[...music...]: 2010-12

2010-12-28

a while ago, there seemed to be a lot of hype about daft punk's soundtrack for "tron: legacy". to be honest, the hype put me off a bit. a week ago, i had some time to kill before meeting with friends, so i checked out hmv megastore. i saw that the soundtrack was available at the listening station, so i sampled a few tracks. it seemed pretty cool to me. stanley seems excited about this movie, so i got the cd for him, as a christmas gift.

in fact, it's a selfish gift: the kind i give, but in the end, i will keep for myself.

we saw the movie this weekend. the music fits so well. so cool and futuristic. daft punk + tron makes the perfect pairing. stanley likes the music a lot too. so i've digitized it for him. i am keeping the cd. hah.

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, daft punk, soundtrack

2010-12-26

songs of 2010

it's time for end-of-the-year lists. here are some songs i liked from 2010 releases. in an order that makes a coherent playlist.

envy "last hours of eternity"

a track that makes me think of sunrises. i love the gentle opening buildup with spoken word that launches into an emotional outburst.

the dillinger escape plan "widower"

definitely the "ballad" of the album. i love how the song starts of jazz/lounge-y, giving no indication that it will transitions, rather smoothly, to vocal assault by the 4th minute. the band shows off their range.

gogol bordello "my companjera"

this may sound like an older track of theirs, but it's damn catchy.

the thermals "never listen to me"

a no-fuss song.

ted leo and the pharmacists "bottled in cork"

another no-fuss song. the official video is hilarious.

los campesinos "the sea is a good place to think of the future"

this youthful band shows some maturity with this track. the acoustic live version is nice.

xiu xiu "gray death"

the "pop" song of the album, in the sense that it's pretty straightforward, nothing too weird or experimental going on here.

how to destroy angels "the space in between"

dark, heavy, and slightly ominous...

diamond rings "wait & see"

... balanced by some cheezy synth-pop.

robyn feat. snoop dogg "u should know better"

robyn shows her sassy, tough-girl side. the snoop dogg collaboration bumps up the street cred a notch.

gorillaz "white flag"

a good mix of various genres, ranging from middle eastern orchestral to british urban.

peter gabriel "après moi"

amazing cover. the strings part in the 3rd minute kills it.

amphetamine ost "reunion"

another track with stringed instruments that is simply lovely. the part that starts at 0:11 makes me think of butterflies fluttering in the wind during a beautiful summer day.

final fantasy "lewis takes off his shirt"

when i hear this song, i am reminded of a video of an amazing live performance; worth watching until the end! (or skip to 2:38 when it starts to get a little crazy.)

yann tiersen "dust lane"

a new sound from this musician. there are parts of this track that make me think of 65daysofstatic.

65daysofstatic feat. robert smith "come to me"

i love the entire album as a whole. i pick this track for the playlist because it also features guest vocals.

massive attack feat. hope sandoval "paradise circus"

a chillout track. hope sandoval has such a lovely voice.

trentemøller "shades of marble"

perhaps the best new discovery of the year, for me.

~~~

Labels: other

broken social scene @ metropolis

for my birthday, roxanne gave me a ticket to see broken social scene at metropolis. the show was last saturday the 18th. we got good spots, front and centre, yay!

roxanne has already blogged all about it. i don't have much else to add.

openers were here we go magic:

broken social scene:

my favourite part was when they played "kc accidental". it's too bad they played it so early into their set; i wasn't even warmed up yet.

i've realized that this is a band i love so much more in a live setting. their albums are kind of meh. in concert, they have so much more energy. singer kevin drew has a cult leader-ish charm to him. during "ibi", he mentioned that a rage against the machine tribute band was in town, and that "we can do better than them", so he had us all shout the lyrics "fuck you, i won't do what you tell me" in increasing intensity.

i found this video of "anthems", with guest amy millan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz3HqbRzXd4

~~~

Labels: broken social scene, here we go magic, metropolis, shows

special affections

a while ago, godspeed you black emperor finally announced some montreal dates for their spring 2011 tour. unfortunately, i could not get tickets. major disappointment.

then, they announced two additional shows at a bigger venue. about two weeks ago, i went to cheap thrills to get tickets. since they went on sale at noon, i browsed around the shop at around 11:50am. i quickly went through their used section, and saw diamond rings' "special affections". i remember liking his set when he opened for owen pallett; so i made an impulse purchase.

it's cheezy 80's synth pop, but i like it.

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, diamond rings

2010-12-08

amphetamine

a while ago, i saw a hong kong movie, 安非他命 (amphetamine).

trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNcRx2ScIPY

it was a somewhat pretentious artsy-fartsy kind of movie. beautifully shot. but the storyline and dialogue were not great. on the other hand, i loved the music. it fit the scenes well; subtle, without being manipulative.

on its own, the music is great too. i ended up ordering the soundtrack online. it turned out not too expensive, even including the shipping from hong kong.

the cd booklet is big and glossy, which is nice. except that it's too thick to fit into the case, which annoys me a bit.

the soundtrack is composed of 29 short pieces. there is a melody that repeats itself throughout, with variations. those are my favourite parts. examples below.

天堂的初吻 (kiss from heaven)

歸途 (way home)

重聚 (reunion)

曲終 (end)

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, soundtrack