2012.06.01
I kind of bunched these by genre, figuring that's the best chance of making this list useful to folks looking for stuff they like, but a really coherent categorization system is elusive. "Retro" is just "old", but not 90s old, which is a certain time when I was aware of music but not always going out and buying CDs. "Pop" tends to be a bit more polished and/or electronic than "Alt", but, well, you know.
4- and 5-star songs are marked in red.
One five star song:
- All The Rowboats regina spektor. Oh man, what a song. Spektor is one of the best artists out there. So much intensity... (plus I like what I think is just a hint of vocal percussion with the hits at the end.)
- Star Lake March Star Lake Music Camp. A brass band march I remember fondly; I ripped an MP3 from the youtube link, but then sped it up from 120bpm to 140bpm. (I think they were slowing it down for the timbrels, the synchronized tamourine playing that is an odd Salvation Army tradition.)
- I'm The King Royce Da 5'9. I was playing GTA3 on iPhone, and this was one of the songs from the car radios there.
- Rising To The Top 8-Off Agallah Featuring Sean Price & Bazaar. Royale-- again from GTA3.
- Grand Theft Auto (Joyride) Da Shootaz. Actually the theme to an earlier GTA.
- 10th Generation Supercommuter. Heard this live at PAX East.
- Fuzzy Dice Optimus Rhyme. More nerdcore from PAX East, but just as recorded filler.
- DC GO GO. Bruce Brown. Baratunde Thurston's "How to Be Black" mentions "Go-Go" as a type of music only popular around Washington DC and Maryland... it's looping percussion is great, but I had to rip this MP3 from Youtube.
- Shake Your Rump The Beastie Boys. The sadly early death of MCA made me revisit some of their older works.
- Cooky Puss The Beastie Boys. Sometimes, very much older.
- Know The Ledge Eric B. and Rakim. Nice fast hiphop (Heard it on a promo for the first "Saints Row")
- Be Black King Sun. Daniel Nester tweeted about vaguely remember seeing this on MTV, while high, at his college girlfriends. Nice bassline.
- Back In Time Pitbull. Enjoyed the Bass Drop. Not sure why it's not Will Smith though...
- The Next Episode Dr. Dre / Snoop Dogg. I like how it's acapella admonition to "smoke weed every day" was immediately followed by the Salvation Army Star Lake March on my playlist.
- The Scotsman Bryan Bowers. Maybe I heard this folksy-song on public radio way back when?
- Dog Police Dog Police. I think Auntie Pixelante tweeted about the infectious chorus of this song. Maybe a kind of parody of rock operas?
- You Can Touch My Boobies Rachel Bloom. Sexy in the goofiest way possible.
- Still Alive Jonathan Coulton & GLaDOS. I still love "We do what we must because we can."
- Bert, oh Bert! Lena Meyer-Landrut. I think I posted about this German Sesame Street version of her Eurovision hit Satellite...
- I'm Your Mailman Bill "The Fox" Foster- from his album of badly sung but bawdy "Songs Banned in Boston".
- Dracula's Lament -- The Late Late Show had Jason Segal and Dracula giving the full version of the song from "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". I like it's melancholy goofiness, punctuated by the second voice in the back.
- CoinJar-Gettin Booty With It Jason Ricciardi. Super catchy mashup of Will Smith "Gettin' Jiggy With It" and Parov Stelar's Booty Swing. Recommended!
- You're The Top Louis Armstrong. Still wishing I could find a recording of the naughty version of this, but it's such a great and clever song.
- Thanks For The Memories Bob Hope & Shirley Ross. I wish my mp3 had the same tearful ending as this video from the movie.
- Linus and Lucy Vince Guaraldi Trio. The ever-hip classic.
- Hot Chocolate Shonen Knife. Such a great throwback to the mod-60s.
- On The Sly The Bamboos. Heard this in a PF Chang's men's room. Great big retro feel.
- Seven Nation Army Ben L'Oncle Soul. Kinda skinny retro cover of one of my favorite songs.
- Skinny Legs And All Joe Tex. I think I saw this on a list of "Least Essential Music Ever", and it's just a tad offensive, but I dig it.
- Love Is Strange Mickey & Sylvia. I remember people in high school doing the "Come HEAH, Luvahboy" bit (which the "Back in Time" song that samples this ignored...)
- Original Miami Vice Theme Jan Hammer. Man I loved this. I might have to make an animated GIF.
- Stop! Mashup Time [MC Hammer vs. Eurythmics vs. New Order vs. Talking Heads vs. Donna Summer] FAROFF. So many hits packed in this mashup package.
- You Shook Me All Night Long AC/DC. The group weirdly doesn't make their stuff available for download. Ah well...
- Life Is But A Mere Supply Dezma. A final GTAIII track.
- Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? Paula Cole. Favorite line: "Why don't you stay the evening / kick back and watch the tv / And I'll fix a little somethin' to eat".
- Virtual Insanity Jamiroquai. Man, this is a fun video. I once saw a video of him performing live, using treadmills (kind of like a primitive OK GO...)
- How Bizarre OMC. This guy always looks irritated.
- No Woman, No Cry Fugees. They're making that Marley biopic. Figured I liked the sound and tempo of this version, though the update of the lyrics is a little wonky.
- Amanda Blank - Might Like You Better Vaski. Bassdrop-y Dub version of one of my favorite raunchy songs.
- Teeth Lady Gaga. Big stompy drums.
- Chammak Challo Akon. A really fun Bollywood video. A big people were doing synchronized dancing to it at an asian culture festival in DC. (I think the version I downloaded lacks the female vocals, damn.)
- Call Me Maybe Carly Rae Jepsen. Enormously popular, and deservedly so... so catchy.
- Feel Good Inc Gorillaz. These guys were doing that onstage hologram thing WAY before Tupac!
- Starships Nicki Minaj. Good song. And quite the sexy video. I adore the use of the Haka dancers...
- North American Scum LCD Soundsystem. Una at work suggested this. I like the Lo-Fi approach.
- Just You And Me Zee Avi. Saw her live. Love how this song namedrops Kierkegaard
- What-A-Man Lena. Just a sweet song by a German gal I think should be more well known here... not sure why it drops off after 30 seconds.
- Arkansas and Socrates The Lisps. No video for these songs of their Civil War meets Charles Babbage meets the Singularity musical "Futurity".
- Open Rhye. A sexy and polished but very human video to a sexy and polished but very human song.
- Bartholomew The Silent Comedy. They used this in the trailer for "Hatfields and McCoys"... I like the shout-y Appalachian feel of it.
- Infinity Guitars Sleigh Bells. Super lofi shouty stuff. The beginning was used as a bumper in the show "Girls".
- Jolene Mindy Smith. Softer, less glitzy cover of "Jolene".
- Tron Scherzo (Sark's Revenge Mix)
8 Bit Weapon. A tribute to Wendy Carlos
WilliamsDuh, mixing up name with poet William Carlos Williams, but with more percussion. - Robot Sneakers Trash80. I admit I'm not super fond of most chiptunage, but this is great.
- Numbers Kraftwerk. Ok, probably more of an inspirational piece to chiptunage than part of the genre itself, but still. A use of primitive digital voices closer to when they were the state of the art...
The GOP Sees Dead People--Voting Voter fraud happens retail (if that) and Conservatives are purging voter registrations wholesale. This is not justice.
People who are brutally honest get more satisfaction out of the brutality than out of the honesty.