raxmix vol. 3
Jan. 21st, 2019 01:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
outstretched posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
likealarkThese mixes keep getting longer
This mix's theme is "weird night music." Some of these might be mixable into a set and some aren't, but I'll mostly leave it up to you which songs go into which category.
Another rhythm game cover; this is from "Nightbird Lost Wing" by Nekomata Master, both because another one of his songs is in this mix and also the guy's name is nekomata master, I mean. Yes. (All his songs are great. He also made a song called Scars of Fauna which is such a great title, damn)
If you are not Rax but also like music, you're welcome to give this a listen too?
> DOWNLOAD <
( Spotify Playlist )
01. Franz Ferdinand - Auf Achse
German for "on the road," this is the first of several songs on this mix that are in weird keys. Some of the songs on this mix remind me of different parts of the assemblage; this one reminds me of Vulp. This song sounds like off-brand Interpol, in that it's external whining posing as introspective gloominess centered around a powerful woman, which is kind of the default cgr sound to me. And I don't know why, but every time I hear it I also imagine your voice singing it. Something about the repetitive nature of the song and especially the chorus.
02. Katy Perry ft. Skip Marley - Chained To The Rhythm
I was like "okay, how did Katy Perry make an actually interesting song," so I looked up who the writer of this track was. It's the same guy who wrote "Hit Me Baby One More Time" back in the 90s, as well as a slew of other hits, so glad to know he's still in business, I guess. I find this song instantly arresting, something about the weird key and the weird melodic line over it. (It's the same key as Auf Ache, actually, A minor, which is probably why my ear wanted to put them next to each other.) A lot of the songs on this mix are songs I think would be good to play on a night drive, and the echoing, hollow sound of the background instrumentation in this track makes it sound like nighttime or sunset to me.
03. f(x) - 4 Walls
f(x) is my favorite k-pop girl band and their last album, of which this song is the title track, was released in 2015. That's a long time in the k-pop world for a group to go without an album, so I'm a bit worried that they might have breathed their last as a cohesive group. Still, at the time this was a different kind of sound for them. This is the most obvious "night music" song on the album imo: everything about the chorus especially, the reverb and the lilting nature of the melody. I think it sounds somewhat, but not exactly, like Bianca.
04. Portugal. The Man - Easy Tiger
This whole album has a kind of laid-back grooving vibe, or at least that's how it turned out to my ear. There's something about the way the different pieces of melodies fit together in the chorus, the opening of the song, and the bridge, paired with the lead singer's countertenor. This one is a bit Bianca and also a bit Vriska, I think? The lyrics make me think of Bianca, but the sound is Vriska to me. Bianca gives amazing advice and I feel like I probably talked to her a lot (a lot) more than I ever realized around 2011-2013, when I needed advice the most.
05. CircusP (Vocaloid) - Castaway
Every time I hear anything by this vocaloid producer I mutter "this belongs in a candy furry rave" and so, hi Rhess, it's you
This producer originally lived in Jersey! And got popular enough that they used one of his songs as an opening for a major Vocaloid concert in Japan. He lives in Maine now iirc. His entire album sounds like this, but the breakdown bridge on this song makes me want to rock out every time, so that's why I picked this track.
06. Joywave ft. KOPPS - Tongues
I've had this song on my radar for years and every single time I'm like "That is such a weird chromatic scale, I want Rax to hear this song." I don't know why it took me so long to stick it on a mix. I think maybe I was worried it was too hipster, but you liked &Run, so...yes. Like &Run, this song sounds like a sort of dissociated disconnect, and turns a scary feeling into something vaguely pleasant because it's a good song.
07. goto80 - Yeti Bad Guy Polka
More weird scales ft. harmonic minor scale. goto80 as a name is a joke that I thought you would find amusing, and I share your appetite for chiptunes. I heard this guy play live at magfest, and he played this, and it's the only song that actually made me notice it, because I did not expect to find klezmer chiptune music. He was by far the best chiptune artist at magfest that year, and if you like this then you should check out all his stuff (but not his music videos, a lot of them have horrible glitching/rapid flashing/really weird visuals/general ow).
08. Gipsy Kings - Moorea
This band is famous for a lot of songs but this isn't one of them, but this one's also my favorite of theirs. It captures the feel of a wind whipping over a high plain, the feeling of pleasant travel over endless miles. I really like spanish guitars/classic guitars/acoustic stuff in general. I find the easy looping nature of the song very relaxing to listen to.
09. Alice Merton - No Roots
I like the message of the song overall, the bold lyrics as well as their brassy delivery (she sounds like an off-brand Florence and the Machine). This song sounds like Trish to me, something about the femme aggressiveness of it. The breakdown in this song is also so delicious, changing it from straight alternative folk to something with a cool EDM tinge.
10. 猫叉Master - Dancer In The Flare
There he is again, the one and only Nekomata Master
dj TAKA is my favorite rhythm game composer but Nekomata Master has appeared over the past few years as a serious contender for the top spot. He makes so much music in a bunch of different kinds of styles. Dancer in the Flare is off the most recent DDR release, and he made it specifically to be something to encourage you to really dance, not just follow arrows. The stepchart too is very flowing, something that might be fun to freestyle to. I just wish there was a longer version of this song. ;_;
11. Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love
I told you this song was going to be on this mix a few months ago. When vaporwave and future funk became popular, it also led to a rise in interest in older 80s sounds and specifically the kinds of sound you'd find in old anime openings and endings. That sound is called City Pop, and it meant that somehow the internet unearthed this song from 1984 and then freaked out over it. Mariya Takeuchi is kind of a big deal in her own right, here's an article about how cool she is, but also this song became hugely popular worldwide (especially America) via YouTube last year (2018). To have a song which was not very popular when it was released, become a massive hit thirty or so years later, is kind of interesting. She has a friend in Canada who told her this song was suddenly everywhere, and she's baffled by it but also thinks that's pretty cool.
The version of this song that is most popular is a seven-minute extended mix, but this is the original. If you like this song, please also check out this excellent English cover (file included in the zip). I came this close to putting the English version on this mix instead, but wanted to expose you to the original first. I honestly like the English version more, though, because it makes the lyrics more accessible. If you also like the English version, please feel free to swap the English version into the mixtape in place of the original version.
I have not been able to find any good mixes of this song that aren't just...speeding it up and doing nothing else to it. But I feel like that's because this song is fucking good. That chorus especially, god. That nighttime feeling is super strong in this song, something about the 80s sound and the melancholy tone (the lyrics are v. sad) and the funky groovy bassline is just magical. This song sounds like nostalgia.
As a last note, this song somehow got turned into a furry meme.
12. Jake Shimabukuro - Dragon (Live)
Jake Shimabukuro is probably the best ukelele player in the world. There are many versions of this song, but this is my favorite, and it only exists on youtube so here's a weirdly cropped rip. (here's the original video.) There's a sweet vulnerability to this song. It's kind of melancholy but it also sounds free and mysterious. I think this might also be in a weird key? Also, god, he played this live and it's so technically perfect, he's just mind-blowing. When I was living in Hawaii for a few months (did we know each other then? It was very early on in our friendship if it was, it was 2011) I went to see him, and he sounded just like this. Other versions of this song add extra instruments; he really doesn't need them. The voice of his single ukelele is enough.
13. Camellia - Quaoar
This is a famous rhythm (and other) game composer and he gave this song away! for free! on youtube! what a gem. This song moves through so many different EDM styles that I feel like there must be something in here that you can use. It has a busy fluidity that makes you want to dance. Like a lot of other songs on this mix it gives a feeling of space, which makes sense because this song is kind of literally about space? A quaoar is a star by Neptune, I think.
(This is not related but he likes megalovania and is a huge dork)
14. Stevie Wonder - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing
This song is on here for two reasons:
1) Remember this artist (cw: flashing images, nudity, skeletons and body horror used in a mythological/monster context)? I recommended him to you ages ago when you needed to find appropriately niche and eccentric music to play at an MIT party. When I finally heard this Stevie Wonder song I was like OH, THAT'S WHERE OMODAKA GOT THAT CHORUS FROM, and I thought it was just...the coolest? To be able to blend such disparate sounds and songs like that.
2) There have been a lot of times when I was feeling pretty crappy and I just yelled this song at the top of my lungs until I felt better. It usually works. The lyrics are very wise, the song feels good, and if you sing along with the end bit it kind of feels like you're singing along with a lot of other people, which always works to cure any loneliness I might be experiencing. I wanted to give you this song and I wanted to put it at the end, just in case you needed it.
Everybody needs a change
A chance to check out the new
But you're the only one to see
The changes you take yourself through
That lyric makes me think of you every time.
Bonus Track: AmaLee - Tabi No Tochuu
I've been really into English covers of Japanese songs over the past year, as hinted at by my discussion in Plastic Love earlier. This artist specializes in translating and covering anime openings and endings. It takes skill and sensitivity to be able to accurately capture the lyrics of the song in the original Japanese, while also translating it into something sensible and singable. Of course Spice and Wolf reminds me of you, and so this English cover does too. I thought it might give you a deeper enjoyment for a song you already like.
This mix's theme is "weird night music." Some of these might be mixable into a set and some aren't, but I'll mostly leave it up to you which songs go into which category.
Another rhythm game cover; this is from "Nightbird Lost Wing" by Nekomata Master, both because another one of his songs is in this mix and also the guy's name is nekomata master, I mean. Yes. (All his songs are great. He also made a song called Scars of Fauna which is such a great title, damn)
If you are not Rax but also like music, you're welcome to give this a listen too?
|
( Spotify Playlist )
01. Franz Ferdinand - Auf Achse
German for "on the road," this is the first of several songs on this mix that are in weird keys. Some of the songs on this mix remind me of different parts of the assemblage; this one reminds me of Vulp. This song sounds like off-brand Interpol, in that it's external whining posing as introspective gloominess centered around a powerful woman, which is kind of the default cgr sound to me. And I don't know why, but every time I hear it I also imagine your voice singing it. Something about the repetitive nature of the song and especially the chorus.
02. Katy Perry ft. Skip Marley - Chained To The Rhythm
I was like "okay, how did Katy Perry make an actually interesting song," so I looked up who the writer of this track was. It's the same guy who wrote "Hit Me Baby One More Time" back in the 90s, as well as a slew of other hits, so glad to know he's still in business, I guess. I find this song instantly arresting, something about the weird key and the weird melodic line over it. (It's the same key as Auf Ache, actually, A minor, which is probably why my ear wanted to put them next to each other.) A lot of the songs on this mix are songs I think would be good to play on a night drive, and the echoing, hollow sound of the background instrumentation in this track makes it sound like nighttime or sunset to me.
03. f(x) - 4 Walls
f(x) is my favorite k-pop girl band and their last album, of which this song is the title track, was released in 2015. That's a long time in the k-pop world for a group to go without an album, so I'm a bit worried that they might have breathed their last as a cohesive group. Still, at the time this was a different kind of sound for them. This is the most obvious "night music" song on the album imo: everything about the chorus especially, the reverb and the lilting nature of the melody. I think it sounds somewhat, but not exactly, like Bianca.
04. Portugal. The Man - Easy Tiger
This whole album has a kind of laid-back grooving vibe, or at least that's how it turned out to my ear. There's something about the way the different pieces of melodies fit together in the chorus, the opening of the song, and the bridge, paired with the lead singer's countertenor. This one is a bit Bianca and also a bit Vriska, I think? The lyrics make me think of Bianca, but the sound is Vriska to me. Bianca gives amazing advice and I feel like I probably talked to her a lot (a lot) more than I ever realized around 2011-2013, when I needed advice the most.
05. CircusP (Vocaloid) - Castaway
Every time I hear anything by this vocaloid producer I mutter "this belongs in a candy furry rave" and so, hi Rhess, it's you
This producer originally lived in Jersey! And got popular enough that they used one of his songs as an opening for a major Vocaloid concert in Japan. He lives in Maine now iirc. His entire album sounds like this, but the breakdown bridge on this song makes me want to rock out every time, so that's why I picked this track.
06. Joywave ft. KOPPS - Tongues
I've had this song on my radar for years and every single time I'm like "That is such a weird chromatic scale, I want Rax to hear this song." I don't know why it took me so long to stick it on a mix. I think maybe I was worried it was too hipster, but you liked &Run, so...yes. Like &Run, this song sounds like a sort of dissociated disconnect, and turns a scary feeling into something vaguely pleasant because it's a good song.
07. goto80 - Yeti Bad Guy Polka
More weird scales ft. harmonic minor scale. goto80 as a name is a joke that I thought you would find amusing, and I share your appetite for chiptunes. I heard this guy play live at magfest, and he played this, and it's the only song that actually made me notice it, because I did not expect to find klezmer chiptune music. He was by far the best chiptune artist at magfest that year, and if you like this then you should check out all his stuff (but not his music videos, a lot of them have horrible glitching/rapid flashing/really weird visuals/general ow).
08. Gipsy Kings - Moorea
This band is famous for a lot of songs but this isn't one of them, but this one's also my favorite of theirs. It captures the feel of a wind whipping over a high plain, the feeling of pleasant travel over endless miles. I really like spanish guitars/classic guitars/acoustic stuff in general. I find the easy looping nature of the song very relaxing to listen to.
09. Alice Merton - No Roots
I like the message of the song overall, the bold lyrics as well as their brassy delivery (she sounds like an off-brand Florence and the Machine). This song sounds like Trish to me, something about the femme aggressiveness of it. The breakdown in this song is also so delicious, changing it from straight alternative folk to something with a cool EDM tinge.
10. 猫叉Master - Dancer In The Flare
There he is again, the one and only Nekomata Master
dj TAKA is my favorite rhythm game composer but Nekomata Master has appeared over the past few years as a serious contender for the top spot. He makes so much music in a bunch of different kinds of styles. Dancer in the Flare is off the most recent DDR release, and he made it specifically to be something to encourage you to really dance, not just follow arrows. The stepchart too is very flowing, something that might be fun to freestyle to. I just wish there was a longer version of this song. ;_;
11. Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love
I told you this song was going to be on this mix a few months ago. When vaporwave and future funk became popular, it also led to a rise in interest in older 80s sounds and specifically the kinds of sound you'd find in old anime openings and endings. That sound is called City Pop, and it meant that somehow the internet unearthed this song from 1984 and then freaked out over it. Mariya Takeuchi is kind of a big deal in her own right, here's an article about how cool she is, but also this song became hugely popular worldwide (especially America) via YouTube last year (2018). To have a song which was not very popular when it was released, become a massive hit thirty or so years later, is kind of interesting. She has a friend in Canada who told her this song was suddenly everywhere, and she's baffled by it but also thinks that's pretty cool.
The version of this song that is most popular is a seven-minute extended mix, but this is the original. If you like this song, please also check out this excellent English cover (file included in the zip). I came this close to putting the English version on this mix instead, but wanted to expose you to the original first. I honestly like the English version more, though, because it makes the lyrics more accessible. If you also like the English version, please feel free to swap the English version into the mixtape in place of the original version.
I have not been able to find any good mixes of this song that aren't just...speeding it up and doing nothing else to it. But I feel like that's because this song is fucking good. That chorus especially, god. That nighttime feeling is super strong in this song, something about the 80s sound and the melancholy tone (the lyrics are v. sad) and the funky groovy bassline is just magical. This song sounds like nostalgia.
As a last note, this song somehow got turned into a furry meme.
12. Jake Shimabukuro - Dragon (Live)
Jake Shimabukuro is probably the best ukelele player in the world. There are many versions of this song, but this is my favorite, and it only exists on youtube so here's a weirdly cropped rip. (here's the original video.) There's a sweet vulnerability to this song. It's kind of melancholy but it also sounds free and mysterious. I think this might also be in a weird key? Also, god, he played this live and it's so technically perfect, he's just mind-blowing. When I was living in Hawaii for a few months (did we know each other then? It was very early on in our friendship if it was, it was 2011) I went to see him, and he sounded just like this. Other versions of this song add extra instruments; he really doesn't need them. The voice of his single ukelele is enough.
13. Camellia - Quaoar
This is a famous rhythm (and other) game composer and he gave this song away! for free! on youtube! what a gem. This song moves through so many different EDM styles that I feel like there must be something in here that you can use. It has a busy fluidity that makes you want to dance. Like a lot of other songs on this mix it gives a feeling of space, which makes sense because this song is kind of literally about space? A quaoar is a star by Neptune, I think.
(This is not related but he likes megalovania and is a huge dork)
14. Stevie Wonder - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing
This song is on here for two reasons:
1) Remember this artist (cw: flashing images, nudity, skeletons and body horror used in a mythological/monster context)? I recommended him to you ages ago when you needed to find appropriately niche and eccentric music to play at an MIT party. When I finally heard this Stevie Wonder song I was like OH, THAT'S WHERE OMODAKA GOT THAT CHORUS FROM, and I thought it was just...the coolest? To be able to blend such disparate sounds and songs like that.
2) There have been a lot of times when I was feeling pretty crappy and I just yelled this song at the top of my lungs until I felt better. It usually works. The lyrics are very wise, the song feels good, and if you sing along with the end bit it kind of feels like you're singing along with a lot of other people, which always works to cure any loneliness I might be experiencing. I wanted to give you this song and I wanted to put it at the end, just in case you needed it.
Everybody needs a change
A chance to check out the new
But you're the only one to see
The changes you take yourself through
That lyric makes me think of you every time.
Bonus Track: AmaLee - Tabi No Tochuu
I've been really into English covers of Japanese songs over the past year, as hinted at by my discussion in Plastic Love earlier. This artist specializes in translating and covering anime openings and endings. It takes skill and sensitivity to be able to accurately capture the lyrics of the song in the original Japanese, while also translating it into something sensible and singable. Of course Spice and Wolf reminds me of you, and so this English cover does too. I thought it might give you a deeper enjoyment for a song you already like.
