Just a Little – Liberty X

and no, I’m not going to give it the oxygen of Internet publicity by linking to the video.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate commercial pop music by default. But this was the first song that sprang to mind that really annoys me – particularly the lyrics. They are so at odds with the sentiment of the song, so on the nose, un-subtle, clumsy, so not passionate, that when I am forced to listen to even a little snippet, it is the proverbial nails on a blackboard.

There’s a great line in a completely different song – History Repeating, by the Propellorheads & Shirley Bassey, which states that “some people won’t dance if they don’t know who’s singing”. Unfortunately, I fall into that category. Often it’s the melody which is the most important thing, but when you get the lyrics this wrong, then even Bassey’s admonition that “why ask your head, it’s your hips that are swinging..” doesn’t cut it here.

Sometimes – Miami Horror

The slightly sickening music video with obligatory young pretty things

I’ve been making my way through Grand Theft Auto V.

The game doesn’t quite have the same seductive atmosphere as Red Dead Redemption, which I fell in love with. The story and characters, too, aren’t necessarily the best. But the sense of a world, just by wandering or driving around, is what I enjoy the most, in both games. Ironically, really, given that all the studying I’ve done so far around fiction and writing has been focused on plot and character. Hmm.

I’ve yet to experience a summer holiday of relaxing, carefree living and/or just being in the US, if only for a short while. This song speaks to me of the sunshine-soaked atmosphere of driving down the freeway, or taking in the sunset at the beach, albeit in a virtual environment. It’s an illusion, doubly so in GTA, of course.

Nevertheless, the lush electronica, similar to that found in Cut/Copy’s music, combined with a very New Order style bass guitar, hits the spot for me. Full of hope and promise, the summer to come.

Shamelessly cribbed from Matthew and Mark – let’s just call this attempt number 765 in the long, long series of me trying to establish a regular writing pattern. Oh yeah, the newsletter, I’ll pick that up again soon.

Thing is, whenever I’m writing something, I’m overcome by massive self-doubt – that what I’m doing is self indulgent, irritating and so on. Twitter is, for some reason, probably the only exception to the rule, and yet most likely to be the most irritating. Anyway, with this series of blog posts, I’m going to say this up front – I’m giving myself permission to be self indulgent. This is an exercise for me, primarily, with the hope that others might find it entertaining too.

Matt was worrying that he was writing too much about himself, and not enough about the music. With the greatest respect – have you seen the categories (below)? Each trigger is pretty much a shot across the emotional bows, so I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using the music as a stepping off point for something more personal. That’s what I’m planning to use it for. Yes, there will be some discussion of why I have a particular emotional reaction to a song, some attempt to describe its’ musical mechanics, but it’s also an opportunity to tell a quick story, a snapshot of where I am now.

Music has always been a big part of my life. Playing and composing, much less so – brief excursions into playing the recorder, violin, keyboard and guitar aside. But every commute is soundtracked, music is everywhere for me. So much so that the security guard in my previous job, when asked to identify me, called me ‘the bloke with the headphones’. My tastes may be more mainstream than most – if I offend you with my populism, I’m sorry – it’s just a stepping stone for something else.

I’ll do my best to post on consecutive days. The most difficult part, I fear, will be nominating a single track – but it can only ever represent my reaction to the prompt that day. Which makes future iterations of this project even more interesting, I hope. So, here we go.

The categories are:

day 01 – your favorite song – Sometimes (Miami Horror)
day 02 – your least favourite song – Just a Little (Liberty X)
day 03 – a song that makes you happy – Don’t Falter (Mint Royale & Lauren Laverne)
day 04 – a song that makes you sad – Exile Vilify (The National)
day 05 – a song that reminds you of someone – Robin The Hooded Man (Clannad)
day 06 – a song that reminds of you of somewhere – Suzie (Boy Kill Boy)
day 07 – a song that reminds you of a certain event – Map of the Problematique (Muse)
day 08 – a song that you know all the words to – Breaking the Law (Judas Priest)
day 09 – a song that you can dance to – Disco Down (Shed Seven)
day 10 – a song that makes you fall asleep – Agent Orange (Depeche Mode)
day 11 – a song from your favorite band – Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode)
day 12 – a song from a band you hate – Aqualung (Jethro Tull)
day 13 – a song that is a guilty pleasure
day 14 – a song that no one would expect you to love
day 15 – a song that describes you
day 16 – a song that you used to love but now hate
day 17 – a song that you hear often on the radio
day 18 – a song that you wish you heard on the radio
day 19 – a song from your favorite album
day 20 – a song that you listen to when you’re angry
day 21 – a song that you listen to when you’re happy
day 22 – a song that you listen to when you’re sad
day 23 – a song that you want to play at your wedding
day 24 – a song that you want to play at your funeral
day 25 – a song that makes you laugh
day 26 – a song that you can play on an instrument
day 27 – a song that you wish you could play
day 28 – a song that makes you feel guilty
day 29 – a song from your childhood
day 30 – your favorite song at this time last year