Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

I'll be honest at the get go on this one. I never heard this song until I saw the awesome 8-bit music video from below. The video was what originally drew me into my enjoyment of this song. The full 8-bit glory of Rivercity Ransom and various other video games is great. It took my back to my childhood, back to those glory days of summer playing Zelda or Tetris for 9 hours and stuffing my face full of snacks. I wonder if that has anything to do with me being overweight...nah.

This song is one I enjoy outside the confines of the 8-bit music video these days. I don't know if this song would be characterized as techno or not (which I normally don't like very much techno...very little in fact), but the mix is great. This is one of the songs I really enjoy for working out. The tempo is good for a jog or for getting pumped up on the free weights.

Dirty Little Secret 2

Old Crow Medicine Show - Wagon Wheel

Let me start this post out by saying how much I really dislike country music in general. I don't like twangy, country drawl music. The most amusing thing about my liking this song is how twangy it is and how much they sing with a country drawl. Everything I despise about country music is epitomized in this song.

The redeeming part of this song is the harmony. I love really good harmonies in songs.

My favorite part is the third chorus:

Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke
I caught a trucker out of Philly
Had a nice long toke
But he's a headed west from the Cumberland Gap
To Johnson City, Tennessee
And I gotta get a move on fit for the sun
I hear my baby callin' my name
And I know that she's the only one
And if I die in Raleigh
At least I will die free

This part has good harmonies with the backup singers in a'capella.

As much as I dislike country music, I can listen to this song over and over and over. Just ask slide-o-lovie.

Typing

My friend Cauley took this test and challenged me to it.

88 words

Speedtest

This was on my home keyboard which I don't type on a lot. I'll try on my work keyboard later.

Dirty Little Secret 1

To start of my "Dirty Little Secret" series of music blogs, I'll start out with a real kicker.

Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone

Oh, why, oh why do I like this song?! Many times my dirty little secret songs are not clear to me why I like them. This song is no different. It combines several things that I normally do not like.

1. Kelly Clarkson


2. Kelly Clarkson


3. Teeny Bop Music Kelly Clarkson

As you can tell, I am not a fan of Kelly Clarkson at all. I don't like American Idol (shock!) and anyone to come from American Idol is a marketing ploy at best. Which is why it shames me to say that I love this song. One redeeming quality of this song is that it was written by Avril Lavigne who is a somewhat better musician than Kelly Clarkson.

I can't tell you why I like this song; it does shame me to say I do.

Embedding was disabled on this one, so you'll have to click here to see the video.

Please leave comments on why I should be ashamed for liking this song, or about songs you have that are your dirty little secrets. I'll continue with another winner next time.

dirty little secrets

I'm going to be taking my music exploration into a little different direction. I know everyone has these, they don't want to tell their friends, their significant other, their family, or even their dog; they love those songs that they "shouldn't". These are what I call my dirty little secrets. Songs that I love and can listen to over and over, but have no depth, sometimes very little musicality and sometimes are so cheesy you could make nachos. Over the next couple of posts, I will be introducing you to a few of my dirty little secrets; putting them out there for the mockery and shame that should be mine for liking them. You be the judge, shame me, mock me, do whatever you like, but I will always hold these dirty little secrets in high regard. If you're brave enough, maybe you'll comment with some of your dirty little secrets too.

B.Y.O.B

System of a Down - B.Y.O.B

I really like System of a Down (mainly because of Serj). I like the lyrical nature of their songs, that they mix in with heavy, heart pounding, head banging rock and roll. I think that's what I like most about them; the contrast they have in their music. Serj tends to be more lyrical, as is shown in his solo efforts (while the other guys from SoaD tend to be the heavier influence). I still like Serj's solor stuff, but not much of the other guys' stuff.

The particular reasons I like this song are as follows:

• The driving rock at the beginning would make any older person roll up their window quickly if I pulled up next to them while blasting the song in my car (I really like doing that for some reason).


• The "la la la la la la la la la" part is a great little ditty that sticks in my head for a long time. I normally don't like that, but with this song, it works for me.


• I really like the guitar part in the bridge before the "la la la la la" part. It is a cool little syncopated rhythm.


• This song is just fun to listen to. I am a software developer by trade and this song is a good one to program to.


• Make up your own reason why I like this song, do I have to spoon feed you people?!

Here's the Lego version of the music video.



And here is the real version. I really like how Serj looks like an evil Weird Al Yankovic.

Chop Suey!

System of a Down - Chop Suey!

Another one in the System of a Down series.

I just really dig a lot of System of a Down stuff. I dig the harmonies, the different guitar sounds in the same song (hard and soft riffs), and I dig some of the subject matter.

Why I like this song:

• The guitar riff at the beginning has the sound of a good Spanish-in-your-face dance number, then grows with the drums into a driving force of pure joy.


• I once played this song for a co-worker who is 20 years older, he asked me when it came to the heaviest sections "What's the point?!" Referring to what he thought was the lack of musicality or lyric nature of those parts. My take on them is that they provide a distinct antithesis to the lyrical parts of the song. When he then goes into the "trust in my self righteous suicide" portion, the distinction is rather clear between that and the driving parts.


• As with most System of a Down songs, I really enjoy the harmonies on this song. They fit well with the background and kind of pump me up.

I found this really cool Lego version of the music video on YouTube and couldn't resist. Enjoy!