would bob my head along when it came on. One day, I finally stopped and focused on the lyrics and really how wretchedly depressing it is.
"Tuesday night at the Bible study/We lift our hands and pray over your body/But nothing ever happens"
One song that comes to mind for me is "Wide World" by Cat Stevens. At first, it sounds like it is encouraging someone to go out into the world. When you really listen, it sounds like he's trying to scare a girl into staying with him. Really creepy!
Not a happy song not matter how happy it sounds
And a couple nice tone pieces. I don't know what to call them except "documentary ambient" mood. Djam Karet's "Consider Figure Three" and "All About Satellites and Spaceships" by Seven Percent Solution
Well there's "Born in the USA"...
1. Ryoji Ikeda “+..” +/-
2. Photek “Ni Ten Ichi Ryu (Two Swords Technique)” Ni Ten Ichi Ryu
a. American Three-toed Woodpecker “Drum” (Cornell Essential Set)
3. Caleb Caudle “Trade All the Lights (feat. Lydia Loveless)” Paint Another Layer on My Heart
b. Northern Saw-Whet Owl “Song” (Cornell Essential Set)
4. Dolly Parton “I Still Miss Someone” The Grass Is Blue
5. The Aphex Twin “Didgeridoo” Classics
6. Massive Attack feat. Tracey Thorn “Protection” Protection
7. Stars of the Lid “Articulate Silences, Part 1” Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline
c. Barred Owl “Female 'Hoo-aw' Calls” (Cornell Master Set)
8. Björk “Bachelorette” Homogenic
9. Mistki “Once More to See You” Puberty 2
T. Underworld “King of Snake (Straight [Mate] Mix)” King of Snake
E. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy “Sheep” Ease Down the Road
(Threadjack)
I was too busy to participate in the best-of-2016 listing that happened last week. First, a preface, rewritten from comments I originally posted at Nibbish's site:
I’ve been slowly oldening as a music consumer over the last few years. I turn 40 this year, I guess it’s time.
It’s not that I’m listening to the equivalent of KQ92 for my tastes, but there is a good amount of my listening that was released between 8th grade and my bachelor’s degree.
I generally describe this as losing the thread of pop music (sensu lato). Parenting was a small facet causing this. However, I’ve been a father for 13.5 years now it’s only the last three or four years in which I feel that my grip on that thread has faltered.
The oldest does stay up later and later…
The ways that parenting has affected my music consumption lately:
The kids are staying up later (so I have fewer hours in which to sample new music that I haven’t screened), which is important because
Kids have started listening and asking about lyrics.
The kids are developing their own tastes, so they don’t want to let me dictate what we listen to.
Also, I feel that I need to give them good examples of music to listen to, to at least let them draw their own opinions from a wide presentation of genres. So I pick a lot of what was influential to me at their age. And then I want to talk about what they think of it. For example, HPR likes heavy guitars, so I dig out Soundgarden and Monster Magnet.
The changes since 2010 in the way the internet works has also changed the way I consume:
My reliable sources began offering too many options. Phillip Sherburne used to have a monthly column on Pitchfork. Then he had a weekly column on Spin and a monthly mix. Now I just check his 20-odd album reviews on Pitchfork. I’ll never hear an interesting white-label 12″ that way.
My reliable sources being less reliable.
Some sources disappearing. (In addition to Sherburne’s monthly column on “Techno”, Pitchfork also had monthly columns on Reggae and UK hip-hop. I like(d) the new music coming out of these genres, but I needed guidance, a curation of the available options into some of the biggest hits and notable rising trends.)
Pitchfork and others baffling my attempts to grab their RSS feeds.
Everything being offered as a stream instead of an mp3 download (I listen mostly on my iPod, so this does nothing but frustrate me).
Personal music interests:
Certain artists with unique/unusual/unpleasant sounds that are addictive and make all other music seem completely gray and flavorless. So that the options are “Do I want to listen to Horse Lords again or Do I want silence?” And, when reflecting “Do I even _like_ Nisennenmondai?” At points, they’ve been less music and more function. Like when you don’t even taste coffee but can’t make it without. Other artists who just over the past two years have led me into such inescapable ruts: Aaron Dilloway, Jan St. Werner, Nisennenmondai, Eliza Soares, and to a lesser extent, catalog albums from Monster Magnet and Tranquility Bass. The top spot here definitely belongs to Dilloway, with such an expansive discography that it took me forever just to realize I actually had enough pieces of his music.
My general disinterest with current pop trends. For example: modern cutting-edge hip-hop feels so impenetrable, even worse than when I was working my way through Roots Manuva and UK Grime.
Perhaps a general shift in interest-focus from breadth to depth, perhaps diving further into a few albums, some new, some from last year, some from 1994. (But, geez, I learned so many albums from the mid 90s front-to-back… How could I even listen to that much music?)
Other things:
Getting Netflix (after years without cable).
Other interests (like going outside).
…
Some of those had a lagging effect: while I stayed fluent for years after they took effect, I was unbeknownst to myself getting further and further behind, undermining any of the redundancy that used to allow me to ride out those times where I couldn’t stay current for months, because I was stuck on one artist.
One other thing: Two or three years ago, I still had several best-of-the-year lists that I meant to get around to working through. In May, I realized I was in too deep and had no actual interest in catching up. I had a scholarly interest, just not enough to make me hit play.
With that preface, here's my favorite music of 2016. I probably could have stopped at 2.
1. Horse Lords, Interventions
2. Nisennenmondai, #N/A (released in Japan in 2015, in the UK in 2016)
3. Khun Narin, II (h/t CarterHayes for his summer mix contribution)
4. Bitchin Bajas & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Epic Jammers and Fortunate Little Ditties (Will Oldham singing modern mantras over... whatever the Bajas' music would be called.)
5. Julien Baker Sprained Ankle (Released late in 2015)
Hey, you can download (or stream) her new song!
6. Nadia Reid Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs (Released late in 2015.)
Hey, you can stream two songs from her new album!
7. Shackleton Devotional Songs (The closest I’ll ever get to new Coil.)
Thanks for this. A lot of it rings true for me, too.
J Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers version of Last Kiss certainly has an incongruent tone and mood, though Pearl Jam fixed that.
Thinking of recent DJ picks - "You Are My Sunshine"
(I'm on my phone, can someone please link to the Stapletons' version from like a week ago or so?)
Here ya go.
Yeah, I remember back when I was listen to the O, Brother soundtrack all the time that I realized, oh hey, this isn't so sunshiney.
No one linked to Dancing Queen. I'm ashamed of this post.
that song is just too sad to talk about.
how about "Holiday in Cambodia"? or is that too obvious?