Music You've Probably Never Heard -- Grab Bag 2, Techno Collection

Bah, long title.  Hey y'all, I'm back.  It's been a pretty slack week for posting.  Sorry about that.  I'm going to have to get better about it.  I want to have a schedule that I more or less follow, but for right now I've got a lot going on.  I still have one last fanfiction to finish, and I've got to work on publishable stuffs.

But anyway, music time.  This week I'm going to be telling you all about the songs I have in my collection playlist on youtube.  The best ones will get a mention here, and hopefully you'll like them as much as I do.  This week won't be for those deeply entrenched in the pop realm, I have to warn you.

Let's start off with a trio of songs by Acen.  My mom likes to comment that I like drug music, and despite the lack of drugs in my life, I have to admit that I like these songs.  This trio is known as Trip II the Moon, and it comes in three parts.  Part number one is my favorite, as it's the most story-esque.  Part 2 is more trippy, and part 3 is more pop accessible....for trippy stuff.   What they did was take some bits from a James Bond song and turn them into the most nuts thing you've ever heard.  Here ya go.

Trip II the Moon part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8v7dRXuzEw
Trip II the Moon part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfMlQJ5SeFo
Trip II the Moon part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6TT0J0pPsQ

What else we got?  Would you like something more happy?  Sure!  Let me show you the most happy song that Happy Hardcore has to offer: Love, Life, and Happiness!  It's fun, and it will catch you off guard with how much you like it.

Love, Life, and Happiness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNn-3pN1VGc

Some of the stuff I like has a more urban feel to it, and this next song feels very much that way.  It's fun, but not the easiest song to get caught up in.  Very hypnotizing...

Is It True? (To The Unknown): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg890as9IKk

Okay, so I'm not really into Acen enough to give them their own week, but I will admit that I love another of their songs, Close Your Eyes.  This one right here is definitely more of a druggie song.  I'll include two remixes, though I'm sure there's like forty bajillion more.  I like the XXX version best, but I'll let you decide which you think is good.

Close Your Eyes (Remix II)(The Sequel): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-GICHHP_CI
Close Your Eyes (XXX Mix): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7I6BR_XY10

Dream Injection is just a beautiful trance song.  It really deserves a listen.  No really, just sit there and relax to it.  Don't worry about doing other things.  It's the perfect chillout song, and it reminds me so much of my childhood and adventurous days...the image in the video is absolutely perfect for the song. 

Dream Injection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Sn_PTgkOs

I just ran into Brainskan the other day, and they have two songs I really want you to check out.  The first of which is No Commin Back, a mostly lyricless piece with the totally acid sound and a right creepy party beat.  Seriously, it's good stuffs.  Human Spirit is a somewhat more cheesey song, but hey, I think you'll like it.

No Commin Back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq0iLRaDehA
Human Spirit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xixVQ85fKyI

Wanna chill out with something less ecclectic?  Well, here you go, Pacific Wish.  It's very trancey, odd, and tropical.  The image with this vid sums it up well.  It's just a lot of fun and party.  Perfect for people who don't hang out in the more rave genres.

Pacific Wish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaKiEfvJ4gg

Song of the Second Moon sounds like a really cheesey movie title, doesn't it?  It's actually the name of one of the weirdest mess songs I've ever heard.  You might not believe it, but this song was made in the fifties.  People have been working on electronic music for a long time.  The fifties spawned some weird stuff, because nobody was sure then where exactly this whole electronic music thing was going.

Song of the Second Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsk6AcjQF24

Let's chill it down to finish this off.  Manifesto by Aztech is a very pleasant song, quiet and subdued.  It's perfect for calming down after all this weird mess.

Manifesto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tofb4UatMIM

Alright, so hopefully I'll be posting a little more this week, just to let y'all know that I'm still alive.  I like to write, and I actually need to stop lazing around.  Of course, my boyfriend is coming home soon from Afganistan, so we'll have to see.

Music You've Never Heard - Billie Piper

Hey y'all.  So I was thinking the other day that while this segment tries to show music that you've never heard before, it is under no obligation to have to show you good music.  While I much prefer this, this week I have something else in mind.  This may sound like a harsh criticism of Billie Piper, but honestly, she's not that great as a singer.  She's by far not the worst thing you've ever heard, but still.  I bring Billie up as an example of something I want to address in music today.

If you've heard this name before, it's because Billie Piper played the role of one of the most iconic companions to the Doctor in the television show Doctor Who: Rose Tyler.  Notably, I like her on this show.  I think she did a good job of portraying someone who is a friend and helper to the Doctor.  Her acting was good and consistent.  Rose was more or less a normal British girl who worked in a department store ("the shops", Brits call 'em) who gets swept away into the adventures of an alien who travels in a blue police box that's bigger on the inside.  I highly recommend watching her during seasons 1 and 2 of this show. 

Season three is where everything starts to go to crap as far as writing goes (with a few notable exceptions), so unless Matt Smith is a good doctor (I haven't seen him yet), then it's not really that much worth watching past the first couple of episodes of season three.

But this post is not about Doctor Who, though I expect I'll be writing about that at some point too.  In any case. Billie Piper was a pop star before she was on this show, and I'll be featuring some of her songs on here. 

I have a few questions for you.  What exactly makes a song a "pop" song?  Is pop as a genre good or bad?  What makes a successful pop song?  Is Billie Piper a good pop artist, merely a successful one, or just plain bad?  You should answer these questions for yourself, but for the sake of form I'm going to try to answer them from my perspective.

Okay, so how do I define a pop song?  To me, pop songs are songs that are more or less lighthearted, expressing surface emotions without really going deeper.  These songs are about living life, love (or lack of), or partying.  They have simpler melodies that eat your way into your brain and make you think of them during odd times, and you find yourself a little ashamed (or possibly amused) that you remember some of the words.  These songs are by no means to be taken seriously.  They are for fun and nothing more, other than kpop and possibly jpop.  Those, however, I usually consider a different genre from normal pop; Koreans and Japanese are not like out west pop people.  A lot of the times artists take their work too seriously, like trying to make a song about breaking up with someone intense and "hardcore".  Yeah.

Okay, so pop songs are
1. Shallower than other genres
2. About normal things, possibly taking them too seriously
3. Simple, catchy melodies
4. Potential shame for liking them (depending on you or the crowd you hang with).

Now, is pop a bad genre?  I have to say not necessarily.  I mean, we've had good pop songs over the years, like...um....somebody help me here...ooh, Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics.  That's synthpop and not normal pop, but still.  Synthpop is fun stuff.  In any case, pop is like any other genre: it depends on who makes it and how they make it whether or not it is good.  Now, at this point in time pop is very stupid, because it has forsaken love for lust, soul for screeching, talent for notoriety, and effort for bad, emo crooning.  Pop is bad now, but there's no reason why it has to continue being this way.  Most undergrounders throw out pop entirely because of this, but this is too far in my opinion.  Everyone just needs to have fun once in a while.

My definition for a successful pop song is one:
1. that you hear on the radio over and over again.
2. that will not leave your mind unless you drive it out with techno or rave.
3. that makes you listen no matter how much you don't like it.

Feel free to add more to this definition if you feel it lacking.

Okay, so let's get on the topic of Billie.  Two words will describe her singing style: Britney Spears.  No, really.  She's just as silly, bland, and auto-tuned sounding (she may not be, it just sounds like it) as Spears sounds.  The saddest part about this is that Billie is British, and yet in only one of her songs does she display any sort of British accent.  I don't expect her to be a stereotype, but the reason I listen to music from other countries is to hear the styles of those countries.  An artist shouldn't be afraid to represent who they are, and they shouldn't be so drowned in metaphorical pop ketchup that you can't see their individuality. 

That's my opinion, though.  Do you agree?

Let's start with this one song right here, Day and Night.  This is the single most cliched song I have ever heard in my life.  Not unless Weird Al decides he's going to come up with a song where he sings nothing but cliches.  It's a song about love, I guess...maybe?  She needs a dude, apparently.  Maybe I'm just being critical because the most pop I get is Sarit Hadad, but the words of this song are so repetitive and unpoetic that it's hardly worth listening to.  Then again, this follows the idea of making you listen no matter how much you dislike it.  Try and see.

Day and Night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T2Ys6CDU1E

Next up is Honey to the Bee, and...ugh...ugh, ugh.  It's so bad it gets me talkin' like a caveman.  The other songs of Billie's I've heard are meh at worst, but this one is plain bad.  First of all, it feels touched by country (kryptonite for techno peeps).  It also has bee pun lyrics, shallow ones about...whatever.  The lyrics drag on like the drolling way she sings.  Guh, the bridge of this song just makes me sick.  I haven't once listened to this song to the end.  You won't either.  Don't believe me?

Honey to the Bee: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFDtlHmiJYo

Okay, okay, enough ragging on Billie.  Let's put up a better song.  This one is actually a lot of fun, and it plays on nostalgia.  I'm not going to pretend it's something important or great, but it accomplishes the pop mission of having fun.  It's called She Wants You, it's a story about a girl noticing another girl trying to steal her man.  The lyrics and the topic aren't that special, and the music video is laughable, but I actually kinda like this song.  It's fun stuff.  It will eat into your brain like one of them critters from Star Trek II.

She Wants You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GXAnzE7njU

I can't say the same for Something Deep Inside.  You kinda think with a title like that that this would be something more heartfelt and deeper.  It's just about bland love.  Blah, boring.  I can't say "meh" enough times so I won't try.  Seriously, Backstreet Boys kick this song's butt.

Something Deep Inside: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtz5vVHP87Q

There's one more of Billie's songs I like.  It's called Because We Want To, and it's essentially a pop song glorifying youthful independence and self-righteousness (teens think they know crap about crap; you know how they are).  I love the beat.  In  my head I change the lyrics to more violent things, but I tend to do that to cheesy things.  That's what I like about this song.  It's so cheesy that none of the pretentious, bland pop-ness that infects Billie's later songs catches this one.  This is the one where you can actually tell Billie is British if you didn't know otherwise, sort of.  It's fun, but you cannot possibly cheese this cheese.

Because We Want To: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsYSdmMKCe8

And let's round this out with one last song.  It's called Walk of Life, otherwise known as Meh.  At least to me.  It's just not interesting.  Not the words, beat, or the way Billie sings it.  It's like the musical equivalent of watching paint dry.  Do you seriously like this song?

Walk of Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxvzAr5QcMw

So yeah.  I realize that this is nineties stuff, but at the end of the day you have to look at this stuff if you want to see what happened to music.  Nobody really seems to like music anymore.  Everyone nowadays talks about how all the older music is better than now, and you have to wonder where it all went wrong.  I hardly know.  There are a few generic answers, like artists caring more about good money than actually making good music.  There's narcissim, too.  Maybe people are so impatient for new music that they don't realize good music takes time.  Looking at Billie's songs up there, it seems like her best songs were the ones where she just tried to have fun rather than try to be so serious.  

Also, I'd like to point out that the best songs are not about the artist.  They are about common feelings and thoughts that we share as humans.  When an artist sings to someone out there, not for or to themselves, that song is touching.  It's humble and endearing, and it pulls us in.  It's like I was saying with the Disney songs in the The Princess and the Frog review.  The best songs are either fun as all get out, or are ones that reach out to the audience.  Nobody likes songs where people sing how great they are. 

Now, I'm not saying Billie has no talent, though I personally feel most of it lies in acting rather than singing.  I don't mean to criticize her unduly, as there are worse artists out there.  Tell me what you think of her, and if you think I'm full of it.

So yeah, that's todays rant. Next week I'll get back to posting music I like again.

Music You've Never Heard -- Sarit Hadad

Hey y'all. Today's artist you've never heard of is named Sarit Hadad. I'm all into Hebrew music, because Middle Eastern languages are pretty. Sarit, like Ofra Haza, was a child prodigy who at eight was already performing piano at dance clubs, all without the parents' permission. Also, she took it upon herself to learn more instruments, like guitar and darbuka. She's pretty popular in the Israeli realm of music, but I don't know how many Americans or others would recognise her name. So, she lands a spot here.

Sarit is one of my favorite singers, despite the fact that she has more of a pop sound. And I am not into pop. That's one of my two negative points about Sarit, the other being that Madonna listens to her. Ugh...Madonna...*gags*. Anyway, it's okay to listen to pop every now and again, because taking music too seriously is a bad thing.

So what kind of stuff does Sarit sing? Mostly fun pop songs. Once you get past the hebrew lyrics, the songs are basically about love and fun and everything else pop singers sing about (except Sarit's songs aren't slutty). For me, not knowing what the lyrics of a song mean somehow makes the song more deep and more interesting. Sometimes the meanings really don't meet my expectations, and I've been burned more than once by liking foreign songs with bad lyrics. Don't worry about Sarit, though. She's not singing about killing people or anything.

Why am I talking about that?

Anyway, let's get into her music. This first song I'm going to post is actually a song I've written about before: Shir Ha'frecha. I love this song, and Ofra Haza's version is marvelous and tragic. Now, I'm usually not a fan of other artists coming in and doing remixes, because most remixes are fail or meh by default. Not so in this case. Sarit actually makes a version that is more party and a lot of fun, actually doing good things with this song rather than just making it a bland imitation.

Shir Ha'frecha (Sarit version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmPn3_9dOXI

If you like fun party music, you should check out Bosem Tsarfati (French perfume). It's a song that basically says "don't give me gifts, I just want you near". Yeah, one of those anti-materialism songs. Whatever. It's so much fun, and one of my favorites. Seriously, Sarit has a great voice, and towards the middle this one really cooks.

Bosem Tsarfati: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAJlY-kiBcs

Man, I love this next song. It's another love song, this one about a girl who is believed to be shallow because her love with a man is going too fast. Sarit sings from the girl's perspective, explaining that this really is love. The chorus is the kind that digs into your brain and never lets go. Don't say I didn't warn ya.

Karusela: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dxyypKVU70

Okay, so what's next? Ah, let's do a slow song. As party as Sarit is, she's got to chill out some time. This song is a very touching one, one that cries out to God for help. There are times in our lives when everything is going wrong, and we don't even know how to fix it, or even if we can. That's what this song is about. "He calls out to his God on the edge of the deep..."

Shema Israel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQlRrrReua0
Lyrics: http://www.hebrewsongs.com/song-shmaisrael.htm

I love this next song with all my heart. One of the things artists do is describe a certain thing, usually an emotion, without directly saying what it is. Think "Eye of the Tiger" and how bizarre most of its words are. Lamut Me'ahava is one of these songs, and is so poetic and beautiful....it's definitely a favorite. Seriously, you need to go look at the lyrics. Oh yeah, in english the title means "die out of love".

Lamut Me'ahava: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipUoAjbYEqc
Lyrics: http://www.hebrewsongs.com/?song=lamutmeahavah

Sarit isn't perfect, and though I like this next song, the music video irritates me. It really makes me wonder about her childhood. I mean, it shows her pretending to be a young girl being bossed around by her mother, then the girl later sneaks off to a club and meets a guy. After telling him all her problems, the guy goes with her to tell off her mom, and then the two drive away.

Does anyone see the problem with this? I mean, crap, if you meet a guy who wants to take you away from your family after knowing him one or two nights, then there is something seriously messed up with this guy, or he's only after one thing from you. He might even sell you into slavery. Seriously, that's a very stupid thing for a girl to do. Also, it's really depressing seeing the mom sitting there alone at the end, all sad. Strict as she was, she was only trying to help her daughter. What the crap is with that, Sarit? The song has nothing to do with the vid, other than being a party song called "celebrate".

Hagiga: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3fPfVCZxig

I'm not going to lie. I have no clue what this song means. It has something to do with Sarit's father, but that's all I can tell you. That, and this song is beautiful. Check it out.

???: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8RS5zsh6cI

This next song is another love song, this one surprisingly generic as far as the words go. It's Rak Ata, or "only you". I like the beat and everything, but the music video really misleads in the sense that it makes you think the song is about a more serious topic. Nope. Whatever, I mean it's not like it's a bad song. Check it out.

Rak Ata: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INhv7duFbCk

So, you can check out more of Sarit's stuff. Like I said, most of her stuff is too pop for me, and it's begging for a heavy metal remix. Crap, just linking all the songs for this blog really makes me want to go listen to metal. That being said, Sarit Hadad's work is a lot of fun, and it's very good for people just out to have a good time. She has a great voice, and she really should be looked at more by the international community.

That being said, just because a thing is in the same language as the Bible doesn't mean it's as serious or important. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go hunt down some metal.
　

Music You've Probably Never Heard Before -- DJ Micro

Hey y'all. It's time for some music you've probably never heard of! This week I'll be talking about a dj whose music for some reason reminds me of Christmas. No, he doesn't do Christmas music (that I know of), but listening to one album in particular always brings up images for me of walking through the light rain with my mom's Christmas present heading home as fast as I could. A guy tried to give me a ride, but I didn't know him.

The artist I'm talking about is DJ Micro. I love his work, and my favorite album of his is My Frequency 001, the aforementioned "Christmas" album. It has several tracks on it that I like, in particular the first four. It starts off strong with Born to Synthesize, a very thematic piece that's intense but not overly hardcore. It's a perfect description of a dj. Listen to it and you will see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDlCcfeGLr0

Track two is my favorite of the album, Sun is Coming Out [Intrance Remix]. This is a very motivating piece that is so much fun and energizes you with a bright cheer. I absolutely love it. I can't find the album mix, but here's the mix I could find: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ0dC9qHgyM

Revolution [Alphazone Remix] is a pumping piece that might scare people off at first. It's hard, intense, but overall a great track. To me it brings back memories of having such a sore throat that I could barely talk around Thanksgiving. Yeah, that was a crazy year. Staying up late plus drinking lots of dark soda will murder your voice, just fyi. The song however, is very intense, and about two and a half minutes in the song really starts kicking in and going nuts. This track is totally party. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWHaHRzpf10

Track 4, Screaming Inside (Yatari Vocal Mix) I didn't actually record on my computer. I just felt like it was a bit too weird lyricwise. This song actually has lyrics, and those of you who aren't easily weirded out by the overly poetic techno lyrics will still like it -- I can be weird about that sort of thing. Still, its a very melodius tune and is very relaxing. That's very necessary after the energy of the first four tracks. And it must creep other people out too, 'cause it's not on youtube.

Next is Awakening, a still relaxing song that doesn't quite entrance as well as the previous track. It's nice, energetic, but it feels pretty standard. Don't you think so? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFNVa3nMOSE

Electro Buzz is back on track with a pulsing beat that really brings to mind adventures and Christmas and cold wind. Or maybe I'm just nuts. I just love the beat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgsIpWtDVEM

Blind Visions [Arcadia Club Mix] isn't as good, but it's okay. It's still fitting in with the odd feeling of the album, it just doesn't stand out as well. It's still a lot of fun, though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpk6PFKcMkg

Fury is a song I don't like. It's not interesting, sort of annoying, and goes on for seven and a half minutes. It just doesn't have the uniqueness or fun of the majority of the tracks on this cd. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6quRP-78N0

Broken [Pitch and Sulfer's "Back in Time" Remix] is like track 4 in the sense it has silly techno lyrics. In this case they didn't creep me out. It's a good track, but the title is a bit extensive for a track that's not the best ever. It's good and chill, but not great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0e9HWpfEKQ

I've heard more than one remix of Intensify, so I wasn't really into this when I first heard it. I think I like this mix better, but I still find the song itself to be really corny. It's wonky, so it's a song that some people will really like and others will really dislike. See what you think: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZDtgEQSRBI

I'm Alone [Ronski Speed Mix] I was immediately drawn to, because Ronski songs are really meditative. The trouble is, this particular song is a little too mellow and drawn out for being at the end of this album. Listening to the whole album and then coming to this song leaves the listener with a sense of exhaustion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJQvpiNs4vA

Now, I'd heard another version of Inside of Me, but this one is the Original Vocal Mix. This song was the reason I bought this cd in the first place, because I'd heard the more popular version of this song on internet radio. This version, however, was less pop, and it took me a bit to get used to the difference. First of all, it has verses. For this album it really does need more words, and it really brings together the real meaning behind the song. It's more adventurous and strong a mix than the bubblegum version I heard first, and it's not as pop-accessible. This is the case where I really learned to get deeper into electronic music and mature as a listener -- good bye pop songs! Unfortunately, I can't find this mix on youtube. Yeah. Not so pop-accessible.

So I like this album, but I have to be very honest. It starts off great, but towards the middle it gets bogged down and tiresome because there isn't as enough variety in the middle tracks. It really doesn't recover until the very last track, making this album one more for middle to hard electronic listeners. I'll continue to listen to this as I wrap Christmas presents, but it's not something I can recommend for everyone.

But heck, that ain't the only stuff that Dj Micro has done. Why don't I dig up some stuff for you on youtube for those of you less accustomed to harder or more electronic pieces?

Inside of Me (Radio Edit) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgMR-1oHymg
The World Around me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIMiC1ieYaA
Stargazer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E8x3tRJaig
I'll Fly with You (with Gigi D'Agostino) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d82iTBPbwD0
Breathe in You (Deep Amazing Vocals) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-vCEu2RyEI
DJ Micro (with Mark Aurel) The Sun Dominator Remix - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toXPpm601cs

Overall, DJ Micro is not for those who aren't into techno or hard trance. But hopefully it will expose you to new insights on how the hard trance world works.