I’ve always hated Japanese rock groups that sing in very low voices with extreme vibrato - it’s a rock song, not a freaking opera. L’Arc～en～Ciel has been one of the worst offenders and I’ve resisted listening to them for a long time, but they finally got me with My Heart Draws A Dream. I’ve been listening to that song over and over, trying not to think about the shame of being reeled in like some trout. I think I like it because for some reason it reminds me of listening to Miguel Bose songs when I was a kid - random, I know.

I’ve been thinking about the reasons why people like songs (besides a real interest in the musical quality of a song). I’ve come up with four so far:

Peer Pressure: you want to be able to talk about music with our friends. It’s 100% the reason why I started listening to Green Day when Dookie came out.
Saturation: A song keeps playing on the radio over and over and over. It’s the only possible explanation for Britney Spears and Rhianna’s Umbrella.
Memory Road: A song might remind you of something. I hated, hated Seven Mary Three’s Cumbersome, but now I kinda like it because it reminds me of high school.
Nonconformity: you want to listen to what others aren’t. I’m guilty of this, for a long time I felt very proud that I listened to obscure stuff, how douchy of me. To this day I hate Zach Braff for the Garden State soundtrack. “Oh, it’s that song from Garden State!” *CRINGE*.

None of these reasons can explain why anyone can listen to Creed and Nickelback. These people just plainly suck and have no soul.

New Rule: It’s ok to be a music snob, but if you don’t play any instruments and have no concept of music theory, you’re not cool, you’re just a pretentious asshole.

I want to introduce you to a song that I’ve been listening to for a year straight - Sebastien Tellier’s La Ritournelle. It’s pretty impressive that this song hasn’t gotten old for me yet. I was listening the Ministry of Sound - Chillout Sessions cd and this song came up when I was halfway asleep. Usually chords are looped in fours, but what got to me was that this one has them grouped in fives. It’s a little bit awkward at first but as you listen it makes sense. I listen to a different mix than what I’ve posted (here’s the closest thing) - on the one I listen to the song builds and builds and the lyrics don’t come in until 2:12 and end at 3:00. It’s an interesting decision and that’s why I love it.

This song by Hayashi Miki… can’t… stop… watching… song… stuck… in… head. It was written by Yasuharu Konishi, who was part of Pizzicato Five. It would have been better as a Pizzicato Five song. This singer doesn’t have much talent but still…. song… stuck… in… brain. By the way, from the P5 wikipedia entry: “The catchphrase ‘A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular’ captured the group’s ironic stance and eager attitude.” What the hell? “A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular” is the name of a Hooverphonic CD. Someone’s plagiarizing someone here.

It’s a little bit weird that I write a lot about Japanese music since I’m sooo Mexican (ah, the wonders of globalization). Therefore I’m going to write a little bit about Mexican music from now on. I’d like to introduce you to the song Amores Perros by Julieta Venegas. It’s one of those songs that has stuck with me for years. Please enjoy.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 8th, 2007 at 11:01 am and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.