'All Is Violent, All Is Bright' by God Is An Astronaut
God Is An Astronaut generally makes me feel a lot of things--mainly rooted in my love for how stories (or the possibilities of stories) are embedded in their music (which can essentially be said for most of the music I listen to). But there is something about the build-up of this particular track that makes me feel like I could accept this idea of running a really long marathon through a meadow despite knowing that mid-way through my run, a strange creature will pop-up somewhere and give me a heart attack. As a track, it's pleasant; but at the same time there's this weird eerie aura behind it all, like someone will eventually chase me and I'll die while listening to this. But I keep listening to it anyway.
I first heard this track while on a road-trip. It's a good'ol dance-ready track that makes you just want to spin in circles with your arms wide open and your face up to the sky (or the ceiling), screaming "I want desiiiiiire." It's like a celebration of that strange form of love-emotion called 'desire'--of wanting someone, but you don't even know why you even want that person. Like you want them for something, but only one thing--not their entire self--and you can't seem to pinpoint the exact thing about them. You just want them. Anyway, this band was also in this video which made me feel strange things--like how desirable they are (particularly their synth guy, Emre Turkmen).
'Dustism' by This Will Destroy You
This is what you listen to when you just want to stay under the covers but the world is telling you to get off the bed because there are more important things to do than stay in bed the whole day. I just really like the juxtaposition of that steady noisy cymbal/drum combo with the lazy-day guitar strumming--it makes you feel like you're listening to two separate tracks. And then you know, you finally get off the bed and realize life can be interesting enough to explode into some form of excitement/happiness/curiosity and the tracks converge and it all makes sense and you're like "okay, I won't stay in bed too long next time."
'Everyone's Got Something' by Perrin Lamb
When I'm too lazy to leave the house to be near some form of good coffee, I listen to the Your Favourite Coffeehouse Playlist on Spotify; and whenever this song comes on I think of Mandy Moore--specifically Mandy Moore in A Walk To Remember. This has that strange throwback vibe to it, mostly because of that guitar plucking + husky voice combo that brings to mind images of dead lovers--or something more plain like sitting on a bench, stalking someone fancy, while watching everyone else live their lives and feeling somewhat on the outside.
'Northern Lights' by Lights & Motion
One day, I will see the Northern Lights; and I expect the experience to be something similar to listening to this track. Like a colourful plethora of notes and textures that are all somewhat off-beat (because really, when is nature ever on the beat). This is also probably what it's like to stand-still long enough in the middle of the field far away from the city. Particularly from 5:30pm-5:45pm.
The thing I find interesting about LANY is the simplicity of their lyrics. They're not trying to be be pretentious in any way. They're going to tell it to your face that they'll BRB. It can sometimes get annoying; but somehow I still find myself shuffling my way back into listening to them. It may be that they've struck a comfortable combination with the simplicity of their lyrics, complemented by their equally basic beats and loops. It's chill, and slow, and in whispers with a beat that is relatable. It all feels familiar--yet not. Like that boy-next-door who grew up.
'Starscapes' by The American Dollar
I like it when a track sounds like three different bands put it together, like everyone seems to be playing their own song and somehow all the layers make sense. This track is also over 12 minutes long. It's like a conversation, preferably over wine. Or a night-out. A conversation over wine that stretched into a night-out, staying up at until 4/5am.
'Leave The Night On' by Sam Hunt
I tweet about this song a lot. Every time Spotify shuffles to this, I have this sudden urge to tweet about burgers, trucks, and a man handing me a cold bottle of beer.
'Contrails' by Glowworm
This track brings back memories made during my Minipop binge of 2010 (by the way: new-ish music!!). It's all sad and hopeful with that need for escape because you don't understand the whirl of the world around you any more; and when you're feeling all these things, Glowworm samples lines from Gun Crazy and you're all: "okay. this song."
Bart: I don't know. It's just that everything's going so fast. It's all in such high gear, and sometimes it doesn't feel like me. Does that make sense?
Laurie: When do you think all this?
Bart: Nights. I wake up sometimes. It's as if none of it really happened, as if nothing were real anymore.
Laurie: Next time you wake up, Bart, look over at me lying there beside you. I'm yours and I'm real.
'Forever' by Ben Harper
Closing off this music run-down with this track because after Contrails, one needs to listen to Ben Harper as some form of remedy. This is all stripped down and in-your-face personal; and with lyrics that promise forever, that's all you really need sometimes.