My time during Anime Expo 2010 was some of the best times I’ve ever had on vacation. It’s why I plan on getting back to Anime Expo for 2012 after missing out on 2011. One of the things which I liked about Anime Expo 2010 was some of the AMV’s I was able to watch. One of them ended up winning Best Drama and also ended up my favorite AMV for the convention. It also happens to be one of my favorite AMVs of all-time. This AMV is the latest “AMV of the Day” and simply titled “Alchanum”.
This AMV was created by Rider4ZMusicVideos and he chose the very popular anime series Fullmetal Alchemist and the song “See Who I Am” by the symphonic metal group Within Temptation. The epic, dramatic sound of the song paired with some very emotional scenes from the series shows just why this particular AMV was such a bih hit at Anime Expo 2010 and why it won the Best Drama category.
For those who have never watched Fullmetal Alchemist can get a basic idea of why this series has remained so popular with anime fans everywhere. Even if one didn’t understand what was going on in the video the emotions conveyed within should tempt these neophytes into checking out the series. The video also highlights just how well Within Temptation’s songs fit well with AMVs especially those of the dramatic stripe. For those who have seen the series this video should just reiterate just why they ended up fans of the series in the first place.
One of my favorite show has ended this past Friday night. Those who have read my previous “Song of the Day” entry would know that the show I speak of is the spy-comedy series Chuck on NBC. This latest “Song of the Day” entry uses the song which plays during one of the most romantic and heartbreaking scenes to end the series. It’s an ending left ambiguous and allows for the viewer to decide if things work out for the best. The song is The Head and The Heart’s song, “Rivers and Roads”.
Some background info as to why this song has become a favorite of pretty much every Chuck fan. The two characters this plays for is the title character Chuck Bartowski who becomes a spy by accident in the beginning of the series. Sarah Walker (played by the lovely Yvonne Strahovski) is sent to become Chuck’s handler until he could get he spuer-secret Intersect spy database out of his brain or manages to use it well. Throughout the five season of the series these two characters have a “will they or won’t they” fall for each other. They finally do end up falling in love with each other midway through season 3 and even get married. Season 5 (which ended up being it’s last) had a major development in the last couple episodes where Sarah loses her memory of the five years she spent with Chuck and reverts back to pre-Chuck days. So, the wife Chuck married doesn’t remember their special moments together.
The series finale shows Chuck and Sarah back at the beach which ended the pilot episode with Chuck expressing his love once again to the woman he still loves even if she doesn’t remember those times. Throughout the episode we get glimpses that Sarah may be slowly remembering tidbits from their time together but not enough. This final scene has Chuck saying that his best friend in the show saying that one kiss from Chuck with Sarah will magically unlock those memories once again. It’s that final line uttered by Sarah and the two kissing with “Rivers and Roads” playing in the background and the show fading to back which made this episode so heartbreaking an, for many, hopeful that the magical kiss is successful.
I’d like to remember this scene as following the Disney magic that one kiss will unlock those memories. The song by The Head and The Heart is such a perfect accompaniment to this scene and as every fan of the show will probably do is go out and buy this album. This tv romance between Chuck and Sarah was one of the best ever on TV and I, for one, am glad I was able to witness it grow and develop through those 5 seasons on NBC.
Rivers and Roads
A year from now we’ll all be gone All our friends will move away And they’re goin’ to better places But our friends will be gone away
Nothin’ is as it has been And I miss your face like hell And I guess it’s just as well But I miss your face like hell
Been talkin’ ’bout the way things change And my family lives in a different state If you don’t know what to make of this Then we will not relate So if you don’t know what to make of this Then we will not relate
Rivers and roads Rivers and roads Rivers till I reach you Rivers and roads Rivers and roads Rivers till I reach you Rivers and roads Rivers and roads Rivers till I reach you Rivers and roads Rivers and roads Rivers till I reach you Rivers and roads Rivers and roads Rivers till I reach you Rivers and roads Rivers and roads Rivers till I reach you Rivers and roads Rivers and roads Rivers till I reach you Rivers and roads Rivers and roads Rivers till I reach you Rivers and roads Rivers and roads Rivers till I reach you…
Tonight marked the end of one of my favorite TV shows. It was the little spy-comedy show that could. The show powered through the last three seasons of less and less episodes with the threat of cancellation always above. The show I’m talking about is Chuck and to say that my tv world is a little less awesome now that the series finally ended tonight with it’s 2-hour series finale would be an understatement.
This series finale also brought back to my attention a song from my youth that has always been a guilty pleasure that’s become used as a joke or cynically deconstructed by hipsters in this day and age. This series brought back A-Ha’s “Take On Me” as covered by the show’s resident disturbingly hilarious musical duo, Jeffster. Instead of using it as a joke or something for people to laugh at the show used the song in a way that fit the bittersweet feeling fans over the show’s final moments.
I will forever remember this song as one of the many awesome songs which became part of Chuck.
Take On Me
We’re talking away I don’t know what I’m to say I’ll say it anyway Today’s another day to find you Shying away I’ll be coming for your love, OK?
Take on me, take me on I’ll be gone In a day or two
So needless to say I’m odds and ends But that’s me stumbling away Slowly learning that life is OK. Say after me It’s no better to be safe than sorry
Take on me, take me on I’ll be gone In a day or two
Oh the things that you say Is it life or Just a play my worries away You’re all the things I’ve got to remember You’re shying away I’ll be coming for you anyway
Take on me, take me on I’ll be gone In a day or two
Ok, I never thought I’d say this but it looks like Backstreet Boys has finally been part of something that’s been fun to watch and quite enjoyable. It’s this very one thing which is the latest entry in our recurring blog feature: “AMV of the Day”.
The video makes a play on the Backstreet Boys’ party song title, “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”, by taking out the band’s name and putting in Fullmetal. Yes, this is an anime music video where creator Rider4ZMusicVideos has combined the very popular shonen anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist, with the aforementioned Backstreet Boys song. To say that it was a surprise to see the two work well hand-in-hand would be an understatement.
Rider really plays up some of the comedy in the series with scenes chosen, but also does a great job of picking particular scenes to help lip-synch the lyrics of the song. Once again, I was thoroughly surprised just how enjoyable this video was and for the first time in my life I actually enjoyed listening to a Backstreet Boys song.
Anime: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Song: “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” by Backstreet Boys
The fourth and final One Piece-themed “AMV of the Day” doesn’t come courtesy of AMV creator PixelCreekAMVs, but instead from Regiosk8 and is the best of the four.
“This Is War” takes it’s title from the 30 Seconds to Mars song of the same title. I will admit that I’m not the biggest fan of this group, but for some reason this song of their’s continue to be a favorite amongst amv creators especially when trying to convey and video’s epic nature. The Marineford War story-arc in One Piece definitely fills the criteria of being quite epic. One must consider the fact that this anime was and still is epic on it’s right, but this story-arc took it to a new level. It’s the arc which added a major level of seriousness to everyone’s fun as it’s creator, Oda Eiichiro, decided to kill off several main characters (fan favorites) and do so in a way that didn’t leave no question as to their final moments (American comic book writers could learn a thing or two about how to kill off characters and keeping them dead from manga writers).
I’m sure that 30 Seconds to Mars’ “This Is War” will be make another appearance in other amv’s but for now this one looks to be the best. Great job by Regiosk8 on the video and a nice tribute to one Edward “Whitebeard” Newgate to end the video.
“Throughout the Battle of Marineford alone Whitebeard had received 267 sword wounds, 152 gunshot wounds and 46 wounds from cannonballs- adding up to a total of 465 injuries upon his time of death. Despite this, there was not a single scar on Whitebeard’s back showing cowardice.”
This latest “AMV of the Day” mark the third entry which has the Marineford War story-arc in the One Piece anime series as the basis for the video.
“Move Along” is also the third AMV I’ve chosen from PixelCreekAMVs who has done a remarkable job of taking scenes from this epic One Piece story-arc. The video takes it’s name from the song used which happened to be by The All-American Rejects. This video once again highlights what has made One Piece such a huge fan favorite. It’s all about non-stop action with bits of comedy or comedy with bits of action. This is a series that goes full-bore and really not subtle about it’s storytelling on the surface.
I’ve got one more video in this One Piece-themed set but this penultimate choice til the last one has become a favorite of mine.
Just a little under a year ago I had chosen a particular favorite song as the latest “Song of the Day”. This song was Clint Mansell’s “Together We Will Live Forever”which was part of his exceptional film score for Darren Aronofsky’s 2006 scifi love story, The Fountain. I’ve decided to finally bookend that choice by choosing what has to be the best song in that film’s soundtrack and one of the best piece of film score ever composed: Mansell’s “Death Is the Road to Awe”.
While I’ve given Mansell with the final credit for the creation of this epic song (not just in tone and execution but in length), he had help from frequent collaborator Kronos Quartet and Scottish post-rock band Mogwai. “Death Is the Road to Awe” takes the entirety of Mansell’s film scoring for The Fountain and distills them into a mixture of classical, post-rock and ambient dissonance which seems to all work so well together despite their very differing musical styles.
The Fountain was (still is) a film which brings out either love and admiration for it or utter hate for what some think was a pretentious, jumbled mess. Whether one loved or hated the film (rarely is there one who falls in the middle in their reaction to this film) the reaction most have had for the soundtrack has been mostly positive. I, for one, truly believe it to be one of the greatest film scores ever composed for any film. This song is the ultimate culmination of Mansell’s work for this film and just shows that classical, rock and electronic could co-exist side-by-side to create something truly unique and one-of-a-kind.
I want to hop on the bandwagon. It would be a little silly for me to post my real top 10; for one thing, it would include four Krallice tracks. That aside, nearly everything I’d put on it I’ve either posted on this site as a Song of the Day or included in both my review of its album and my top albums post. So to make this a bit different from my past posts, I’m going to limit myself to one song per band, stick to stuff that I imagine might appeal to people who aren’t interested in extreme metal, and keep it on the catchy side. I’ll list a more honest top 10 at the end.
10. Powerwolf – Son of a Wolf (from Blood of the Saints)
As such, my tenth place selection is about as metal as it’s going to get. Powerwolf’s Blood of the Saints might be simple and repetitive, but it’s about the catchiest power/heavy metal album I’ve ever heard. It indulges the same guilty pleasure for me as Lordi and Twisted Sister–two bands that inexplicably pump me up despite being entirely tame. It also offers some amazing operatic vocals and Dracula keyboards, the cheesiness of which can be easily forgiven. Son of a Wolf might be one of the more generic tracks in a sense, but it’s the one most often stuck in my head.
9. Alestorm – Barrett’s Privateers (from Back Through Time)
The only thing I love more than traditional folk and sea chanties is folk punk and metal. When the latter covers the former, I’m in bliss. Alestorm are emerging as the sort of Dropkick Murphys of metal with all their covers lately, and I hope they keep it up. I loved Barrett’s Privateers before what you’re hearing ever happened, and the metal version delights me to no end.
8. The Decemberists – Rox in the Box (from The King is Dead)
The Decemberists really toned it down this year. Where The Hazards of Love could be described as an epic rock opera, The King is Dead sticks to simple, pleasant folk. But Colin Meloy thoroughly researches pretty much every subject he’s ever tackled, and The King is Dead pays ample homage to its predecessors. Rox in the Box incorporates Irish traditional song Raggle Taggle Gypsy with delightful success.
7. Nekrogoblikon – Goblin Box (from Stench)
With a keen eye towards contemporary folk metal like Alestorm and Finntroll, melodic death classics like In Flames and Children of Bodom, and much else besides, former gimmick band Nekrogoblikon really forged their own unique sound in the world of folk metal in 2011. At least half of the album is this good. Stench is the most unexpected surprise the year had to offer by far.
6. Korpiklaani – Surma (from Ukon Wacka)
Korpiklaani almost always end their albums with something special, and 2011 is no exception. The melody of Surma is beautiful, and Jonne Järvelä’s metal take on traditional Finnish vocals is as entertaining as ever.
5. Turisas – Hunting Pirates (from Stand Up and Fight)
I couldn’t find a youtube video that effectively captured the full scope of Turisas’s sound in such limited bitrates, but believe me, it’s huge. Go buy the album and find out for yourselves. Unlike Varangian Way, not every track is this good, but on a select number Turisas appear in their finest form. Adventurous, exciting, epic beyond compare, this band delivers with all of the high definition special effects of a Hollywood blockbuster.
4. The Flight of Sleipnir – Transcendence (from Essence of Nine)
Essence of Nine kicks off with a kaleidoscope of everything that makes stoner metal great, while reaching beyond the genre to incorporate folk and Akerfeldt-esque vocals. A beautifully constructed song, it crushes you even as it floats through the sky. I could imagine Tony Iommi himself rocking out to this one.
3. Boris – Black Original (from New Album)
From crust punk to black metal, there’s nothing Boris don’t do well, and 2011 has shown more than ever that there’s no style they’ll hesitate from dominating. I don’t know what’s been going on in the past few years with this popular rise of 80s sounds and weird electronics. I don’t listen to it, so I can’t relate. But if I expected it sounded anything nearly as good as what Boris pulled off this year I’d be all over it.
2. Tom Waits – Chicago (from Bad as Me)
Bad as Me kicks off with one of my favorite Tom Waits songs to date. It’s a timeless theme for him, but it feels more appropriate now than ever, and his dirty blues perfectly capture the sort of fear and excitement of packing up and seeking out a better life.
1. Dropkick Murphys – Take ‘Em Down (from Going Out in Style)
In a year just begging for good protest songs, Flogging Molly tried really hard and fell flat. Dropkick Murphys, another band you’d expect to join the cause, released perhaps their most generic album to date (still good mind you, but not a real chart topper). Take ‘Em Down is kind of out of place on the album, but it’s DKM to the core, and as best I can gather it’s an original song, not a cover of a traditional track. If so, it’s probably the most appropriate thing written all year. (The video is fan made.)
If you’re interested in my actual top 10, it runs something like this:
10. Falkenbach – Where His Ravens Fly…
9. Waldgeflüster – Kapitel I: Seenland
8. Liturgy – High Gold
7. Endstille – Endstille (Völkerschlächter)
6. Blut aus Nord – Epitome I
5. Krallice – Intro/Inhume
4. Liturgy – Harmonia
3. Krallice – Diotima
2. Krallice – Telluric Rings
1. Krallice – Dust and Light
And that excludes so many dozens of amazing songs that it seems almost pointless to post it.
So after Lisa Marie’s list of favorite songs I decided to finally finish up and post the list I had been working on as the year closed. Obviously not everyone will like my picks. Music is a very subjective art form and all of are tastes tend to vary greatly. Still please feel free to comment.
So without further ado…
10) “That’s My Bitch” – Jay Z & Kanye West
This tenth pick was the hardest. Too be honest I probably would have rather gone with a song from an artist mentioned below, but I wanted to mix it up a bit and add something from a different album. So I decided to go with ‘Watch the Throne’ which was met with both praise and a lot of hate. I personally fall somewhere in the middle. Much of it is unbearable, even if I enjoy Kanye West and Jay Z’s solo stuff. But still a few stood out, including ‘”That’s My Bitch”, and that is almost entirely because of Elly Jackson and Justin Vernon.
9) “Paradise” – Coldplay
Many have claimed that Coldplay has sold out, maybe they are right, personally I hate that label. I also pretty much hated their latest album, but one song stood out, and maybe it is because the radio played it on a loop, ‘Paradise’ is a track I fell in love with. I think it best captures the essence of some of their greatest hits and is a joy to listen to.
8) “Hard As They Come” – CunninLynguists
Easily my favorite hip-hop group/performers around, CunninLynguists always blows me away and their new album did just that. Now I wasn’t sure which song to pick for the list, but I want to add at least one and decided to go with the one posted above. Under the production of the brilliant Kno, it is easily one of my favorite songs of the year. Can’t get enough of it.
I think it is safe to say that anything Karen O releases will end up somewhere on my “best of” list of that year. For 2011 it was her rocking cover of Led Zepplin’s “Immigrant Song” that she did with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the opening credits of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”, and say what you want about the film this song nails the tone.
6) “New York New York” – Carey Mulligan (“Shame”)
I guess some could question whether this cover by Carey Mulligan for the film “Shame” qualifies for a list such as this but there is just no way I could not include it. For those who haven’t seen the film it might not be very impressive, her vocals aren’t what some would call “American Idol” worthy, but within the context of the film it is a beautiful and emotional song, and although we might not be able to see all that emotion on character’s faces as we do in the film, I still believe a lot of it bleeds through even with just the audio. Heartbreaking.
5) “Misty” – Kate Bush
So to be honest I know very little about Kate Bush, even if she has released the same amount of albums as I have fingers. What drew me to her latest album ’50 Words for Snow’ had nothing to do with its critical praise or my knowledge of her previous work, but actually it was the inclusion of Stephen Fry on one of the tracks…yes leave it to one of my man crushes to lead me to one of the years best albums which included one of the years best songs. Sadly it can only be found, without being thrown onto some weird amateur video, in a small clip but it still gets acorss the beauty and atmosphere of the dreamlike song.
4) “Two Small Deaths” – Wye Oak
I loved everything about Wye Oak’s latest album ‘Civilian’ and could have posted a few songs from it on this list, but the one that stood out was easily ‘Two Small Deaths’. Just beautiful stuff, give it a listen and find out what I mean.
3) “Surgeon” – St. Vincent
These is just something so mesmerizing about St. Vincent that I can’t put my finger on. This isn’t to say I love every song she has released, but each of her albums contain a handful of tracks that just blow me away, as did the one posted above. I find it to be so hauntingly beautiful.
2) “Holocene” – Bon Iver
As a huge fan of Justin Vernon and his atmospheric ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ it is no suprise that his latest album, ‘Bon Iver’, won me over completely. I loved every track but this beautiful and hypnotic song always stood out. I’ve listened to it more times than I can remember.
1) “I Follow Rivers” – Lykke Li
To be honest, at any different moment I could have claimed that one of the top three listed here was my current favorite and at various times during the year they definitely switched places a few time. The reason I’m going with “I Follow Rivers” for this list is that of the three it is easily the most catchy, the one most likely to be stuck in my head for about a week and although the quality of these top three are pretty much equal in my eyes, I think being the one that stuck the most should be labeled my favorite. Beautiful stuff. Love it to death.
Continuing my series on the best of 2011, here are ten of my favorite songs from 2011. Now, I’m not necessarily saying that these were the best songs of 2011. Some of them aren’t. But these are ten songs that, in the future, will define 2011 for me personally. Again, these are my picks and my picks only. So, if you think my taste in music sucks (and, admittedly, quite a few people do), direct your scorn at me and not at anyone else who writes for the Shattered Lens.
By the way, I was recently asked what my criteria for a good song was. Honestly, the main thing I look for in a song is 1) can I dance to it and 2) can I get all into singing it while I’m stuck in traffic or in the shower?
Anyway, at the risk of revealing just how much of a dork I truly am, here are ten of my favorite songs of 2011.
1) What The Water Gave Me (performed by Florence + The Machine)
Musically, 2011 was a good year for me because it’s the year that I first discovered Florence + The Machine.
2) Only In My Double Mind (performed by Centro-Matic)
This is a great song from one of the best bands to come out of North Texas.
3) Man or Muppet (performed by Jason Segal and Walter)
Featuring lyrics from the brilliant Bret McKenzie.This song makes me cry every time.
4) Immigrant Song (performed by Karen O, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross)
Say what you will about David Fincher’s rehash of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, it had a good soundtrack. This cover of Immigrant Song made the film’s first trailer bearable. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really featured in subsequent trailers, being replaced by Daniel Craig going, “I want YOU to HELP ME catch a KILLER of WOMEN.”
5) Friday (performed by Rebecca Black)
Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s a terrible song and you know what? That’s why I can’t help but love it. Listen, there are thousands of terrible song released every year but there are none quite as a terrible as Friday. The genius of Friday is that it took everything that we associate with terrible music — nonsensical lyrics, insane autotune, a socially irresponsible message, creepy rappers who show up out of nowhere and for no good reason — and then just smashed it all together into the YouTube video that refused to die. Add to that, a few months ago, me and my BFF Evelyn got like totally drunk and then wandered around the streets of Dallas singing this song at the top of our lungs and I swear, every guy who passed by yelled words of encouragement at us.
(And, by the way, if you’re going to hate someone, hate on Fred Phelps. Leave Rebecca Black alone. Life’s too short.)
6) Hold it Against Me (performed by Britney Spears)
Yeah, yeah, I know. Everyone loves to hate on Britney blah blah blah. This song is fun to sing in the shower and you can dance to it. And, quite frankly, that’s all I need.
7) Beard (performed by Burning Hotels)
This is from another North Texas band.
8) Fucking Perfect (performed by Pink)
An anthem. (Yes, I know this song came out in 2010 but it was important to me in 2011 so I’m listing it here now. So there.)
9) Love Is The Drug (performed by Oscar Isaac and Carla Gugino)
From the Sucker Punch soundtrack comes this sneakily subversive cover.
10) No Light, No Light (performed by Florence + The Machine)
Finally, what better way to end this list than with some more of Florence + The Machine.
Finally, I want to close this list with a song that came out long before 2011 but it’s an important song to me and it was sung by someone who we lost far too early this year.
Coming tomorrow: ten of the best things I saw on television in 2011.
Through the Shattered Lens 