Tag Archives: Music

Seven songs

I won’t deny, I quite like to be meme-tagged. It’s a validation of my internet existence, and some small evidence that people are reading my blog (although the comments are a good way of doing that too, if you feel so inclined). Tom tagged me for this, and then Chris tagged me for it again, but I’m still only going to do seven songs so you can feel relieved. I won’t inflict my taste in music at you for too long. I’m also not going to write bags about each one as, honestly, I don’t want to. But thanks to the beauty of embedded video, you’ll get to listen to some of them if you feel so inclined. And then you can judge me, you bastards.

For those who don’t know what this is about:

“List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.“

Here we go…

Urusen – Hugo

Hugo – live

My friend Ben’s band. Seven types of awesome. Been listening to Urusen’s new album pretty much on repeat since it came out last year. Can’t believe they haven’t been signed. Not only have I seen them live more often than any other band, I’ve also jammed with Ben a number of times, which was an awesome feeling, given how moving I find the music. Myspace here if you want more.

Sunsets – Powderfinger

This one is Tony’s fault. He introduced me to this Australian band in a move no-doubt designed to persuade me of his Nation’s superiority over everything else. Unfortunately, I love them and this song is not only wonderful but has a fantastic anime supporting video.

Waterloo Sunset – ??

Arvind has a band whose name I forget cover this song for the French Film soundtrack / closing credit, and, wonderful as the Kinks original is, the cover is something magical. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for well executed acoustic rock.

Falling Slowly – Once

This one is Arvind’s fault too. Deeply romantic, melodic, soulful in a way that I appreciate.

Newton Faulkner: Tear drop

I know, I know, Massive Attack fans will probably lynch me. But I do think the cover is impressive, and love the guitar as a drum thing he does. This one is Ashvina and Sheila’s fault.

Out of our head – Sheryl Crow

I’ve loved Sheryl Crow since I was 14, despite the fact that I loathe most things that have any connection with country music. Love the cadence of this one.

Now and Forever – LoTR Musical

This is principally a recency thing. Saw this musical a few weeks ago and can’t get the song out of my head. Not sure why they’re chuckling so much in this clip.

…and that’s it. Not being one for doing exactly what I’m told, I’m not going to tag seven people. I will tag a few, though: Arvind, if only because he’s managed to get two songs in my current seven, and because he’ll probably give me more music I want to listen to. Noel, because I want to know what the man who got me into Metallica is listening to. Richard, because it’s something fun to do whilst waiting for your passport, and Craig if he gets a second on his travels. Tim, because he’ll probably have fun with it and Jack, because, well, you have to Ask Jack. And Chris, who strikes me as a chap who will have a decent soundtrack.

Damn. I did do what I was told. Seven tags for seven songs.

Finding similar music… if you like acoustic/rock

Last.fm is wonderful – it helps me find the types of music I like based on my previous listening and on what people I know like. But it’s not that helpful for some of the bands I’ve been listening to lately.

Urusen, friends of mine, inexplicably unsigned, don’t have a lot of associated listeners. Neither do the guys who did Once, a wonderful soundtrack my brother introduced me too. The Rushes, a band who’ve covered Waterloo Sunset (it’s beautiful, really wonderful) for French Film‘s closing credits, don’t have enough similar bands either. Powderfinger, who Tony introduced me to, do a great acoustic version of Sunsets. Most of their music is much rockier (which I like too, but doesn’t fit my bank holiday Monday mood).

So I have to resort to the old fashioned way. I have to talk to people about music, find gigs etc. Which is fine, and fun.

…but I wouldn’t mind if someone developed a social music app that didn’t just analyse the metadata of the song, but the tone, character, mood etc. of the song itself. A kind of intelligent version of the Moodlogic application I used oh-so-long ago would be nice.

Songkick – find local gigs from bands you like

I was an early tester for Songkick, a social music application that scans your musical tastes and finds you local gigs to buy tickets for. A friend introduced me to a founder of the service who invited me in, but it is now open to all.

It’s awesome. I’ve become determined to be a little less middle aged and do more fun stuff like this mid-week and so the emails recommending gigs all around London from bands I already like? Fantastic. It probably wants integration with Last.fm so it can draw on historical listening patterns rather than just what you’ve got in your database (I have a lot of crap music I really ought to delete/archive)…

That said, I haven’t got around to booking anything yet. Maybe I’ll start with the next Urusen gig in a couple of weeks…