Inspired Singles Issue 11: Science Fiction/Double Feature by Richard O'Brien
This staple of Halloween mixes is a lyrical history lesson cleverly showcasing some really crazy B movies. From Flash Gordon to Forbidden Planet to Doctor X, there are a surprisingly large amount of character and plot references from projects not unlike Rocky Horror.
Science Fiction/Double Feature is the title track of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and has been made iconic not just because of its association with the movie and stage show, but because of Patricia Quinn's red lips. Now that's how you lip sync!
It's a tune that instantly reminds me of all those childhood Halloweens and the late nights after trick or treating. It's funny, it's weird, it's a classic.
Over the last year I've written 10 issues for my Inspired Singles column here on Editing Luke. The series has actually been quite popular, but it's also a lengthier post for me to put together and I feel that a lot of the singles go overlooked because they aren't easy to search for.
Hence, it seems like a good time to change things.
From now on, Inspired Singles will feature a single track per post. This means less work, and as a result, more posts and singles in the long run. Singles will also be easier to find by title, and results from the Linkwithin widget should appear more diverse and descriptive - not just an issue number.
I know there have been quite a few clicks through to these columns when they go up so I just thought a bit of a heads up was due. If anything, you can look forward to a lot more Inspired Singles popping up very soon!
A single a day keeps your creativity in play. Join me as I share some of my fav tunes in an effort to pay the inspiration forward. Inspired Singles: Issue 10 by Luke Fandrich
This 10th Issue of Inspired Singles has been published on 10/10/10 at 10:00am. Got to Get You Into My Life by The Beatles
It's tough for me to believe that anyone could go wrong with the Beatles, because I could listen to their entire catalogue over and over again (and have). But one of my favorite tracks from their 1966 album, Revolver has to be this one. Got to Get You Into My Life is so perfectly direct and passionate. It's like seeing your dream girl and instantly letting your mind flash forward to consider how perfect it would be - you just have to meet her. With that kind of excitement in the mix, it certainly helps that you can belt this tune out with a lot of enthusiasm.
A slow but motivated tune, Silvia joins a long list of great songs about a woman's name. Miike Snow's self-titled debut album has a really cool sound in general. Modern, synth-riffed, and catchy, with good hooks, and singable lyrics throughout - but for me, Silvia is the real standout. It's a cool mix of frustration, heartbreak, and acceptance.
A mellow introduction transforms into a well-messaged indie rock track in Always Love. The chorus 'Always love. Hate will get you every time' seems to ring more and more true with each listen. It holds the distinction of being one of those rare songs that you can listen to when your sad or rock out to when your happy.
A single a day keeps your creativity in play. Join me as I share some of my fav tunes in an effort to pay the inspiration forward. Inspired Singles: Issue 09 by Luke Fandrich
Known for his lyrical poetics, this track by David Usher is energetic and upbeat. With a reverence for nostalgia and growing older, the song's chorus chimes 'is it brilliant where you are, where the lights are low'? Questioning if this is all life has to offer or if some people are just comfortable being safe in their bubbles, to me the lyrics emphasize that the experience is what you make of it. Is it brilliant where you are? Yes David, I think it is.
Echoing, ambient, and like a modern lullaby, this track floats and lingers. I picture a row boat with the sunlight dancing on the ripples of a great lake in the way this song inspires dreamlike imagery and relaxation. The lyrics are haunting, but in a beautifully innocent way.
Choppy piano and an elastic drum beat compliment the vocals that you may at first think belong to the lead singer of the Counting Crows. A light and jaunty piece of music, it just makes you feel good. Certainly worth checking out!
A single a day keeps your creativity in play. Join me as I share some of my fav tunes in an effort to pay the inspiration forward. Inspired Singles: Issue 08 by Luke Fandrich
This special issue of Inspired Singles features a handful of select tracks that were used in my Indio Outio edits from earlier this year. Enjoy!
It's a quiet energy that made this track the perfect opener to my series of edits. A sense of purpose and the unknown ahead is reflected in the haunting lyrics.
This campy slice of the eighties was just the track to inspire nostalgic flashbacks of a film that was just as dated, The Wizard. Driving through southern California to this makeshift classic helped add to the ambiance of dry heat, expansive desert, and novelty tourist stops. In short, this song became a theme for the entire road trip to Indio.
Energized with pure pop synth, a day at the beach and adding an ocean to a list of incredible sights required something overtly positive. This track, with its amped beat and echoing vocals, captures the excitement of that trek through greater L.A. to reach the shore.
With a simplistic intensity and a literal reference, Boarding Lounges was the perfect accompaniment to our cable car accent in this video. A motivated chorus fused with simple piano chords compliments the incredible views and height witnessed as the sun sank behind the valley that evening.
Ambient and poetic, this tune easily merges the excitement and euphoria that surrounded our whirlwind trip through the desert, mountains, and to the sea. This song combined with the mosaic of film clips I shot helped to further emphasize the uniqueness and diversity of what was a much needed adventure - and now a defining memory.
A single a day keeps your creativity in play. Join me as I share some of my fav tunes in an effort to pay the inspiration forward. Inspired Singles: Issue 07 by Luke Fandrich
A driving and crunchy mix, McCartney's song from his relatively recent album Memory Almost Full is nostalgic, direct, and upbeat. In a self-gratifying way, this is a great tune to belt out.
Simple lyrics, bouncy keyboards, and a childlike ambience - Turn This Boat Around from Matt & Kim's album, Grand, is a fun track. Fused with that indie-sensability I can easily picture this song in a Wes Anderson movie.
With a strong beat, synth flair, catchy chorus, and lyrics questioning 'who'd you rather be, the Beatles or the Rolling Stones?' I can't help but love this song. The music video only sealed the deal for me - nice one-take concept switching up the performers. Check it out for yourself.
A single a day keeps your creativity in play. Join me as I share some of my fav tunes in an effort to pay the inspiration forward. Inspired Singles: Issue 06 by Luke Fandrich
I've spoke previously in this series about OK Go, and with the release of their latest album (Of the Blue Color of the Sky) I was once again inspired to share another one of their tracks. This Too Shall Pass is great not just because of the free-spirited lyrics, upbeat chorus, and strong beat, but the video is yet another single-take surprise from the group with them decked out in marching band garb and parading through a field full of well placed extras. You may remember the treadmill video for Here it Goes Again that went viral or their choreographed dancing in the backyard for A Million Ways - which both further support my reasoning in finding their music (and videos for that matter) thoroughly inspiring.
This retro-esque tune is driving, toe-tapping, synth-fueled kitsch, and I love it. The video, full of neon beams and strobes of cosmic light, features a cosmonaut exploring space in an eye-catchingly 'far out and happening way' as Greg Brady might say. This tune from The Bravery's latest album, Stir the Blood, has been on repeat lately.
From their album, Saturdays=Youth, We Own the Sky is another ambient, echoing, and alternative selection on my part. What I love about the song is that it feels heavy - made so by the slow beat and (low) synth droning. I picture a train trying to make it up a hill; slow, steady, striving to reach the top. The tone is encompassing and it's ideal for getting lost in your own thoughts.
A single a day keeps your creativity in play. Join me as I share some of my fav tunes in an effort to pay the inspiration forward. Inspired Singles: Issue 05 by Luke Fandrich
United State of Pop 2009 by DJEarworm This infectious mashup featuring the top pop songs of 2009 is already on its way to becoming a hugely successful hit in 2010. With an ingenious and original mix, DJEarworm has created a single that borrows many of the best hooks to come out of last years top music videos - which, if you check out the amazingly edited video (and not just the mp3) you'll further appreciate just how much work this must have been. This is without a doubt one of the best New Years/recap videos I've seen for '09.
Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear My fav tune off their album, Veckatimest, Two Weeks is a nonchalant, ambient ditty motivated by crisp piano and haunting vocal accents. As complex as that may seem, the track is actually a lot of fun and captures that Indie Rock vibe that in a stereotypical sense makes it seem like this could've been featured in an iTunes commercial - hmmm, was it already? Fireweed by Patrick Watson
Like entering a fog or dreaming of a distant memory, Fireweed is raw, open, and very mellow. The simple instrumentation builds towards the conclusion, yet the tune never loses its sense of awe and wonderment - a somewhat sad, melancholic piece, but with just the right undertone of uplifting echoes.
A single a day keeps your creativity in play. Join me as I share some of my fav tunes in an effort to pay the inspiration forward. Ladies and Gents, this is the Holiday Edition of: Inspired Singles: Issue 04 by Luke Fandrich
Winter Skin by Jars of Clay This haunting and mellow tune from Jars of Clay inspires images of people bundled up, walking in a winter haze. The whimsical chimes and simple piano chords add that Christmas sound which suggests that through the cold, there really is something incredible, magical even, about this time of year.
With telling lyrics and a low key arrangement that grows with the song, this single reflects that building excitement (or perhaps acceptance) of the holidays. A nice transition towards the end of the song suggests that everything isn't really that bad, it's Christmas after all.
Made popular by Lindsay Buckingham for the Vacation series of movies, this cover by Matt Pond has a lot of charm. Ideal for those winter road trips and getaways to see family and friends, it'll be tough not to sing the chorus - and make the comparison that singing 'road' in the song is just as long as the road ahead.
A single a day keeps your creativity in play. Join me as I share some of my fav tunes in an effort to pay the inspiration forward. Inspired Singles: Issue 03 by Luke Fandrich
This jaunty, folksy, up-tempo indie rock tune from Canadian artist Joel Plaskett is a great song to kick back to. The crisp guitar and pronounced harmonies within the chorus are just plain fun to listen to. Plus, as a great song to sing, it's exactly what inspired singles are supposed to be in my opinion.
With mellow instrumentation, a clean beat, and soft, sentimental lyrics this track by Wilco has a great hook. I'm without a girl of my own, but this song feels both nostalgic and able to capture the images of that potential relationship waiting just around the corner.
Falling for the new iPhone was enough to inspire Julian Smith, and in turn his song inspired me. The catchy lyrics and simple chords create a memorable homage to upgrading your technology.
A single a day keeps your creativity in play. Join me as I share some of my fav tunes in an effort to pay the inspiration forward. Inspired Singles: Issue 02 by Luke Fandrich Tomorrow Goes Away by Delta Spirit
This simple and down to earth tune has catchy lyrics and a strumming tempo that hooks me from the start. It doesn't hurt that the music fits perfectly with those sluggish days in the office - 'wait until tomorrow goes away' as Delta Spirit puts it, and yes, yes I will wait.
The end of high school, my first year of uni, whatever it was that made this song so memorable I'm not entirely sure - although there was certainly a lot going on. This single from 2002 is still on rotation in my car and it's the mix of overly descriptive lyrics and the bass/clap back beat that makes this song worthy of belting it out - and I quote 'lot of knots, lot a snags; lot a holes, lot of cracks lot a crags; lotta naggin' old hags; a lotta fools; a lot of fools, scumbags!' and you thought rhymes were boring. Classic.
Both ominous and heavy, From the Stars has a driving undertone that makes the story within the lyrics more direct. The change in pace as the song gets going is like transitioning from a dark alley onto a crowded bustling street lit with vibrant neon. In general, the album To Lose My Life is a great collection of tracks worth hearing again and again.
A single a day keeps your creativity in play. Join me as I share some of my fav tunes in an effort to pay the inspiration forward. Inspired Singles: Issue 01 by Luke Fandrich
The message of understanding has been preached and preached, however some songs make you appreciate the sentiment as if it's actually original with a catchy chorus and relevant lyrics. Matisyahu's single is a feel good - peaceful anthem that makes you believe that 'one day' doesn't have to be that far off.
Haunting and beautifully melancholy, Nightingale is an ambient escape worth taking. With a driving undertone and sorrowful synth accents, this is the song that would best accompany one of those dreams you have where you start flying and can't seem to land.
This song moves me in a way that's difficult to explain. Simple piano chords swell into driving lyrics that paint a fragile image. In its sweeping simplicity this song strikes an honest emotional reaction that not unlike the reality of experiencing love - feels raw, pure, euphoric and distant. Honestly, one of my favorite songs of all time.
