What's playing?

With everyone else beginning a "feedback" thread, I decided it was high time for me to do something completely askew. While hard at work on my next post (I'm lazy, but I'm kicking my own ass about it now, so It'll be up soon), I decided to try something.

Simply put, this is a place to put up a playlist mix of songs that you happen to be listening to for inspiration, fun, seduction, or trying to drown out the sounds of your meaningless and boring life!

WHAT FUN!

I suppose some rules should be applied, though...Okay, here we go.

1. Mix can only be 12 tracks at the max.
2. Include the name of the performing artist.
3. Discussion of music and tracks is highly encouraged.
4. Nothing is sacred here. If you listen to it, you can post about it. I don't care if you've been listening to "Dial 'M' for 'Motherfucker'" by Pussy Galore (Yes, the album and band are real.) you can put it up. No censorship. That being said, I'm sure this thread will devolve into pointless bickering at some point.
5. The mix must have a name.
6. Give a little discription of what the mix is ideal for.
I'll demonstrate:

Who Needs to Concentrate on the Road, Anyway?

1. Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do - Goldie Lookin' Chain
2. The Man Don't Give a Fuck - Super Furry Animals
3. Debaser - The Pixies
4. It's a Hit - Rilo Kiley
5. Alarm Clock - The Rumble Strips
6. We'll Live and Die in These Towns - The Enemy
7. Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
8. Vlad the Impaler - Kasabian
9. The '59 Sound - The Gaslight Anthem
10. Men's Needs - The Cribs
11. Date Rape - Sublime
12. Jane Says - Jane's Addiction

As the title hints, this mix is full of songs that I personally can't help but sing and/or dance to whilst behind the wheel of a automobile. From joke rap (GLC) to brit-indie (The Cribs), this is a sample of the soundtrack to every car accident I've been a part of.

The 'I'm kind of a pussy' mix, which is a playlist comprised entirely of sappy (albeit occasionally indie label) crooning from some of the world's most consistently mocked bands.

...but it's good to listen to 'every once in awhile.' These are the songs, but not necessarily the suggested listening order.

1. Nothing In My Way - Keane
2. No One's Gonna Love You - Band of Horses
3. Yawny at the Apocalypse (instrumental) - Andrew Bird
4. Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illionis - Sufjan Stevens
5. To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens
6. New Slang - The Shins
7. Little Motel - Modest Mouse
8. Lost+ - Coldplay, Jay-Z

I'd also like to note that I recognize none of the bands in Claude's mix, which speaks volumes about at least one of us.

Okay so um, I really don't have a playlist for anything specific, but I DO have a list of the top twelve songs that I listen to. The thing is, my favorite song hasn't even made it up there yet because the top song I've listened to 37 times, while I've only recently downloaded the new fav tune. so anyway here goes:

I guess you could call it the "I Like To Bounce Around And Sing Loud While Doing Everyday Things"

1. Dear Maria Count Me In --> All Time Low
   
2. Fully Alive --> Flyleaf
   
3. The Downfall of Us All --> A Day To Remember
   
4. Gives You Hell --> The All American Rejects
   
5. Poppin' Champagne --> All Time Low
   
6. Hello Brooklyn --> All Time Low
   
7. High School Never Ends --> Bowling For Soup
   
8. Let The Flames Begin --> Paramore
   
9. Fences --> Paramore
   
10. It Ends Tonight --> The All American Rejects
    
11. Viva La Vida --> Coldplay
    
12. Stop The Rock --> Apollo 440

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Okay I just realized how generic and all the same this playlist looks, but I had no idea that it did that. It's almost stereotypical for a teenage girl. Never fear, I have Weird Al and Ray Stevens in there as well. Even some Cake, David Holsinger (I know some of you HAD to be in band.), and Flogging Molly.

ドライブ!!!

1.) Butterfly -- ON/OFF
2.) Complication -- ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D
3.) Future Nova -- School Food Punishment
4.) Futuristic Imagination -- School Food Punishment
5.) Guns & Roses -- Paradise Lunch
6.) Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari -- Supercell
7.) My Soul, Your Beats! -- Lia
8.) Paper Moon -- Tommy heavenly6
9.) Shut Up and Explode -- BOOM BOOM SATELLITES
10.) Sign of Love -- immi
11.) Thousand Enemies – Girls Dead Monster
12.) Uragiri no Yuuyake -- Theatre Brook

This is a fraction of one of my more recent playlists. The title translates “Drive!!!” and so as you can probably guess, this is a playlist I listen to when I’m driving. Each song on the playlist is in in Japanese with a few exceptions. Guns & Roses is almost completely instrumental and has about 4 or 5 words in English and Shut Up and Explode is sung in English by a Japanese band. Sadly, I doubt anyone, with the sole exception of Kircher, has heard any of these songs or is familiar with any of the bands that sing them. This isn’t my only driving playlist (I even have some that are in English) but it’s definitely one of my favorites.

I'd like to mix things up by asking an interesting question.

What is the purpose of listening to songs in an unknown language? I used to enjoy a fair number of Japanese-language songs myself, but my interest gradually tapered off as I started thinking more critically about my music selection. After all, if a song has lyrics, you can usually assume that those lyrics contribute something substantive to the piece. If I were to strip all meaning from the words being sung (e.g. from Stairway to Heaven or the Star-Spangled Banner), I would fundamentally weaken the message being relayed. This isn't to say that English speakers appreciate (or even understand) English lyrics all the time, but picking out even a few recognizable words from a verse adds another layer to the basic melody.

To put my question another way: does listening to a foreign-language song confer any benefit that a purely instrumental piece does not? And if the answer is no, why do it, since the foreign-language listener will be permanently restricted to a shallower appreciation for the song's artistic elements?

Well...I would argue that although the lyrics are a part of the music, they are not the only part, and many times not the essential part. So although the meaning of the words may not be necessarily appreciated by the listener, the instrumental elements of the song can still be appreciated. Moreover, the way the words interact with the music can still be appreciated, even if they are not understood. The way words are rhymed, the rythm to which they are sung, and their basic sound can still be appreciated. By this I mean both the voice of the singer and the sound of the actual language. Some people find certain languages to be more pleasing to the ear than others. I love Spanish, for example, and hate French. Listening to music with lyrics in Spanish is enjoyable because I love the sound of the words. Listening to music with lyrics in French is actually edifying, because it helps me to better appreciate a language that, when simply written or spoken, I find baffling and hideous.

And finally, you would be surprised how much of a language you can learn by listening to the music of that language. Most of the French, Japanese, and Russian words I know I picked up from listening to music in those languages (although, to be fair, I learned a good bit of Russian from Metal Gear Solid 3 as well).

Does this answer your question?

I believe I may be able to offer another opinion along the same line as Jessamine's. I love a few good spanish songs, and I only know my basic spanish. In fact, when I listen to a song, the first thing I hear is rarely the song as a whole. Usually I don't recognize any words that aren't repeated often when I listen to the song the first time. More frequently, I try to soak up the rhythms and tones. The music usually speaks for itself, but words generally add another color to the mix. For some, the addition of words that cannot be easily understood creates a bit of interest in the music because of the mystery of it.

It may also stimulate the brain in ways that music in our first language cannot. I have to confess that I don't know this for sure, but I base the assumption on the fact that our brains will naturally try to understand things they cannot, and that babies are supposed to listen to complex music like mozart because it stimulates their brains and learning abilities and all that jazz yadda yadda.

And plus, people singing about sex, drugs, and the occasional lost dog/ex-wife in English can get a little old after a while! why not listen to it in a different language?

To get the thread somewhat back on track (since that sneaky Irish threadjacker Pearse attempted to lead us all astray), here's what I like to call my "Songs I Heard Once and Couldn't Stop Listening To For Weeks" playlist.

1. Tiny Dancer by Elton John
2. Konstantine by Something Corporate
3. Desperado by The Eagles
4. My Hands by Leona Lewis
5. Happy Christmas (War is Over) by The Street Drum Corps w/ Bert McCracken
6. Let Her Cry by Hootie and the Blowfish
7. She Talks to Angels by The Black Crowes
8. Airplanes Parts 1 & 2 by B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams and Eminem
9. Mother by Tori Amos
10. Talula by Tori Amos
11. Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley (may he rest in peace)
12. The Brilliant Dance by Dashboard Confessional

And this is my "Songs I Only Listen (and sing) to When Nobody's Around" playlist. I have also included the reasons I don't sing/listen to them around other people.

1. Disturbia by Rhianna (because I'm ashamed that her voice fascinates me)
2. Alejandro by Lady Gaga (no particular reason, except that I usually only listen to it in my car on the radio)
3. Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot (because there's a dance that goes with it, and I'm ashamed that I know every word)
4. Your Love is My Drug by Ke$ha (this should be obvious)
5. Walk Away by Kelly Clarkson (because there is, once again, a dance that goes with it)
6. White Houses by Vanessa Carlton (because my voice cracks on high notes now)
7. Love Story by Taylor Swift (because the key change makes me get teary-eyed)
8. Can't Be Tamed by Miley Cyrus (don't judge me)
9. Professional Widow by Tori Amos (the lyrics would tell you why)
10. Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (this should be obvious)
11. Killer Queen by Queen (because I can't sing it)
12. Keep on Loving You by REO Speedwagon (because I pretend I'm a wailing 80s pop diva)