I have to start this off by stating that I have some reservations about songs that are about self-sacrifice for love, specifically ones about dying for someone. I get a little cynical but most of all, I get a little paranoid/scared about a theoretical someone who states they would die for me, kill themselves over me, etc.
(I am pretty sure these feelings are caused by Bruno Mars’s song “Grenade” because it seems so bitter – claiming that the object of his affections – of his self-sacrifices – is the most terrible person ever and here’s Bruno Mars martyring himself, saying he’s the best boyfriend in the world because he would have put his life on the line for that woman that he now hates, so that’s why she shouldn’t have done all those terrible things she supposedly did. Just chill out, man. Also – I’m pretty sure that Bruno Mars was just trying to be like Prince, but… As usual, I digress.)
And this, by the transitive property of equality also means that the CHVRCHES cover (stylized in CHVRCHES style as “I Would Die 4 V”) is also an exception to the rule. Lauren Mayberry‘s higher-pitched vocals combined with her Scottish accent bring a younger, more innocent take on this classic 80s love song.
Also – Not gonna lie, another reason this song (and this cover in particular) is an exception to this rule is that I have a huge celeb crush on the singer, Lauren Mayberry. 😀
UPDATE – June 2013 – A new video was placed into this blog post because the original YouTube video with a recorded version of the cover was taken down.
I know that the genres are technically different, but NYC-based Ghost Beach’s Josh Ocean sings in a slightly hurt moaning way that Blood Orange (AKA: Dev Hynes) ocassionally does but with a more rock-inspired overdrive distortion to those moans. (At least that was one of my initial thoughts on my first listen.)
Other favorites of mine from Ghost Beach are “Miracle” (a song that’s really cute about having a crush) and “Too Young” (a song that’s always really confused me because it seems like it might be about getting involved with someone who’s just the typical “young and naive” but might also be about pedophilia).
Hoodie Allen just dropped a new track called “Hey Now”!
I’ll post a well-deserved, longer post about how and why Hoodie Allen has been a positive influence on me for the past two years beginning with my first accidental discovery of “You Are Not a Robot” while searching for blogs discussing “I am Not a Robot” by Marina and the Diamonds and I guess what that has to do with my career and my love life at that point in my life.
Anyway, more later. Listen to this track right now first:
Let’s start with a couple days ago to what got me listening to this song again and the jump back to where I had been when this song impacted me so much.
A few days ago this girl was looking through my iTunes. There’s that dreadful feeling I get when people look through my iTunes library. I’m afraid they’ll judge me on my music tastes (or possible lack thereof). I’m sitting on my bed as she’s looking through my iTunes library. I’m afraid she’ll scoff at one of my favorite bands. (I’ve been severely judged and insulted by someone on my music library before.) I don’t know if she’ll be happy or be grossed out by all the Passion Pit and Passion Pit remixed tracks. There’s even the moment when she keeps scrolling and scrolling and it’s just a seemingly endless list of practically every Rilo Kiley song in existence. (Yeah, they’re my number 1, all time, forever and ever favorite band in the whole world. Almost a 10 year and counting love affair.)
Normally, this would just make me consider what music I listen to and their artistic merits or just think that the person judging me is a total asshole. However, I was really nervous because she’s the coolest person I’ve ever met (and my inflated ego makes these comparisons to myself who I think is really damn cool). “Oh mannnn, is my iTunes library cool enough for her to respect?”
She stopped in the D section and said that she loves Dawes especially that song. (“Yesssss!” runs through my head because that’s one of my favorite songs.)
Today, she GChatted me a link to the video above saying she loves the song and that particular performance. I tell her that it’s one of my quarter-life crisis songs. I listened to it a lot back then. This song ends up on my mind all day and also makes me think about my quarter-life crisis.
[Here’s a jump to right now.]
I’m starting to pack up my things that aren’t already in boxes (read: still in boxes from the last time I moved. To be honest, I only really unpacked maybe half or three-fourths of the boxes I brought into my current apartment).
I’m moving again. I feel like these last couple of moves have actually signified, in a really corny way, the ends and beginnings of different chapters of my life.
In this case, situations haven’t completely changed as much (at least I hope not because I’m currently liking and appreciating my life right now). It’s not the situation so much this time as the mindset I’m in, I guess.
I feel as if I moved from Oakland to San Francisco for a reason, and now I’m moving back to Oakland (literally just a few blocks away from my previous Oakland apartment). Well, there are multiple reasons, but the biggest part deals with priorities – or in this case my change of them.
[Now a jump to August 2011.]
In August 2011 I was quarter-life crisis-ing, not knowing what was going to happen after November 2011 election, not knowing what I wanted and where (literally and figuratively) I wanted to be. I just knew that I wanted to figure it out along the way and that I really enjoyed where I was at the time. I was content with my life balance.
But is that what’s supposed to happen? I always thought I’d be following some life plan and that I’d have a clearer idea of where I’d be down the line.
I also felt a little torn because I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stay in the Bay Area (and if so, for how long?), go back to LA, or maybe even venture out somewhere else (I’d been eyeing New York for a while). All the possibilities were overwhelming. I didn’t know what I wanted.
I decided to just go with some advice my friend (who’s also my boss) gave me: I was going to just do what was fun at the moment and then when it stopped being fun, I’d move onto something else. That helped out a lot.
I got more involved at work and decided I needed to move to San Francisco to be closer to the office and be more available.
[Jump back to right now]
As much as I love my job and as much as I am always down to give 110% to what I do and to make it top priority, I’ve also felt like something was lacking. I realized that I had completely ignored my favorite hobbies. I began to really feel off because I hadn’t been as involved with the music and art scene lately.
That’s why once opportunities to get back in touch with the music and art scene (both in terms of moving back to Oakland and also in terms of taking part in friends’ projects) began presenting themselves, I took them. That’s why I’m trying to be more in this mindset of making more balance between all my passions and responsibilities. That’s part of why I’m moving back to Oakland. As stupid as it seems, proximity really has a big effect, especially in terms of the circles of people I’ve ended up spending my time with. I’ve been thinking that maybe by being closer to where I want to be (literally and figuratively), I’ll be more motivated to spend the extra hours needed to be more involved.
I guess I’ve just really been spending more time trying to figure out but also just realizing what exactly I want and then working toward those things.
Then again, this all feels like a description of an extremely cliche indie movie about growing up or being in your 20s. At the very least, at least commend me for being sincere about the situation/experience?
I can’t believe I completely forgot about the time I saw Koalacaust in a basement show.
I was hanging out with a friend of mine, and she suggested checking out this show in some art gallery / art space in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco.
I wish I could remember the name of the space. There was an art installation of various old televisions playing videos captured in various street corners and along different sidewalks. No (noticeable) direction – just capturing (supposedly) exactly what was passing by and going on in front of the cameras wherever they were set up.
Then up a flight of stairs was a basement area with a small bathroom and an even tinier window through which people took turns smoking.
Down in the basement was where the concert was. It was really fun, and the singer from Koalacaust got in the crowd, used the whole space as his stage, and even hung from the rafters! I forgot all about this until I found some photos from old computer folders I haven’t looked at in literally over a year!
Here’s one of my favorites. Seeing this photo made it all come back to me. Even just taking this shot was fun!
Oh yeah, and they’re originally from Santa Monica – much LA love to them. 🙂
Anyway, my super dykey side that also completely overlooks metaphors in art is the reason this song became a huge guilty pleasure for me.
I don’t even remember how I first heard this song, but I do remember that some of the lyrics seemed really lesbianic (“When I’m in the summer I forget how much I love her when she’s in the groove. Oh it’s a love hate romance ’cause I could watch her dance if I got my boots”), which definitely led to a second listen.
I was soooo sure that it was all about Lights being into some girl who dances very sensually and inspires her to look hot and sexy to impress her (“Something in the way she comes gliding makes me need to fix up the hair. She gets me to come out of hiding and find something decent to wear”).
But then…
Reality set in…
And I had to come to terms with the fact that the song is actually an extended metaphor of Lights’s love of the winter time…
Besides, the line “When she comes you’ll ask her to stay” seemed a little TOO double entendre to really be what I thought it was about…
I think that I’m over the “Friday I’m in Love” weekly song theme. If I hear a song again after not hearing it for a long time and really feel as if I should share the “story” behind it and what it means to me in terms of dating/romance/love/etc., I will.
However, I am shifting BoxSpeaker Fridays to alternating “Friday, I Will Fuck” and “Fashion Show Friday” song features – I mean, it works, right? Songs that I would have sex to are also songs that just happen to really be great for runway events.
To start off this alternating series, I’d like to feature “Turning into Stone” by Phantogram as a Friday, I Will Fuck song.
The first eleven seconds of the song make you think that it isn’t something you would want to have sex to due to how high-pitched and abrasive it is – like an out-of-tune marching band. But once the twelve-second mark hits, the heavy bass beat comes in alerting you to the possibility of sensuality in the song.
At the 25-second mark, Phantogram brings in their signature eerie synths. Then, 43-seconds, Josh Carter come in almost monotonously haunting the listener about loneliness and dying.
At the 1:15 mark, Sarah Barthel‘s vocals come in for the signature Phantogram harmonies as the song sounds airy and relaxing. Then, you end up back in the rough reality of the 1:47 mark when the quick 8-bit style synths begin to layer upon each other. Building up and building up just in time for Carter’s tortured, distorted vocals to come back in.
And everything just sounds like and and feels like an aural explosion.
Dan Black makes stylish electronic tracks. If I could, I would DJ a fashion show with his tracks.
You know what else I would do? I would totally bone to his music. It’s got sensual bass, fast raunchy treble, and his sexy British voice – like the Depeche Mode of our time.
That’s why I was instantly drawn to the Sonos cover of “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode that my friend Kirsten posted on Facebook. I know it’s usually dorky, but Sonos makes a capella covers of songs that are really spectacular. And to be completely honest, as a Cal alum, I have a special place in my heart for Cal a capella groups.
