The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

So part of my plan for this week is to catch the fuck up on these, so let’s get started on 1 of 5, shall we?

Listening Time Vol. 15
Violent Vixen

1. Opening Act – Ugly Duckling: Some talking, I see… some frisking… frisky… There’s some nice piano all cutely… or… okay… and now it’s started and… I… no… yeah, I don’t know. There’s some xylophone, I see… but yeah, this singing is… yeah, what…? What should I even say about it. It’s trying to be playful, I suppose, but it’s not… very good…? I mean, I don’t know. It’s got this back and forth talksinging over the little cute stuff and I just. Yeah. Bleh. Oh, it’s got a lot more to go still, too… oh man. This is an inauspicious start.

2. Please Forgive Me – David Gray: Okay this… wait… Oh gods, this is a Kohl’s song… a song that plays at work that I hear over and over and over and over and over and over and over… oh no no no. Okay, so, yeah, I am going to hate this no matter what because of that, so all comments on this song are pretty moot. Sorry about that. Man, I know all the lyrics and everything… Bleh, I’m not doing very good on this mix so far.

3. Never There – Cake: Now okay, here’s a song I like. Cake is pretty good stuff, for the most part. Never There is a pretty good song overall, too, although I prefer things like… like… Carbon Monoxide… Neeeeeeeever there… you’re neeeeeever there! You’re never, ever, ever, ever there. Ever there. But yeah, I like Cake. They’re upbeat, and they got the brass stuff which is always fun. And the vibraslap! There was some right there! Nice!

4. Crutch – Matchbox Twenty: I’ve heard of these people, but I know like nothing about them, besides, I guess, they enjoy being lit on fire. Oh, that… that’s a weird sort of thing, isn’t it? Oh, it’s skipping… what… I guess the CD has a problem. But okay, it’s gone now… it’s got this weird sort of echo-y stuff in the background. I do kinda like the quick-talking stuff… but this refrain is not really… the vocalist is singing in a… well, reminding me of country sort of way. Couldn’t tell you exactly what makes me say that, though. Well, it’s how he says “I don’t wanna be the!” That’s what gives me that idea… but yeah, this is listen-able, but I’m not excited about it.

5. Cold As Ice – Foreigner: Like the belt, right? I’m willing to sacrifice our love? I don’t really love you, Foreigner. I never did. Hey, I take some advice… sometimes… so I guess it’s got that piano thing in the background unchanged for the whole song, huh? Those are some serious ooohs and aaaaahs there. And now we’re to the solo bridge thingamajig… I don’t know, I want to say the song doesn’t really reflect the lyrics. The lyrics would seem to suggest something that’s either angry of depressed, and this song is neither of those. But yeah, this song certainly has background singers, huh? And a slow fade… yeah… huh.

6. Pardon Me – Incubus: My ex-girlfriend really liked Incubus… I remember listening to their CDs while I drove her around. I can’t say I remember anything in particular, though. This song isn’t really ringing a bell, anyway. So if I had to take a guess at this part of the CD, Violentvixen has a thing for that kinda quick talk-singing over music, because a lot of these songs have things like that in it. It’s kinda fun at times. Oh, here come a bunch of scratching. Scratchscratch talkfast. But yeah… “Pardon Me While I Burst Into Flames.” Really? I don’t know, on one hand I can see that phrase being applied very effectively and neatly, but I don’t feel like this song is, because that refrain has an element of drama to it. It would have to be a sort of devoid of that. Much less dramatic sarcastic and much more… completely meaning it and it being more symbolic. I dunno. Anyway, I guess the song is ending with this reverb stuff.

7. You Make Me Completely Miserable – Filter: “You Make Me Come…” Way to start out dirty, song. This song is slower… I do hope it doesn’t keep up that sort of thing for the whole song… with the Dun Dun Duuun… Duhduhduhduhduhduhduhduh… well, okay, it’s sorta different in this refrain, I guess. Yeah, this song, sadly, is much cleaner than the beginning of the song would suggest. False advertising! But then again, I guess I did know the title beforehand, huh? Yeah, I dunno, this song is doing nothing for me. The little trick with the not the whole title singing thing is kinda… nothing to me. Oh, it ended abruptly.

8. The Drama King – Everclear: Everclear song number 1. I am already questionable on the vocalist… eh, nevermind, it’s not… yeah, it’ll be okay. So, okay, when I focus in on the lyrics, I kinda dislike the song? They aren’t doing much to me. They feel kinda generic. But when I just listen to the song song and try not to zero in on the lyrics like I normally do, it’s not too bad. It would work in the background without annoying me or anything, you know? I don’t know. There’s a strong possibility, I think, that I just dislike this song and will like other songs by this band. We will see if that holds when I get to the other one, huh?

9. Title and Registration – Death Cab for Cutie: I’ve heard of these people, but I know nothing about them besides that their name sounds familiar. Okay, male vocalist… I was sort of thinking maybe female by the name, but cool, cool. He’s got a sort of distinctive sound in a good way, so that’s nice. Yeah, it’s… it’s nice, but it’s not got… it’s got some energy, but it doesn’t use it. The singer doesn’t have any, although he sounds nice… ooh, I like that xylophone or bells or whatever here in this bridge… yeah, I’m left conflicted. I’m enjoying the song, but my natural hate of slowness is pushing against it. Huh.

10. Hang On – Guster: I like Guster’s faster stuff, certainly. Uninteresting factoid: me and my friends have an inside joke about Guster’s Maracas Player and his great maraca solos. Yeah, okay, it’s this song. It’s very listen-able, and enjoyable, certainly. But it’s never a song I put into my own playlists. It’s more something one of my friends would put on and I would sort of nod in agreement to. So yeah, a fine piece of music, I suppose. Hang on… hang on… I think there’s… yes, there’s another song coming up… I think I’ll blog it.

11. Square One (Live) – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Don’t know much about them, besides the fact that I read a short story about them once and probably missed a lot. Whoo~! The Crowd! Whoo~! But yeah, goodness, this is like serious slow acoustic sort of stuff here, which is… not really my area… oh, here’s a backup singer. A Dark Victory, huh? That would be a good name for a Magic card… Dark Victory… 3BB, Sorcery, Destroy Target Creature, you lose 3 life. Or something. It would probably be cheaper than that. But yeah, this song isn’t much for me. I think I said that. I think one could tell that with my mind drifting. Yeah.

12. Devil’s Dance Floor – Flogging Molly: There’s some drum sticks going on there… and now some flute-y stuff… Yeah, it’s this band, right? Yeah, it’s this one. I suppose there’s definitely a call for this kinda music, huh? That… blend? Blending? It is kind of infectious, isn’t it? It’s almost like… all drums, though. I mean, I guess there’s other things going on, but the drums is what I’m taking out of it, mostly. Is that weird? It’s just obviously the most powerful part. Drums with that flue thing over it. Yeah. Yeah.

13. Feeling Good – Muse: This is that one band again with the song and the music video I’m supposed to think is awesome but I don’t think is awesome. Quiet keyboarding and singing… okay… new life for him… that’s nice… oh, okay, and now here come the guitars. But the tempo didn’t pick up at all like I was hoping. This is unfortunate. Yeah, I think I “get” this song, but I don’t really… I’m not really enjoying it. I approve of its existence in the world, though. It can continue to exist. Okay, so now he’s singing up high and going all Ooooooooooh! Ooo Ooooooooh! Or something. And I guess it’s going to do that until the end or something? Well, alright then, go ahead and do that, thing…

14. The Old Apartment – Barenaked Ladies: Okay, so… something about an Old Apartment… and they live there in the past time. Okay, so, he is asking why someone is making the place better in every way… which I guess I can understand in some things, but he’s not explaining things very well in this case. I mean, “Why did you plaster up the hole in the door?” Seriously? Anyone would do that. Changing the color of the walls, you have more of a case, I suppose. Changing the locks on the door is also a stupid thing to complain about… I don’t know, basically, I don’t like the vocalist because of all that weird stuff, and it feels like that is all the song has going for it. It’s “like this guy and listen to him.” And I don’t like him.

15. Insomniac – Straight No Chaser: Oh my, A Capella, huh? Intense. I can dig it. Although this doesn’t seem like a very… exciting song. More of a standard song instead of the fun of doing something a little more different and fun with it or whatever. I don’t know, love songs just seem so… that’s what A capella songs are about and stuff and things and stuff, you know? Then again, I suppose MOST music is about such things, so I guess I don’t have a very good case, huh? Also, the fact that the background people keep singing “Jim My Jim My Jimmy Jimmy” makes me wonder weird things. Certainly a more romantic song than the title suggests to me, though.

16. Do You Realize?? – The Flaming Lips: More Flaming Lips, eh? And they counted for me. And then started playing… I didn’t hear two question marks when they sang it. They need to make it more interrogative!  Realize realize realize… Well, that’s kind of a depressing thought. It thought this was going to be a romance song. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah, it fooled me at the beginning. It’s a “make the most out of life” song. But yeah, it… yeah. Nothing for me here, really. It’s sweet enough, I suppose.

17. The Good Witch of the North – Everclear: Everclear song number two! Aww, it wasted it’s chance to “Break it down” there. The lyrics are sweet, though. Really sweet. I can support the lyrics. It’s never bad to have sappy overly emotional love songs that know they are. This one knows it is. It’s not like… trying to be deep. It’s just like “no, seriously, I love you, and I’m trying to tell you.” I am all about that. That’s the only way to write love poetry, at least, you know? Because others are in love, love is not like this… awesome rare awe-inspiring thing… and yet, at the same time, it is. So you have to admit your love isn’t special, but then say strongly that its there in your tone… and this one does it. Bravo.

18. The Mixed Tape by Jack’s Mannequin: The last song… the band name makes me think of Jack Mangan. Because it’s Jack Mmmmmmmmmm. Well, this one seems picked for last due to the name, huh? It’s a bit more upbeat than a lot of this CD, but it’s not doing anything for me. Also, I guess it is about a mix tape, isn’t it? But it’s… I don’t know. It’s not saying that to me? Even though I guess the lyrics are about that and I can’t deny it. It… I don’t know. I don’t buy this guy’s emotion. Unlike the last song, where I totally bought it. See, and there’s like some… ego there “I swear this mix could sink the sun.” also read as “I am so awesome and perfect for you.” The end.

And that’s it. Final thoughts: Most of the songs were listen-able. There was a lot of romantic attempts, most of them I didn’t buy except the second to last track, which got me. That was strong. Yes.