The latest AMV of the Day continues my current obsession over a great mahou shoujo (magical girl) by the name of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. This amv is called “Repeat”.
“Repeat” uses the song “Sleep Now” by Hugh Hall and it’s atmospheric sound goes hand in hand with the dark, almost gothic sensibilities, of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I’m none too familiar with Hugh Hall’s music, but the song that creator Chiikaboom used to highlight the dark nature of this anime series really makes this amv seem like a well-made trailer for the series. In fact, if I didn’t know that this video was an anime music video I would’ve thought it was a professionally done teaser trailer for the anime series.
This amv once again shows just how engaging an anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica really is. Yes, the animation and character designs are quite cute, but that lighthearted aspect of the show doesn’t last very long. This video shows just how mature, dramatic and tragic this series ends up becoming.
The latest “song of the day” comes in just in time to show that my major bout with the cold/flu last week and this weekend hasn’t taken me out. It’s also a proper choice with the release of Portal 2, Valve’s sequel to their very popular puzzle-shooter Portal. What better way to send me off to Anime Boston this weekend but with the very geeky and otaku anthem of “Still Alive”.
“Still Alive” is the end credits song which plays once the player has completed Portal. The voice who sings the song (written by songwriter Jonathan Coulton) is one Ellen McClain and she is suppose to be the AI-computer GLaDOS lamenting the player’s success and escape. The song became as big of a hit with gamers as the game it was part of. Pretty much a whole cottage industry of all things geek-culture sprung up around this song. Shirts were made, youtube videos of varying quality using the song were uploaded and comic book, gaming and anime convention goers worldwide adopted the song as their unofficial anthem.
The song is pretty cute and catchy. The way the lyrics were sung with such sweetness by singer Ellen McClain makes it such a happy ditty. But when stepping back from singing along one really has to look at the lyrics and see how dark and twisted “Still Alive” truly was and still is. And on that note, catch you allafter Anime Boston.
Still Alive
This was a triumph I’m making a note here HUGE SUCCESS It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction Aperture Science
we do what we must because we can for the good of all of us except for the ones who are dead but there’s no sense crying over every mistake you just keep on trying until you run out of cake and the science gets done and you make a neat gun for the people who are still alive
I’m not even angry I’m being so sincere right now even though you broke my heart and killed me and torn into pieces and threw every piece into a fire as they burned it hurt because I was so happy for you! Now these points of data make a wonderful line and we’re out of beta, we’re releasing on time so I’m glad I got burned Think of all the things we learned for the people that are still alive
go ahead and leave me I think I prefer to stay inside maybe you’ll find someone else to help you maybe black mesa that was a joke, haha, fat chance anyway this cake is great, it’s so delicious and moist look at me still talking, when there’s science to do when I look out there it makes me glad I’m not you I’ve experiments to run, there is research to be done on the people who are still alive
and believe me I am still alive I’m doing science and I’m still alive I feel FANTASTIC and I’m still alive While you are dying I’ll be still alive and when you’re dead I’ll be still alive STILL ALIVE, still alive…
To cap off the day I decided to take a lead from my favorite spring and summer past-time (baseball) and give everyone a double-header. The latest song of the day is actually two of them. While they’re really a single melody they’re done in two diverging ways that fit in with Joe Wright’s modern fairy tale action film, Hanna.
Once again these songs are from The Chemical Brothers who everyone by now have heard composed the score for Hanna. They did such a magnificent job scoring this film that I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re asked to do more of it in the future. I will admit that I actually like they’re work on Hanna than what Daft Punk did for Tron: Legacy. The songs I picked are called “The Devil Is In The Details” and “The Devil Is In The Beats” respectively.
The first song is a charming little melody that sounds like it’s being played on a calliope. It really underscores the fairy tale aspect of the film and Hanna’s own Grimm’s fairy tale like journey from the frozen wilderness of Finland to the rundown carnival (looking like something out of Bizarro World Grimm’s fairy tale) to end the film. This melody also becomes a sort of leitmotif for whenever Hanna became endangered from the assassins hired by her nemesis, Marissa Veigler, to chase her down. The leader of this group will begin to whistle this tune when they’ve caught onto Hanna’s trail.
The second song is a more aggressive version of this fairy tale melody done in the only way The Chemical Brothers know how. “The Devil Is In The Beats” is twists, distorts, remixes and adds a funky bassline to the original “The Devil Is In The Details” but without losing the original calliope tone. This version I liken to a fairy tale story seen through the eyes of someone tripping out on acid or LSD.
Both songs fit in well in the scenes they complement and just shows how well both filmmaker Joe Wright and The Chemical Brothers were on the same wavelength when it came to telling the story of Hanna.
Tonight I saw what would probably end up as one of the top films of 2011. I am talking about Joe Wright’s modern fairy tale, Hanna, and starring one of the industry’s finest young actress in Saoirse Ronan in the title role. The latest “song of the day” comes directly from this film which was fully scored by British electronica duo, The Chemical Brothers.
“Container Park” arrives close to the end of the second act of the film and perfectly accompanies one of the film’s best action sequences. The Chemical Brother’s give this song a very heavy and deep bassline which set’s the rhythm for the whole sequence. They begin the song very subtly with just a hint of dissonance creeping into the dark fairy tale-like melody. I just loved how they were able to combine not just the fairy tale aspect of the film, but also add in that sense of danger with subtle use of distortion and dissonance to unbalance the original melody.
This song went perfectly well with the action sequence it complemented and it was halfway through the song that I realized (like all of the music in this film) that the bassline was setting up the rhythm of the action itself. I saw this clip at WonderCon 2011 and the song was the same and as I look back to that clip to seeing the clip as part of the whole film I was impressed how The Chemical Brothers’ score for this film was very instrumental in setting up each scene and not just becoming background music.
“Container Park” is just one of several great songs from the Hanna soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers. First there’s the wonderful, cover-filled soundtrack for Sucker Punch and now this full-on electronica score for Hanna. It’s been a very good year, so far, for soundtracks and I do believe we’ve got more excellent examples coming down the pipeline.
Above is the original song used in the film while below is a remix done by the duo and found on the film’s website. The latter has been extended, but I really don’t see too much of a difference between the two other than their running times.
I was going through my notes of my Saturday over at this year’s WonderCon when I got a tad bored and began to look at some AMV’s on YouTube. I realized as I was watching these AMVs that I hadn’t seen using Black Lagoon as the foundation. Well, I sure solved that. The latest AMV of the Day is “…To Be Loved” and it’s definitely Black Lagoon-centric.
I’ll start off by saying that Papa Roach is not a bad I particularly enjoy listening to. Well, I really don’t like most of the bands which came up during the so-called nu-metal craze of the late 90’s and early 2000’s. I will admit that the song “To Be Loved” by Papa Roach was a good pick to highlight just how action-packed the anime series Black Lagoon truly is. This series has one of the most kickass female characters in anime/manga with Revy.
Revy is the hard-drinking, chain-smoking and all-around badass fighter and gunslinger for the mercenary group she belongs to. There’s a reason why a majority of the scenes in the AMV has her pretty much eother punching, kicking or shooting someone or someones. She’s always getting her and her team in trouble with her attitude but she’ll always be the first to solve said problem. Usually through the use of an inordinate amount of violence. There’s a reason why so many anime/manga fans love her and it’s not just because her usual attire is a very short tanktop and very short cutoff jean shorts.
So, while I don’t like the band used for the video I do at least like the choice of song. Long live Revy!
So, I’m at home flipping channels when I saw that Casino Royale was about to start on one channel I kept going back to. Inspiration hit like a JSOW from high above and I decided to pick this Bond reboot’s title theme as the latest “Song of the Day”.
“You Know My Name” is the latest song of the day and one played and sung by one of my favorite rock vocalists ever in Chris Cornell. Anyone who has even listened to 90’s hard rock and alternative rock has to know who Chris Cornell is. He’s the longtime frontman for the alternative rock band Suoundgarden and then later on for the supergroup Audioslave. With “You Know My Name” he has joined a very exclusive club of Bond film intro singers. Not to mention an even more rarefied group of male singers who have sung the intro songs to Bond films. I could only remember and name three who have and they were Tom Jones doing the one for Thunderball, Paul McCartney for Live And Let Die and the Euro band Duran Duran for A View To A Kill.
Cornell sings the hell out of this song and I like the fact that the song’s title doesn’t match the film’s. “You Know My Name” sounds better than “Casino Royale” and the lyrics, as written by Chris Cornell (w/ some minor help from film composer David Arnold), really matches the grittier and more aggressive personality of the film and it’s main character of James Bond. I will say that this song is definitely better than most of the Pierce Brosnan Bond film intro songs which ranged from the great one sung by Shirley Manson and her band Garbage for the forgetful The World Is Not Enough right up to the very awful one by Madonna for Die Another Day.
The official music video created for the song also does a great job of paralleling the job of James Bond as a spy and Cornell as a rock star as being similar in some ways. Just one listen to this song and it’ll be stuck in one’s head for the rest of the day.
You Know My Name
If you take a life do you know what you’ll give? Odds are, you won’t like what it is When the storm arrives, would you be seen with me? By the merciless eyes of deceit?
I’ve seen angels fall from blinding heights But you yourself are nothing so divine Just next in line
Arm yourself because no-one else here will save you The odds will betray you And I will replace you You can’t deny the prize it may never fulfill you It longs to kill you Are you willing to die?
The coldest blood runs through my veins You know my name
If you come inside things will not be the same When you return to the night And if you think you’ve won You never saw me change The game that we all been playing
I’ve seen diamonds cut through harder men Than you yourself But if you must pretend You may meet your end
Arm yourself because no-one else here will save you The odds will betray you And I will replace you You can’t deny the prize it may never fulfill you It longs to kill you Are you willing to die?
The coldest blood runs through my veins
Try to hide your hand Forget how to feel Forget how to feel
Life is gone with just a spin of the wheel Spin of the wheel
Arm yourself because no-one else here will save you The odds will betray you And I will replace you You can’t deny the prize it may never fulfill you It longs to kill you Are you willing to die?
The coldest blood runs through my veins You know my name You know my name You know my name You know my name You know my name You know my name You know my name …
There’s no big story behind why I have selected this particular song for Song of the Day, beyond the fact that I love the Chemical Brothers and this song — The Golden Path — always brings me a certain amount of peace. If nothing else, you must see the Chemical Brothers live at least once before you die.
As a continue to write my Sucker Punch review I decided to take a break from it and watch some AMV’s on YouTube. I finally found one that I thought was worthy of becoming the latest “AMV of the Day”. This one combines one of the most popular action anime series of the last few years with a song from the American hard rock band 30 Seconds To Mars.
“This Is War” forms the basis for this AMv which takes that song and combines it with scenes from the anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. One thing which I always look at when choosing which AMV makes the grade is whether the creator has a fine grasp on the song and its lyrics. It’s simple enough to cut-edit anime scenes together and slap on a song to it, but matching the song to those very scenes takes skill and the creator of this amv definitely has that.
Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch is still resonating quite strong for me. It doesn’t help that I’ve fallen quite in love with the soundtrack. Last night I chose the first track in the soundtrack as song of the day. That one was sung by the film’s lead, Emily Browning. My next choice for song of the day was also sung by Emily Browning and is the third of three songs she covered for the film.
“Asleep” is the Emily Browning cover of the indie pop classic from indie-rock band The Smiths and their famous front man, Morrissey. I’m not what you would call a big fan of The Smiths or even of Morrissey. I will admit that this song as sung by Emily Browning is quite good and her ethereal voice lends a haunting quality to the music. The song itself marks a major turning point in the film and finally reveals just who the storyteller really is and who the subject of the story truely is.
Whatever may come of Ms. Browning’s acting career I definitely think she has one as a singer. “Asleep” is definite proof of the talent this young actor has not just in front of the camera but in a recording studio.
Asleep Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
I’m tired and I
I want to go to bed
Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
And then leave me alone
Don’t try to wake me in the morning
‘Cause I will be gone
Don’t feel bad for me
I want you to know
Deep in the cell of my heart
I will feel so glad to go
Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
I don’t want to wake up
On my own anymore
Sing to me
Sing to me
I don’t want to wake up
On my own anymore
Don’t feel bad for me
I want you to know
Deep in the cell of my heart
I really want to go
There is another world
There is a better world
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well …
After having just seen Zack Snyder’s latest visual extravaganza with Sucker Punch my next pick for “song of the day” comes courtesy of that film’s eclectic soundtrack. The one song which stood out the most and set the tone of the film for me has to be the one which starts the film: “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These)” covered by the film’s lead, Emily Browning.
“Sweet Dreams” was an instant classic when Eurthymics first unleashed it upon the music world and it continues to do so even after countless bands and artists covering the song. One cover which seems to get the most press has been Marilyn Manson’s version which helped propel the shock rocker into prominence (and helped launch an uncounted number of “goths” to the world). In Sucker Punch the song once again gets covered but this time by Emily Browning. This English actress’ haunting and ethereal rendition of the song with a symphonic rock tempo and melody to match her voice has made this cover of the song my favorite.
This cover opens up the film and almost gives the opening scene a silent film quality as the song plays over a dialogue-free sequence. It also gives the whole proceeding a dream-like quality that helped set the tone of the film. The song pretty much said that what one was about to see may or may not be real. The rest of the film’s soundtrack just got better as the film went forward, but it was the strong beginning with this song that turned a very good soundtrack into a great one.
Through the Shattered Lens