I'm the sort of person who has obsessions and fads-- this much is clear. This propensity of mine extends to every aspect of my life, from TV shows to gadget use to stacking clothes hangers and sushi plates by color according to spectrum.
Music is not spared the madness. When I get hooked on a song, I can go at it for weeks on end, much to the dismay of friends, family, colleagues and random people on the bus.
I've compiled and uploaded a playlist of songs that I did not just merely like in 2009, but liked to the extent that they invaded my dreams and took over larynx unconsciously when I did the dishes. In case that isn't clear enough: I FUCKING LOVE THESE SONGS. And I'm here to share them!
The rundown!
01 SORRY SORRY by Super Junior I have
shinrei_24 to thank for dumping this worm into my innocent, SuJu-free ears. I must have listened to the damn thing several hundred times over the course of the year, but guess what? I STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ANY OF THE SONG LYRICS ARE. Aside from "SORRY SORRY". And a lot of "dun dun dah dun"s. I don't care, I still want to dance anyway. I love this song.
02 Bad Romance by Lady GaGaRA-RA-AH-AH-AH... There was a happy, blissful time in 2009 where I did not have the faintest inkling what any of Lady GaGa's songs sounded like. Then this annoying little iPhone app called Tap Tap Revenge got me determined to beat "Lovegame" on Extreme mode. The GaGa virus worked its magic on the addiction centers of my brain, and the rest is history. Bad Romance won me over with its anthemic dance epicness and its many textures. Also, its wonderful MV in which Lady G sets a man on fire. ♥!
03 Undisclosed Desires by MuseFinding out that Muse had a new album releasing in 2009 made me a very happy fan indeed. Undisclosed Desires wins its spot as my favorite song from the album because it stood out from the rest, what with its hip-hop bassline fused with airy Muse synthesizers. And also because of its frightening appropriateness for making MVs for one of my favorite Mononoke arcs. (Read
the lyrics and guess which one.)
04 Sure Fire Winners by Adam LambertHonestly, I had Adam's entire album on endless repeat for a couple of weeks after it dropped. But I very well couldn't populate this entire playlist with Adam Lambert songs, so I picked my favorite of the lot as a representative sample. For all its cheese and easy hooks, this one wins me over on sheer catchiness and singalongability. A word which my spellcheck assures me I just made up on the spot.
05 Autotune The News #6 by the Gregory BrothersWords alone cannot describe the pure awesome this song is made of, so I embedded video. It speaks for itself. Conservative wingnuts have sounded hipper and catchier. (Sarah Palin, however, cannot be rescued from the pits of mindfuckingly bad cadence, even with Autotune). This song is also the source of the "you know it's unconstitutional to take away my god-given pharmaceuticals" line that makes up my journal subtitle.
06 Lucid Dreams by Franz FerdinandMy absolute favorite song from their Tonight: Franz Ferdinand album! This 7-minute-long monster includes a three-minute segment of pure gooey synthesizer goodness in the middle, which I refer to fondly as "Franz Ferdinand makes electronica porn". If you could take a song and roll around naked in it, I would pick this one.
07 Today by Chantal KreviazukThis song cheated its way onto my list because I am sure I have not listened to it as much as the other songs that made the cut. However, I found myself singing it a lot. In the washroom, in the shower, doing the dishes. Catchy piano-pop hooks will do that to you.
08 手紙 ~拝啓 十五の君へ~ by Angela AkiA gorgeous piano ballad written for fifteen year old middle school graduates in the vein of Five For Fighting's "Hundred Years": inspirational, life-affirming, and capable of making me break out in effin' goosebumps when I listen to it. This despite how drippingly cheesy the lyrics are once you strip them of the context of the song (the ship of dreams continues to sail towards tomorrow over the rough ocean waters of life? One word: LOLWUT). I don't take a shine to sappy piano ballads easily-- most of them make me want to set myself on fire-- but I like this one. (The tune is beautiful.)
09 Pistashio by Lisa HanniganShe has absolutely haunting, whispery vocals, which elevate this gentle piano-driven song into the realm of the sun-drenched and ethereal. Which is a good thing, since I found the lyrics of the song to be eccentrically goofy at times. Lyrics like "when you feel like your flavor has gone the way of a pre-shelled pistashio". But she makes it work and turns it into a melancholy, regretful lament.
00 Sunburn by Muse BONUS TRACK!Released in 2000, it is far from being a child of 2009, but I only discovered it this year after a colleague at my new workplace--a huge Muse fan-- kindly
provided me with the parts of their discography that I lacked. Within five seconds of the opening I was hooked, and within five minutes I was madly trying to figure out the lonely, angry, desperate piano riff for myself.
THE DOWNLOAD!PLAYLIST 2009! 73MB, zipped file http://www.sendspace.com/file/7j5u5yNow that we're done with that,
does anyone have links to downloads of Lady GaGa's MVs? I used to watch them on YouTube but now that this VEVO thing has taken over I'm experiencing difficulties watching the vids-- they load very slowly, skip when I play then, and
often stop halfway through and jump to the next song on the playlist. It's driving me
nuts!ETA: Oh yeah, should mention that I've just stepped down as a moderator on the
gundam00 community! I haven't done shit for the comm since I quit fandom as part of my 2008 New Years' resolution, so it's only right that I no longer be a mod. Had to strike while the fancy was still in me because I knew that if I didn't take action, I'd still be there by the time 2011 rolls around. orzETA 2: OH LORD THE MOOD THEME PICTURE FITS THE TEXT I RANDOMLY SLAPPED IN *PERFECTLY*, LOL