So Jenn, Omar, Rob and I decided to create an eleven track CD that is made up of our 'new favourite songs' and then send them out to each other. They didn't have to be newly released, or new to our collections, but they had to be newly loved - and only one from an artist or band. Omar and I stuck to the rules (!) and posted ours on the deadline; Jenn and Rob not so much... Which actually is a good thing, because I didn't have to pick which one to start with, or rush through one to start another. Every cloud and all that!
Here's what I thought of Omar's contribution to the exercise:
1. Unity - Orkidea Not a great place to start really since I can't remember anything about this song. Which probably says a lot about what I thought of it!
2. Baptism - Crystal Castles Chaotic and messy in a very good way. The background sounded like the kind of stuff my lovely lovely friend Laura would have listened to.
3. Tell 'Em - Sleigh Bells Had a good, promising start. Turned out even more chaotic and messy than the track before. The only downside was the singers completely hideous voice (in my opinion). Overall it had kind of a post-apocalyptic vibe going on that I liked.
4. Ready To Start - Arcade Fire I always thought I didn't like Arcade Fire. Turns out I'm just a bit left cold by their music really. To begin it felt nice and inoffensive but did nothing to set my world alight. The tension built up as it went on and dragged my attention back, but just as I thought it was getting somewhere it stopped.
5. Automatic - Yuck Two words: simple, beautiful.
6. Knee Play 5 - Phillip Glass The counting part at the start almost had me skipping this track. Which would have been a mistake. The preacher style speech over soft music is gorgeous. Best track on the album so far.
7. Dance The Way I Feel - Ou Est Le Swimming Pool I really really wanted to love this because of the name of the song and the band. I like the lyrics and the notion of dancing how I feel, but the music itself didn't hit me really on any emotional levels.
8. Everyone Chooses Sides - The Wrens This song feels like a sunny afternoon in a park with mates. It's kinda brit-poppy and the singer has a nasally twang reminiscent of Damon Albarn. I like this.
9. Everything I Build - The Stills Occasionally there are bits of this song that are a bit psychedelic and Pink Floyd esque. Small parts, and not enough to make me love it. It felt very bleak lyric-wise.
10. Love Lust - King Charles It's not something I'd usually listen to, but I'm really glad I did. It's a quirky track, and just as I was thinking I wanted it to do something more, it did!
11. 1440 - Olagur Arnalds This is the only track on the album I've heard before. I loved it before, and I love it as much, if not more now. It's beautiful and bleak, uplifting and devastating, heartbreaking and hopeful all at once.
As and when I receive the others, I shall blog about them too...
No comments:
Post a Comment