5 posts tagged “music”

Well, iTunes wanted to export them in reverse order - playing countdown DJ, I'm sure. I was keen enought to strip out the XML tags, but not keen enough to re-order them. So, from bottom to top, here are the 25 most played songs, on my laptop. I have no doubt that I listed those on my Shuffle or Nano would be vastly different.

25. Mileage by Brian Vander Ark
24. Angel by Sarah McLachlan
23. Good Morning Baby by Dan Wilson & Bic Runga
22. Your Winter by Sister Hazel
21. All It Takes by Stellar*

20. One Angel by Stir
19. Without You by Brooke Fraser
18. Give Me Novacaine by Green Day
17. Smile Like You Mean It by The Killers
16. Float by The Feelers

15. Forgiven by Alanis Morissette
14. Sweet Euphoria by Chris Cornell
13. Will You Love Me Tomorrow? by Carole King
12. Something So Strong by Crowded House
11. WWOZ by Better Than Ezra

10. Porcelain by Better Than Ezra
9. This Time Of Year by Better Than Ezra
8. What I Know Now by Dog's Eye View
7. Burned by Better Than Ezra
6. Daylight by Better Than Ezra

5. Our Last Night by Better Than Ezra
4. A Southern Thing by Better Than Ezra
3. Extra Ordinary by Better Than Ezra
2. Sugar by We're Goin' Down by Fall Out Boy
1. Whiplash by Stellar*

 

What are your top 25 most played songs? 
Submitted by Cooxi

 

What are your three favorite album covers of all-time? Any honorable mentions?

Question submitted by Tamara

 Call me lazy. Call me prepared. Below is a straight revamped copy of a (now unavailable elsewhere) response to a meme posted back in 2002. I'm sure I've spotted album covers which have had some impace on me in the intervening years, but these are still valid, too.

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To be honest, I don't much judge music by their covers (unlike books, in which case I am incredibly judgmental). Anyway, as a consequence, I don't pay that much attention to album covers. Kinda weird for an artlover, heh. And if along the way I've spotted some beauties, I've forgotten about them now. Thus, as I attempt this that week's Top 5 from Scotty's Cowbell Chronicles, I rifled through my minimalist collection and picked out those that caught my eye, at least momentarily.

Top 5 Album Covers

Underneath by The Verve Pipe. Art direction by Brett Kilroe and Frank Harkins, photography by James R. Minchin III.  I've seen several CD covers with similar pictures to this since the release of Underneath in 2001. None of them have had that brilliant blue that I love, the depth of colour. The guys are at the end of the road well travelled, and it's been uphill. I actually have this image as my desktop, I like it that much! What's totally cool about the photo is the knowledge that it was taken above the clouds in Topanga Canyon. They're way above, and yet the album is entitled Underneath. Yeah.

 

Well, this is Pacifier by Pacifier (who have since sensibly dismissed the fear of offending any one in a post September 11 world, and reverted to their much favoured moniker, Shihad), from 2002. Art direction by Doug Erb, photography by Stephen Oxenbury. What can I say? It's red raw, and it rocks. Rather like the music, in fact. The silhouette of Jon (complete with twig-like arms) with a touch of snakeskin is pretty groovy, too. I like red.

 

Broadcast is an album from Strawpeople, a production, mixing effort of Paul Casserly and Mark Tierney. The vocal input on Stephanie Tauevihi, Fiona McDonald and a handful of other wonderful New Zealanders made this one of the more innovative albums of 1994. A fantastic blend of styles, this album is still one of my favourites, and still gets a regular outing, despite being on cassette! The design is by Wayne Conway and the photogrpahy by Alistair Guthrie and Wayne Conway, and the Strawpeople. If you look closely, you'll see that the picture is made up of lots of the same image. I like it.

 

 

To Bring You My Love, by PJ Harvey, circa 1995. The photography is by Valerie Phillips (from a film by Maria Mochnacz), and the art is by Cally. I'm not sure why I picked this one, except to say that it's PJ Harvey. She looks kinda dead, pale yet glamorous, adrift in the water. Don't ask me to describe her music.

 

When I originally posted this entry, the top five was rounded out with a mention of Roll from The Brainchilds. At the time I had included a scan of the cassette cover, but that image was lost in a long ago server shuffle, and I can't (easily) find a copy online. Sure, I could scan it again, but I did mention that you call me lazy, right? Anyway, the cover concept and artwork is by Elizabeth Thomson, the design by Mission Hali, the cover photography from the Electron Microscope facility at Victoria University and the band photography by Jamie Lean. I've always found this cover fascinating. It's some thing magnified a whole hell of a lot, and there they are, trying to roll it. Maybe there's some hidden message about the insignificance of man, our place in the world, how small things can be big problems. Whatever, I just think it's clever! The music is a pretty nice blend of ballads and uniquely kiwi quirky pop (that still gets the odd play now and then).

When I was born, the number one song in the US was "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and Kiki Dee

I love this song, and handily enough, it reminds me of my childhood, growing up with sisters enamoured with Elton John. However -> Worst Karaoke Song Ever. Nobody gets the pitch right, and that is just wrong. Actually, maybe just karaoke is wrong.

Wehn I turned 21, it was apparently "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112.

I don't recall ever having heard this song. 1997 wasn't my finest year, so it's entirely possible I missed it. Or that it just wasn't as big in NZ as it appears to have been in the US.

I caught the video for Minuit's latest single, Fuji the other day. You can watch it too, here (you'll need to register - it's free). I'm not sure I'm ready to buy the album yet(and that track isn't available individually), but it does appeal. I never got around to getting The 88, though the more I think about it, the more I'm tempted. Of course, I could just satisfy myself with watching Except You and thinking about Nelson.

When this Nelson trio released their first album The 88 in 2003 it was refreshingly different from most other locally produced electronic music in that it strayed from the prevalent influences of Roots, Jazz and Hip-Hop. It had big, slightly menacing but club-friendly beats with pop hooks and a very unique voice and frontperson in singer Ruth Carr who seemed to be simultaneously channeling both Bjork and Bond-era Sean Connery (!) with her unique vocal style.

The following year they released the limited edition "Guns EP" and around this time two thirds of the group relocated to Wellington with the view of starting a new phase for the band, but Carr was struck with a bout of seriousness illness that took the band out of action for the last part of 2004 and most of 2005.

So it is, Minuit (helpfully, they even put "Min-wee" in brackets to help with pronunciation) finally return with album number two - "The Guards Themselves".

Lyrically and musically this is a much more sinister affair than their debut, but one that is also miles ahead in production values and overall song quality. As well as the hard dance of elements that featured on "The 88" there is also evidence of a (shock horror!) more "rock" influence here than before and one could imagine songs like "Suave As Sin", "Fuji" and "Fake" being performed with a full rock band rather than two guys behind laptops and sequencers.

This is a damn fine album with a sound that could see the band doing well internationally given the right opportunities. - SmokeCDs

See also http://www.myspace.com/minuittheband

As an aside, both video clips I've linked to are the work of Alyx Duncan, an Auckland choreographer and videographer who has big things head of her, I think.

So, what is Pop Smear? It's the name of an album from a Michigan band that had a hit in the late 90s, The Verve Pipe, and that hit is not on this album. What is though, are some poppy, quirky, interesting songs, and some of my favourite song lyrics.