Thursday, December 25, 2008

Music to make you disgustingly happy, part TWO.

Hey y'all, as a special Christmas present, I'm getting my ass in gear and actually writing something for the blog. So, here's part two (of four) of Music to make you disgustingly happy! Enjoy. And remember to listen to the songs on the playlist player at the bottom! You will be really really happy, just in time for your Christmas spirit to be irrevocably damaged by hearing your grandmother warbling “Angels We Have Heard On High” in her living room. Am I bitter? No, of course not.

Brian Eno - “Baby's On Fire”
I feel like Eno gets dismissed all too often. Everyone's heard of Bowie, but it's like people think that Eno is the Wal-Mart version of Bowie. Not so! “Baby's On Fire” is full of twangy-weird singing, offbeat lyrics (“look at her laughing, like a heifer to the slaughter”), and a kickass guitar solo. I feel the need to wear glittery platforms and a blue wig and neon make-up when I listen to this... but maybe I've seen Velvet Goldmine too many times. And anyway, I'm sure Jim looks better in gilttery heels and a wig than I do.

Cake - “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”
First of all, thank you Cake for the fashion advice. Even though, when I wear a short skirt and a long jacket, it looks like I'm not wearing pants and it gets all awkward. Anyway, the best part about this song is the huge pause. “And a long...

...jacket.” This is a driving song – it makes me happiest when I'm cruising down 22 in my mom's minivan, singing along.

David Bowie - “Suffragette City”
Honestly, I'm just going to quote what Jim said when I proposed using "Suffragette City" instead of "Changes."
Jim wrote: "Awwwwwwwwwww WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA'AM. Enough said."
(Or something to that effect, I can't remember exactly but that's basically the gist of it, anyway, it's a good song.)

The Decemberists - “July, July!”
Colin Meloy is melancholy. Hmmm... “choly”... “melan”... you think that sound similarity is coincidential? I don't. But “July, July!” kind of stands out starkly against the typical depressed music that is The Decemberists. I love the line about the “crooked French-Canadian” and pretty much everything else about this poppy upbeat song.

The Divinyls - “I Touch Myself”
So, um.... yeah. Who doesn't like this song? It's so blatant. Enough for this song to go on my only-listen-to-this-when-your-parents-aren't-around list. Though everyone knows it, I feel like people are reluctant to acknowledge the subject matter. Annnnddd... awkwardness = happy, right?
Right?

Final Fantasy - “This Is the Dream of Win and Regine”
When I first heard Owen Pallet's Has A Good Home, I straight-up didn't like it. I thought the songs were boring and the references were archaic and it just wasn't good. Now, granted, some people still think that, but I am not one of them, and that's mostly because of this song. For some reason, when Pallet shouts, it's exciting and happiness-inducing. His awesome violin playing certainly doesn't hurt, either.

Final Fantasy - “Horsetail Feathers”
Okay, so I'm not sure how fair it is for certain artists to get more than one song on this list, but I most certainly cannot help it when it comes to “Horsetail Feathers.” I was actually listening to this when I decided that I wanted to write about happy music. Yeah, that inspiring. It sounds like a musical at first, but then it progresses... and it still sounds like a musical. But not a shitty one! A really, really good one, with excellent instrumentation.

The Flaming Lips - “Race for the Prize [Remix]”
Words cannot describe. If one had to condense the essence of happy down into one song, it would be this. The first time I ever heard it (and actually, the first time I ever heard the Lips) I was riding home on the school bus in 11th grade, and I had just popped it into my CD player. The first little piano gliss is so ridiculously triumphant... when I saw them perform this last summer, I literally shed a tear I was so happy. A song cannot be happier than this one... even though the lyrics themselves aren't too happy.

EDIT: Can you tell that this is my favorite band?

The Flaming Lips - “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 2”
See, everyone loves Yoshimi. They're even making a Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots musical! But I feel like Part 2 is always overlooked. I mean, Part 1 is a delicious slice of upbeat goodness, but Part 2 is where the Lips really get into it. It's repetitive, but each repetition gets increasingly intense. The weird bunny-rabbit screams pump the listener up. Is that weird that the bunny-rabbit screams pump me up? Is it weird that I associate the screaming in the music with bunny-rabbits? I'll stop now.

Flight of the Conchords - “If You're Into It”
Oh, Flight of the Conchords. You always trick me into thinking you're going to be singing a nice song, and then it deteriorates into raunchy madness. And that's why I love you. Brett starts off with a sweet offer of hanging around... and then Jemaine decides to get involved, deep sexytime voice and all. But it's just so goofy, I'm totally okay with the fact that Brett is proposing kinky food-related adventures because Jemaine summarizes up each offer so nicely.

Girl Talk - “Once Again”
I think really all that can be said about this song is “Ohdamn.” Yeah, one word. Every time I listen to it, it gets better. And it has really nourished my repressed love for The Whisper Song. Oh, gosh, I'm going to have to listen to that now.

Gogol Bordello - “Sally”
After looking up the lyrics on songmeanings.net, I've realized that this song is kind of depressing and even indirectly mentions the Chernobyl incident. I feel like a dick for including it on my list, but it's a really upbeat song! Maybe that's Eugene Hutz's way of dealing with things. But enough of the psychoanalysis. Just listen to all of this music and be prepared to feel really happy. And then anxiously await the next installment.

...go! Listen!

Anxiously await! Go!


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