What I really need to power through the next month or next few months is the right playlist. I'm thinking indie-electropop-dance, if I actually knew what that meant. So I'm throwing down the gauntlet: make a mix for me. I'll even get it started:
Ladyhawke - Magic (not an official video, duh):
Matt & Kim - Daylight
[Updated Feb. 17, 2009] Wow, you guys really went to town with the suggestions and I just spent an absurd amount of time clicking around youtube. So I'm going to keep this post updated with songs that piqued my interest. And I'll throw a couple songs on at the end that people can voice their opinion on. With the abundance of cool (and totally new to me) songs, I'm thinking that I'm straying from my original concept, but I guess you got to go where the road takes you.
Songs based on suggestions:
Alphabeat - Boyfriend (slick cheesy 80s pop song, but too slick?)
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
Parts & Labor - Nowheres Nigh
[Updated Feb. 20, 2009] Okay, still processing all the suggestions, but I thought I'd throw up one more song. I also added some comments about songs already posted. Then, for kicks, Yaz: doesn't fit on my playlist, but I enjoy the nostalgia.
Bloc Party - Banquet
Catchy or annoying?
MGMT - Kids (current verdict: annoying, but insidious)
Yeasayer - 2080 (current verdict: not annoying, but not sufficiently danceable)
Yaz
Only You
Bad Connection (how could anyone resist this?)
Totally irrelevant to the task at hand, but as long as I'm embedding videos
Amanda Palmer - Oasis
Fun! Do these meet the criteria?
ReplyDeleteLos Campesinos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj6SO_yKMe8
Ting Tings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myJnsqGgxxM
Alphabeat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL2JHeICXiI
(and because I'm obsessed...)
M.I.A.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sei-eEjy4g
ah, here's another:
ReplyDeletePrototypes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdIQJT1dq0I
Sorry if these are all kitschy and Euro...
I took a quick listen this morning -- fun songs! (Ooh, I should edit the post in the next few days to include/embed songs that I add to the list. Stay tuned!)
ReplyDeleteIf you're still pondering ideas, the sweet spot might be more New Wave-ish (I have a serious weakness for retro 80s New Wave).
Okay now that Tim has broken the ice, here are a few more, somewhat randomly chosen. Not sure any of them are quite what you're looking for, though, but do keep adding to the list so we get a better idea.
ReplyDeleteParts & Labor - Nowheres Nigh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOiL9q4iFZk
Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XC2mqcMMGQ
Vivian Girls - Where Do You Run To
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSxKIJp0WAY
The Rakes - We Danced Together
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxGx5gybf8k
Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEZockGkEyY
and to go with Tim's M.I.A.:
Santigold - L.E.S. Artistes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCeZzW54a2o
Ah! So many suggestions! Editing post once I finish commenting. But I'll try to keep 'discussion' in the comments.
ReplyDeleteTim - It's true; your suggestions are a little on the Euro and kitschy side (I thought that I was the one living in Europe!). But I found a song clicking around on youtube ... well, you'll see on the original post. And I have and love that M.I.A. song but I didn't think it fit what I was going for.
Doug - I like Vampire Weekend okay, but I feel like they're a little cutesy or something. And even though people have suggested it before, I've always found Arcade Fire's faux-Bruce kind of annoying given that I'm not particularly into original recipe Bruce. I'm still undecided about the Vivian Girls -- I'll have to remember them. And (one too many 'and's?) that Santogold video is disturbing.
I don't think I realized how uniformly kitschy and Euro those songs were until I saw the videos.
ReplyDeleteI'm liking the Parts & Labor song a lot, but, seriously, where have I heard it before? Very familiar...
And: New Wave, eh? That Ladyhawke song reminded me of Depeche Mode quite a lot.
I seem to recall you have Franz Ferdinand on your iPod. So how about Bloc Party or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Postal Service or (you know) the Killers?
Or, how bout the Oohlas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdfM-RIdGaQ
I think several of the videos I linked to are disturbing, it just seemed to be the preferred citation. I've never bothered to watch any music videos, music is an audio art form, no?
ReplyDeleteAs for Arcade Fire, The Hold Steady also recently made its way onto my ipod. Considering I was never into original Bruce either, there must be something in the water...
I suck in these New New wave stuff, but I thought Alphabeat's Boyfriend was a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteLots of songs to ponder, so little time. I'll try to update the post again before I leave for the weekend.
ReplyDeleteTim - I agree the Parts & Labor song sounds familiar, but maybe it just sounds like something we've heard before. And I do have Franz Ferdinand, the Killers, and Postal Service in my iTunes library. I guess originally I was looking for songs I haven't listened to overly in the past, but it's something to think about. Need to put Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah and Bloc Party on my 'to listen to' list. Maybe I should look for some classic New Wave: Yaz anyone?
Doug - I didn't mean disturbing in a bad way; the Santogold video is actually very entrancing. (Aside: the Alphabeats video is very cute.) I've only heard a little Hold Steady; I didn't realize they were considered to be Bruce-like.
Eugene - Glad you to could make it to the party. It's okay if New Wave isn't your thing, go ahead and suggest something as long as I can dance to it.
CYHSY sound eerily like the Talking Heads, which is good, but maybe not all that original
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvw2cf0DJYA
Bloc Party is fun and pretty New Wave-y. I like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4gBBQ35z5M
And yeah, I would say that the Hold Steady *sound* a lot like Bruce, but their lyrics are way more sarcastic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_SiHmAN6qs
Tim - Maybe this is sacrilege, but I've never been into the Talking Heads. The Bloc Party song is pretty good tho. And I guess the thing about Arcade Fire that isn't in the Hold Steady is some sort of arena-rock sound. But maybe I'm just talking out of my ass now.
ReplyDeleteHeh. I dunno if you can find these on CD/Itunes, but I've been a little bit partial to some children dance music from Lazy Town (made in Iceland no less):
ReplyDeletea typical Lazy Town tune :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0CHAZJr3OE
this one became an internet meme :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AzpByR3MvI
and some genius mixed a Lazy Town tune with Lil' Jon :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfLAv3JHRwY
Eugene - That show scares me. So creepily surreal.
ReplyDeleteWhy does it scare you? I never seen it though, just videos of all the music numbers on youtube, I thought they are pretty nicely done for a children's show. On the other hand, the *comments* on youtube creeps me out...
ReplyDeleteEugene - The characters played by actual human beings are so overly stylized (dude wearing blue with a mustache in particular) that they actually fall into the 'uncanny valley.' Hence, they're all robots (or maybe clowns) out to steal my soul (duh).
ReplyDeleteOut of all the music in this entry, I only recognize Yaz's "Only You." I only recognize that song because it was on the Office UK finale.
ReplyDeleteAny chance I can recommend some Clay Aiken for you? It don't think it matches the criteria, though.
DY - No. No you can't recommend Clay Aiken to me. ... Sigh. Alright, on the premise that prejudgment is bad, I promise to watch (at least part of) any YouTube video you or any known commenter posts.
ReplyDelete