Skip to main content

Greatest of All Time

It's probably been a good half year since I've posted anything here. With work and all, I feel like I barely have enough time to listen to music, let alone indulge in amateurish music criticism. Still, a song just got released that I can't help but write something about:

Sia - Chandelier

Sia's made a name for herself in the past few years writing slightly odd pop songs for other people (ex. Flo Rida's Wild Ones, David Guetta's Titanium, and Rihanna's Diamonds). Always interesting, sometimes good. None of that's even came close to preparing me how astoundingly good Chandelier is. I'll admit, overall, the song's not perfect, but that chorus could be the greatest 50 seconds of music ever recorded. It is head and shoulders above everything else I've heard in a long time. It's not even close. It's like comparing Chipotle to every other fast casual tex mex chain out there. People can tell you Chipotle's not the best. That's all right. It's a free nation. They're allowed to be wrong, but they're still wrong.

In just 10 days, I've listened to Chandelier 120 times, which beats out all but about 20 songs in my music library. It'll probably be in the top 10 by the end of the month. I haven't felt strongly about a song since Bad Boy came out over 2 years ago. Songs like this are the reason I listen to music.

Oh, also, as an added bonus, the music video is similarly phenomenal. Best I can remember seeing since Tyler, the Creator put out Yonkers.

In other news, here's some comparatively unremarkable songs I've found in the past few months that would nevertheless make my top 200 of all time list, in order from best to least-best:
  1. Younha - Strawberry Days: The sort of pure pop westerners never have the guts to make.
  2. Eric Church - Like Jesus Does: One of the greatest country song of all time sung by a guy who really, really knows how to sing it.
  3. Chvrches - The Mother We Share: OK, this is cheating a bit considering I've known about this song for over a year, but I still keep coming back to that chorus. Also, damn they're good live. Not Eric Church good, but still damn good.
  4. Veronica Falls - Teenage: 90's indie pop mixed with a bit of Saturdays=Youth. The verse melody is perfect.
  5. Waxahatchee - Swan Dive: More ramshackle 90's indie pop-rock perfection.
  6. Dum Dum Girls - Trouble Is My Name: A humble, personal song with arena rock sounds. I'm a sucker for this sort of thing.
  7. Eric Church - Hungover & Hard Up: More country done right.
  8. Eric Church - A Man Who Was Gonna Die Young: A stunning, tender ballad from the only country artist that matters today.
  9. Margot & The Nuclear So and So's - Broadripple Is Burning: Skinny Love, but not boring. This demo version's the only one worth listening to.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Greatest Song of All Time

The music business has its fair share of complexities, as you would expect from any business with such a long history, and that is, at its core, built upon international law (i.e. copyright). That complexity is almost always hidden from the listening public. However, one piece that is curiously exposed every year when the Grammys come around is the separation between what is a "record" and what is a "song". The second and third most prestigious awards at the Grammys are, respectively, "Song of the Year," and "Record of the Year." What's the difference? Most people, including most musicians, wouldn't be able to tell you. I couldn't either until I took a music industry course in college where someone finally explained it to me: A "song" is melody and lyrics. The best way I have to think if it is, if hear someone play a faithful-to-the-original, acoustic cover, the "song" is what would be the same between the orig...
Post a Comment
Read more

Best Musical Snippets of 2013

It's always great when you get a song that's consistently great from beginning to end, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way.  Sometimes you get songs where a certain section clearly stands out from the rest. Here's a few from this year: The Chorus of Kanye West's Bound 2 : The soul sample that occupies the rest of the song is soul only in name.  It approximates College Dropout-era Kanye with none of the warmth and, well, soul that made those tracks great.  The chorus is the exact opposite.  It uses the electronic music technique of putting a soulful male voice over a bass-heavy beat to create something emotive and genuinely soulful. The 3rd Minute of Youth Lagoon's Mute : Most of the song is nothing but warm, hazy fuzz, but, for about a minute, Trevor Powers cuts through that fuzz with a soaring, uplifting melody that Bono would be jealous of. The Pre-Chorus of Vampire Weekend's Unbelievers : One of two things this year that absolutely blew me away...
Post a Comment
Read more

Best of The X-Factor UK

This coming Wednesday, Simon Cowell's replacement for American Idol, The X Factor, will debut here in the states. So, here's my favorite moments from the UK X-Factor, in the hopes that the US version will have moments just as good. Cher Lloyd - Turn My Swag On : A cheeky British teenager (16 at the time) covers the Keri Hilson cover of a Soulja Boy song.  On paper, it should've been a complete joke, but, somehow, Cher made it work.  She totally had the attitude, the look, and the voice to pull it off, and it didn't hurt that the song was actually awesome. Hands down the best and the most unique audition I've ever seen on any of these reality singing shows.   Jamie Archer - Sex on Fire : The song was a huge hit in the UK and an even bigger hit in Australia.  How it never became a hit in the US is beyond me.  Anyways, Jamie Archer has a perfect voice for the song and he just fucking sells it.  I can't help but smile watching this, and, judging by the vide...
Post a Comment
Read more