Dorothy's Dimestore Scenario (The Music Thread)

[Dorothy Hui]

Silverstein - "Call it Karma," Discovering the Waterfront, 2005 [Post-Hardcore]

Standout Lyrics: "Blame it on the weather, but I'm a mess / And this February darkness has me hating everyone"

Back when I was in middle school, I was one of those kids that gravitated towards bands like Silverstein and INSISTED they weren't emo, because so many other kids I knew liked to use the term "emo" as an insult. And they're not emo, not really - they're post-hardcore. But the acoustic version of "Call it Karma" does very little to combat that perception.

I still feel the need to get a bit defensive when I tell people I still listen to this type of music, as if I was back in 7th grade and just desperately wanted to fit in with all the "cool" kids. But I don't feel any shame in relating to these kids of lyrics, which shine all the more when they're backed by some simple acoustics and not the heavier electric version. This song especially makes me think back to old friendships of mine that have since been lost, in some cases pretty intensely (and one very special case that occurred a few months ago in a different ORG that I could write thousands of words about how badly our relationship has been broken). But I like to look back on them anyway, you know? Sometimes even in the less healthy relationships, the more negative ones, there are positives to take from them and lessons to be learned.

[Dorothy Hui]

John Legend & The Roots - "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free," Wake Up!, 2010 [R&B/Soul/Funk]
As made famous by Nina Simone

Standout Lyrics: "I wish I could say / All the things that I should say / Say 'em loud say 'em clear / For the whole round world to hear"

If I could be any celebrity for a day, I would be Roger Federer. But if I couldn't be Roger Federer, I would totally be John Legend. Holy crap, this man is amazing. If I had a voice like his, I wouldn't be working 9-5 in northern Utah.

I missed out on his collaboration with The Roots when it first came out, but their album of mostly covers is a real treat if you're fans of both acts. Their cover of this Nina Simone classic is still pensive, but not dramatically so. John Legend puts his own spin on the melody, and The Roots do a great job of driving the tempo and bringing the statement to a really positive crescendo by the close.

[Dorothy Hui]

The Moth & The Flame - "Young & Unfraid," Young & Unfraid, 2016 [Alt. Rock]

Standout Lyrics: "The new wave of exclusive / As if there's something new, kid"

I first heard this song when it came out as a single in May 2015, just a couple weeks before I graduated college. I haven't listened to much of The Moth & The Flame since, but this song has stuck with me. I'm 23 now, so I'm still young, I think. I feel young. But fuck, I'm afraid of a lot of things, man. Adulthood sucks. Listening to this song helps turn those feelings around at least a little bit.

Also, random aside, but I'm not a fan of ampersands. They come across as a bit pretentious to me? I don't know if that makes sense or not.

[Dorothy Hui]

Jimmy Eat World - "23," Futures, 2004 [Alt. Rock/Emo]

Standout Lyrics: "Amazing still it seems / I'll be 23 / I won't always love what I'll never have / I won't always live in my regrets"

I figure this is a natural follow up to the song I posted yesterday. I've loved Jimmy Eat World from the moment I first heard them as a middle schooler - Futures was the first Jimmy Eat World album I owned, and it has accompanied on many significant moments in my life. I turned 23 in April, giving this song even more meaning to me. Choosing even a few lines of standout lyrics was hard, because every line resonates with me strongly.

"23" is often called one of Jimmy Eat World's best songs, and I think if you give it a listen, you'll be able to understand why.

[Dorothy Hui]

Nobuo Uematsu (composer), Katsuhisa Hattori (arranger/conductor) Takayuki Hattori (arranger), Tokyo Symphony Orchestra - "Final Fantasy II - The Rebel Army," 1989 [Orchestral]

Standout Lyrics: N/A

I'm surrpised I haven't posted any video game music yet, so let's rectify that by sliding in the symphonic version of one of my favorite Final Fantasy tracks. I doubt you'll find a lot of diehard fans of Final Fantasy II, given the characters are mostly two-dimensional and the level up system ridiculous, but one thing that stands out about any game in the series is its music. Nobuo Uematsu is one hell of a composer, and his attention to detail and the gravity of the game's story really take shape best in this performance of one of the game's central pieces of music.

Even though the music only plays in one location in the game over at the rebellion's base in Altair, it's one of the first tracks you hear in the game and one of the ones you'll hear most often as you continue visiting the base. Even with the limits of the system, the theme oozes gravitas and importance.

"The password is Wild Rose. Don't forget."

[Dorothy Hui]

The Reverb Junkie - "All I Want," All I Want, 2013 [Electronic Pop]

Standout Lyrics: "All I want is to be with you / To sleep the day away like I always wanted to do"

I don't watch The Voice frequently these days, but I watched its earlier seasons quite often. Michelle Chamuel is perhaps one of the most unique contestants the U.S. version of The Voice has had, and I was a fan of hers pretty much from the start of season four. Despite her getting terribly robbed of the win by mini-Carrie Underwood Danielle Bradbery (whatever happened to her, anyway?), I've followed what Chamuel has been up to in the years since, including the albums she has produced under the name of The Reverb Junkie. All I Want is a really solid electronic pop album that actually showcases a lot of Chamuel's trademark passion - while I find a lot of really popular electronic music somewhat void of emotion, The Reverb Junkie tracks have a lot of heart behind them.

[Dorothy Hui]

Jonathan Coulton - "Octopus," The Aftermath, 2007 [Folk Rock]

Standout Lyrics: "Now you keep coming by / Telling me it's not what I think / But I know a murder when I see one"

I was one of the people that found out who Jonathan Coulton was after he wrote "Still Alive" for Portal, but I've since delved into all his previous material and fell in love with his sound. If I was a serious musician instead of just a choir kid, I would probably write a similar kind of music to what Coulton did with his Thing-A-Week series, in which he wrote at least one song each week for a whole year.

"Octopus" is one of the songs he released after Thing-A-Week completed, and it's one of my favorites. It's not a song about a literal octopus, but he uses it as a great metaphor for a rough breakup that is literally tearing him to pieces. 

[Dorothy Hui]

Arcade Fire - "Joan of Arc," Reflektor, 2013 [Indie/Art Rock]

Standout Lyrics: "Now they tell you that you're their muse / Yeah, they're so inspired / But where were they when they called your name / And they lit the fire?"

Arcade Fire is a group I can't always get my finger on - when I really like them, I really, really like them, but then there are some of their songs that leave me cold. "Joan of Arc" is one of the ones I really like, and even though I'm not a fan of everything on Reflektor, this Disc One closer has a slick bassline and liberal application of French.

[Dorothy Hui]

Dover - "King George," I Was Dead for 7 Weeks in the City of Angels, 2001 [Rock]

Standout Lyrics: "Only got four hours / To learn your manners / Never felt so close to you before"

"King George" was on Rock Band 3, which is the only reason I know Dover. I don't know if they're super well known in North America at all, even though I think they've got a strong fanbase in their native Spain. For a Spanish band, I think it's interesting they do all their songs in English, but since they said all their influences are English language groups, maybe that's not so surprising.

I really love the voice of Cristina Llanos. It's as straight ahead as a rock/pop voice can get, but there's something about her timbre that makes her sound a really unique one.

[Dorothy Hui]

HIM - "Killing Loneliness," Dark Light, 2005 [Gothic Rock/Metal]

Standout Lyrics: "Disappear in the lie, forever / And denounce the power of death over our souls / As secret words are said to start a war"

Here's another song from those edgy teenage years. Dark Light got a lot of plays in my room after long school days, often playing in the background while I played some Team Slayer in Halo 2. "Killing Loneliness" is actually about heroin addiction, but you can connect the lyrics to any sort of addiction or relationship. I certainly killed a lot of loneliness with energy swords and Covenant carbines back in the day.

I actually haven't listened to HIM in a long time. It wasn't until I was going on a nostalgia trip with one of my best friends a couple days ago and played Rock Band 3 that I've thought about it, and that was only when I remembered "Killing Loneliness" was a playable track. Maybe I should see if they're as good as I remember them being.

[Dorothy Hui]

Steam Powered Giraffe - "Honeybee," The Two-Cent Show, 2012 [Folk Rock/Steampunk]

Standout Lyrics: "Oh, Turpentine erase me whole / I don't want to live my life alone / I was waiting for you all my life"

I've grown to love Steam Powered Giraffe since my fraternity brother and old roommate introduced me to them back when we still lived together. He liked to perform this specific song at Open Mic nights around our school, because even without all the layered harmonies the group includes, it's a really simple, pretty song. But honestly, the best part of Steam Powered Giraffe is how well they all blend together. I'm pretty sure they cover every conceivable voice range between them, which lets them produce great sounds like this.

[Dorothy Hui]

Fleetwood Mac - "Dreams," Rumours, 1977 [Rock]

Standout Lyrics: "Now here you go again / You say you want your freedom / Well, who am I to keep you down?"

If you've been reading the Bellsprout (Bruxelles) chat lately, you'll know that I love Fleetwood Mac. I can actually pinpoint the exact moment I first heard this song. I was 7 years old, and I was driving back to Missouri with my dad on our way back from my aunt's wedding. My mother and older brother had left much earlier than Dad and I did, since my brother was coming down with an ear infection and needed to get to a doctor ASAP - they would stay with my grandmother another night while Dad and I left for home. It wasn't a terribly long drive, but an hour and a half to a 7 year old is like a century when you're supposed to stay still.

Without my brother to bother, I was bored, and I told my dad so. He said I could pick any CD I want, but I didn't recognize any of the CDs my dad had in his car. I chose Rumours simply because it was the first one in Dad's CD binder. I don't know what it was about Stevie Nicks that got me so enchanted, but I've been a fan of theirs ever since.

[Dorothy Hui]

Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty - "Let Me Be Your Star" (from Smash), The Music of Smash, 2012 [Broadway/Pop]

Standout Lyrics: "I'll just have to forget the hurt that came before / Forget what used to be / The past is on the cutting room floor / The future is here with me / Choose me!"

Masculinity be damned, the first episode of Smash was awesome as fuck and I challenge anyone who says otherwise to fisticuffs at midday. Whatever the show became later, this pilot was one of the coolest things I've watched in a long time, and this song had a lot to do with that. This duet between the dueling starlets played by Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty has so much bite to it, from the lyrics establishing their drive to succeed to their voices trying to outdo the other as they join together for the final minute.

Besides, it's merge time. What better time to reaffirm my desire to win than a song about stardom aspirations?

[Dorothy Hui]

The Cranberries - "Zombie," No Need to Argue, 1994 [Alt. Rock/Grunge]

Standout Lyrics: "When the violence causes silence / We must be mistaken"

I've been listening to a lot of 90's rock lately, and The Cranberries has such a distinctive sound that I find myself listening a bunch to them while I'm at work typing stuff up. There's lots of good covers of this out there, but in this case, I don't think anything can top the original.

[Dorothy Hui]

Jeremy Soule, composer - "Sons of Skyrim" from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, 2011 [Classical/Choral]

Standout Lyrics (with English translation): "Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin, naal ok zin los vahriin, / Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal! / Ahrk fin norok paal graan fod nust hon zindro zaan, / Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!" ("Dragonborn, Dragonborn, by his honor is sworn, / To keep evil forever at bay! / And the fiercest foes rout when they hear triumph's shout, / Dragonborn, for your blessing we pray!")

If this song doesn't get you fired up to slay some dragons, I regret to inform you that you do not have a pulse, and you should be ashamed.

I've put hundreds of hours into Skyrim, and even now, hearing this track gives me chills. I can't think of a more triumphant song from any video game off the top of my head.