Elvis Presley

Songs crafted with the intent of pleasing the general audience, they’re called pop music. Music scholars claim that pop music developed during the mid-50s. It’s been more than fifty years since. In that length of time, innumerous pop songs have been written, and yet, as hard as hordes of musicians try cement themselves the spots of being pop culture’s permanent leading forces of influence, only a scant few have succeeded: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Michael Jackson. Try to think of the 50s, you think of Elvis; 60s to 70s, The Beatles; 80s to 90s, Michael Jackson. I think it’s fair to say that we are still in search of a modern pop music icon who would define the era from 00s-onwards, and that’s also quite a reason that in Michael Jackson’s final years, a lot of people clamored for a comeback, nevermind that his life was still enshrouded in controversy. His death only further proves the point that musicians like him, The Beatles, and Elvis achieve mythological statuses; like the gods, their works are immortal, in which the deaths of their creators will not lessen the marks they left on the landscape of pop, which entails much of the whole world.

Strange then, that while it’s agreed that Michael Jackson is a master performer, and that while the media eulogizes about The Beatles at least once every year (frankly I’m sick of the eulogizing), people have more divided opinions about Elvis Presley. If you don’t believe this, bring him up the next time you speak with rock enthusiasts. Tell them of his 1984 induction in Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame, and I assure you the conversation will not go by without incident. With him, people are more inclined to doubt his skills as a musician, or, especially, his songs’ legitimacy of being classified as rock. Some go as far as to doubt his death (dead people don’t sweat, Elvis is alive!).

So, what’s my take? First, the 1994 Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. I think he deserves to be on it. Now hold your phone for a sec, will you? Most of those who’ll disagree with that statement weren’t alive during the time when Elvis broke through in the music industry anyway (ok, so wasn’t I), so it’s easy to overlook the songs from that decade, but listen: Before all the Bruce Springsteen anthems, before all the hair metal bands, before all the “depression” music that “speaks to teenagers”, Elvis’ songs were what rock music sounded like. Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Buddy Holly, people agree that they are performers of rock. Elvis’ music has the same style, so shouldn’t he be considered rock too?

What about the fact that Elvis did not write his own music? I don’t see why that invalidates someone’s status as a rock performer. Plenty of early rock musicians made covers. The Rolling Stones spent their formative years interpreting blues standards. Were they rock? Hell, yeah. I’d also like to point out that in the time when people expected musicians to be smooth, suave and squeaky-clean, Elvis was an iconoclast by selling himself through his sex appeal. It may sound laughable now, because he is quite a sellout (trying too hard to please the mass market by appearing in movies despite lacking the acting chops) but without him, music wouldn’t veer to the counterculture, nor will live theatrics earn acceptance.

But fine. I’m not gonna force everyone to agree with me about Elvis, so I’ll end this discussion by pointing out that The Beatles were big Elvis-heads, even admitting that he’s their major inspiration. So if you maintain Elvis’s claim to rock as a fallacy, then please debate the same thing about The Beatles too. Not to mention Deep Purple, Bob Dylan, and loads more. With that out of the way, I’m sure you want to hear me extol Elvis’ skills as a musician, right?

Well, no, that’s not happening. This will vex you after I spent a few paragraphs passionately defending Elvis, but I’m not a big fan of him or his music. Too many people, when writing, slide so leisurely into their own comfort zone without acknowledging the opposing views. I try to be different; in the case of talking about Elvis, what you just saw was me recognizing his influence to many generations. But recognition != admiration. So while I give him credit, unlike those who think that discrediting him increases their self-worth, I’ll leave it at that. I would be lying if I said that Elvis’s songs are of any importance to my life, that they will stop me dead in my tracks so that I could absorb their every intricacy. Sure, I don’t outright dislike them, but whenever they play, I rarely pay attention. They’re kind of just there. Listening to all three albums included in 1001 albums catalog did nothing to change my attitude towards Elvis’s body of work. I’ll get into that right now.

Elvis Presley

Blue Suede Shoe (Elvis Presley)

If one is to judge the validity of the 1001 list based on how much copies of the albums were sold, Elvis Presley’s self-titled debut album is among the least contentious entries of the list (and also, that indie records have no business being there. By the way, I don’t support the notion that the quality of any works of art should be defined by the dollars they earned). That seems to be what the writers evidently suggested when they included it in the list despite saying that it’s “inconsistent”. I might be an oddball, but I liked this more than the other two, more critically-acclaimed Elvis albums in the list. Consistency may be a problem, but I preferred that it’s “rawer” compared to his later albums, which I think are sanitized to be more appealing, yet less exciting. There are a few songs here that everyone knows – Blue Suede Shoe, Tutti Frutti – but Hound Dog is nowhere to be heard here, at least in the album’s earlier issues. Nevertheless, if you can imagine those three songs stretched into the traditional album length of 12 tracks, you’ll have a good idea how the rest of the album sounds. There are a few ballads, however.

Elvis is Back!

Fever (Elvis Presley)

Elvis’s comeback album. At the time leading to the release of this album, he served in the military for two years, leading to his absence from the music industry. Hard to believe it now, but back then, musicians rapidly record new singles, so it was a big deal to be gone for two years. As for the content of this album, it still sounds quite like the first, with plenty of hip-swinging tracks and some ballads in between. This sounds cleaner, though, but that’s also why I found it less compelling. There are a few tracks that I liked more than anything found in the first, but they’re not so good or so plentiful as to offset my indifference to the rest. Fever is golden, Elvis sounds great when he’s singing low notes. I also liked The Girl of My Best Friend. A lot of the remaining tracks are still as tacky as most of anything from the first album.

From Elvis In Memphis

In The Ghetto (Elvis Presley)

Although Elvis grew up in Memphis, he spent long times in his recording career away from the city (and despite it being known for housing many recording studios). He was tired from traveling and making all the derivative movies, so he went back to Memphis to play the kinds of music that he grew up with: namely gospel and country. From the Wearin’ That Loved On Look, the first track of the album, he began with the line “I had to leave town for a little while”. It’s a straightforward love song, yet I can’t help thinking that there’s a hidden attack on the direction Memphis’ recording studio took since he’s left. Histories aside, Elvis sounds quite different in this album. In the past, when Elvis hits high pitch, I find his voice irritating because it always sounds like he’s going to crack. He seemed to have refined his high pitch here, however, so he sounded natural in any songs here, high or low pitch. (skip his “Hey Jude” in the latter 2-CD set reissue, though, because it sets his voice back 10 years) There’s also a change in the music style he’s using. Here, it’s mostly slow, country-sounding ballads, with only one up tempo “pelvis-movable” song, the supremely awful Power of My Love. Eeech, don’t get me started on that! So yeah, it’s interesting to see Elvis get away from his formula, but the result is still less than thrilling because the songs just blend. The one standout track is In The Ghetto, a song about growing up in the poor.

Frank Sinatra

I feel sorry for Frank Sinatra. How many times must he has turned in his grave for the way karaoke singers, to this day, continue to slaughter My Way? More than once I’ve seen reports about KTV bar brawls, or even murders, and the interviewed investigation personnel always jokes that an out-of-tune singing of My Way must’ve instigated the crime. Funny the torments that a song about dying with dignity can cause.

Because of that song, though, and the way he’s often portrayed by the media, I long had this notion that Frank Sinatra is the imago of a gentleman. Whenever I’m set to do a task, usually a daunting one, I tell myself to do it the Frankie way: forceful, manly (but not rough as macho is often attributed to), and with style – perhaps, suave as his singing voice. Strange, then, that for too long it was precisely all my flattering impressions of him that deterred me from ever listening to any of his albums. I believed he was too perfect, and I don’t want to listen to music from any musicians who is flawless. Further, I just didn’t like My Way, Strangers In The Night, or anything by him that is favored by karaokes. I’ve ignored him until two years ago, when I bought his Come Fly With Me and Come Dance With Me albums, just to be able to form substantiated opinions about Frankie’s work. Later on I got In The Wee Small Hours and Songs for Swingin’ Lovers, because those two consistently pop up in best albums of all time lists, including the one in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. It was only in In The Wee Small Hours that I got to see Frankie as someone who dares show that he is vulnerable like all the rest of us.

02 - Mood Indigo (Frank Sinatra)

In The Wee Small Hours is Frank Sinatra’s comeback, years after his singing career was on a standstill. His first under Capitol Records (after leaving Columbia Records), it was notable for being, allegedly, a reflection of his widely publicized marriage with Ava Gardner. It’s a sad record, and feels like watching someone mourn. Frankie isn’t a composer. He doesn’t even write the lyrics of his songs. All he does most times is interpret American standards. Yet, his delivery in every tracks here is done with a sincerity that make them sound like they are written just so that they can be sung by him. The accompanying instruments are used sparely, as if to accentuate his gloom, like he was inviting only those who care about him to stay and hear of his troubles, while shooing all the rest who flock to him only when they’re in a party mood. It’s nearing dawn, the bar is getting empty, and he is sitting at a bar counter, staring at his glass of beer, babbling all his troubles out and drinking as if the alcohol will obfuscate all his bitter memories and make him forget all the tears streaming down his eyes.

04 - You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me (Frank Sinatra)

A year after In The Wee Small Hours, he seems to have picked himself up again and, in Songs for Swingin’ Lovers, return to the up-tempo swing that he is so commonly associated with. I have to admit, I find him far less entertaining in this light than how he is when he’s depressed and blue (he would revisited that mood later in Only The Lonely). Often, swing music with any kind of vocalist frustrate me, in that I try to like them, but couldn’t. Maybe I’m missing the point of swing music, but I can’t stand the pomp of their arrangements, like every minute of the songs have to be smothered with 5 or more brasses (at least half of the tracks from Come Dance With Me is like that). Not with Songs for Swingin’ Lovers though, because I liked it quite a bit, and found it very memorable. I appreciate it for being quite restrained, without losing anything that makes swing music fitting for when I’m dancing with a partner held by her waist. Some tracks are louder than others, but there are always build-ups or slow-downs, giving them rooms for anyone, performers and listeners alike, to breathe.

03 - Change Partners (Frank Sinatra & Tom Jobim)

The last Sinatra album that made it to 1001 Albums is Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim. I don’t speak Portuguese, and have never gone to Brazil – though it’s in my wish list to go there – but I’m not ignorant about Brazilian music. In fact, I know quite a bit about Bossa Nova, and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim is not what I’ll consider a very good Bossa Nova album. A lot of folks say that the decline of Bossa Nova came as a result of it losing its cultural identity by pandering to American mass market. This album is a strong argument for that. Many jazz musicians banked on the popularity of Bossa Nova during the late 60s, but Frank Sinatra’s effort stand as being among the worst I’ve heard simply because it sounds like the epitome of quick cash-in. It really could’ve become a truly great Bossa Nova album, since Frank took the efforts to persuade Antonio Carlos Jobim, widely regarded as the father of Bossa Nova, to work with him. Alas, they didn’t complement well because they probably didn’t understand each other’s style. Frank sounds lazy here, without the fire in his earlier works; Jobim couldn’t write a more pedestrian arrangement in his sleep. The result is a collection unoffensive, but ultimately forgettable, songs. Why is it even in 1001 albums list?

1001 Albums part 3

Before resuming my 1001 albums series, I’d like to add a few rules to all my subsequent posts. I said earlier that I pick albums by a random generator. I will still do that, but if the random generator points me to an album by an artist who also has an earlier uncommented-on album in the list, then I’d listen to and write about the earlier album (e.g. if it points to The Beatles “Revolver”, then I’d have to start with “With the Beatles…”). It’s just so much easier to talk about musicians’ discography in chronological order. Musicians excepted from this rule are Radiohead, Pavement, and Steely Dan, since I’ve already written about their later albums.

Furthermore, because life just likes to throw all kinds of burden to me, I wouldn’t be able to write about 4 or 5 albums weekly, so I’ll just write any number of selections at my own pace.

8. The Mama’s and the Papa’s - If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears

Are you kidding me?! Ugh. Sounds like some of The Beatles’ earlier songs, except kitschier. Music for barbershops. Next!

9. Radiohead – The Bends

Music for college dorms.

But in all seriousness this is one of the better Radiohead albums. The Bends is the one in which their songs are most easily remembered without sounding dumbed-down. It’s not as experimental as OK Computer, but see, I don’t consider that as a bad thing especially after being bombarded by three Radiohead albums this entire month. For whatever cockeyed logic, the random generator I’m using always leads me to Radiohead albums, and I may have grown weary of them right now. I’m still miffed by the boring Amnesiac (the previous one I heard), but yeah, The Bends is pretty good.

10. The Clash – The Clash

Now this is more like it. The Clash album that I heard was the UK edition; the US edition replaced some of the UK’s songs, and then altered the order of those retained. I haven’t read 1001 albums… write-up on The Clash, so I’ve yet to verify if this is the album it referred to. Changes will be made if I find out that it isn’t.

With all those pointless info out of the way, I have to say that this album rocks quite hard. The songs epitomize the punk: standing up to the system that treats people as insignificant nobodies. Joe Strummer, who sounds like a guy singing after shouting at a megaphone the whole day, may have a raspy voice of a very limited range, but it fits the riotous spirit of the album perfectly. It gets somewhat repetitive towards the end, though, so here’s hoping London Calling does better than this.

1001 Albums Part 2

(read part 1 here)

So three weeks has passed since I last written an update here. Weird things have happened: Jacko died, Fawcett died, a lot of people in Xinjiang died, and the weather in the Philippines is horrible. I had an hour or two added to my usual travel time due to flooding. And I still can’t stand Transformers 2. Wait, the last part wasn’t weird at all.

Anyway, I don’t want to risk reneging on another blog series that I once said I would constantly be doing, so today I’m going to continue my multi-part 1001 Albums post. Let’s begin.

5. Alice in Chains – Dirt

Grunge bands were the rage back in the 90s. They would fade to make way for emo, screamo, and nu-metal, all drawing inspirations from the angst of grunge bands, if amplifying the whininess by 100 degrees. While not particularly my genre of choice, I often end up inadvertently liking the songs played by grunge bands. Alice in Chains is no exception, and its lead vocalist Layne Staley greatly contributes to my enjoyment with Dirt.

But here’s a warning that I realize should be obvious from seeing the cover: there is not a single joyous moment here. Every song is consistently bleak, and a lot of them convey that whoever wrote the lyrics is struggling with drug addiction in the most fatalist manner imaginable. The first verse in the track Sickman says “What the hell am I?/ Thousand eyes, a fly/ Lucky then I’d be/ In one day deceased.” It was, of course, written by Layne Staley, who would overdose in heroin and die in year 2002, 10 years after Dirt’s release.

So yeah, I am very much in the same company with those who liked this album, but I will not advocate heroin-shooting.

6. Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Anyone who thinks that indie rock usually consists of the lo-fi recording, the witty (and sometimes twee) lyrics, and the high-pitched male vocalist, wouldn’t be very far off the mark in describing Pavement’s style of music. If there’s anything distinct with them, though, it’s that the singings are brief to the point that they feel more like interludes to the instrumentals and solos, instead of the other way around. Not an album to miss for those who are into indie rock music, and even those not into it may find something to like here.

7. Radiohead – Amnesiac

In the first entry of my 1001 albums series I randomly picked a Radiohead album, and while I don’t exactly claim to be their fan, I got to admit that my admiration for them grew after listening to OK Computer. With it I also found that their signature “multi-layer” sound is something that listeners more accustomed to melodic hooks may find disconcerting.

Amnesiac, then, will be even more challenging for those listeners, but honestly I think Radiohead has gone too far here. Taking more liberties with electronica, Amnesiac (and, from what I read, predecessor Kid A) is the bands’ another departure from their established sound. Some people say Amnesiac is more “computerized”, which, while true, is merely a way to put it. I would say that Amnesiac is tuneless to the point of pointlessness.

Look, I have contempt for computer trickery being done in musicians’ voices. Thom Yorke can sing, so I don’t understand why he feels the need to make himself sound like he’s behind megaphones a lot of the time (and he may have even Autotune’d. I’m not sure). The music is still overly morose and filled with lyrics as vague as they are pretentious, making the whole ordeal resemble reading academic papers, which, while illuminating, will only make you wish that the authors of these stuff aren’t taking themselves so seriously. Like maybe Thom Yorke should watch Transformers and write a sing about Patriotic Androids.

Dabbling on 1001 Albums

One blog that I regularly visit is Francisco Silva’s 1001 Albums. Sort of a companion blog for the book entitled 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, the intrepid music critic sets out to listen to all 1001 and review them individually. And as of today, three years running, he has heard 887 albums and wrote about them. Quite an impressive feat for a task so formidable, if I may say so myself.

Anyway, last week I also got my own 1001 Albums book. And then after reading it for a short while, I said to myself, “I think I might as well listen to all 1001 albums too” (so far I’ve only heard of 100+; shamed that I am to admit that). Thus a new endeavor began: I will comment on all 1001 albums from this point onward. Of course, this nightdreamer.i.ph blog, aside from chronicling my “history” with all the selections, remains a repository for all other stuff I write about – videogames, movies, my life, random crap. I will just add more music to the mix. Oh, and you can read the catalog of all 1001 albums here (it’s a .xls file, so use appropriate software).

The format I’m using will be different from Silva, because I don’t want to look like I’m copying his style.

1. Four or five albums in one post, once a week.

2. Albums will be selected randomly, by use of the random generator from random.org (which is superb at what it does).

I don’t assume to be anywhere as educated as your average music critic, so feel free to tell me more about the artists that I mention (their backgrounds, inspirations, influences, musical styles, etc).

So without further delay, my inaugural 1001 albums post. All photos taken from Amazon.com. 

1. War – The World is A Ghetto

The title reads like one of those sociopolitical albums of the 70s – the same decade this album got made – but it’s far from being full of protests, for better or worse. Instead, it’s a celebration of everything that’s fun with funk –the goofy lyrics, the emphasis on percussions, and the meanderings. Those familiar with Sly and the Family Stone can easily think of War as how Sly’s songs would sound like if they were infused with some jazz, afro-cuban and reggae. This also means that War’s music is more complicated-sounding and, as a result, has fewer hooks, which make it less memorable than Sly and the Family Stone. I’d take Sly to War any day, but really, this album is pretty good. Wonderful cover art too.

2. Ms Dynamite – A Little Deeper

Despite being a moderate fan of R&B, I’ve never gotten to love The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill despite the media constantly heralding it as a masterpiece. Since that album is part of the 1001, I will eventually give it another listen, so there’s a small chance that my opinion of it might change, but as of now I find it overall uneven. Most of the tracks where Lauryn sings are okay, but I’m not a big fan of her rapping.

Lauryn Hill has gone crazy after The Miseducation…, disappearing from the music industry for a while, and when she came back with an Unplugged album, reactions were mixed at best. Fans of Lauryn Hill frustrated by her turn to acoustic over-indulgence could, thankfully, seek solace from Miss Dynamite. She is pretty much a Lauryn Hill sound-alike from UK, minus the rapping. Her debut album, A Little Deeper has the angry criticisms about how romantic relationships are abused by men, and more of the same soulful singing that made Miseducation… a massive hit. Still not a Miseducation fan and A Little Deeper isn’t my favorite R&B album either, but this is good stuff nonetheless.

(As I can’t embed videos of Miss Dynamite’s “It Takes More”, which is a hit single from this album, just head over here to hear it.)

3. Radiohead – OK Computer

This confession is going to out me as very ignorant when it comes to certain genres of music, but for the longest time I’ve been oblivious to Radiohead’s career, and the only single that I knew was made by them is Creep. I can already hear people crying “madness!” over this, and I make no excuses: missing out on Radiohead is an incredibly awful oversight. This ignorance is one thing that motivated me to go through  catalog of 1001 (still trying to forget that Limp Bizkit is in it too. Ugh!).

Thanks to the random generator I jumped into the middle of Radiohead’s discography instead of taking them in chronologically, so the part where this album marks a turning point of their career or has become their new landmark is lost to me. That aside, I can now imagine myself liking Radiohead more. The best way I can describe their songs here is that they rely more on creating landscapes or textures of sounds (or set “moods”) than on melodic hooks. Subtle stuff, for sure; I don’t want all rock music to beat me over the head repeatedly with anthemic guitar solos and wailings anyway. The lyrics are top quality stuff too, if a tad on the pretentious side. My favorite track here is “Paranoid Android”.

4. Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic

From the moment I heard the first song “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” I instantly became a fan. Steely Dan is, of course, a rock duo that, according to music critics, “doesn’t like rock all that much”, so they perform their songs with a tone of irony. How they’re ironic tends to be a subject that highbrow armchair music critics each with a glass of martini in their hands indulge in for 50 hours – some of them actually said “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” is about drugs. Of course Steely Dan rejected the idea, saying it’s just a love letter written for their high school crush. Oops, failure in over-analysis!

Anyway, their boring discussions aside, what I dig about Steely Dan is their obvious leanings on jazz (always a plus, as jazz is, of course, my favorite genre). The lyrics, like those from the song “Pretzel Logic”, are based on blues poetry that dominated the era of The Great Depression, if wryly written. Steely Dan’s music reminds us that rock musicians don’t always have to take themselves so seriously, and that it’s fine to rollick like people did in the ragtime days of Art Tatum (since when did they have to take off the “roll” in the rock n’ roll?). Get it and just live with it night by night.

Remembering the Koln Concert

I’m not gonna deny it - last year when I tried to do the All Jazzed Up series of posts as an attempt to hook everyone to my favorite music genre, I didn’t foresee how hard it is to consistently update my readers with new recommendations. Although I love talking about music, I also think of it as the most challenging topic to write about, not because it’s always going to be deep and thought-provoking (more often, no), but because no two people will ever be in complete agreement about what they’re hearing and whether they’re melodious or cacophonous. It certainly doesn’t help that jazz is very difficult to define that its own name doesn’t suggest anything definite. How exactly do you put into words the improvisations you hear in most jazz music and have people imagine its sound with any accuracy? You can’t.

All my frustrations aside, I still miss talking about jazz and getting people acquainted with it. For now, though, I want you to listen to some great solo improvisations from Keith Jarrett’s Part 1 (of 2) of his Koln Concert, right here. This is improvisation at its finest, because accordingly, Keith Jarrett came up with this music the instant he was on his piano and playing it. He didn’t write any of the notes down prior to the day he performed, and he won’t be able to play the same tune (he doesn’t want to, anyway), note-per-note, again.

Anyway, in that link I provided, the track got capped to 10 minutes because that’s the time limit for youtube videos. It originally lasts for 26 minutes. If you like it, be sure to grab a copy of the album.

Waiting for Midnight

…coz it’s gonna be special.

Just being lazy today, so here’s a music video from one of my favorite rappers, Common:

Resurrection? Sounds like something I should inspire!

Unreal

I’ve been meaning to write about certain things today, but right now I’m very sleepy, and I have to attend a Christmas party few hours later - it’s mandatory for me, so, what can I do?

The Christmas party I’m going to later is by the company where I work in, and everyone has to give gifts, each to a person chosen by drawing lots. We’ve written on a whiteboard our wishlists, and because of what the person I have chosen wants, I went to buy Guns N’ Roses’s much-delayed, 17-years-in-production, and banned-in-China Chinese Democracy. Gee, it must’ve been quite an agony for that person to wait 17 years to get that album. If he’s had it in his wish list for that long, I feel terribly sorry for him.

It’s incredible enough for the album to ever get released, making one of the funniest pop-culture slangs obsolete, so that I can no longer refer to anything postponed indefinitely as “the Chinese Democracy of [something]” (e.g. Duke Nukem Forever is the Chinese Democracy of videogames; Dr Dre’s Detox is the Chinese Democracy for Hiphop albums; getting a good president is the Chinese Democracy of…). Now I hold the CD in my hands while my head is reeling with disbelief; if you tell me two years ago that I’d ever get it, I’d laugh so hard security might send me out of the building. It’s just so unreal.

For the record, I’m not a Guns N’ Roses fan, but I like some of their songs, especially Sweet Child O’ Mine. Perhaps I’ll eventually give their new album a couple of listens, and decide if it has been worth the wait and the multiple changes of band members and the Axl Rose vs. Slash Snakepit drama.

PS2 Euphonies

In the earlier 3 posts of my videogame music euphonies series(NES, SNES, and PS), I gave a background of how videogame music have developed over the years. Anyone playing videogames for as long as I have – from the NES era to now – will have noticed the progression of the sound quality: from 8-bit to 16-bit and finally, during the PlayStation generation, culminating to the CD-like WAV.

Videogame music composers, however, were not quick to adapt to the new freedom offered by PlayStation’s audio. Early PS games sounded conservative, in that they still clung to that bleepy MIDI sound. Take Final Fantasy VII: though it has great compositions, its music sound like they were done on cheap Casio keyboards. Only during the later stage of PS’s life cycle have it become the norms for videogame music to sound like they’re coming an audio CD, which includes higher sampling rates and the use of live instruments.

So I don’t think I need to tell you that when PlayStation 2 was released, I was very excited to hear what kind of music its games would bring. After all, even during the chrysalis stage of videogame industry, the music already sounded very creative. Since the composers were no longer constrained by hardware limitations, I believed that they would explore other genres of music, because all I’d heard so far were rock, new age and orchestra - not that they’re bad, but there’s always this thing about variety being the spice of life. I expected to be further ensorcelled by what’s to come with videogame music.

Sadly, it didn’t happen that much. Sure, there are tracks that are just as good as - probably better than - anything else I have heard from videogames so far, but those are very few. I’m not lying if I tell you that I had much difficulty narrowing down my SNES and PS euphonies lists to just 10 tracks, but for PS2 I could hardly name 10, and most of them are from games that have only 1 or 2 good tunes. It doesn’t look like it’s going to improve with this generation of videogame consoles either; sans Eternal Sonata I’ve not found any X360 soundtrack (that is comprised of compositions made for the game) memorable.

What really gets me is how lazy videogames have become with their choices of music. Since the industry has become very profitable, the game developers either acquire the rights to play licensed music, or hire popular musicians (e.g. popular rock bands) to perform for them. The quality varies for licensed music – Grand Theft Auto certainly surpasses most others – but I don’t find that very effective in giving videogames much identity. As for popular musicians, they are chosen based on how they make the supplemented videogame more mainstream, and it’s because of this that some games takes a turn for the garish: just listen to the atrocities Godsmack have wrought to Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within. The mainstream from this 21^st century hasn’t been known as the golden age for any genre of music, and I think most will agree with me on how they just don’t make rock, rap, hiphop, rnb, or jazz like they used to. It’s sad that videogame music also has to suffer from the dreck the music industry tortures us with, but what can we do: commercial appeal is the gospel truth for everything, right? Don’t be surprised if the next Splinter Cell has songs by Linkin Park.

There still are cases when videogame-exclusive composers write game’s music, but this has become infrequent. Moreover, with the growing focus of using the “moody atmospheric ambient sound” to give players “a better immersion to the game” (really?), they just seem less and less intent on making memorable listens. So, all things considered, I think videogame music has gone downhill.

Anyway, this is my top 10 PS2 music list, which I compiled with a heavy heart.

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PS Euphonies

Here comes PlayStation! It may have to do with how the games are stored, but at this stage, videogame music have progressed so much that they have begun to sound as though they’re coming straight from audio CD’s. We’re talking about a leap from MIDI to WAV. Not only did the audio quality make full-blown orchestra arrangements sound authentic – unlike the “compensated” orchestra of the SNES days - it also allowed more experimental developers to make the music part of playing the games. PS-exclusive games like Parappa the Rapper, where buttons are pressed to make the titular character rap, couldn’t be done in SNES.

It’s also at this time when CD’s containing videogame music began to get mass-produced and to earn mild commercial popularity. Whatever anyone may think of Faye Wong’s Eyes on Me (for the record, I don’t happen to think very highly of the lyrics, and they could’ve used different arrangements) it undoubtedly made an impact in the videogame industry because it is a song that everyone in Japan and Taiwan has heard. People have begun paying attention to videogame music. Consequently, more talents have hopped aboard the recording booths Capcom, Square, Ubisoft, etc.

With the new freedom PS offered to composers and musicians, more soundtracks that reverberated within every fiber of my being were made. Hear my 10 favorite pieces after the jump!

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SNES Euphonies

(Edit: if the audio player refuses to play on your browser, you may have to clear your cookies and caches. Also, if you tried to play all files before, you’d noticed that Lufia 2’s boss theme was at number 9. That music file didn’t work. I tried to fix that but it just refused to cooperate, so I had it changed with another tune from another RPG.)

The videogame consoles made after NES has quite a leap in the quality of sounds. The sampling rate is higher, and the bit has increased from 8 to 16. By the time gamers migrated to SEGA and/or SNES, they were beginning to hear music that sounded like they came from real instruments.

I haven’t played SEGA for a long enough time to have a top 10 list of favorite Sega music, but without a doubt Sonic the Hedgehog had some fine tunes, which was kind of like him saying, “Step aside, Mario. I run and jump faster than you do, and my taste in music is better too!”

Nintendo rebutted, “Don’t give me that attitude, Sega! You may have your Sonic techno, but I have my Yoshi chillout tracks!”

Okay, I’m kind of getting ahead of myself. Playing SNES for more than 10 years, I have, of course, grown to be very attached to its games. Everything NES had done SNES did better. The games had more stories, more styles, and of course the tracks sounded cleaner and a lot more beautiful than before.

Again, my top 10 SNES tunes, in no particular order.

1. Tetris Attack – Forest Stage Theme

This is the Yoshi chillout track I was talking about. That dinosaur starred in Tetris Attack, which is quite a good puzzle game. The title is a misnomer because it’s not really Tetris. 

2.  Terranigma - The Underworld

Here’s one RPG tune for you. In the PlayStation days people often associate RPG’s with rousing soundtracks, but way back in SNES great RPG tunes were already being made. This Terranigma composition is striking for its very somber tone, which fits the mood of the game. After all, it takes place in a post-apocalyptic world.

3.  Lost Vikings - Factory Beat

Evidence that not only did Japanese game companies get the creating of videogame music down pat. Lost Vikings are made by the publisher who later released Warcraft, and even this early their genius already shows. I still can’t name a puzzle game that surpasses this one. I dig the soundtrack too, which is full of funky new jack swing tunes.

4. Donkey Kong Country 2 - Bramble Blast

Another one of those chillout tunes. Seriously, if all the chillout tunes I hear are as inspired as those Nintendo and Rare come up with, I might not be so dismissive of electronica as “lazy music”.

5. Dracula X - Stage 3 Theme

This is actually a remix of an old Castlevania tune. it’s too bad that Dracula X sucks.

6. Starfox - Corneria

Another proof that Nintendo knows how to make great music when they’re inspired. Rock with this!

7. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island - Obstacle Course

And yet Nintendo… okay enough of that. This time here’s something that sounds like ragtime music.

8. Final Fantasy V - Battle with Gilgamesh

The best RPG battle themes are those that get the player pumped up. This one is an example.

9. Final Fantasy VI - Decisive Battle

This one is another, and it’s not surprising that both number 8 and 9 are written by the same composer, Nobuo Uematsu.That name should be familiar to anyone who has passing knowledges of videogame music.

10. Wild Guns - Stage 1 Theme

Rock with a little Wild Western sound. The game is also Wild Western, but also with robots. They need to make more games with that setting!

NES Euphonies

Call me geeky if you must, but I’m a self-professed fan of videogame music. It’s easy to dismiss videogames as mere products of amusement, that what only matter is whether it’s fun or not fun. There’s really nothing wrong with such perception, per se; I just happen to think that good music benefits a videogame as it would a movie. Take Super Mario Brothers, for example. It’s still considered one of the best games of all time, but do you know what else about it is remembered? Yes, the music. I hear people use its compositions as their ring tones. It happens because they are catchy and pleasing to the ears.

Anyway, videogame music has come a long way. In their nascent stage, videogames only had intro tracks that went for less than 10 seconds at the beginning of each level, and that’s it. Videogames then were all about how it played, and gamers were given no other objectives than to achieve highest scores; there were no rooms for superfluous things like endings, cutscenes, level progressions, music, or styles. One was more likely to deduce, or maybe interpret, a game’s story by the cartridge art and by the design of the arcade cabinets than by playing the game.

It’s when NES had come into being that videogame music began to show some complexity. Although gamers were still hearing 8-bit bleeps, they could hear melodies while they’re playing. Of course, videogame tracks of then looped after a brief amount of time (and to this day most of them still do); still, they achieved their purposes of giving the game distinct feels.

This is my 10 favorite NES compositions, in no particular order. Note that I edited all the songs, such that I made them fade out when they’re about to start looping.

1. Super Mario Brothers Level 1 Theme

Yeah, everyone has heard of it already. Moving on…

2. Super Mario Brothers 2 Level 1 Theme

Whatever anyone’s opinion of that game may be (“HOW COULD ANYONE CALL THAT A MARIO GAME?!” was the cry of many) it’s hard to deny how infectiously happy the tune is.

3. Darkwing Duck New Bridge Theme

Disney has always been identified with unforgettable (and in some cases schmaltzy) music, and Capcom manages to give its Darkwing Duck game the same unforgettable quality. What a bluesy tune.

4. Batman Level 1 Theme

It’s so Batman, don’t you think?

5. Kirby’s Adventure Title Screen Theme

This one is chirpy and lighthearted, and it may just expedite your next visit to your dentist. Incidentally, I find it funny how the quality of Nintendo games seem directly related to how good their music is. How else to you explain the bland tracks of the equally bland Kirby and Yoshi’s Island for the DS?

6. Megaman 2 Bubble Man Theme

Though there isn’t any surf-like sound effect, it still evokes the feel of ocean breezes.

7. Megaman 3 Spark man Theme

No other tunes from Megaman series makes my tap my feet as much as this one.

8. Contra Level 1 Theme

The only tune bad enough to rescue the president.

9. Journey to Silius Level 1 Theme

Actually, the soundtrack of the game is rock-solid. It’s interesting to note that Journey to Silius was originally meant to be the Terminator game. Can you imagine this song being played for that James Cameron classic? I can, because I find it just as somber.

10. River City Ransom Level 1 Theme

A very funky tune. Seriously, we need more of these! What’s more impressive here is that this one goes for almost two minutes before it starts looping. That’s not very common in the NES days.

This, I Love

In a mellow tone (Ben Webster)

In a mellow tone
That’s the way to live
If you mope and groan
Something’s gotta give

I was at the coffee shop (why is it always at a coffee shop that I hang out in lately?) with this really cool girl yesterday. She knew I liked this coffee shop. She knew I liked the couch that she intentionally avoided sitting on yesterday. She knew I really like that indecisive moment when I was taking my order because there were just so many drinks to choose from. And as we conversed by the table, I confessed something I’ve kept with me for years already. 

I told her - and this was when a very romantic song was playing - I told her, 

I am madly in love with saxophones. 

I am so in love with it, to the extent that I ask myself, what won’t I give just to turn back to when I was at a younger age and learn playing it? Sure, Kenny G’s been using it pretty horribly and I don’t fancy Dave Koz’s music either, so let’s just classify them under anyone’s list of “people let’s forget exist”. What’s not to like about saxophones? Jazz giants played saxophones! John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, Charlie Parker, Jackie McLean, Stan Getz, Wayne Shorter, the list goes on and on. 

*Nightdreamer closes his eye and plays air saxophone while doing a duck mouth, which makes him look incredibly stupid* 

Sure, I’d also love to rewind time and then learn piano and trumpet too as they’re another two of my favorite instruments, but the saxophone’s lure is unsurpassable. How? Did you notice how it’s built like a tube that slopes downward, and then sveltely goes up again? That has an effect on how it sounds, and it sounds enchanting. Enchanting in many ways like, whenever a note like, say, re, is played, it becomes more like a re-flat transitioning to the natural-re. Like, how when in different volumes it sounds like two differing instruments - soft and it’s like a cat purring, loud and it’s like gospel musicians’ bordering-on-raspy singing. It’s just about the only instrument I can think of that be crooning one minute and then ferocious the next, and in both times be sensual. No wonder it is commonly associated with lovemaking - in a blunt and pithy manner it depicts the different moods taking place when two bare bodies exchange odes with their fluids. Okay, that metaphor was horrible. 

So, did you listen to Ben Webster’s “In a Mellow Tone” that I uploaded and posted above the writings? Beautiful, isn’t it? Which reminds me, I need to do a next post on my All Jazzed Up series. So how about you? Do you have a favorite musical instrument?

All Jazzed Up, Part 1: Guitar

Two weeks ago, I mentioned about writing a beginner’s guide to jazz music. I figured that the best way to approach this is to specify an instrument, and then list five of my favorite albums from artists playing this instrument. So, welcome to the first installment of All Jazzed Up. As the title suggests, today I will be discussing jazz guitar albums.

5. Virtuoso by Joe Pass
Frankly, there is nothing very remarkable about solo guitar albums. Too many artists do solo guitar albums and, after listening to a few of them, they tend to sound exactly alike. Joe Pass’s Virtuoso, however, outdoes a lot of them because of improvisation skills worthy of the album’s namesake. Yeah, I think that’s kind of cheap to say that. Joe’s a virtuoso, and you can hear that from how he interpreted the 11 jazz standards (and one original track) selected for this album. Most other guitarists, when they want to show off, they resort to being loud or fast. Joe effortlessly displayed impressive fingerworks while playing mellow tracks. I don’t know how he does that, and that’s why this album belongs in my top 5.

Night and Day (Joe Pass)

4. Inner Mounting Flame by Mahavishnu Orchestra
If there’s a jazz album that I would unhesitatingly hand to any rock fan, it’s Inner Mounting Flame by Mahavishnu Orchestra. “But this is an ORCHESTRA!” A two-word rebuttal: John McLaughlin. Look at his guitar. Your objections are overruled. He’s the leader and the selling point of Mahavishnu Orchestra. Quite unlike all other albums I’ve chosen for this list, Inner Mounting Flame is a jazz-rock album, and it rocks as much as a Jimi Hendrix album, right down to the blistering guitar works. It also earns point for being rife with Hindi influences, which makes it a standout work in comparison to everything else.

Meeting Of The Spirits (Mahavishnu Orchestra)

3. Smokin’ at the Half Note by Wes Montgomery
Many will debate on who is the best jazz guitarist of all time, but Wes Montgomery is with little doubt the most commercially successful one. His discography, from his early bop outing to his late devolution to the ghastly pop jazz, has always inspired contemporary jazz guitarists. Without him you wouldn’t hear a lot of jazz guitar albums - although that also would’ve also saved us from some disgusting George Benson airport records. Anyway, imagine the kind of music the typical jazz trio of a pianist, a bassist and a drummer plays. Add Wes to the trio, and you’ll have a good idea of what Smokin’ at Half Note sounds like. The song Unit 7 is heralded as the best jazz guitar song ever recorded. I’m not sure about that, but you can hear it here and be the judge.

Unit 7 (Wynton Kelly Trio & Wes Montgomery)

2. Idle Moments by Grant Green
I could’ve easily put this album on number one, and the only reason why I put another album on the top is because it’s more beginner-friendly. Idle Moments is to me the finest Jazz guitar album, and what’s unfortunate about it is that it’s very hard to describe. That may not be a bad thing though, because the album is certainly unpredictable. All four songs here are varied and memorable, and they have plenty of impressive guitar solos. The vibraphone also helps in many ways, and it blends remarkably well with Grant’s guitar. I know I’m not doing a good job describing Idle Moments, so let me just tell you how to use this album. Ensure that it’s late. The time I post this entry is ideal. Now find a comfortable sofa. Dim the lights. Play the album. Forget all these lousy electronica stuff patched together on Macbook’s GarageBand - this one is the real chilling out done by genuinely talented musicians.

Jean De Fluer (Grant Green)

1. Midnight Blue by Kenny Burrell
That previous entry may have turned you off from this album. Pay that no mind, though, because Midnight Blue is superb. In fact, both Idle Moments and Midnight Blue are albums that I would’ve brought to a deserted island, especially if I plan to become a nocturnal being while living there. Midnight Blue is different to other jazz albums because, unlike most of them, it has a conga and no piano. I think that’s done to make this album more Latin sounding. It works. Midnight Blue is also commendable because the songs aren’t lengthy (quite opposite to Idle Moments, although its length is never tiresome) and they’re very memorable. And did you read the remark on Unit 7 being the finest jazz guitar song? Well, I disagree. I hand that distinction to Midnight Blue!

Midnight Blue (Kenny Burrell)

Disagree with me? Think I have unjustifiably overlooked some artists? Have other albums to recommend? Hit my comment box!
 

Rekindling the Note, and a Blurb on U2

Most of you don’t know this, but I used to review music. I slated Sitti’s and Agot’s bossa album, praised Charles Mingus’s Black Saint and Harry Connick Jr’s Occasions album. Despite having such history, I’m not interested in preserving the memory here, which means I won’t be posting the reviews on this blog. Why? Because I hated my old writings. They were high-brow, and I used too much musical jargons I ended up infuriating myself. My reviews read like those Pitchforkmedia snobs - they probably have Superman’s power to resist their own chest thumpings - that I realized I’m not informing, but self-validating. Those didn’t help a nick on my blogging carreer, however moot that is. When I’ve began fiction marathons, that’s when I gave my writing proper fine-tunings (and it helped that I read Elements of Style and consider it my Bible ever since). Put it this way, Liz, J or Schumey wouldn’t put me on their blogroll had I sustained my older ways of writing. So, no, I hated reviewing music. A lot of that had to do with the elitisms going on.

But yesterday when I did ramblingvirus’s meme, I realized that I still like to talk about music. Not just that; anybody who’s been on chatrooms with me knows how I light up whenever they bring music up. Give me an album, make me hear it, and you won’t shut me up even if artists threaten me with a code of omerta. I am bold about hating Jolin Tsai, F4, Kenny G, Britney Spears, Akon, Dave Koz, Hale, Gregorian Chants and their likes.

Anyway, with this divine realization, I made up my mind of reviewing music again, but this time I’ll do it with candidness, and cut the name-dropping and technicality. No, scrap "reviewing": this will be more of discussing, like I’m having coffee shop talks with you about music.

I am into jazz, and my goal is to speak of it in ways that will inspire newcomers (not to brag, but I know a lot about jazz. I perused its history and I have more than 200 albums). I will try making that a weekly feature. Choice track will be uploaded too so you can hear it and see if it interests you (and, uh, i.ph team, what’s the storage capacity for audio? Can it be expanded?). Apart from jazz, as I am not someone who only listens to jazz and thinks everything else blows (there are rock fans who are like that, and I don’t respect such group), I will also write about other genres - like rock, hiphop, rnb, soul, funk, pop (whatever that is), folk, blues and maybe even OPM and classical. Speaking of reviews, I have tremendous respect for Francisco Silva, a Portuguese who’s offering a non-insider views on every albums listed on 1001 Album You Must Hear Before You Die, David Thorpe from Your Band Sucks of somethingawful, and The Curmudgeon of The Curmudgeon’s Fortress of Solitude.

I’m doing mental drafts of "getting into jazz based on your background", something I have for years dreamed of writing. I don’t think I need to say this, but I’m preparing heaps for that, and I don’t want to rush such work. Today, in the meantime, let’s talk about one of my all-time favorite rock albums.

The Joshua Tree by U2

I’m growing agitated with what’s happening to a lot of rock songs of late - any genre of music, for that matter. It’s as though the days when music actually talked about something substantive have passed, and nowadays artists are more concerned about bragging. They keep going about sex, sexual frustrations, supermanning dat ho or how badass or G they are. All vacant ego-massagings. I am not in any case a fan of U2 and I am detached from their recent works, but The Joshua Tree is pure love. Oh, sure, it has songs about romances too, but those are mostly done in the  innocuous way. Meanwhile, it has songs against war, songs about complex relationships, songs about loss, songs about death and songs about pessimism on modern day America. If you are keen to listening to each song’s lyrics you will find plenty of words to ruminate on. Take, for instance, "Mothers of the Disappeared":

Midnight, our sons and daughters
Were cut down, taken from us
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

In the wind we hear their laughter
In the rain we see their tears
We hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

Night hangs like a prisoner
Stretched over black and blue
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

In the trees our sons stand naked
Through the walls our daughters cry
See their tears in the rainfall

Being as instantly recognizable as it is, Bono’s vocals is infused with gospel and blues. He yearns, and that suits this record perfectly. With him the songs are dark, gloomy, haunting, hopeful, angry and passionate. He is notable for such wide range of moods, and no matter what the theme, he makes you believe in everything he says.

And I probably never told you this, but this song is my bliss:

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For - U2

So you know how this works? Go get it.

Nightdreamer OST

This is totally ramblingvirus’s fault. He didn’t tag me but it was such an awesome meme I can’t help not stealing it, kind of like a kid in the candy shop. If anyone starts talking about music I light up, even if it’s "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Nipples and Potatoes". Anyway, if you think tagging games are faggotry then you can come back some other time when I will write deeper analysis of faggotry. If you pronounce meme as meh-meh (just like I do) just to mock it then you can, of course, also come back some other day. But the rest, the rest of you who want some unadulterated sexy (what the hell is unadulterated sexy?) and insightful analysis of my relationship with my ipod, read on.

The RULES:
1. Open your music library (iTunes, Media Player, iPod, Winamp etc.)
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question/subject, type the song that’s playing.
5. When you go to the next question, press the next button.
6. Don’t lie and pretend you’re cool.

*************
1. Opening credits: 

Oleo – Miles Davis

Oleo is, like, a spread made chiefly from vegetable oils. I don’t really know jack squat about how it fits into ANY opening scenes, unless if it’s Rachel Ray’s biopic, which would be like the most annoying movie ever.

2. Waking up:

Pele – Dizzy Gillespie

Wha, I don’t think I ever woke up believing I was that Brazilian football player! Would be awesome if I actually was him, though.

3. First Day of School:

Search for Peace – McCoy Tyner

Oh please, I know I was a bit troubled, but surely that didn’t start from my first day now, right? RIGHT? OH GOSH!

 4. Falling in love:

Do You Feel The Way I Do – Rahsaan Patterson

This makes sense. I mean, whenever I fall in love it’s the first thing I wonder.

5. First song:

Lazy Bird – John Coltrane

Oh rub it in why don’t you. 

6. Breaking up:

Mad Issues – Angie Stone

Gotta love how Angie pontificates in her chorus. “You’ve got mad issues”. Haha.

Cuz you got mad issues
And you tend to misuse
Every opportunity to right your wrong
You’re causin’ more problems
With no way to solve them
The time has come to leave well enough alone 

7. Prom:

A Very Precious Time – Gil Scott Heron

Ok, Gil, no offense meant and you’re like the shiznit, but my prom wasn’t a very precious time. It does not deserve lyrics like:

Was there a touch of spring?
Did she have a pink dress on?
And when she smiled, her shyest smile
Could you almost touch the warmth?
And was it your first love, a very precious time?

Was there the faintest breeze?
And did she have a ponytail?
And could she make you feel ten feet tall,
Walking down the grassy trail?
Was it your first love, a very precious time, time?

But thanks for asking, master.

8. Life:

Rock Wit U – Alicia Keys

Hey, you know, that’s kinda cool!

Theres no escape on the spell you have placed
Leaving my heart and my mind
Foolish am I if I was to try to ever leave you behind

9. Mental breakdown:

Smile – Tony Bennett

HUH THAT’S SICK!

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it’s breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll see the sun come shining through for you

10. Driving:

Panic!!! – The Roots

WHA-?!

I woke up in the darkness at 12:17…to shots and sirenes
Look out the window, peep the high beams
Now they searchin, the cops lookin for the person…
That pulled the trigga
Medical figures is nursin the kid that got shot
Some innocent ak that would front
To flip the rock on them at King Street block
I tried to tell him to stop cuz yo, it’s ghetto red hot
Similar to the blood now floodin his top
I take a step out the spot, to the point of attack
And see the shorty wop heart blast out his back
Damn, I’m thinkin it don’t cease, it’s no more peace
Police level increase, but what the f-…
It’s still crime on the streets
I can’t breathe, now what’s goin on?
One minute you alive, the next, you’re gone
Illadel-P-H-I-A Hell
Bust off into the heavens for the n- who fell
And hit the L, for the n- who fell
When that could have been prevented
In front of the flat your moms rented
And no one expect that from you, cuz you was timid
F-in with them cats from outside city limits
Funny how this whole thing changed, an off minute
Yo, dig it, Panic!!!!!
None of this is ever granted
Drownin in a nightmare, stranded

And why is everything jazz or rnb or rap? I have a lot of rock tracks too, you know! At least gimme Velvet Underground! Ya hear? Velvet Underground! I don’t care if it’s Lou Reed saying he’s contemplating breast enlargement surgery, GIMME VELVET UNDERGROUND! Femme Fatale, for one, could go to number 15!

11. Flashback:

All in Love is Fair – Stevie Wonder

And what’s that trying to say, that my failings in nabbing the girlz were like just fair?!

All is fair in love
Love’s a crazy game
Two people vow to stay
In love as one they say
But all is changed with time
The future no one can see
The road you leave behind
Ahead lies mystery
But all is fair in love
I had to go away
A writer takes his pen
To write the words again
That all in love is fair 

12. Getting back together:

No – De La Soul

Haha how concise. Still, VELVET UNDERGROUND! Fine, JIMI HENDRIX!

13. Wedding:

Now/ At The Party – Maxwell

Now I know
Now I found
Now I feel just like this
So united
Now I feel somethin’ special
(ohh, mmm)
I can’t even describe it to ya 

Nothing better than a scene of the entire church getting groovy. Hey why not. Ask my bride to cartwheel instead of stroll the wedding aisle!

14.Birth of a child:

Young At Heart – Brad Mehldau

The birth of a child will, of course, make me so happy I feel young again, even if it’s supposed to remind me that I’m about to have a more elderly responsibility.

15. Final battle:

Straight Life – Freddie Hubbard

I was hoping to get Femme Fatale by Velvet Underground. Bummer. And straight life? But what a long final battle that would be then. It would last 17 minutes.

16. Death scene:

Computer Blue – Prince and The Revolution

GOODNESS I HOPE NOT! It says:

Where is my love life?
Where can it be?
There must be something wrong with the machinery

Where is my love life?
Tell me, where has it gone?
Somebody please please tell me what the hell is wrong”

What on earth is my iPod doing, mocking me?!

17. Funeral song:

Minor Swing – Stephane Grappelli

That’s really stupid. Who swings on funeral anyway?

18. End credits:

Dream a Little Dream of Me – Louis Armstrong

Oh, how apt.

Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper I love you
Birds singing in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me, yes.

I actually fast forwarded to another song and got “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2” Thank goodness it didn’t become the end credit. I love that song though.

Still, I’m bummed that Night Dreamer by Wayne Shorter didn’t show up.

And go steal this already, sheesh, must I mention who you are before you go play this tag game? I’m tagging liz though because I know she hates tag game. I’ll be damned if she can resist this. If she does, I’m going to write a new book called Liz Shrugged.