November Music Check-In
A couple final tunes, and some early Major Awards
Chibi and Chris Nix - “Photo Voltaire”
I heard this song more than a year ago but it didn’t click with me until recently. I’m not usually an intimate-acoustic-guitar kind of fellow, and I do think this song is a bit messy. But maybe the reason I’ve grown to like it is simply because I enjoy hearing Chibi’s voice. Especially because I’ve never heard it in such a stripped down way, as she’s usually fronting the goth band The Birthday Massacre.
Primer - “Everything”
I’ve had my eye on solo artist Primer since I first came across her two song collaboration (and this blog award-winning) with Catherine Moan. This song, to me, seems like a direct response to her first single “Anesthetized”. The opening line here “I will never feel the same at that time in my life” seems like her direct response to the chorus from the former.
And now… some Major Awards!
I’ve already begun working on my best of the year list. There’s always so many songs to choose from that many don’t make it, so I thought I’d give out some individual awards to a few songs that aren’t making the cut.
Best Use of Interpolation:
Kanga - “Under Glass”
Kanga, an electronic/industrial artist out of L.A., released her album Under Glass late last year. Oh, did my ears ever perk up the first time I heard the title track and got to 2:05. Were my ears deceiving me, or was that the big chorus from the Sarah Mclachlan/Delerium 1999 collaboration track “Silence” ? (skip to 3:18 to compare). That might seem like a rather strange or deep cut to pull from, but it’s also a song that surprisingly, along with a host of other forgotten 80s and 90s singles, still gets played on goth nights. This seems like a perfectly savvy song to pull from - showing that she’s familiar with the scene while reinterpreting an old mainstay for the modern audience.
Best Cover Song:
Catherine Moan - “Fools”
A cover of a fairly obscure Depeche Mode B-Side from 1983 redone here by one of my new favorite artists of last year. I have to admit, I wasn’t even familiar with the original. I really think Catherine Moan has tremendous talent.
Song I Listened to the Most:
The Birthday Massacre - “Down”
When I got into The Birthday Massacre over the pandemic I first heard this song and wasn’t sure what to make of it. For a while I even tended to avoid it somewhat. It’s got several quirks that I wasn’t initially a fan of. It’s got that big metal opener, and it’s got these incredibly screechy male vocals (not typical for the woman fronted band) on the pre-chorus. But then it swings wildly from the metal opening to vocalist Chibi singing over a dance beat. The screeching comes in for the pre-chorus back with the metal, (which I kinda like now) and then we move into the catchy main chorus.
But the part that I’ve had stuck in my head for months straight now is the second verse. The one that begins with “Leave me here”. There’s nothing terribly profound or amazing about it, it’s just bouncing around in my head. It starts with the way the second verse begins immediately after the chorus, a trick the band frequently utilizes. This keeps the momentum going and also helps make their songs relatively short on the whole. Then there’s the easy bounciness of the rhymes (here/clear/year, heart/start/dark). I like the little pause between “gone… into the fire”. Whatever the cause, this song, which I first considered a bit of curiosity when I first heard it, has been in my head and on my speakers for months now.