my last mix, MM4, was a bit of a letdown because muxtape wouldn't let me upload one of the songs. so after battling with the website, i got kind of disheartened and i didn't feel like writing about it. oh well...
so lately i've been watching a few episodes of scrubs on ninjavideo before i sleep to kinda wind down the day. i think it's a pretty good mindless show, except for the fact that sometimes the videos are messed up and they loop halfway through the show, so i don't know how any of the episodes end. anyway, in one of the episodes the surgeons are arguing about what song to put on during surgery, and the asian doctor demands to listen to erasure, much to the black doctor's dismay. but the next day the black guy can't stop singing the erasure song, "a little respect", because it's so darn catchy.
so that's how the mix started out, with that really stupid inspiration. but alas it is an awesome catchy song. as for the rest of the mix, most of it comes from me desperately searching my music library for anything that resembles 80s tunes. when i realized i didn't have enough 80s music to make an entire mix, i renamed the mix "throwback pop".... and then i IMed my brother to ask for his 80s music library for when he comes home later.
so a few notable songs - the sinead o'connor song, i heard on the radio today and decided it had to go on the mix. it's edgy and angsty and all about love, which is what almost all 80s music is about. i threw on some junior bizzles cuz they're pretty much the night club/lounge-y version of new order if bernard sumner wasn't fat and drunk all the time.
blood of eden is an epic song (read: many words) like the theme song from Say Anything, "in your eyes". but here, peter gabriel tackles the theme of original sin with sexually charged biblical allusions. people don't really write songs of this ambition anymore. in fact i'd say a lot of music has gone in the opposite direction from blood of eden. think about a band like postal service, what with its inorganic sounds and cutesy, meaningless lyrics. compare these lyrics:
"Is that a dagger or a crucifix I see
You hold so tightly in your hand
And all the while the distance grows between you and me
I do not understand"
and
"I feel must interject here you're getting carried away feeling sorry for yourself
With these revisions and gaps in history
So let me help you remember.
I've made charts and graphs that should finally make it clear.
I've prepared a lecture on why i have to leave"
ok putting up these lyrics is admittedly pointless given that there's no basis for comparison to begin with. but the greater point i'm trying to make is that in the past, artists used lyrics to try to say something with pop music, whereas now the songs are statements in and of themselves. blood of eden would be a boring, ethereal track if it wasn't for the powerful story gabriel is telling. but now, when people want to "feel" something in their music instantly without having to actually listen, words no longer add meaning to songs but instead add to the aesthetic or greater context of the song.
this postal service song is the perfect example... when i hear it, i don't stop and say "these lyrics are dumb" even though they are. it's more like... "these lyrics are supposed to be dumb, and if they were anything but dumb, this song would suck." i guess the song is saying, sometimes people sound ridiculous, especially when it comes to relationships, so let's all lighten up.
back to the mix... kind of a curveball for non-rues is the band "out of the grey". i also tried to put some susan ashton on the mix but muxtape didn't let me. they are cmm/country artists from back in the day. but before u knock it, just know that they were doin alt-country before such a term existed.... at least susan ashton and along the road and all that good stuff. anyway, this out of the grey song is from the early 90s, but it definitely sounds like it could be from the 80s, back when pop songs were 5 minutes long.
the kate bush and m83 tracks are recycled from old mixes... i don't have enough throwback pop. i could definitely use some suggestions on this one.
fin
