matt’s music blog

No one reads this, of course, but for posterity, let’s be a little ambitious and claim that things are changing around here – more regular posts, hopefully, more consistent content, possibly tie-ins to some other sites (lala.com and last.fm in particular) – we’ll see how that goes. a visual facelift is way overdue (ha ha, as if it ever even had a face to begin with.)

Anyway. keeping the posts from before, but new shit from this point forward, hopefully shooting for at least once a week.

I still have mixed feelings about  Passion Pit’s album, versus their EP (Chunk of Change). So in an attempt to better explain my conundrum, I thought that I’d post my favorite song off of each, and let you, the readers, decide.

The first thing you’ll notice as we start off is a upbeat little 80’s intro synth line. Then, as the lyrics start, we get powerful drums, and a little higher synth part. Some pretty cool lyrics, if not a bit cryptic.

When I came down the sun poured into me
I shook em up, the walls came crumbling
my fists kept trembling with these salty wounds
my stolen gold inside the emperors tomb
now baby wait looks like a lovely face
I built this cardboard neighborhoods disgrace
who let it said that you’re my favorite sphere
within the confines of such chemistry

So…. yeah. I’m not really really sure what that all means. But like I said, cool and cryptic. I especially like “I built this cardboard neighborhood in disgrace” and “My fists keep trembling with these salty wounds” But just hold on, my favorite part is coming up. The chorus! Complete with Matt’s favorite musical device. Little children singing!

Let this be our little secret
no one needs to know were feeling
higher and higher and higher
But I feel alive and I feel it in me
up and up I keep on climbing
higher and higher and higher

God. This song really gets better and better as we go. Okay, so now there’s this really nicely exicuted drum break. Syncopated rhythm, if I’m not mistaken, and we get right back into the next verse. Which happens to contain my favorite lyric in this whole song.

My face blew up at such a casual sight
this miracle is of ecstatic fright
they’ll rush above me to oblivion
outlining white sidewalks with halogen

Oh have you ever felt so goddamn strong
how come it takes some people so damn long
he tried to squeeze the lemon juice to rain
the citrus drawing out the seasons stains

“My face blew up at such a causal sight” Holy Fucking Shit. I don’t know if I have the words to tell you how amazing that is. Also, “He tried to squeeze the lemon juice to rain, the citrus drawing out the season’s stains” Is really really good. Then the bridge, gives us some more amazing lyrics.

Watch the basin drain
as your life lines wane
and you cant explain
as your friends complain

You’ve caused all this pain
and you proudly shame
your whole families name

Wait, did they actually say “as your life lines wane?” The answer is yes. Yes they did. And let me tell you, anyone who can use the word ‘wane’ in a song this cool, get’s like… a hundred golden stars from me. We return to the chorus, and that’s about the gist of it.

So lets reveiw what makes this an awesome song:

1. Really good 80’s style synthesizer parts
2. Interesting and cryptic lyrics
3. Intense drum break that leads into the second verse
4. Well placed use of the word ‘wane’
5. Children’s choir backing vocals on the chorus.

Okay, some people don’t like Linkin Park at all, and to be fair, looking at their other music, I can understand why – but how could you not like Hybrid Theory? It managed to be completely different from what the genre expected, and ‘With You’ is an excellent example.

‘wicky wicky wah’ synth scratches, a brooding bass line, and some guitar effects lead into the main groove at :14, resolving at :22 into the high screamy synth, rhythm electric guitars, and rock percussion. So far, pretty average (apart from that bendy synth), and then you get the lyrics, presented in a sort of quiet rap:

I woke up in a dream today,
To the cold of the static
and put my cold feet on the floor 
Forgot all about yesterday 
Remembering I’m pretending to be where I’m not anymore 
A little taste of hypocrisy 
And I’m left in the wake of the mistake, I’m slow to react 
Even though you’re so close to me 
You’re still so distant and I can’t bring you back

Nearly all these lines are gold: “woke up in a dream today”, “a little taste of hypocrisy”, “left in the wake of the mistake, slow to react”… and the repeated word in “the cold of the static and put my cold feet on the floor” doesn’t even bother me, for some reason. The melodic sceamo chorus is so-so, but is a lot more stomachable and harmonic then other stuff I’ve heard. And then the rapping comes back:

I hit you and you hit me back 
We fall to the floor the rest of the day stands still 
Fine line between this and that 
When things go wrong I pretend the past isn’t real 

That whole phrase is fantastic – four lines, and he’s created the setting for an entire story. Among all this, the guitars manage to be distorted and still in-tune, the percussion (which is consistently spot-on throughout Link Park’s tracks) frames everything else, and the trade-off between rapping and melodic screaming works to communicate the sort of ‘intelligent passion’ feel of the lyrics.

The break at 2:18 showcases some more mixing trickery before sliding into the optimistic bridge:

No, no matter how far we’ve come 
I can’t wait to see tomorrow

And then it’s over – the ‘bad radio reception’-effected percussion fades out and takes the bubbly synth with it.

This one is all about what happens at 1:34 – you think you’re done with the chorus, there’s the little bass break, and then it throws you into the bridge:

as the water grinds the stone
we rise and fall
as our ashes turn to dust
we shine like stars

“As the water grinds the stone, we rise and fall” is a fantastic line. There are some other good ones in here – “kisses on the dancefloor” and “we are the only ones who are dying”. It’s interesting too, the song seems to be split between two ideas: entropy, the inevitable passage of time and the weathering effect it has on existence; and a sort of stoic optimism in the face of that reality:

drowning in the flood of morning light
I’m only human just like you
do you hear the city waking up
I will survive and so will you

As usualy, Covenant’s synths feel like they’re rolling along, carrying the song and you with them, and the drums are precise, breaking things up into bite-sized peices. The piano line is a much appreciated accent to the afore-mentioned “water grinds the stone” section.