Finally, the Noughties: LG

What does LG remind you of? No, Life's not Good. Life's all about Gaga.

There is no doubt that, although GaGa has only filled two years of this decade, the Noughties will not be noughty (or naughty) without her. The heavy fashion element embedded in her music, her epic (euch, ever since those Classics extension classes about the Iliad, all other words that could stand for 'epic' is completely alien to me) stage performances and costumes, and the groundbreaking/breakthrough 'Just Dance', all of these are contributions that have undeniably rocketed the direction of our music culture. The highlights of the debut 'The Fame' definitely include 'Poker Face' and 'LoveGame'. I – am – sick of 'Just Dance'.

And right now a splitting headache is entering my head because of that silly sugar drink coffee. Breathe.

Back to the point, the artiness of the 'Paparazzi' video makes it my favourite video by far, though the song itself is not as high in my rankings. My former love for 'Starstruck' and 'Paper Gangsta' has since subsided. PG is great apart from the chorus, which should be the best part of a song, and the only bit I like about 'Starstruck' is the synthesised voice. 'Eh eh (there's nothing else I can Say)’ is quite nice, albeit lacking in energy.

And now as the eleventh month of 2009 dies, I come to fully appreciate her new mini-album. I cannot stress enough how much I love the song 'Telephone'. Its release as a single comes not too long after my downloading of 'The Fame Monster', whose sound I – surprisingly – prefer to that of the 'The Fame'. It's a slight move away from that heavy synth-filled sound, towards something that is slightly mellower but that still retains a heavy, if not heavier, beat. The only way I can describe 'The Fame Monster' is that it sounds bigger. Wahey to my writing skills! Ok attempt number 2: it sounds more epic, less restricting than 'The Fame'. When I listened to that debut album, I soon became quite sick of it because it made me feel claustrophobic and that the walls were slowly shutting in on me. Maybe I'm just a looney. But listening to 'The Fame Monster' gives me the impression that I'm being led out of my room onto some epic Wembley Stadium stage performance. Is that good? For me it is.


'Telephone' - Lady GaGa featuring Beyonce

xxxx

Finally, the Noughties: vampires galore

I've decided, because we're nearing the end of the first decade of the 2000s, that I should do something acknowledging that on this blog. So I came up with a feature where I'd do a post on something that defined our decade. Because if I think about it, I'm a real noughties kid. I'm turning the big 18 at the very end of the noughties, so looking back on these years will mean looking back on my youth. So, let's rejoice in that fact, and show some appreciation for some great ten years!

Today, I'm writing about something that you probably know is raging around the country - vampire mania. Yep, it's Twilight. But no, it's not Twilight, in that I'll be focusing on the soundtrack. The music featured in the film receives relatively little attention in the fandom, if you consider the amount of attention the actors get.

Just lolz. No wonder they're so ugly then.

I can wholeheartedly say that Twilight's OST is one of the albums that I most enjoy listening to. Note, Twilight's OST, not New Moon's OST – that, I haven't listened to yet. I'm half looking forward to listening to it, half doubting its worth, considering that they've collected a number of huge names and put them on an already million-selling movie's soundtrack. Is that another commercial trap I smell? Can't be. Still, won't judge a book by its cover. It'll probably turn out amazing and I'll end up being one of the people who fell for their trap.

I downloaded the whole album after Twilight came out, but for some reason I only kept a handful of songs: Paramore's, R-Pattz', Iron & Wine's, and the 'Clair de Lune'. They were my favourite after all. I have to say, I really liked R-Pattz' two songs, not because they're R-Pattz' (or maybe a little because of that), but because they're genuinely nice songs. I can sit and relax to them…if it weren't for his mumbling which sometimes turns into snarling. I think it's with his great acoustic guitar playing that he redeems himself.

'Never Think' - Robert Pattinson

How can you listen to that and NOT feel like you're in heaven?!

… -_- cringe alert.

I seem to have gone crazy with Twilight lately haven't I? That's cause I am. Face it, sorry little Twilight hater: if you haven't read it, you can't judge. You can't judge the Twilight fandom on the fangirls. They're just swooning over R-Pattz and Taylor Lautner. If you read it and THEN hate it, fine. Just don't judge a book by the film!

Errrrr... where's Taylor? Who the hell is this beefy bunch...

I'm actually not as obsessed as I was this time last year. This time last year I was at the Twilight premiere. Yep, the Twilight premiere. omgomgomgomg I saw R-Pattz....'s back. Who else did I see.. Alex Zane, Dev Patel, N-DUBZ (why they were invited i have no idea), Jasper (? I think), K-Stew, and I don't really remember who else.  And soon after that, I went to the 'Tales of Beedle the Bard' release party in Piccadilly Waterstone's. I'm just that sad! God, I'm such a nerd.

'Decode' is played the most out of the soundtrack, so I thought I'd give the other song some limelight. Haha, sorry, not 'the other song', I mean 'I Caught Myself', by Paramore.

So I just downloaded the New Moon soundtrack. It's sounding preeettty good. There's a piano piece played by Alexander Desplat – a French pianist, I'll have you know – and it's beautiful. He also happens to compose/play (?) the New Moon score. Here's the offical soundtrack tracklist - I've highlighted my fave bits.

New Moon OST

1. Death Cab for Cutie, 'Meet Me on the Equinox'
2. Band of Skulls, 'Friends'
3. Thom Yorke, 'Hering Damage'
4. Lykke Li, 'Possibility'
5. The Killers, 'A White Demon Love Song'
6. Anya Marina, 'Satellite Heart'
7. Muse, 'I Belong to You (New Moon Remix)'
8. Bon Iver and St. Vincent, 'Rosyln'
9. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, 'Done All Wrong'
10. Hurricane Bells, 'Monsters'
11. Sea Wolf, 'The Violet Hour'
12. Ok Go, 'Shooting The Moon'
13. Grizzly Bear, 'Slow Life'
14. Editors, 'No Sound But The Wind'
15. Alexandre Desplat, 'New Moon (The Meadow)'

HTML scrollbox

'Meet me on the Equinox' - Death Cab for Cutie

'Hearing Damage' - Thom Yorke

'I Belong To You' (New Moon Remix) - Muse

'Shooting the Moon' - OK Go

'New Moon (The Meadow)' - Alexandre Desplat

'Possibility' - Lykke Li

PLEASE READ: Summit Entertainment, Thom Yorke, Muse, Lykke Li, Death Cab for Cutie, OK Go, Alexandre Desplat, Robert Pattinson, and (my beloved) Paramore: I DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP TO ANY OF THE ABOVE SONGS. I'm not making them available for downloads, I'm not scheming behind your backs to try and bring you down and cheat your stinkingmoney out of you, i'm just promoting

That's a lot of tracks to load you with, but, if you haven't seen the movie, you can understand the mood of it through this soundtrack. What can make me really happy is when films or television shows have some really good soundtracks - and not just a load of good songs plonked together, but songs that fit the meaning of the show/film, and I think that the Twilight music crew have done that amazingly. I can picture each song being played in  specific scenes (that I imagine from having read the book). Pity the acting isn't up to the same level.

I wonder whether Twilight will be remembered in fifty years' time, or whether it'll be a one hit wonder. Or four-hit wonder. OK, not particularly articulate today: what I mean is, whether it's just a phase. Just a phase? Yeahhh, how can something that's adored by teenagers be concretised as a classic?

Erm, the Beatles? Elvis Presley? A load of other things which I could name but can't because my brain is not functioning?

Point made.

xxxx

sad times

Surprisingly, I feel like I'm actually missing out on this fat New Moon hype. I thought I'd put my Twilight ways behind me, that I could not see New Moon this weekend because it's the wasteman thing to do, and that I could nevertheless survive. Aparently not. Edward is my all. Without him I cannot breathe. I curled up in a ball on a forest floor covered in brown autumn leaves today. I thought I saw him. I realized it was his ghost. I'm Isabella Swan, abandoned by the one man I loved.

...Are you cringing inside, cause I defs am. I didn't mean for that to turn out how it did, but as I started writing it I got steered in that direction and got into it. it's just too much fun to make fun of Bella Swan. She needs to sort herself out.

Anyway, I wasn't joking when I said that I'm missing out. The beautiful men are worth the cringe. it does seem a bit like it's those two men are a form of commercial hypnosis - that's all that's ensnaring the nation into the cinemas. Because Kristen Stew can only look as if she's about to kill Edward and not the other way around, Rob Pattz looks like he's constipated half the time, and...who else is in the film (apart from Taylor)? nobody cares about the others, apart from Emmett and Jasper who are B-U-F-F.

And now, onto Taylor. Literally. He is actually beautiful. That smile, that skin，those muscles, those teeth- ok this is getting weird now isn't it. Can't help it if he's a buff werewolf, jeez. Auch, get off that screen and over here now.

Notice how I just spent ten minutes ranting about a film I haven't even seen. try imagine how I'm gonna be after I actually see it (if I ever get round to it)

God save Britain. or the world. or the universe (after all, them vamps and werewolves may well have cult followings on Mars, they're that beautiful).
xxxx

music

I'd like to start this post by thanking you guys for your support. I started this blog with no expectations (aside from expecting that nobody would read it), so to have anybody even going onto my page is very encouraging. I thank you even more for the lovely comments you've made about my blog, my layout, and especially those about my writing because that has previously always been an area where I've been unsure of myself. So thank you; now I only hope I can return the favour by continuing to give you light, yet – most importantly – interesting and entertaining reading (and laughing, hopefully).

Just a quick request, if you leave comments – especially in the shout box on the far right – please leave your name, or at least a screen name, otherwise it's just a long list of Guest Guest Guest Guest, and it looks like one person has become socially withdrawn and decided to spend their life on my blog. And, also you can't tell what's said by who. So yes, at least a screen name!

Music-wise: Thursday this week I heard You Me At Six's upcoming new single, 'The Consequence'. If you missed it (bad, bad You Me at Six fan), catch it on the Radio 1 Nick Grimshaw page (like I did). Or just listen to it on the right.

I like it! After hearing 'Finders Keepers' and 'Kiss and Tell', I liked them somewhat, but this is truly a move away from that kind of sound and back to their old sound (angry rawr angry rawr angry rawr. I'm SO weird.) No joke, I actually think my inclination towards angry music is really telling about my character... But back to the point, you can tell they have feeling in this song, that they've put themselves (maybe not their heart) into it. Josh Franceschi said that he had to rewrite the lyrics of most of their songs from the forthcoming album after their tour in America because he'd just come out of a long-term relationship – does that mean I stand a chance now? - so the sincerity that this shows (changing your lyrics to reflect your emotions) tells me that they are putting themselves into this song. Hopefully that will also be the case for the new album (out in Jan 2010, folks, GO GET IT). You Me At Six, welcome back.

A song that seriously makes me want to cry because of its pointlessness is Lily Allen's 'Who'd Have Known'. Yeah, I know, I loved her 'Guess What Batman (Fuck you very much)', but the former just makes me think, 'what is wrong with her?!' How could she possibly have thought that this song was good enough to release as a single? How could she possibly have thought that it was good enough to put on an ALBUM?! Things wrong with it: the chorus sounds too much like Take That's 'Shine' (perhaps that's intentional, but it doesn't work in any way!) it's slow in a lo-o-o-ong, drawn-out way, and it's lifeless. I'm not even asking for heart, or emotion, or soul, just something that makes me think it's sung by a living thing. HELP ME NOW.

Another song that's making me despair atm (but not as much) is Ke$ha's 'Tik Tok'. I mean, when I first heard it, I thought it was some weird sort of MileyCyrus-Cascada-EsmeeDenters hybrid. So – wrong. It's a tune I can't get out of my head and that's good to sing, but lyrically and musically it's crazy. The verses she sings are – what the hell are they?! It's just her talking, really... I can't even describe it. Speechlessness, but in a bad way. There's no energy in the song, it's nanananana..nanananana... I don't need this kind of music! (Oh, there goes the music snob.) Too many artists who don't know what they're doing. It's not even fun music. I can handle bad music that's jokes, but bad music that is just bad and fills a space... no.

(OMDZ what?! When I saw the name Ke$ha I thought she'd have been black. Woops.)

Last word, well done to my friend NO (I'm not just saying NO angrily, however weird I may be) for her success in the Bank of England competition!

xxxx