Track Ten: Croatian Rhapsody-Maksim Mrvica

I wish I could play like this.. Forget it, I wish I could compose like this. The song is modern, but you can still hear some of it's classical roots. In short, there needs to be more songs like this. period.

Track Nine: Two Weeks-Grizzly Bear

This song is great. You wanna know why it's great? Because pianos. I will not tell you how many times I have tried to pick out the piano part for this, because it really is just amazing. It's simple, it's repetitive, it worms it's way inside your brain and makes you love it. The vocals are great too, they have this sort of airy, carefree quality. It's the type of song where the backing vocals in particular really make the song. It wouldn't be the same without them. The song seems pretty relaxed, but if you ask me there's just a hint of sadness there, a sort of melancholy. It's hard to describe, but there's no denying it's a beautiful song.

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After reading some of the comments I discovered this. I think it's pretty cool so check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axgTTuL7DVg

Track Eight: War Photographer-Jason Forrest

I have a soft spot for songs that don't have lyrics. Don't get me wrong, I love it when lyrics can tell a compelling story, but songs like this remind me why I love music. If you take a look at the video there is obviously a story it has to tell, but listen to it without the video and.. there's about a million stories it could be telling. I myself am the type of person who takes full advantage of this. Go ahead and listen to the song once with the video. Play it again and this time shut your eyes and just *listen*. If you're like me you will soon be directing your very own music video in your head. The fact that a song can take advantage of your imagination like that is really really cool.

The first time I really *listened* to this song, I was in the car reading a book. The book's characters had been on a long journey when they reached the top of a mountain and got a glimpse of the landscape stretching out before them. It was then that the final chorus of this song began to play. The triumphant, almost euphoric sound of the trumpets completely captured that moment for me. It was unlike any experience I had ever had when listening to music before. It just goes to show you that music really is an emotional thing. It can take a feeling, an emotion, and project it onto us as human beings. It's why sad songs make us sad, why happy songs make us happy, why the music they play in scary movies makes us so unsettled. I find this inherent quality of music truly fascinating. It's the sort of thing that sounds obvious, but when you think about it... just a small combination of tones can either discomfort us or put us at ease in a manner of seconds. It makes you wonder how your brain is really processing all this stuff, doesn't it?

I might've gone off on a bit of a tangent there.. You're probably just here for the music anyway, so I'll shut up and let you listen. Enjoy the song. ~

Track Seven: MAMA- EXO-M + EXO-K

EXO-M

EXO-K

Hey you guys, sorry for the lapse in updates. School. was. crazy. As you can probably tell, the end of the semester is coming up so things are starting to pile up. I have finals to study for, essays to write.. you know how it goes.

That being said I've got two videos for you today! Well... sort off. This is a song by Korean/Chinese boy band EXO. Technically the band has twelve members, but they record their music videos in both languages, one with the Korean members and one with the Chinese members. The Korean half of the band is called EXO-K, while the Chinese half is EXO-M (I believe the 'M' stands for Mandarin? I'm not sure.) The Korean version is waaaaay more popular (about 5 million views more) and that's probably due to all the K-pop fans. that being said, I myself prefer the Chinese version. I think it's the lyrics really. If you ask me the song sounds cooler in Chinese, especially during the pre-chorus. Oh yeah, and there's also some backstory about how they all have superpowers and are going to save the world or something.

Anyways. On to what I like about this song. I'm not really going to talk much about the performance because hey, it's K-pop. Pretty boys and dancing, that pretty much sums it up. What interested me though is that it turns out the songwriter, Yoo Young-jin, composed another two of my favorite K-pop songs: Lucifer (SHINee) and Keep Your Head Down (TVXQ). Both those songs are pretty intense, but not as intense as this one. The chant in the beginning is really really cool. It just.. I dunno, it sets the mood. The song also manages to blend in some styles that I hadn't seen in K-pop before while still maintaining a nice sense of cohesion. Overall, it's pretty epic. If you're not into K-pop, you might not like it as much as me, but I still think it's a cool track.

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Comparison of the two videos. They sorta match up at certain parts, it's kinda cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJW7jU9bagQ

Track Six: Handlebars-Flobots

I like this song because it makes me smile.

Well.... except for the end part. It's a lot more dramatic when you watch the video.

So... yeah. Watch the video. It gets more epic as it goes on.

Track Five: Crown on the Ground-Sleigh Bells

Get ready to turn your speakers up. LOUD.

Don't worry, it's supposed to sound like that, your speakers aren't broken. The intentional overdrive just adds to the overall awesomeness. This song takes a simple and familiar chord progression and... how should I say... turns it up to eleven? Combine it with the hypnotic vocal and you've got yourself a pretty sweet track. This song kicks some pretty serious... well, you know. Enjoy.

Track Four: Unhappy Refrain-Wowaka ft. Hatsune Miku

Today I bring you a song by one of my favorite Japanese composers, Wowaka; with help from electronic singing program Hatsune Miku.

 I agonized over what I was going to say about this song for a couple of hours. It's hard to pin down exactly *what* I like about this song. It has a very distinct musical texture, it almost sounds as if a bunch of loops were randomly put together and played at the same time. It's this kind of... disjointedness that I like. Frankly, the song drives my parents nuts.

When I asked them what they didn't like about it, they said it was annoying. I then compared it to a punk song that both me and my parents really like. This song also has some "annoying" qualities. It makes me wonder if songs like this are my generation's form of punk music; they sound weird just for weirdnesses sake. I asked my mom why she liked punk when she was a teenager and she gave me a very interesting answer. She said she liked it because it was weird, because it was different, because it wasn't on the radio, and because nobody else liked it. I think that's why I like this song. It's different. If you're over a certain age, it might not be your cup of tea, but I encourage you to give it a listen. You might be surprised.

Don't forget to leave me a comment about what you like or don't like about the song. I want to see what some of you guys think.

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Singable English translation: http://letsget-lyrical.blogspot.com/2011/06/unhappy-refrain-miku.html
The lyrics are pretty vague, even in Japanese. You can choose to interpret them however you want.

Track Three: I Follow Rivers-Lykke Li

Today we have a song by Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li.

I hadn't seen the video for this before today. It's... interesting. I usually don't pay much attention to the lyrics of songs, but this caused me to stop and wonder, what is she *really* singing about? The video seemed like a scene from a movie and it kept me pretty intrigued throughout. The song is pretty interesting musically as well. From the weird percussion (seriously, what kind of drums are those? space bongos??), to the excellent vocal. I mean, it's just really really good. If you're not hooked by the chorus.... I just.. I can't help you.

In other news, today was a real close tie between whether I should post this or a song by Russian duo t.A.T.u. ....sometimes I think the U.S. should pay more attention to these European artists. I mean, c'mon. We're missing some good stuff here people!

Track Two: Rain-MIKA

I'll be honest. I was going to post a different song today. However, when doing some research on Mika's excellent song Grace Kelly, I discovered this.

This song... It's hard to say what I like about it. Firstly, the songwriting. Mika, I knew you were great before this, but this song is a new high for you. It's the kind of music that's hard to define; and if you ask me, that's a good thing. The doubling of the vocals in certain parts gives it an ethereal kind of feeling, and the light electronic background really pulls the whole thing together. A good song should take you somewhere, make you feel something. Listening to this is like being transported to another world.

Did I mention the video is great? Ah well, I rest my case. Now listen to this song.

Track One: Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)-Foster the People

Some of you may have heard of Foster the People before. Their song Pumped Up Kicks recently graced our ears on national radio. Today however, I would like to show one of their lesser known songs...

 I first heard this song when the music video was broadcast through the 3DS Nintendo video service. In addition to having a hilarious video (Seriously, it gets funnier every time you watch), the song's upbeat rhythm and catchy chorus make it great for when you're going for a ride. You can really feel the energy in this song, and that's why I like it.

Welcome!

Welcome to Gigi's music blog, where it's all music all the time.

I created this blog somewhat on the spur of the moment. Being a typical teenager with an atypical taste in music, I decided I needed an outlet to share my favorite songs with the rest of the world. I plan to post one song a day, hopefully with the attached youtube video, along with a short explanation as to why I like the song.

You'll have to forgive me as I'm new to blogger (and google+ in general) so it may take me some time to figure things out...

That being said, let's get started!

-Gigi