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Sunday, May 08, 2005

High Fidelity Challenge
Posted by Raznor

I got this from Amanda and it seemed like fun, and although she didn't tag me (why oh why??) I thought I'd give it a try. So here goes:

Top Five Lyrics that Move Your Heart
This is hard, as I'll have to think hard to pick which Elliott Smith song I'll use. Which is why I'm using two of his songs. And this comes in no particular order, as it's nothing I've ranked as of yet. So here goes:

1) Elliott Smith - King's Crossing

Frustrated fireworks inside your head
Are going to stand and deliver talk instead
The method acting that pays my bills
Keeps the fat man feeding in Beverly Hills
I've got a heavy metal mouth, it hurls obscenities
And I get my checks from the trash treasury
Because I took my own insides out

2) Elliott Smith - 2:45 am

I'm looking for the man who attacked me
While everybody was laughing at me
You beat it in me that part of you
But I'm gonna split us back in two
Tired of living in a cloud
If you're gonna say shit now you'll do it out loud

3) Wilco - Hummingbird

His goal in life was to be an echo
Riding alone, town after town, toll after toll
A fixed bayonet in the great Southwest to forget her

She appears in his dreams
But in his car and in his arms
A dream can mean anything
A cheap sunset on a television set
Can upset her
Like he never could

Remember to remember me
Standing still in your past
Floating fast like a hummingbird

4) The Kinks - "Life on the Road"

The entire song here is just amazing, starting with the dream of living on the road, the disillusionment, and acceptance. I'll just write the last lyric, taking a cue from Amanda by emphasizing the lyric that really affects me:

One of these days I wanna go home
Visit my friends and see all the places I used to know
And say goodbye to a world that's too real
Goodbye to a world that's forgotten how to feel.
And it's slowly using me
And there's no security
Sometimes I hate the road,
But it's the only life I know

But I'm living the life that I chose
So I'll live out my life on the road.

5) Ben Folds - "Still Fighting It"

Good morning son
I am a bird
Wearing a brown polyester coat
You want a coke?
Maybe some fries?
The roast beef combo's only 9.95
But it's okay
You don't have to pay
I've got all the change

Everybody knows
It sucks to grow old
But everybody does
It's so weird to be back here
Let me tell you why
The years go on and
We're still fighting and
We're still fighting it
And you're so much like me
I'm sorry

Top Five Instrumentals

Once again, in no particular order

1) The Kinks - "Lola (Instrumental)" on the album Percy
2) Remy Zero - "The Golden Hum"
3) The Seatbelts - "Sax Quartet" (Okay, is it cheating to pick songs off of the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack? I didn't think so)
4) Louis Armstrong - "West End Blues"
5) Minibosses - "Contra"

Top Five LiveMusical Experiences

Okay this one is in a very particular order:

1) Ben Folds at Reed College - This was actually the second night in a row where I saw him perform. On Thursday night he performed at the Roseland in downtown Portland, then the next night there was a free performance at the Reed College Student Union. It was amazing. At the Roseland he was performing for his fans, so from time to time he'd just solo perform an old Ben Folds Five song. At Reed, he couldn't count on people being major fans, so instead, he offered anyone to send a poem up front and he'd set it to music. Someone ended up sending up a physics textbook, and he did this major song for the distance formula.

2) Wilco at the Orpheum - this was last week here in Flagstaff. I already wrote a bit about it earlier this week. But they performed for 2 hours, and when they did Spider, man, that's the greatest guitar part ever.

3) Pete Yorn at the Roseland - Nothing particularly special about this performance, except for the fact that Pete Yorn's amazing musical genius emanated out of him like the light from a thousand suns. Plus, Remy Zero opened for him.

4) The Who - I went with Ross, so maybe he'll remember where exactly this was performed. But this was part of the last tour before Entwhistle died, and it was just a great show.

5) Minibosses - Performing at Renn Fayre last year. They're a rock band, two guitars, a bass, and drums, and they perform themes from old nintendo games. I mean really, how cool is that?

Top Five Artists You Think More People Should Listen To

1) Elliott Smith - quite possibly the greatest singer-songwriter of our time, tragically took his own life a year and a half ago. Here's what I wrote shortly after his death:

I'm not sure if you can really understand this if you haven't listened to Elliott Smith. If you have, and you really allowed yourself to get lost in his beautiful and haunting melodies and lyrics, then you will. His music affects you like few things can. Right now, I'm listening to "baby britain" off of XO, and it's like the music just is flowing through me.


2) Muse - Just an awesome band. Matt Bellamy is one of the greatest singers of all time.

3) Blonde Redhead - A very unique style, it may take a few listenings to get into them, but once you do, it's just great.

4) The Decemberists - This is the only album I've ever bought that I had never heard a song of theirs before buying. And I don't regret it one bit. They're a great, great band. And fun fact - their label is Kill Rock Stars - which was Elliott Smith's label before he signed on with Dreamworks.

5) The Stills - Lola Stars and Stripes is one hell of a great song.

Top Five Albums You Must Hear From Start to Finish
Okay, back to being in no particular order:

1) Remy Zero - The Golden Hum

2) Muse - Origins of Symmetry

3) Pete Yorn - Musicforthemorningafter

4) Elliott Smith - Either/Or

5) Tenacious D - I mean, you gotta love the D.

Top Five Musical Heroes

1) Elliott Smith - Should be obvious by now.

2) Pete Yorn

3) Bruce Springsteen - I remember when I heard "City In Ruins" on the radio something like 2 weeks after September 11, and thought "wow, how did he write such an amazing song so quickly." It's like after the attacks, he's like "man this sucks. I think I'll immediately write an amazing song about it, as I'm apparently some sort of musical god" And I'll throw Clarence Clemens in with him.

4) Pete Townsend - seeing him live made me realize he completely rocks.

5) David Bowie - mostly because I'd never be able to morally justify not putting him on this list.

All right then. I'll pass this on to my cobloggers, Ross and the Bekka. Good luck you two.

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