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Entries categorized as “Top Five” 56 results
Ross M: Conceptually Gross writesTop Five: Songs They Should Play When I Walk Into a Room
by Ross Meyerson
I think anyone with a passing interest in music has thought about what their theme song, soundtrack or at-bat song might be. But what about when you enter a room? What mood would you set through music?
Sure, it would be easy to pick, say, five party anthems, and I'm sure for some of y'all that would be fitting. Maybe you are a walking, talking, breathing "Louie Louie." More power to you. It may come as a shock to those who know me, but I am not that. With that in mind, here are five songs I think suit me well. Some might be spot on, some might be wishful thinking, some might just be to annoy you…
5. "At The Graves" by King Diamond
Hailing from the King's fourth solo album Conspiracy, "At The Graves" might require a little suspense and patience for my friends. For about a minute and a half, a twinkling childish piano plays but once the song kicks in, King commands you (well, demons, actually. But you haven't met my friends.) to "rise, rise, rise." Sometimes subtlety is not in the cards. Get off your butts, nerds, I'm here.
Greg Kantowicz writesTop Five Hand-Clappy Songs
Songs with hand-claps are undeniably a guilty pleasure. When an artist sits down to craft a song, and looks at the vast options available to express himself, the hand-clap tempts as one of the most alluring low hanging fruit. By the age of six, most of us have already experienced its power, singing "If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands" countless times.
With this forceful shared memory in the back pocket, many artists have chosen the path of least resistance and thrown the hand-clap into their song. Some have even harnessed its appeal in their band name. Shout out to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, coming to Lincoln Hall in July...
Bobby Evers writesTop Five Musical Cameos From ‘The Adventures of Pete & Pete’
OK, so, this might not land as well with readers who were already adults in the mid- 1990s, or for anyone that was 14 or under during 9/11. But let me just fill you in:
The Adventures of Pete and Pete was a quirky, cool, live-action series on Nickelodeon that ran from 1993 to 1996. It was about two brothers, both named Pete, and their meditative observations about childhood in a small Midwestern postmodern America. While it had incredibly nuanced writing and bright, beautiful colors, most of what we talk about when we talk about Pete and Pete, is the music (compositions by Polaris and Stephin Merritt) and the obscure celebrity cameos, which rivaled Portlandia's use of them today.
This week's Top Five merges both of those. While its non-musical cameos could be a whole other list unto itself (Steve Buscemi?? Patti Hearst???), today we bring you: The Top Five Musical Cameos From The Adventures of Pete and Pete:
5. LL Cool J (from "Sick Day," season 2, ep. 10)
"In Spain it's called Dia infermo, in Hungary beteg nap. Around here... It's just known as... 'the sick day.'" Wherein little Pete plays hookie from school and learns a few memorable lessons about the world, his community, and himself as well. Like Bart Simpson before him, Little Pete is a bit of a hellion. As his principal, it is LL Cool J's job to announce, in a secret coded language to the other teachers that Pete is out, and they all rejoice.
Tyler Clark presents: Local Mythologies writesTop Five: Music Videos Starring Puppets
This fall, the Muppets return to television for the first time since Muppets Tonight, and if the trailer released this week is any indication, the gamble may actually pay off. While Kermit, Piggy, et. al. prepare for their big return, we can tide ourselves over with five music videos starring the Muppets (or puppets like them). Or, as Kermit might say, "It's a top five list! Yaaaaaaay!"
1) The Housemartins, "Five Get Over Excited" (1987)
For all of their artful applications, puppets are really just toys. In the video for the Housemartins' 1987 classic "Five Get Over Excited," they're treated as such. The whole video looks like the end result of giving 12-year-olds a modest budget, a song, and a camera. That's not meant as an insult. In under three minutes, the lads ride go-karts, sneak beers, and screw around with puppets designed to look just like them. The likenesses aren't as on point as other entries in the band-as-puppets genre (with Genesis's "Land of Confusion" taking this to its logical, disturbing conclusion), but the glee with which Paul Heaton and the boys operate their felt doppelgangers more than makes up for any quality issues.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesTop Five British New Wave Songs About Money
Money. Cash. Moola. Dough. Cabbage. Lettuce. Cheddar. Scratch. You may love it. You may hate it. But there’s no getting around the fact that we all need some. And when you don’t have it, or you see someone getting way too much than they should, it makes great material for songs.
In the 1980s, the Western World’s views toward money (and who should get it, and how much) were changing, and artists were taking notice. Ronald Regan and Margaret Thatcher led the charge to reward life’s “winners” on Wall Street and in junk bond houses while slashing social programs and putting the screws to organized labor. Thus society started its Corporatist phase, sponsored by Ayn Rand and an undying belief that your bank balance is the ultimate gauge of your worth as a human being. Along the way, many people found themselves with less, while others found themselves with much, much, much more.
The disparity wasn’t lost on many of the musicians of the era, some of whom, in the aftermath of the Punk movement, were making use of electronic instruments to add to and compete with the prevailing guitar/bass/drum paradigm. In a decade where Lover Boy was Working for the Weekend and Madonna was declaring her status as a Material Girl, these artists had a different take on the Long Green:
“Money (That’s What I Want)” by The Flying Lizards (1979)
“Your love gives me such a thrill / But your love won't pay my bills.”
One of the first Synth-Pop hits to chart in the UK was the product of a music collective known more for their Avant Garde and experimental leanings. A song originally written by Barrett Strong in 1960 and covered by a lot of bands, including the Beatles, the Stones, The Doors, and Joe Cocker, it’s never been covered quite like this. Your enjoyment of this song may well hinge on how you feel about New Wave in general, as this song is nothing but New Wave. A quirky, pitch-perfect comment on materialism in the ultimate plastic age? Or cold, blippy, inhumane novelty track? You make the call…