Music - A top 10 of sorts

There is one and only one forum I view regularly on the internet. Music has been a topic lately and a poster requested that we name 10 songs that meant a lot to us. Once I worked on it a bit, I knew it was worth a blog post. This is what I wrote:

It was a matter of time here on Off Topic before this came up and I admit to finding it much more helpful personally than the "getting to know you" threads. That isn't a criticism of those threads but I feel like this is more a window into a soul for me. That may not be true but it feels true. I have been to Bucharest, Wellington and Mykonos, but does that tell you as much as my passionate connection with lyrics and arrangements and the skills of Rush or Dream Theater?

The connection people make with music is largely emotional and that makes it intensely personal as others have noted. While there is an element of appreciation where you find it remarkable or impressive that a bit of music switches time signatures or uses an innovative approach to incorporating the percussion into the texture of the melody, it seems more common that people like what or how music makes them feel.

As horrifying as it is to me, there will come a day when those teens and pre-teens who fell hard for B. Spears will grow up and love her and her music for reasons of nostalgia. That adults will react emotionally to such a vapid and talentless collection of music (sorry fans) is yucky to me. But, I am not much different. Often what we connect to first stays with us, as if we are imprinted.

For example in my list, should you read it, you will find a couple of tunes by Scorpions. They will be taken seriously by few or none, but I recall clearly when I was 14 and the emotional connection they made with me. I love them still, recorded or live or otherwise. I feel like the universe and all of humanity just fails to "get them" while I do.

No order here, but 10 important songs to me, and I will write a lot about how they feel:

Rush - La Villa Strangiato This is an instrumental by a band that I continue to marvel at. I tend to "rediscover" songs or albums by them from time to time but this song never leaves me. It is technically excellent on guitar, bass and drum (a 3-man band for those who don't know) to the point that you can pick one of the three and follow only it and love what is done. Better by far, to me, is that its an instrumental with mood changes and a feeling that just gets me, even if that comes from me more than from Rush. I don't listen to it casually. It Alex Liefson's best (not most difficult) solo work anywhere.



Tool - 10,000 Days (Wings Part 2) - Another long epic here at 11 minutes. I often like a band's early work but this is Tool's latest album and IMHO, its best. This song carries a feeling unlike any other song I listen to. I carefully make sure NOT to decipher the lyrics' meaning because I don't quite want to know what its about. I like individual lyrical phrases and the overall tone. Pretty palatable for first time listeners.



Metallica - Master of Puppets This is a band that I was determined not to like. Then I listened carefully. To me, this is their best angry song clocking in at 13 minutes with appropriate outrage and venom but also intelligence. Add in some fast, technical and powerful instrumentation and its the band's all-time masterpiece. Some here might call it noise but do so at your own peril of missing something raw and emotional. (I posted the link with some warm fuzzies. Here is one without. It is live including a few mistakes but I liked the crowd but beware band language, and if you click feel obligated to make it until the slower spots at least if its your first time hearing it.)





Coheed & Cambria - Always & Never A band I appreciate more than I love, but this two minute 12-string arrangement is delicate and achingly beautiful. It ends on a sinister note but it captures the feelings of the love for a child. Part of a big giant (convoluted) story, but take this bit isolated and love it.



Scorpions - Coast To Coast Another instrumental and really, I just love it and don't expect anybody else to really get it. All the YouTube recordings I could find sound horrible. Its old German guys being rock stars!

Can't embed this one . . .

Led Zepplin - Babe I am Gonna Leave You - I suspect everybody knows this tune and forgets how beautiful it is and how it captures the sadness and regret of love lost.



Dream Theater - Voices / Silent Man - These two different songs blend together on one album and I can't help but think of them as a package. Beautiful, skillful, emotional, all over the place both musically and in tone, its dear to my heart. Better vocal performance on the album, but he sings his guts out here. Incidentally, I photographed them live in 2008, linked here in case anybody wants to see the album. Some suck, some do not, but photographers only have 3 songs, so its shoot fast.



William Clayton - Come Come Ye Saints - A hymn that is part of my family heritage but also a part of my own life experience. Below is the expected version and another version. Written in 1846 by Mormon poet William Clayton when, while away from his family, he received word that his wife had given birth to a son and wrote "All Is Well."





Scorpions - Eye II Eye The Scorpions song you never heard. Written about losing a father, I find it incredibly applicable to missing people I love, dead and alive. I also think Klaus Meine has a unique and incredibly appealing voice. This is a mostly great album that was almost completely ignored.



Extreme - Midnight Express The most talented people are not always the most famous. Holy cow. This guy plays like a monster/god and remains unknown. Masterpiece. Here is a case where just being technically brilliant is enough for me to deeply love the tune. He not only plays it, he composed it. Known mostly for one ballad this band was so much more and one of the best live shows I have ever seen, twice. What the heck, watch him play below as well.





I am surprised to find only one Dream Theater song and one Rush song on this list. Interesting.

'Distric 9' is a remarkable film

The title of the blog has nothing at all to do with a review of the film 'District 9'. There are a lot of reviews, including my own but the film has been out nearly a week and you likely already know if you will see the film or not.

What is much more remarkable, and if you like the medium of film even a little bit this should make you happy, is that this low budget, almost independent film made a lot of money.

Why do you care? The Hollywood system, especially summer blockbuster season, is built around stars and known properties. A quick list of this summer's films will demonstrate that all the movies studios spent big money on were what they judged to be the safest bets possible. They hope to have movies with built in audiences and the same famous faces, both if possible. For example most of the summer list are sequels, based on something already popular and have famous people in them.

Studio safe summer movie choices:
Fast And Furious
The Hannah Montana Movie
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Star Trek
Angels And Demons
Terminator 4
Night At The Museum 2
Up (a creative film, known brand in Pixar)
Land Of The Lost
Transformers 2
Ice Age 3
Harry Potter 6
G.I. Joe

That isn't to say these are bad movies, just movies without an original concept, premise or execution (except Up). Some of them are terrible and although folks are content to show up for explosions and spectacle, if we refused to go to dumb movies the studios would make smarter ones.

By contrast, "District 9" comes along with a first-time director and a budget much smaller than all of those films except Hannah Montana and not a single actor you or I would know. The star is South African native Sharlto Copley. This story isn't based on a toy, a comic book, previous movies, children's books, television series or a hit novel. Its actually original and new and innovative and daring and all that cost $30 million and it looks "more real" that the Transformers or G.I. Joe flicks that cost six times as much to make.


It was first believed that "District 9" might make as much as $27 million when it opened. Then, some dared say it might make back its budget and climb over $30. After it earned $14.2 million on Friday that number nudged up to $35 million. When all was said and done, it had earned $37 million by Monday.

Twitter.com lists its "trending topics" which tell the world what people are talking about. Even if you hate Twitter or the idea of it, the trending topic tells you what is hot among the 3 million people who use it. (I am MrLDC if you ever care to follow me!) "District 9," the little film financed independently outside of the studio system, has been a hot topic all weekend. In my observation positive comments beat negative ones by about a 15-1 margin, we will call it 9-1 to be safe.

I believe this film is going to stay very popular. It has grabbed attention for being unique and smart and original which leaves it alone in this summer's fare. Ironically, there will surely be a sequel!

So yea, it's violent and bloody and gooey and the people in it are under extremely high stress and they say bad words. So, don't go to it and offend yourself and blame me, but I am more offended by mindless, cartoon violence without real consequences and retread movies that insult my intelligence and provide recycled action, characters and plots.

See, "District 9," actually has something to say and allows the viewer to think about his place in society and how humans treat each other and how we discriminate and justify and get corrupted by money and how we like people like us more than people different from us.

It isn't brilliant social commentary with deep messages, but its fun, smart summer fare that does present the viewer with some questions that he can think about or forget about.

The good news here is that Hollywood's greatest skill is following trends. Perhaps "District 9" will set a trend of low-budget-but-polished films that allows creative writing, direction, design and talent over fame. Perhaps the studios will discover that what people want is great storytelling, not great recycling.

In other news, my wife is one great little homemaker and we almost have a finished kitchen.

A song about an author not being your female dog

My favorite currently writing author is George R.R. Martin. I love his books and preach them a little too fervently sometimes, but I believe in them. Classified as "fantasy" (a term that annoys me because of the baggage it carries) it reads like historical fiction meets the Sopranos.

I admire his writing skills and word smithing as much as anything I read.

He is four books into a seven book series and the last book and the one that is currently overdue is causing quite a stir among the readership. I can't imagine telling an author or a artist that they must produce great stuff on a schedule. (Journalists are different animals.)

Neil Gaiman came to his defense in his now famous blog defense and he told readers that authors are not their "female dogs". (That was for my over-sensitive Mormon audience).

Now a songwriter has put the sentiment to music. It is beautiful.

Hair still on fire

Yea, so, I am a lame blogger. I even have exceptional things to blog about, but I have so much other writing stuff going on that I just can't manage. When my kitchen is finished, I will be back with a goal of blogging every other day.

I sincerely apologize to those who took the brave step of "following" me. It is actually an honor to have each one of you aboard.