The latest “Song of the Day” was inspired by having witnessed on April 23, 2011 at the Hynes Convention Center during Anime Boston 2011 a performance by the Odaiko New England (ONE). This traditional taiko drum group performed both traditional taiko set numbers and more modern compositions. To say that the experience was quite primal would be an understatement. Since then I’ve searched and listened to many other taiko drum groups and I’ve come to realize that the band Kodo really shows the Japanese art of taiko drumming at its best. I chose their song “O-Daiko” as the latest song of the day.
“O-Daiko” by Kodo is traditional taiko drumming at its finest. It begins quite subtly and gradually builds up to the booming, heart-pumping bass beats that could only come from taiko drummers playing their instruments in perfect tempo. It’s difficult to listen to any taiko music and not have oneself brought back to a simpler time. Taiko drum music has been a mainstay with Shinto shrine rituals, but they’ve also been instrumental in warfare during the warring period of Feudal Japan. The drum beats would be used to signal coded information to allies and friendly forces. They could also be used to demoralize opposing enemy forces.
So, if you ever learn that a taiko drum group is going to be performing in your area I highly recommend that you attend said performance. It’s an experience everyone should have at least once in their life.
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.
Lisa Marie’s latest post about the film Love Story and her reaction to it got me thinking that I haven’t put up an R&B ballad as “Song of the Day” for quite awhile now. Well, just as the day is close to coming to an end to start a new one I’ve chosen to continue the theme began by the previous post and picked the R&B ballad, “Endless Love”.
“Endless Love” is a ballad duet sung by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. These two of the biggest R&B stars of the 70’s and early 80’s. Their star and singing power truly shines in this duet of the love theme for the very maudlin, cheesy and almost-grindhouse romantic film of the same name starring Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt and a young James Spader. The film itself is quite forgettable if one was looking for something in the same vein as Love Story, but for those looking for a very twisted look at true love then Endless Love is the flick for you.
The film might not have been popular with critics, but the theme definitely resonated with the public and critics. It has been voted by Billboard as the greatest song duet of all-time. It’s become a staple with wedding planners since it came out to be played during wedding receptions. It got a modern cover duet by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey in 1994.
There’s not much to say about this song other than watch the video and just listen to the song and it’s lyrics. Even the most coldhearted bastard out there may just melt a bit as they listen to this song.
Endless Love
My love, There’s only you in my life. The only thing that’s right.
My first love, You’re every breath that I take. You’re every step I make.
And I (I-I-I-I-I) I want to share, All my love with you. No one else will do.
And your eyes, Your eyes, your eyes, They tell me how much you care. Ooh yes, you will always be, My endless love
Two hearts, Two hearts that beat as one. Our lives have just begun.
Forever, (Ohhhhhh) I’ll hold you close in my arms. I can’t resist your charms.
And love, Oh, love, I’ll be a fool, for you. I’m sure, You know I don’t mind. Oh, you know I don’t mind.
‘Cause you, You mean the world to me. Oh, I know, I know, I’ve found in you, My endless love.
Oooh, love, Oh, love, I’ll be that fool, for you. I’m sure, You know I don’t mind. Oh you know, I don’t mind.
And, YES! You’ll be the only one. ‘Cause no one can deny, This love I have inside, And I’ll give it all to you. My love, My love, my love, My Endless Love!
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.
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.
The latest “song of the day” arrives courtesy of Michael Mann’s Miami Vice. I speak of one of the best rock songs of the 1980’s: Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight”.
Phil Collins was already a major star as part of the progressive rock band Genesis. In the early 80’s he finally went out on his own and began a second successful career as a solo artist. His 1981 debut solo album, Face Value, would release it’s first single with what would turn out to be one of the 80’s iconic rock songs with “In The Air Tonight”. The song was originally recorded in 1979, but it was until Collins went solo did it see the light of day and once it made it to the mass public it instantly became a major hit. This song would end up Collins’ biggest hit ever and would be covered by rock bands and sampled by rappers in the decades to come.
Some of the younger generation would recognize this song because of a hilarious scene in the 2009 comedy The Hangover involving Mike Tyson and one of the most famous basslines in rock history. It’s a shame that it would be that scene people would remember since this song is more than just a punchline in a comedy. This song has become an integral part of my growing up during the 80’s and I still listen to it intently decades later…and yes I, too, consider that bassline to start the final chorus as the go-ahead to air drum the sequence in the privacy of my own room or car.
The one cover of this song I like just as much as the original is the hard rock cover done by the band Nonpoint for Michael Mann’s Miami Vice.
In The Air Tonight
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord And I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord
Well if you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand I’ve seen your face before my friend, but I don’t know if you know who I am Well I was there and I saw what you did, I saw it with my own two eyes So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you’ve been It’s all been a pack of lies
And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord Well I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord Well I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord
Well I remember, I remember, don’t worry, how could I ever forget It’s the first time, the last time we ever met But I know the reason why you keep your silence UP, oh no you don’t fool me Well the hurt doesn’t show, but the pain still grows It’s no stranger to you and me
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord Well I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh lord Well I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord And I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord I can feel it in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord Well I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord, oh lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord And I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord And I can feel it in the air tonight, Oh Lord… I’ve been waiting for this moment, all my life, Oh Lord, Oh Lord
