As suspected, I spent the majority of December exhausting my November playlist, meaning that I did not explore any new songs or artists this month. Just as well; I think that discovering the beauty in grime last month was enough to satisfy my needs for music exploration for a while. Speaking of which, I was surprised to find JME's 'Integrity>' was Banquet Record's album of the year - the LP is sold out on their website! So cool.
Anyhow, for December, rather than tackling new music, I was more attentive to musicians I had already heard. Admittedly I neglected updating my playlist, but I will try to discuss all of the significant things I have missed!
In order of addition:
- The Smashing Pumpkins - Lily (My One And Only)
- Justin Bieber - Sorry
- Catfish And The Bottlemen - Cocoon
- Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean?
- Neutral Milk Hotel - The King Of Carrot Flowers Pt. One
- Modest Mouse - Lampshades On Fire
- Modest Mouse - Dashboard
- Modest Mouse - The Ground Walks, With Time In A Box
In December I began listening to The Smashing Pumpkins and Modest Mouse more than I had ever done so before. After shuffling The Smashing Pumpkins a few times, it occurred to me that I don't particularly like their authentic sound. My favourite song, other than the one featured in this playlist, is We Only Come Out At Night, and, honestly, if you play the first 5 seconds of that and Lily you will find they sound incredibly similar. We Only Come Out At Night imitates a more electronic version of the continuous drumming in Lily. They also share the same pace, muted vocals, and occasional harmonies. I would love to love The Smashing Pumpkins, but my appreciation for them sadly does not extend further than those two songs.
For Modest Mouse, I was pleased to find that their latest album, 'Strangers to Ourselves', sounds much like 'Good News', my favourite of all of their albums. I mean, 'Sad Sappy Sucker' was just weird. I am playing it as I type and, although it isn't actually bad, it is nothing like the Modest Mouse I fell madly in love with. 'We Were Dead' is alright - Dashboard is my favourite song on there, but, again, probably because it sounds like it belongs on 'Good News'. I was apprehensive about listening to the new album, but thankfully I was not disappointed in the slightest. Lampshades On Fire is my favourite on the album so far, followed by Shit In Your Cut, and The Ground Walks. I look forward to playing the album more in January!
For Modest Mouse, I was pleased to find that their latest album, 'Strangers to Ourselves', sounds much like 'Good News', my favourite of all of their albums. I mean, 'Sad Sappy Sucker' was just weird. I am playing it as I type and, although it isn't actually bad, it is nothing like the Modest Mouse I fell madly in love with. 'We Were Dead' is alright - Dashboard is my favourite song on there, but, again, probably because it sounds like it belongs on 'Good News'. I was apprehensive about listening to the new album, but thankfully I was not disappointed in the slightest. Lampshades On Fire is my favourite on the album so far, followed by Shit In Your Cut, and The Ground Walks. I look forward to playing the album more in January!
As for the other songs in the playlist: I rediscovered Cocoon in a Spotify Weekly playlist in early December, and added it to my monthly playlist because it reminded me of my summer in University halls. On the other hand, I added The King Of Carrot Flowers because it reminded me of past Christmases. Neutral Milk Hotel beautifully compliment the winter season; I cannot imagine listening to their slow, bleak songs about WW2 in the summer (as you can imagine). Finally, I feel obliged to address my addition of Justin Bieber. There was a dark and misguided time in my life in which I openly adored good ol' J.B., and I continued to do so *secretly* until mid-December. But as it has become socially acceptable to be an adult Belieber, the novelty of being a weirdo secret fan has worn off, and I am left with knowing the lyrics to a vast collection of his upbeat sickly love songs. Thankfully I redeemed myself by finishing December on a music high, listening to an abundance of The Smiths and Fleetwood Mac, up until the last few hours of 2015!
Though that is, in essence, everything, I cannot sign off this post without scratching an itch that really shouldn't be scratched. In mid-December, late one night, Chloe and I dedicated a long two-or-so hours to watching all of One Direction's X Factor auditions and music videos on their Youtube VEVO. It was in the name of science. We wanted to analyse how the vocals were distributed between the five. At the start of their formation, we found that Liam would always begin their songs, followed by Harry, and backed equally by the remaining trio. Soon after, Harry became the leading vocalist, and Zayn was given more solo roles, with Niall and Louis weighted equally in backing the main vocals - all the while, Liam maintained the tradition of starting every song. With a long story short, after Zayn left, their vocal organisation turned to shit. Louis was handed more solo roles, despite the fact he is a talentless accessory to the group. And, as if that wasn't enough, he was given the privilege of opening Perfect. Why would they start a song with their worst vocalist? It makes no sense to me. It genuinely bothers me.
Please let me know if you actually like Louis, and why, and if you caught the Belieber hype, and if you liked any songs featured in my playlist!
Lots of love,
Ang
Please let me know if you actually like Louis, and why, and if you caught the Belieber hype, and if you liked any songs featured in my playlist!
Lots of love,
Ang
No comments