2015 in Review: Lisa Marie’s 10 Favorite Songs!


Whenever we have visitors here at Shattered Lens HQ, the first thing that they always seem to notice is the wide variety of music being played.  Considering the number of contributors that we have working here on any given day, it makes sense.  After all, we all have our own individual tastes in music and we’re not afraid to play it loud.

Of course, I’m sure it can be somewhat jarring who is, for the first time, discovering the aural experience of walking down a hallway here at the TSL Building.  As you walk by Necromoonyeti’s office, you hear the sounds of metal thunder.  Across the hallway, Arleigh might very well be listening to The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack.  Even further down the hallway, you might hear the blogger known as Jedadiah Leland listening to anything from Nine Inch Nails to Ornette Coleman or maybe you’ll even hear my sister singing along with Beyonce.  Eventually, you’ll reach my office and, nine times out of ten, I will be blasting EDM (or occasionally Britney Spears) and dancing, only turning the music down if Leonard Wilson stops by my office to continue our debate as to whether or not Aaron Sorkin is an overrated misogynist.

(Occasionally, if I’m lucky, I can convince Valerie Troutman to come to my office and sing the Degrassi theme song with me.  Whatever it takes, I know I can make it through….)

Anyway, my point is that every writer at the Shattered Lens is an individual with her or his own taste in music, movies, and … well, everything.  So, when you look at my list of my 10 favorite songs of 2015, you should keep in mind that these are my ten favorite songs and they do not necessarily reflect the musical opinions or tastes of anyone here at the Shattered Lens but me!  And, in fact, if you want to see just how eclectic a group we here at the Shattered Lens, be sure to check out Necromoonyeti’s list of his favorite metal albums of 2015!

Anyway, here are my favorite songs of 2015.  Notice that I didn’t say “best.”  Instead, these are some of the songs that I spent the previous 12 months obsessively listening to.  When I make my autobiographical movie about my life in 2015, these are the songs that will appear on the soundtrack!

Honorable Mention: Elle King — Ex’s and Oh’s

Ex’s and Oh’s has pretty much been my song all through 2015.  However, the song itself was originally released in 2014 and this is a list of the best songs released in 2015.  That said, hardly a day in 2015 went by without my listening to and singing along with this song and there’s no way I can’t include it.

Special Bonus Track Included Because Otherwise There Would Be 11 Songs Listed And Lisa Has A Phobia About Odd Numbers: Ellie Goulding — Love Me Like You Do

And now the list:

10) Adele — When We Were Young

9) Icona Pop — Emergency

8) Kelly Clarkson — Take You High

7) The Chemical Brothers — Sometimes I Feel So Deserted

6) Public Service Broadcasting — Go!

5) Taylor Swift (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — Bad Blood

4) Purity Ring — Bodyache

3) Big Data (featuring Jamie Liddell) — Clean

2) Public Service Broadcasting — Gagarin

1) The Chemical Brothers (featuring St. Vincent) — Under Neon Lights

For my previous picks, check out 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014!

Tomorrow, I will be posting some of my favorite things that I saw on television in 2015!

Previous Entries In The Best of 2015:

  1. Valerie Troutman’s 25 Best, Worst, and Gems I Saw in 2015
  2. Necromoonyeti’s Top 15 Metal Albums of 2015
  3. 2015 In Review: The Best of SyFy
  4. 2015 in Review: The Best of Lifetime
  5. 2015 In Review: Lisa’s Picks For The 16 Worst Films of 2015

Here Are The 74 Songs Eligible For Best Original Song!


Today, the Academy announced the 74 songs that have been ruled eligible for a Best Original Song nomination!  And you know what that means — it’s time for my to post the list!  (Our longtime readers should know, by now, how much I love lists!)

The big news is that the 2nd song from the end credits of Love & Mercy — the one that everyone was expecting to be a front runner — has been ruled ineligible.  Here’s what is eligible!  Be sure to listen to all of these songs before the Oscar nominations are announced in January…

“Happy” from “Altered Minds”
“Home” from “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip”
“None Of Them Are You” from “Anomalisa”
“Stem To The Rose” from “Becoming Bulletproof”
“The Mystery Of Your Gift” from “Boychoir”
“I Run” from “Chi-Raq”
“Pray 4 My City” from “Chi-Raq”
“Sit Down For This” from “Chi-Raq”
“Strong” from “Cinderella”
“So Long” from “Concussion”
“Fighting Stronger” from “Creed”
“Grip” from “Creed”
“Waiting For My Moment” from “Creed”
“Don’t Look Down” from “Danny Collins”
“Hey Baby Doll” from “Danny Collins”
“Dreamsong” from “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
“It’s My Turn Now” from “Dope”
“Ya Rahem, Maula Maula” from “Dukhtar”
“Earned It” from “Fifty Shades of Grey”
“Love Me Like You Do” from “Fifty Shades of Grey”
“Salted Wound” from “Fifty Shades of Grey”
“Hands Of Love” from “Freeheld”
“See You Again” from “Furious Seven”
“Brother” from “Godspeed: The Story of Page Jones”
“As Real As You And Me” from “Home”
“Dancing In The Dark” from “Home”
“Feel The Light” from “Home”
“Red Balloon” from “Home”
“Two Of A Crime” from “Hot Pursuit”
“Til It Happens To You” from “The Hunting Ground”
“I’ll See You In My Dreams” from “I’ll See You in My Dreams”
“The Movie About Us” from “Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words”
“Bhoomiyilenghanumundo” from “Jalam”
“Koodu Vaykkan” from “Jalam”
“Pakalppaathi Chaari” from “Jalam”
“Yaathra Manoradhamerum” from “Jalam”
“Lost In Love” from “Jenny’s Wedding”
“True Love Avenue” from “Jenny’s Wedding”
“Hypnosis” from “Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet”
“Juntos (Together)” from “McFarland, USA”
“The Light That Never Fails” from “Meru”
“The Crazy Ones” from “Miss You Already”
“There’s A Place” from “Miss You Already”
“Johanna” from “Mortdecai”
“Little Soldier” from “Pan”
“Something’s Not Right” from “Pan”
“Paranoid Girl” from “Paranoid Girls”
“Better When I’m Dancin’” from “The Peanuts Movie”
“Pink & Blue” from “Pink & Blue: Colors of Hereditary Cancer”
“Flashlight” from “Pitch Perfect 2”
“Birds Of A Feather” from “Poached”
“Still Breathing” from “Point Break”
“Manta Ray” from “Racing Extinction”
“Cold One” from “Ricki and the Flash”
“Torch” from “Rock the Kasbah”
“Someone Like You” from “The Rumperbutts”
“Aankhon Me Samaye Dil” from “Salt Bridge”
“Bachpana Thaa” from “Salt Bridge”
“Kanpne Lage Tum” from “Salt Bridge”
“Kyaa Bataaun Tujhe” from “Salt Bridge”
“Le Jaaye Jo Door Tumse” from “Salt Bridge”
“Na Jaane Kitni Door” from “Salt Bridge”
“Sookha Hi Rang Daalo” from “Salt Bridge”
“Feels Like Summer” from “Shaun the Sheep Movie”
“Phenomenal” from “Southpaw”
“Writing’s On The Wall” from “Spectre”
“Squeeze Me” from “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water”
“Teamwork” from “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water”
“Who Can You Trust” from “Spy”
“Came To Win” from “Sweet Micky for President”
“Mean Ol’ Moon” from “Ted 2
“Love Was My Alibi” from “The Water Diviner”
“Fine On The Outside” from “When Marnie Was There”
“Simple Song #3” from “Youth”

Song of the Day: Untitled Self-Portrait (a.k.a. Batman’s Song) (performed by Will Arnett)


The_Lego_Movie_poster

I don’t know about you but I’m still pretty angry about what happened yesterday when the Oscar nominations were announced.  Seriously, how could The LEGO Movie not be nominated for best animated film?  It’s almost as if the Academy is prejudiced against plastic toys.

*Le sigh*

So, normally, when I talk about The LEGO Movie, I find an excuse to include the video for Everything is Awesome.  

But you know what?

EVERYTHING IS NOT AWESOME!

And today’s song of the day — which is also taken from The LEGO Movie — reflects that point.  As performed by Will Arnett, here’s Batman’s Song (a.k.a. Untitled Self-Portrait.)

All together now…

DARKNESS….

2014 In Review: 14 of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Songs of 2014


Continuing our look back at 2014, below you’ll find 14 of my favorite songs of the past year.  Now, you should understand that I’m not necessarily saying that these are the best 14 songs of the year.  Instead, they’re just some of my personal favorites.  These are the songs that either made me want to dance or that I inevitably found myself singing off-key while I was in the shower.  These are the songs that got stuck in my head and which I found myself singing whenever I was stuck in traffic.

These are 14 of my favorite songs of 2014.

(By the way, click on the links in this sentence if you want to see my favorite songs of 2013, 2012, and 2011.)

14) Everything is Awesome — Tegan and Sara featuring The Lonely Island

13) Mess Is Mine — Vance Joy

12) Summer Nights — Kaskade featuring The Brocks

11) Chandelier — Sia

10) Take Ü There — Jack Ü (featuring Kiesza)

9) Blank Space — Taylor Swift

8) Runaway (U & I) — Galantis

7) Blue Sky Action — Above & Beyond featuring Alex Vargas

6) Fancy — Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX

5) Stolen Dance — Milky Chance

4) Get Low — Dillon Francis & DJ Snake

3) Don’t Leave — Seven Lions (featuring Ellie Goulding)

2) Shake It Off — Taylor Swift

1) Long Way Down — Robert DeLong

And finally, here’s my pick for the worst song and video of last year.  In the past, I’ve defended some of the notoriously awful songs that have been produced and promoted by Patrice Wilson, just on the basis that they were, at the very least, memorably weird.  Friday remains one of my favorite singing-in-the-shower songs and it’s fun to sing when you’re trying to annoy people on Monday.  Chinese Food is — well, Chinese Food sucked but I do love Chinese food so I could at least relate to the song.  But then, in 2014, came both the song Sush Up and the video featuring 11 year-old Alison Gold playing a sexualized criminal who gets electrocuted in the electric chair.  And, of course, Patrice shows up to rap.  And seriously — BLEH!

While I’m not going to share the video for Sush Up because it’s really creepy and icky, I will share another video that’ll make my point about Patrice Wilson.

Tomorrow, my look back at 2014 will continue with 20 good things that I saw on television in 2014!

Previous entries in TSL’s Look Back At 2014

  1. Things I Dug In 2014 Off The Top Of My Head
  2. 2014 in Review: The Best of Lifetime and SyFy
  3. 2014 in Review: Lisa’s Pick For the 16 Worst Films of 2014

 

Here Are The 79 Songs That Could Win An Oscar!


Okay, this new is really late but, as always, better late than never!

Last Friday, the Academy announced that 79 songs had been judged to be eligible to be nominated for Best Original Song!

Now, if you know anything about me, you know that I love long lists and playing “what if.”  Quite a few Oscar commentators have said that Patty Smith is so obviously going to win the Oscar for her song from Noah that it’s pointless to even speculate about anyone else.  Well, that may indeed be the case but hey, it’s still fun to look at all of these possibilities and wonder “What if…”  Speculation is never pointless, as long as it’s fun.

“It’s On Again” from “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″
“Opportunity” from “Annie”
“Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”
“Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”
“Big Eyes” from “Big Eyes”
“Immortals” from “Big Hero 6″
“The Apology Song” from “The Book of Life”
“I Love You Too Much” from “The Book of Life”
“The Boxtrolls Song” from “The Boxtrolls”
“Quattro Sabatino” from “The Boxtrolls”
“Ryan’s Song” from “Boyhood”
“Split The Difference” from “Boyhood”
“No Fate Awaits Me” from “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them”
“Brave Souls” from “Dolphin Tale 2″
“You Got Me” from “Dolphin Tale 2″
“All Our Endless Love” from “Endless Love”
“Let Me In” from “The Fault in Our Stars”
“Not About Angels” from “The Fault in Our Stars”
“Until The End” from “Garnet’s Gold”
“It Just Takes A Moment” from “Girl on a Bicycle”
“Last Stop Paris” from “Girl on a Bicycle”
“Ordinary Human” from “The Giver”
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”
“Find A Way” from “The Good Lie”
“Color The World” from “The Hero of Color City”
“The Last Goodbye” from “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
“Chariots” from “The Hornet’s Nest”
“Follow Me” from “The Hornet’s Nest”
“Something To Shoot For” from “Hot Guys with Guns”


“For The Dancing And The Dreaming” from “How to Train Your Dragon 2″
“Afreen” from “The Hundred-Foot Journey”
“Yellow Flicker Beat” from “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1″
“Heart Like Yours” from “If I Stay”
“I Never Wanted To Go” from “If I Stay”
“Mind” from “If I Stay”
“Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”
“Call Me When You Find Yourself” from “Life Inside Out”
“Coming Back To You” from “Life of an Actress The Musical”
“The Life Of An Actress” from “Life of an Actress The Musical”
“Sister Rust” from “Lucy”


“You Fooled Me” from “Merchants of Doubt”
“Million Dollar Dream” from “Million Dollar Arm”
“Spreading The Word/Makhna” from “Million Dollar Arm”
“We Could Be Kings” from “Million Dollar Arm”
“A Million Ways To Die” from “A Million Ways to Die in the West”
“Way Back When” from “Mr. Peabody & Sherman”
“America For Me” from “A Most Violent Year”
“I’ll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo In Malibu)” from “Muppets Most Wanted”
“Something So Right” from “Muppets Most Wanted”
“We’re Doing A Sequel” from “Muppets Most Wanted”
“Mercy Is” from “Noah”
“Seeds” from “Occupy the Farm”
“Grant My Freedom” from “The One I Wrote for You”
“The One I Wrote For You” from “The One I Wrote for You”


“Hal” from “Only Lovers Left Alive”
“Shine” from “Paddington”
“Still I Fly” from “Planes: Fire & Rescue”
“Batucada Familia” from “Rio 2″
“Beautiful Creatures” from “Rio 2″
“Poisonous Love” from “Rio 2″
“What Is Love” from “Rio 2″
“Over Your Shoulder” from “Rudderless”
“Sing Along” from “Rudderless”
“Stay With You” from “Rudderless”
“Everyone Hides” from “St. Vincent”
“Why Why Why” from “St. Vincent”
“Glory” from “Selma”
“The Morning” from “A Small Section of the World”
“Special” from “Special”
“Gimme Some” from “#Stuck”
“The Only Thing” from “Third Person”
“Battle Cry” from “Transformers: Age of Extinction”
“Miracles” from “Unbroken”


“Summer Nights” from “Under the Electric Sky”
“We Will Not Go” from “Virunga”
“Heavenly Father” from “Wish I Was Here”
“So Now What” from “Wish I Was Here”
“Long Braid” from “Work Weather Wife”
“Moon” from “Work Weather Wife”

Begin_Again_film_poster_2014

Song of the Day: Spirit in the Sky (performed by Norman Greenbaum)


To be honest,  there is really only one reason why Spirit In The Sky is today’s song of the day and that’s that it happens to be so very stuck in my head!  I’ve seen the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy a few dozen times and I now not only hear Spirit in the Sky when I close my eyes but I also end up picturing a surly raccoon walking down a hallway with a tree-like creature that repeatedly says, “I am Groot.”

And that’s not a bad thing at all!

Believe it or not, before I sat down to write this post, I actually did some research on the origin of the song.  And, of course, by research I mean that I looked the song up on Wikipedia and read the first half of the article.  Spirit in the Sky was written, recorded, and first released in 1969.  Norman Greenbaum mostly wrote it as a challenge to himself, to see if he, despite knowing nothing about gospel music, could write a gospel song.  As for the song’s distinctive “beep beep” fills, they were the result of a last minute improvisation by guitarist Russell Dashiell.  The end result, of course, was the world’s first psychedelic gospel song.

Finally, before Greenbaum recorded Spirit in The Sky, he apparently had a hit song called The Eggplant That Ate Chicago.

And who knows?  Maybe that song will be featured in the trailer for the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy!

But for now, here is Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit in the Sky

Song of the Day: Everything is AWESOME!!!


Earlier today, one of my favorite films of the first half of 2014, The Lego Movie, was released on Blu-ray.  With that in mind, how could I not pick this song for song of the day?

Why do I love Everything is Awesome?

Not only is it insanely catchy but its probably one of the most sarcastic songs ever written.  How could I not love it?

Song of the Day: Crawl (performed by the Virgin Wolves)


The Virgin Wolves is one of the best bands to come out of the Denton, Texas music scene and, as someone who spent some of the best years of her life in Denton, I’m happy to see them get some recognition.  This is the video for one of their best songs, “Crawl.”  The video was filmed in Denton, as should be obvious to any former student at the University of North Texas who has ever dealt with the pressure of finals by going out at midnight and getting high in a stranger’s living room.

What can I say?

The Virgin Wolves bring back a lot of memories.

Song of the Day: Chernobyl (performed by Blanck Mass)


Have you seen Ben Wheatley’s A Field In England yet?

If you haven’t, you really should.  It’s just now getting an extremely limited theatrical release here in the States, though it’s also available via video-on-demand as well.  I saw it earlier tonight at the Alamo Drafthouse (which is the greatest theater in the U.S., by the way) and I’m still working out my feelings towards it.  It appears to be a film about a criminal, an alchemist, and a group of military deserters who, during the mid-17th Century, find themselves in an English field searching for a treasure that may or may not exist, while some of them have visions that may or may not be real.

Regardless of whether you think A Field In England is brilliant or just pretentious (and I think a good argument could be made for either conclusion), everyone can agree that one of the more memorable scenes in the film is the “tent scene”.  You can watch the scene below, though it definitely loses something when taken out of context from the rest of the film.

The song playing as that unfortunate man walks out of that tent is Blanck Mass’s Chernobyl.  And it’s also today’s song of the day!