Disordered Thoughts and Curmudgeonly Ramblings
Feeling tired, run down and depressed. Probably ate too much chocolate over Easter.
But hey, it’s Friday. With enough caffeine and Mates of State I should be able to make it to quitting time, then I can sleep all weekend.
(Ignore the Anime – Only decent version of the song I could find on Youtube)
Oh, like I seriously wasn’t going to troll you!
In response to yesterday’s post about the Black Satans, frequent commenter Martin C. recommended looking up Troll Metal. I did, and have to echo his comment of TROLL ON!!
It’s like Limbonic Art without all that annoying screeching!
Enjoy some more Troll Metal here, here and here.
On another subject, good lord, the Government is just falling to bits. I already had a horrible feeling that Tony Abbot was going to win the election, this pretty much makes it a certainty 🙁
Seriously, I know almost nothing about death metal. I can identify it when I hear it, but I am completely unable to distinguish good death metal from bad death metal, or identify or discuss any subgenres of the form that may or may not exist.
As such I have no idea whether The Satan of Hell by the Black Satans is a fine example of the genre, an excellent parody of the genre, or a load of old cobblers. What I can say however is the video clip is hilarious. It’s clear that the band simply got dressed up in leather and corpse paint, then filmed themselves piss-farting around in the Finnish woods. Observe…
The entire clip is ridiculous, but highlights include…
0:28 – Get funky!
0:43 – Going for a jog!
1:03 – Even more funky!
1:06 – Die tree! Die!
1:29 – Missed it by that much!
1:51 – Whoops!
1:53 – Hold! Hold! Now dance!
2:11 – Peekaboo!
2:44 – Snowball fight!
Great stuff! 😀
(For those who dislike the sound of machine gun drumming and gargling, try pairing it up with Yakety Sax. Works like a charm!)
lol film
It’s funny the influence advertising can have on the human brain.
Whenever I hear The Timewarp it take a conscious effort of will for me not to sing…
For perfect pictures,
In sixty minutes,
TAKE! IT! TO KO! DAK! EXPRESS!
(Two lines I have to mumble,
because I can’t recall the lyrics)
And albums too,
And so much more-or-or!
They’ve all you nee-ee-ee-eed,
To make your photos look their very best!
TAKE! IT! TO KO! DAK! EXPRESS!
There’s another song well known song (which I unfortunately can’t recall right now) that I can’t help but finish with Oh what a feeling! Toyota!
So, so sad 🙂
15 songs into the Hottest 100 and the Warmest 100 prediction is not doing well. The average deviation is standing at just under 21 places, and there have been five songs that weren’t included at all! Can you feel the tragedy!?
(Yes, I’m keeping stats. Deal with it :))
LATER: A quarter of the way in and the average deviation has dropped to 18.3. There are now 6 unpredicted songs.
LATER STILL: Halfway! The average deviation is 16.6 and there are now 7 unpredicted songs. For the sake of interest, the signed average deviation is almost exactly 2, which shows that the songs predicted too low are almost cancelling out the songs predicted too high. So far, the worst prediction is Internet Friends by Knife Party, which was predicted at position 94 and came in at 55, and the best is Draw a Crowd by Ben Folds Five, which was predicted at 74 and came in at 73. On to the lower 50!
LATER, AGAIN: Three quarters of the way through! The average deviation is now 14.1, there are nine unpredicted songs and only three of my selections have made it in (damnit!). The most accurate predictions so far are Gasoline by Alpine, Hold On by Alabama Shakes, Hurricane by Ms Mr and our old friend Draw a Crowd by Ben Folds Five – all came in only one off from the prediction. Internet Friends by Knife Party is holding strong as the least accurate.
At the 75% percent mark my total rating for the countdown is 2.90 – on a scale where 5 is super happy awesome and 1 is kill it with fire! Some more of my songs better make it into the top 25…
NEWSFLASH: Ballpark Music’s Coming Down has proven the first 100% accurate prediction of the countdown at number 23!
LATER: Oh Derp! I missed that the Warmest 100 actually did include Sun by Two Door Cinema Club! Oh well, it won’t have skewed the stats too much. In the meantime, here’s my thoughts on Matt Corby.
LATER: And right on the verge of the top 10, two more accurate predictions. Flume’s Sleepless at 12 and Calvin Harris’ Sweet Nothing at 11. Does this mean the top ten will be completely accurate?? (I doubt it :))
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LAST LATER: Maybe I spoke too soon. My Gun by the Rubens at number 10 – just as predicted…
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THAT: Another correct prediction – Tame Impala at number 9 with Feels Like We Only Go Backwards. How long can this streak last!?
AND AFTER THAT: Well, that was fun while it lasted. Frank Ocean breaks the chain taking number 8 with Lost.
GETTING TOWARDS THE END NOW: Down to the top five. I imagine that it’ll be a shuffling of the five highest songs left on the Warmest 100 list – Thrift Shop, Little Talks, Breeze Blocks, Holdin’ On and I Will Wait. We’ve just got to wait to see what order they come in….
RIGHT ON THE VERY TIP: So, will the Number One be Monsters and Men (Yey!) or Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (Boo!)? I have a nasty feeling thrift shopping is going to beat small talk. Also, what the hell is this “Breeze Block” thing at number three!?
THE END OF EVERYTHING: Well, there we go. Little Talks by Monsters and Men at number 2, so (barring an apocalyptic upset) Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis has taken out the 2012 crown. Damnit. But on with the statistics.
The average, overall deviation for all Warmest 100 songs that made it into the countdown is 10.79 places. The signed deviation is 0.08, which means the songs that were ranked too high almost completely cancelled out the songs that were ranked too low. The worst prediction (excluding those songs that didn’t make it in entirely) remains Internet Friends by Knife Party – which was predicted for 94 but ended up 37 places higher at 55. Eight songs were predicted accurately…
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis – Thrift Shop – 1
Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks – 2
Alt-J – Breeze Blocks – 3
Tame Impala – Feels Like We Only Go Backwards – 9
The Rubens – My Gun – 10
Calvin Harris – Sweet Nothing – 11
Flume – Sleepless – 12
Ball Park Music – Coming Down – 23
The top ten songs were all predicted correctly, but the middle five were in the wrong order. The top three songs were predicted accurately.
Eight predicted songs didn’t end up in the countdown – the highest predicted position being 56 for Japandroids.
Japandroids – The House that Heaven Built
Haim – Don’t Save Me
Kanye West – Mercy
The XX – Chained
Something For Kate – Survival Expert
Frank Ocean – Pyramids
Haim – Forever
Van-She – Idea of Happiness
On the whole I think the Warmest 100 did a great job – and at the very least gave me something to do all day 😀
The overall score as far as songs that don’t make me want to remove my brain with a spoon is 2.9 out of five – which means I could just about put up with the entire playlist. Of the songs I voted for, 8 made it in. Which is pretty good considering I never expected Euphoria to get in anyway and just voted for it out of principal. The other omission was Santigold’s The Keepers – which I’m actually very surprised about. But hey, it’s probably my best performance in years, so I ain’t complaining.
Roll on the Hottest 100 2013! (and let the whinging about how the Hottest 100 and Triple J in general aren’t anywhere as good as they used to be begin…)
In this age of social media it’s hard to keep a lid on things. As such, a rather clever individual has scraped the net for people’s Hottest 100 votes, and come up with a prediction for the countdown, which can be viewed at warmest100.com.au.
He reckons to have collected about 3% of the vote, which may not sound like much, but should actually be enough to draw general trends from. I’m very happy to see that almost all the songs I voted for have ended up on his list – but I’m less happy to see he’s tipping the awful Thrift Shop for the number one spot (I’m even less happy that he’s probably right…).
In any case it’ll be very interesting to see how his list compares to the real one come Saturday.
Predicted Positions for Songs I voted for…
97 – Spiritus – Lisa Mitchell
67 – All the Rowboats – Regina Spektor
46 – Run Alone – 360
26 – Bangarang – Skrillex
20 – Same Love – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
16 – I Love It – Icona Pop
10 – My Gun – The Rubens
2 – Little Talks – Of Monsters and Men
An significant aspect of Zurvár music is a form of harmony singing called keldáq (‘balance singing’). Keldáq has existed among the Zurvár for as long as their histories record and in addition to being a form of entertainment has a notable ceremonial aspect.
A full, traditional keldáqimon (‘balance singing group’) consists of five vocalists with no musical accompaniment,
1 Keldit Fodim (‘front singer’) – The fodim provides the main melody that the rest of the group follows.
1 Keldit Lârim (‘top singer’) – The lârim sings in a high falsetto, prefiguring and and echoing the lyrics sung by the fodim.
1 Keldit Burmá (anchor singer) – The burmá provides a rhythm by producing non-verbal sounds in a deep bass, interspersed with occasional echoes of the fodim‘s lyrics.
2 Keldit Nìad (back singers) – The mon nìad sing a counterpoint to the fodim and each other with a mix of echoed lyrics and non-verbal sounds. This is considered the most demanding role in the group.
A number of variations of keldáq exist. While many involve assigning additional singers to the roles, the most common is a simplified form called keldáq rèd (‘short keldáq‘), which uses only the fodim, lârim and one nìad. Use of instruments is more common in keldáq rèd than in full keldáq.
The most important ceremonial use of keldáq is on the sûln cârálân (‘day of the departed’). Held every five traditional years this is a commemoration of the community’s deceased and begins with the assembly of the population at the local cremation ground before dawn. As the sun rises a full keldáqimon perform the kelkârâ, a lengthy keldáq song sung in Old Zurvár. Properly timed, this should finish just as the sun clears the horizon. Being chosen to perform the kelkârâ is considered a major honor for a keldáqimon and in the larger settlements on Zurvár Arèáná there is fierce competition to be selected.
Keldáq is also used ceremonially at weddings and funerals, and any Zurvár party worth the name will feature some keldáq singing – if only at the hands of drunken attendees.
I know I promised a review of The Hobbit, but we’re currently on the sixth day in a row with temperatures exceeding 37 degrees, so brain no working good so much not yus.
In the meantime here’s some Lord of the Rings content to tide you over…
As the Earth continues its perpetual round about the sun we come once again to the Christmas season, which can only mean one thing – it’s Triple J Hottest 100 time!
(What, you thought I was going to talk about peace on Earth or something?)
While I’m increasingly too old and decrepit to comfortably fit into the Js’ target demographic, I continue to stubbornly cling to my now distant youth by voting for my favourite ten songs of the year. After all, what would Australia Day be without the Hottest 100 countdown, and the associated wailing and gnashing of teeth as yet again only two or three of my chosen songs make it in and some lugubrious piece of crap takes out the number one spot? It’s practically a tradition! So I have once again traipsed over to the Triple J website and put my vote in for ten notable audio recordings, which I present below, in no particular order, so you may mock my musical taste at your leisure.
Icona Pop – I Love It: I do love it, although I can’t quite figure out why. Perhaps it’s because I am in fact from the 70’s? (Can’t say I know any 90’s bitches though…)
Regina Spektor – All The Rowboats: Dark, spooky and thoughtful like all of Regina’s best work (apart from her best work that’s sweet, bright and catchy, obviously).
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis – Same Love: If I hear that Thrift Shop song one more time I think I’ll stab forks through my tympanic membranes, but Same Love is a magnificent and moving political statement that I wholeheartedly support.
Santigold (blegh!) – The Keepers: Every time you mention Santigold (blegh!) you have to add “blegh!” which is (of course) the sound of someone throwing up glitter. In addition to being a commentary on American culture, this is a well constructed, catchy tune, with no glitter vomit to be seen.
360 – Run Alone: It wouldn’t be the Hottest 100 without some Aussie Hip Hop. Here’s the best example from the whole year.
The Rubens – My Gun: A bluesy, countryish song that sounds like something Shivaree would record. Good stuff!
Of Monsters And Men – Little Talks: Hey! A really catchy folk-country-rock type song – hey! – that out-Munford-and-Sons Mumford and Sons. Hey! It also has possibly the best video clip of the year. Hey!
Lisa Mitchell – Spiritus: Lisa Mitchell doing the thing she does best – being small and cute and doing repetitive things to a piano.
Skrillex – Bangarang: All right, I’m going to out myself. For all the fun I poke at Skrillex and his electronically babbling kin, I actually really enjoy dubstep. There’s something about the mechanised, mathematical nature of its sound collages that meshes with my brain in a way that I’ve only previously encountered in the works of Bach and Black Francis (that stupid farming video didn’t hurt either). Mock me all you like, but I’ll take some salsa on my ball boys – sweet rowdy!
Loreen – Euphoria: I don’t know if the winner of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is even eligible for the Hottest 100 (it’s not on the official list) but I’m voting for it anyway. Loreen’s vocals on the song are just incredible, and lift it far above the Inception horns and silly popping noises that make up the rest of the track.
So that’s my ten. Runners up included…
Ben Folds Five – Draw A Crowd
Dappled Cities – Born At The Right Time
Dirty Projectors – Gun Has No Trigger
Killers – The Runaways
Metric – Breathing Underwater
Ladyhawke – Black, White And Blue
Lupe Fiasco – Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free)
Purity Ring – Fineshrine
Missy Higgins – Hearts A Mess
Right, I’m off to buy orange juice and super glue…
The delightful Helen Killer (AKA April Winchell, who’s probably done voices for something you’ve watched at some point) has once again put her collection of awful, awful holiday music up on Regretsy for you to share and enjoy. Among the files ready to find a new, permanent home on your hard drive is this, which I have just decided is the best Christmas song ever recorded (to quote April, make sure the cat is outside).
God bless us, every one!
