These are some of my favorite songs ever, not so much favorites at the moment.
I already had most of this list ready to go on a playlist on my iPod... Had a lot of fun doing it.
I already had most of this list ready to go on a playlist on my iPod... Had a lot of fun doing it.
1. Björk | Desired Constellation
This is my favorite song of all time. I'm pretty sure this won't change anytime soon. And it's not even so much her voice in this song, there are definitely better recordings of her than this, but it's the music behind her. There are all these micro-rhythms and notes fluttering in and out; It's complex and beautiful, but at the same time gloriously simple. It runs too deep for me to really be able to put it in words correctly... Something about its parallels to nature and growth? Simplicity? I dunno. It just fits. I feel like it was written especially for me, it's incredible. The magic in discovering Björk when I was like 13 was finding out about all of her collaborators, and being able to find extensions of the sounds I came across in her music. She was my gateway drug into the world of Experimental Electronic.
2. Nujabes | Silver Morning
This song was my emotional sustenance during the period of a couple of weeks where I slowly came out to my family and my friends. I feel like there's this confidence in how the beat barely changes through the entire song. It felt totally in line with my need to remain myself through the whole process. Or something. The string samples were what initially drew me in though...
3. Chicane | No Ordinary Morning
A very simple song that knows exactly how cheesy and moody it is. Very open sounding. This was one of those post-Björk songs I heard in 7th grade that stuck with me ever since. Can't ever get enough of it.
4. Dntel | Fear Of Corners
This song is unbearably perfect. A first impression gives this sort of hard, intense darkness, and honestly, doesn't really sound like anything special...? Then that pad synth rolls in. It feels like the fucking apocalypse. Like every sadness I've ever had has been re-awakened, and there's nothing left to do but die in a corner. At this point (like 3 minutes in) I saw the song title for the first time on my iPod, and I was done. Floored. Jimmy Tamborello is a fucking wizard.
5. Efterklang | Swarming
The complexities, timing, sounds, instrumentation, bizarre simultaneous male/female vocal delivery...This song has everything, but nothing you ever expected a pop song to be capable of. Upon re-visiting this song just now, I find myself a bit aggravated that I don't know of more music that's this relentlessly creative? Spectacular. The whole album Tripper is awesome.
6. Empire Of The Sun | Walking On A Dream
Perfect pop song. I knew it the first time I heard it, and 500 listens later, that opinion remains the same.
7. Ezekiel Honig and Morgan Packard | A Lake Of Suggestions, Pt. 1
This song is simple, beautiful, and haunting, and all those other verbs that I hope for in a song, but remarkably comes from an album where EVERY SINGLE SONG is as such. Early Morning Migration. One of the best albums I've ever had the time to get to know.
8. Mileece | Fern
Like Desired Constellation, this song is a complex web of little intricate notes and rhythms, but has a bit more of a build and resolution. To think that something that sounds (to me) so much like nature, and retains such an organic spirit, was made almost entirely via a text-based computer program...Amazing. Have a look at the interface for the program Super Collider to see just how incredible her process in making this song really was.
9. Unwed Sailor | Jubilee
The entire album The Marionette And The Music Box builds up to this song, and there is rarely as rewarding a listen as reaching Jubilee after all that time. It was almost too much the first time I heard it. Definitely cried like hell. As do most people (I think?), I like to pair music with important experiences or periods in my life, and I had just finished reading Maison Ikkoku (which is now one of my favorite things ever), and this song sounded exactly like the resolution in the story that took 15 volumes to reach. It was too powerful a thing. I was bawling.
10. Lali Puna | Bi-Pet
Another perfect pop song, this time from one of my favorite bands of all time. Subtle, simple, and bewilderingly effective. I still can't put my finger on why it resonates so well with me, but I guess that's what it is to make music if you're Markus Acher... But really, the whole lot of Lali Puna are extremely talented, and I totally adore everything they do.
+11. Husky Rescue | Caravan
By far the most underrated band I know of. They make me jealous that I'm not Finnish. It's the most admirable thing for a band/artist to be able to be so completely and thoroughly themselves... Caravan is the perfect example of this nameless, eerie sound that they've perfected, and they still remain the only band that sounds anything like them. And that fucking guitar part at 0:33 seconds. Melts my heart. In context, best guitar part I've ever heard. LOVE this band.
+12. Helios | Halving The Compass
One of the best produced pieces of music ever, in my opinion. The percussion. Unreal. It's like the woods are alive. Really, that whole album though... Eingya. One of my favorites. My most listened to album ever, as a matter of fact. This is the song that got me though, and I must've dreamed about a thousand different men falling asleep to this song. I default back to it whenever my emotions feel a bit displaced. Still feels fresh and beautiful, even after so many listens.
