Fictunes

Hey, everybody!  I'm a bit early, but hey. For this month, I decided to do something a little different.

Most music nowadays is written in 4/4, also known as "common time."  For those of you out there with limited knowledge of music, this means that a measure (the basic block of music) is made up of four quarter notes, and the quarter note gets the beat.  It's called "common time" for a reason; it really is all over the place, and most music we think of is written in 4/4.  If you listen to music and can go, "ONE two three four ONE two three four ONE two three four," you're listening to 4/4.

4/4 is fun and all, but I have an intense love of music in 6/8.  6/8 means that the eighth note, not the quarter, gets the beat, and there are six eighth notes per measure.  It's different from 3/4 (three quarter notes per measure), which is mainly used for waltzes and stuff.  3/4 is "ONE two three ONE two three," whereas 6/8 is "ONE two three four five six"--the 'four' is a strong beat, but not as strong as one.  So there's a strong feeling of two, only it's subdivided into three. Trust me, it makes sense. ^^;;

Since there's not that much 6/8 stuff out there, and 6/8 is awesome, this month's fictunes are all songs written in 6/8.  Once you know 6/8, it gets a lot easier to pick it out when you hear it.  Personally, I love 6/8, because I like that feeling of paired threes, and how it feels like the music is rolling.

Oh, and a big thank you to everyone on my flist (ij and lj) who helped out with getting me songs in 6/8!  I only had a few songs in 6/8 time, and y'all came through with getting me some more. :D

1. Birdcage - Gackt
( I lock myself up, unable to even atone )

2. Kiss from a Rose - Angela Aki
This is a cover of the Seal song. I went for Angela Aki's, since everyone knows Seal's, and the Japanese is totally different and really cool. And this and the Gackt translation aren't mine; I lazed out and found them online.
( I saw you within the flames of the battlefield that burned me with love )

3. The Kill [acoustic version/acoustic version with violin] - 30 Seconds to Mars
( What if I wanted to fight, Beg for the rest of my life )

4. The Bird and the Worm - The Used
( You're the bird, I'm the worm/And it's plain to see/That we were meant to be )

5. From the Inside - Linkin Park
( Tension is building inside steadily )

6. My Skin - Natalie Merchant
( Well, contempt loves the silence/it thrives in the dark )

7. Boats and Birds - Gregory and the Hawk
( You can hide underneath me and come out at night )

8. Runs in the Family - Amanda Palmer feat. Ben Folds
( I say it runs in the family this family that carries me to such great lengths, to open my legs up to anyone who'll have me )

9. Protege Moi - Placebo
( Are we fate's playthings? )

10. The House of the Rising Sun - Eric Burdon & The Animals
( It's been the ruin of many a poor boy/And God I know I'm one )

11. Beautiful Gun - Moses
( See if you smile while youre sleeping, youre sleeping/Beautiful gun )

12. Sleeping Beauty - Miranda Sex Garden
( Tales of blood and tears lie cold on her face )

13. Glory - Kamelot
( lord you know that I prayed/one for the glory/and one for the souls that I've slain )

14. Vermillion pt. 2 - Slipknot
( She's a myth that I have to believe in. )

15. Breaking the Girl - Red Hot Chili Peppers
( I am a man, cut from the know )

BONUS!

Harbor - Vienna Teng
This song is in 6/8, but it also goes into some other, funky-cool times. Part of it seems to be in 9/14, which is kinda awesome.
( You've got a journey to make/There's your horizon to chase )

Colour My World - Chicago
This song seems like 6/8, but it's actually 12/8.
( Color my world with hope of loving you )

Okay, so...school has defeated me, work is in the process of defeating me, and the time has come for me to admit that I just can't keep up with fictunes on top of everything else. And, well, I'm not sure whether it's that I just can't pick 'em or whether my musical tastes are just too far out of sync with everybody else's--or whether you're all as busy as I am--but clearly you deserve someone who'll treat you right. ♥

To that end, starting next month, stopthatgirl7 will be taking over around here and providing your monthly music. She's awesome, she's a music lover, and she's got waaaaaay more energy and enthusiasm than I can muster even after a few cans of Monster, so I know you're going to love the change. ♥♥♥

So! For my last post, I decided to go a little nuts...hope you find something here you like!

( apparently IJ doesn't like more than 8 cuts...? )

I have been a very bad, very busy Coyo. Who hasn't had time to work out a new playlist. So what I'm going to do instead is call this a freebie month--anything you wanted to write to earlier and didn't have time to is fair game. You can find the previous songs here; the old ones have all been reuploaded now.

Yes. Laaaaazy. *sheepish*

Soooooo...it's the first of May! And you know what that means! Er...well, okay, I was going to go looking for "outdoorsy" songs, *coff,* honest I was, but it's been an incredibly hectic past two weeks. So you'll just have to put up with the other theme idea that amused me instead.

So you want to write...het

Elbow - "An Audience With the Pope"
I'm so in love with this album right now. And with Elbow in general. I don't know...can I just call them caberet-style indie? Sort of like chamber pop's Casablanca-watching hip older cousin.

( lyrics )

Cinerama - "Cat Girl Tights"
These guys usually slay me dead with their kinky, twisted, vaguely trashy lyrics. This one, on the other hand, is almost kind of sweet.

( lyrics )

Crooked Fingers - "You Can Never Leave"
Alt country doesn't always sound anything like country, and I'm perfectly okay with that. I'm not a huge fan of twang, and sentimental lyrics make me dry-heave. Uh, not that I'm opinionated or anything, OH NO. Alt country as a genre ranges from darker, moodier and decidedly non-sentimental quasi-country to what you get when an indie band's tour bus breaks down somewhere outside Nashville and they're forced to hitchhike to their next gig...and mug a few cowboys for their instruments while they're at it. Crooked Fingers weighs in more towards option number one.

( lyrics )

So you want to write...yaoi

Kaiser Chiefs - "My Kind of Guy"
Man, these were hard to narrow down. Anyway, pretty standard rock, here, but I thought the premise might be fun.

( lyrics )

Final Fantasy - "Please Please Please"
No, I didn't pick them for their name. No, really. Okay, so I started listening to them because of their name...but they're good! Honest! *sheepish*

( lyrics )

The Magnetic Fields - "When My Boy Walks Down the Street"
Because you can't very well have a set of slashy songs without this one. Seriously. It's like a law or something.

( lyrics )

So you want to write...yuri

The Snow Fairies - "The Happy Song (Saint Anthony)"
Wah! So cute! Insanely cute, in fact, sort of tweeish pop that breaks into 50's-styling goodness. Yuss.

( lyrics )

Suzanne Vega - "Stockings"
If the only things you ever heard of Suzanne Vega's was "Tom's Diner" and "Luka," you're seriously missing out.

( lyrics )

Hem - "Lazy Eye"
Gorgeous alt country/folk band with a truly fantastic female vocalist. This one almost has a lullaby feel to it, Hem at its slowest and sleepiest best.

( lyrics )

So you want to write...but you haven't decided which

Bill Callahan - "A Man Needs a Woman or a Man To Be a Man"
This would be the guy behind Smog, releasing under his own name for once. Not as minimalistic as most of Smog's discography, the album this one's off of sounds more like A River Ain't Too Much To Love. And this song sort of cracks me up.

( lyrics )

Of Montreal - "When a Man is in Love With a Man"
But not as much as this song cracks me up. Goddamn, you crazy E6 bands. Just...yeah.

( lyrics )

Or maybe you just want to write PORN

Nick Chapman - "Take Me Now!"
[instrumental]
Off one of the Comfort Stand releases, Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka, it's porn groove at its...wakkaist. Heh.

Hope you find something you like!

Gah. First of all, I just want to say that I'm really, really sorry that overtime and school have been kicking my butt to the point that I can't even support my own challenge. *shame* Er, I've got a week and a half off from school coming up? (And a horrible cold today...shh, I'm playing hooky.) Anyway, er, being tired made me pick songs about waiting, and maybe changes for the darker, and they're all sort of wistful and...yeah. Er. You've got the suggestion song to cheer you up? *sheepish*

On - "Shifting Skin"
Okay, yeah, I listened to this at random because I liked the title. *grins* It's just your average rock, and I'm honestly too tired to think of who it reminds me of...oh, but a quality moment with Google tells me this is a project by someone from Failure. ....still don't think that's who I'm thinking of, though. *mutters*

( lyrics )

Youth Group - "On a String"
I loooooove Youth Group. They're insanely catchy pop, and while maybe a third of their songs are too poppy/similar for me, one third of their songs will also leave me humming the refrain for hours. This chorus is so totally one of the latter types.

( lyrics )

Sufjan Stevens - "I Can't Even Lift My Head"
So okay, Sufjan Stevens can be a bit hit or miss at times, but his slow ballads? Will destroy you. In the best way possible. (This isn't actually the one I wanted to post, because there is actually a song even more beautiful than this, hard as it may be to imagine, but the lyrics to that one are just...difficult. Seriously. I've been trying to come up with something to write to it for a different challenge for nearly a year. But this one! Hopefully more workable. *crosses fingers*)

( lyrics )

From the Department of Soundtrackage: So Charming It Needs A Permit
Belle and Sebastian - "Fiction"
It's, y'know, Belle and Sebastian. Who are practically synonymous with "charming" in the first place, but this is so delicate and gorgeous and sweet, I just want to fling myself from a tall building. Or something like that. Dear god, they break me.

[instrumental]

From the Suggestion Box
Straylight Run - "Existentialism on Prom Night"
Indie rock band with a name that kills me with its cyberpunk roots. *hearts* Like I said, it's way more upbeat than the rest of what I'm posting this time around, but diversity is good!

( lyrics )

Anyway, good luck, and hopefully you find something that inspires you!

Man, it's so hard to find songs that will work for multiple fandoms, multiple pairings, multiple gender combinations, and still be interesting/sound good...whew! I may have to cheat and do a fannish-specific month sometime soon just to give myself a break! (Feel free to give suggestions on that, or a 'yea' or 'nay' for that matter; I'm pretty easy overall.) At any rate, here you see what will become the typical line-up, I think: three songs-with-lyrics chosen by yours truly, one instrumental track, and one that's a suggestion from you guys! Here's hoping you'll hear something you like!

Andrew Bird - "Opposite Day"
I have this utter love of Andrew Bird because he's talented, versatile, and has deeply fascinating lyrics. *hearts* If you like Beck's more singer-songwriter oriented stuff, you'll probably like Andrew Bird's mainstream CDs. If you're a big fan of the eclectic, you'll like all his albums, which have influences ranging from jazz to folk to some sort of demented sock-hop on acid. And with fabulous lyrics no matter what style the band is playing in! Andrew Bird is love. (And I suggest starting with The Mysterious Production of Eggs. *sparkles*)

( lyrics )

Art in Manila - "I Thought I Was Free"
To be honest, I haven't listened to Art in Manila often enough for them to have really stuck in my mind, so I can't give you an overview of the band (in my oh-so-unbiased opinion *coff*). What this is: Pretty girlpop of the Aimee Mann/Heather Nova school of upbeat brave-facery. Not bubblegum pop; the rich, a bit too slow for rock sort.

( lyrics )

Vex Red - "Bully Me"
I'm honestly not sure how mainstream these guys were; I think I first came across them while randomly searching for music with "red" in the title/band name/album name. (...what?) Even if they aren't, they sound like they ought to be a radioband, but I'll forgive them for it because they're very good at what they do, which is that sort of slow, crooned, understated rock that suddenly swells into forceful passages that fade back only to do it again. Kind of like when the Deftones decide to lull you into a false sense of security before making the top of your head fly off. This one's overall more hypnotic than the rest of the album it comes from, but it has its moments, and the lyrics sounded like fun. *grins*

( lyrics )

Mood Rings: Blue!
Jack Rose - "Levee"
OMG, slide blues guitar. Just. Yeah. Done by a damned fine guitarist, at that!

[instrumental]

From the Suggestion Box
The Scene Aesthetic - "Yellow Birds & Coal Mines"
Very Dashboard Confessional, though the singer is more Lyndsay Diaries. Uh, that's pretty much all I know about this band. *grins* If you like emo, you'll like this.

( lyrics )

Good luck! (You can start posting early if you'd like; I just wanted to give you a day in advance to listen so you'd have all of March to write/post in.)

It's Mission Impossible time! *cues theme music* Okay, so here's something a little bit different...your mission this time, should you choose to accept it, is to write 500 words to any (or all) of these songs...in one week! These songs will go down February 15th, so yeah, it's Holiday Special time. *beams* And once again, variety comes into play....

Cake - "Love You Madly"
C'mon, it's Cake. Upbeat, catchy, amusing as hell. For all your relationship needs!

( lyrics )

Elliott Smith - "Thirteen"
Woo-hoo, an excuse to write school uniforms! Uh, I mean...oh, never mind, it's an excuse to write school uniforms. *grins* It's also one of the most utterly perfect "those crazy kids in love" songs ever written (although I understand this version is a cover). Nostalgic, pretty, everything it should be. And also it's Elliott Smith. *hearts*

( lyrics )

Onelinedrawing - "Jul00"
Again with the mad perfection, the romance, the stunning prettiness...but this is the twenty-something version. (It's "Jul00" because it's the July song. Er. Yeah, there's a story there with this CD, but I'm too sleepy to tell it.)

( lyrics )

Trembling Blue Stars - "The Rhythm of Your Breathing"
Okay, fine, so slow, wistful and pretty is something of a favorite of mine. Trembling Blue Stars have really made lost loves and the agony of breakup work for them, but this happens to be one of their still-in-love songs. Just, y'know, with the typical problems of any couple, which I suppose makes this your "dose of realism" song or something. Still romantic, though!

( lyrics )

The Magnetic Fields - "With Whom To Dance?"
Ahhhh, Magnetic Fields, how I love your mad, mad ways. You have no idea how hard it was to pick just one of their songs for this post--especially if you weren't aware that they actually have a triple-disc set called 69 Love Songs, and yes, there really are sixty-nine of them. This is the "given up on love" song.

( lyrics )

The Extra Glenns - "Going to Marrakesh"
Yup, that's John Darnielle from The Mountain Goats. (Another hard as hell choice to make, considering that his "Alpha" series is perrrrrfect for all your bitter relationship needs!) But this one's too damn fun to pass up, so...yes. *hearts*

( lyrics )

Cinerama - "Tie Me Up"
not safe for work!
Okay, so you say relationships (dysfunctional and otherwise) are nice enough, but I'm missing the entire point of Valentine's Day. Well, don't worry, folks, there's something for everybody here. That's right...Coyo brings the porn! Seriously. How this guy can sing this song without cracking up halfway through is beyond me. And it's a really awesome song, actually: catchy, richly orchestrated, with gorgeous vocals. Just. Y'know. PORN. *snickers*

( lyrics )

Good luck, and hope you find something that inspires you!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a minimum of 500 words for at least one of the songs below by February 29th. Please see the intro post for info on headers and subject lines, which will make my job a hundred times easier when I go to tag these things. *hearts*

Cloud Cult - "Living on the Outside of Your Skin"
The guy from Cloud Cult sounds bizarrely like the guy from Modest Mouse, but I like Cloud Cult better. The name has nothing to do with it. No, really. Just a poppy good band; I love this particular track to death because it's so totally the anti-emo. Very hopeful. I like that. *hearts*

( lyrics )

The Mountain Goats - "How to Embrace a Swamp Creature"
Oh yeah, like I could resist. *grins* The Mountain Goats are mind-bogglingly prolific--I have 41 of their albums, and I'm still not completely sure that's everything--and their lyrics are incredibly clever and often sardonic, while the music is terribly catchy if sometimes very rough production-wise (think guy with guitar in a hotel room somewhere recording at 3AM into an old 8-track machine if you want to know how rough). The vocals are kind of like Bright Eyes; either it drives you crazy or you develop a strange sort of fondness for his voice over time. Sort of a trade-off there between that and the sheer magic of the lyrics.

( lyrics )

Liam Finn - "Shadow of Your Man"
Honestly I've been listening to this guy for days. Days, I tell you. If you like Neil Finn (Liam is his son), the Wallflowers, etc., you will like this guy. This particular track is from the Department of Pretty Depressing Things because, um, variety. Yeah.

( lyrics )

Bonus: From the Department of Soundtrackage
David Holmes - "Don't Die Just Yet"
Well, since it's a first post, I thought I'd throw in something totally open-ended (read: instrumental), hopefully to create a writing mood more than anything. Despite the title, there's nothing depressing at all about this song; it sounds more like something I'd expect to hear during a "bantering while driving in the city late at night" bit in a Tarantino movie. Sort of funky, sort of bluesy. Also, the Verve called. They want their string section back.