Art by Frosted Monster.
Hello! Thanks for wandering in!
To start: I am no music critic, I have no credentials, I simply like to listen to music and share that music with others. I’ve enjoyed sharing music within Discord friend groups, but this is a relatively easy way to share it with as many folks as are interested. If I can spark interest for someone to listen to even one track they haven’t heard before, I’ll be more than happy. (And you can let me know what you think by finding me at various other places linked at the bottom of the page!)
Ultimately, I plan on diving into maybe a few tracks or one album per post. What I get into is based entirely on vibes and will likely be something I’ve listened to quite a bit in order to form opinions. Sometimes I’ll have much to say, sometimes I’ll have a sentence or two. I’m an adult and I choose the length and complexity of my media analysis!
But enough of a prologue, let’s get into some tunes!
White Lies’ “All The Best”
The intro riff of this track is good, yeah? Well, keep listening for ~2 minutes and they add Sexy Saxophone™ to the mix! It rips.
(I should do an entire post about White Lies’ album “Night Light,” honestly. It’s one of those albums that started out as just okay, but then grew on me until I was listening to it daily.)
But back to this particular track. The front ~half of the song is what claws at my soul. The latter ~half is dramatic and loud and fun, but I’m a sucker for the intimate feeling and dynamics of the front. The trajectory of the track involves well-executed addition and subtraction of elements to either bring the energy or intimately focus on the vocals. The chorus is huge in comparison to the verses, especially the second verse. Harry McVeigh’s almost confessional vocal performance builds back up to the strength of the chorus, but hold on, what were those lyrics?
…
I want my soul to be a kite
For all the love to ride and run
…
I gave the black days too much time
And the good days not enough
I’m singling those lines out of their context; they’re part of a broader story about being the wrong person for someone. But I’m removing the context because that’s what my brain did when hearing those lines. In this case, the song puts to words two very real things I felt when dealing with the worst of my depression: wanting to unburden oneself for love, while also shifting focus from the bad to the good. Both of those things are quite difficult when you’re at your lowest. Thankfully years of therapy and medication have helped me, but I remember the days clearly where I yearned for better… for myself and for others. It’s neat to feel seen like that.
Oh, and saxophones are great, please add them to your music.
Tove Lo’s “disco tits”
I say hi
You say hi
We stay high
You look so pretty, yeah
mmm that tasty tasty bass and use of negative space. This song is relatively sparse but each element has its place.
I don’t party, I don’t dance, I don’t do drugs, but this is the kind of song that brings me the kind of euphoria and escapism that I imagine the song is attempting to convey.
Kaskade’s “Seeing Julie”
A lot of Kaskade’s discography has nostalgia for me. According to my Last.FM profile, he has claimed my top artist slot with almost 20k plays since I started scrobbling (their term for tracking music listening) in mid 2009.
Anyway, “Seeing Julie” is on here as it’s a great, laid-back deep house track… that I heard out in the wild in Montreal. I was sitting, enjoying some lunch with friends, and I got smacked in the face with this track. They then had to put up with me geeking out in shock for a solid few minutes because this is a deep pull from Kaskade’s first album. It fit the vibe of the playlist it was on, but woah, I never hear tracks like this out in public.
To see you again, makes me smile