This Makes It Seem Like I Only Like Sad Songs Posted by Sad Blogger , 21.7.12 at Saturday, July 21, 2012, in

I created the Aural Stimulation panel from the outset of this blog because I like music a lot and I like a lot of music. Actually, before it was added and back when we had maybe two posts and a pile of ideas for stories and songs and poems we've never written, it was just a single song embedded in the code of the website that would play once and drift off into an uncertain silence. The intended effect being that readers would have something pretty to listen to while they browsed through our fantastic contributions. The problem with having the song embedded, however, was that if you happened to be on the page for longer than the duration of the song (which I believe was Crime Window by Grand Archives and is not even 4 minutes long), it would just abruptly end and leave the reader itching for more if the reader was a decent human being. On the other hand, if you weren't particularly interested in hearing any music, there was no way to stop it other than navigating away from the page. Which is bad for business. That being said, if you didn't happen to have you speakers on or headphones in, there was no indication that music was being played if you were in any kind of mood for some.

So it just did't work all around.

Enter the Grooveshark playlist! It allowed us to construct a mix of whatever sounds we were particularly obsessed with at the time and let us just drop them into a simple, pre-assembled player that any buffoon could figure out. There's the songs, there's who's playing them, hit the button with the big triangle, noise comes out!!! Which meant that I wouldn't have to toil over figuring out how to design my own player. Which meant I was extremely relieved. Which is good. So the problem of giving readers some sort of control over the music was solved as was the impotence of only having a single track playing. I know that in another website I put together for a friend, I was able to link a playlist with over 600 songs. So the sky's the limit in that regard.

However, despite having to do more with my own burgeoning ambitions for the blog than anything else, a new snag presented itself. See, if I were to write up a supplement for one of the playlists--a listening guide...AN ABSTRACT if you will--it would be a splendidly relevant read but only as long as that specific playlist was posted. As soon as we chose some new songs to go up, there would be a meaningless entry floating around the site going on about a bunch of songs that nobody had any links to. I think that there is actually still a post up that does just that.

So now just three years or whatever since the site went up, I've finally put some effort into finding a way to share music that is both comprehensive and full of options for us but intuitive and effortless for you all. And after an afternoon of wasting money on a couple of subscription-based hosting sites, I think I've finally found a method that will work for everyone. As such, this will mark the first of hopefully many posts full of songs that I just haven't been able to stop listening to.

Because goddamn it if sometimes I just can't suck it up and write out an entire post. I've got a couple of drafts piling up now. Like spinning plates. I'll log in and add a few words, get frustrated with the concept, and angrily exit out of the browser completely before realizing my mistake and opening it back up to browse Tumblr and Imgur for a few hours. With the introductions of this fancy new music posting stuff, now I can just pop on, upload some new songs, and vomit out a few lines to go with each one before mashing the POST button and feeling like I actually achieved something. So without any more ado, I present you with 10 songs that make my heart and face go all gooey (cuz they're awesome):

PS - Hopefully I can find a more convenient way to embed actual MP3 files within the next few days. Until then, just play with the YouTube links.

1. Cat Power - Good Woman 

This one isn't that much of a newcomer to my radar, but towards the end of my most recent music reconnaissance mission, I started picking out some similarities between Cat Power and some of the other gals that I'll be posting below. I just had to go back and experience the almost sort of non-music that she creates. I was originally going to post Metal Heart as a perfect example with it's out of sync guitars and barely audible vocals but I really have always been in love with Good Woman. So here it is. There's just something so heartbreakingly simple about it. The meandering, overdriven guitar and choppy fiddle are almost drunkenly emphasizing the regret in her voice as Chan sadly breathes out her poetry. I hope it can become as much as a staple for you as it has for me.

2. Alex Turner - It's Hard to Get Around the Wind

This one I discovered last weekend with the help of a movie called "Submarine". One of those slow, quirky coming of age stories about a teenage boy falling in love and falling apart at the same time. I think I kind of sold it short there, but really if you can find a way to watch it, do. The soundtrack for the film has a sweet late-60s/early-70s folk-pop sort of sound that I was surprised to find was all written and performed by Arctic Monkeys lead singer, Alex Turner. Naturally, I chose one of the gloomier of the set, but I think it gives a better overall impression of the tone of the film. So if you like the song, check out the flick.

3. My Brightest Diamond feat. DM Stith - Everything is in Line

I was driving just after sunset a few weeks back and this song came up on the radio and just so perfectly complemented the twists and turns of the road with the street lights flashing by overhead and the tumbling indigo folds of the twilit clouds beyond. The DJ described Shara Worden--My Brightest Diamond is her stage name--as having a fixation with various forms of visual art and having taken specific inspiration for her most recent album (and this song) from Japanese performance art...kabuki theater, traditional puppets and masks, etc. So I can't help imagining a dark, bizarre marionette show being acted out to this song with their voices portraying two different characters. I always picture DM Stith's belonging to a crow. I dunno. Close your eyes, give it a few listens, and see where your mind goes.

4. Lykke Li - Dance, Dance, Dance

I've been a fan of Lykke Li for years so this doesn't really count as a new discovery, but I wanted to integrate something a little less gloomy into the mix but also make a transition from My Brightest Diamond that didn't seem awkward and forced. So I have nothing really special or insightful to say about this song other than it's a fun song to softly bob your head to and maybe even tap your toe a little bit.

5. Dawes - Million Dollar Bill

We'll bring it back to the sad and pretty now with a song that was recommended to me by a guy I met when I was on a road trip across the States. Despite having a small laptop filled with a few thousand songs, this song became one of the fifteen or so that I had on almost-constant repeat. It's a great song by itself, but when you're rolling through the endless green hills of Oregon or the barren nonsense that is New Mexico or up some east coast Interstate, head pressed against the cold window and staring at the moon, this song is the perfect soundtrack for whatever forlorn, romantic garbage is tugging at your heartstrings. Just the lines:

So when she steps out into the night
and finds the light that makes her prettiest
she'll be facing me every time she shines.

are every crush that went nowhere in grade school, middle school, high school. That longing just to be noticed or thought of or cared for. I'm pathetic, but this song is magic to me.


6. First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar

Okay here's an actual fresh one! I first heard this song maybe a week ago and have had it on an endless loop on my iPod, phone, and computer since. Until forty seconds ago I would have told you it was about a relationship gone wrong blah blah blah. But I popped over to songmeanings.com just to see what other people were saying about it and if you take the first verse and apply it to the rest of the song, it really does sound like a bitter love song for the Church. Now I'm not here to interpret lyrics for one song out of ten. I actually want to get up at some point and enjoy the day. So all I'm going to say about this song is that it is just goddamn brilliant. Listen to the harmonies and the feeling in the chorus and agree with me. Also, as much as I've linked the official video, I would really recommend checking out this version.

7. The Milk Carton Kids - Michigan

I'm going to be honest with the next few songs. I just heard them either yesterday or the day before and haven't listened to them enough to write any essays on. This particular one I've heard enough to say I absolutely love the David Rawlings-style guitar picking and the sadness in the chorus. Other than that, it's just a gorgeous song that I should probably learn a little bit more about. I should also say this is the last of the folkey songs for this entry. Hopefully this song will transition well enough to the three lead-out songs. Probably not.

8. Metallic Falcons - Four Hearts

This one is just floaty and drifty and haunting and nice.

9. Soap&Skin - Turbine Womb

Some more pretty. Some more piano.

10. How To Dress Well - Suicide Dream 2

This is not the version of this song that I would have preferred to use, but I really just can't remember where I found the original version or how to find it again so this version will have to do. It's still pretty. As much as the whole thing is just an airy, dreamy cacophony, the "no air, no air, no air" at the end has always been my favorite part and hopefully it will make for the perfect conclusion to this entire playlist. This is one of those songs that I often fall asleep to. Don't worry...it won't actually make you dream about suicide. Give it a try.

So that's the first attempt at embedding songs. My fingers are really crossed hardcore. Let us know in the comments if there are any improvements we could make. Otherwise I just hope you enjoy the songs.


Happy listening,
Sad Blogger