Weekly Reflex Reaction
As much as I enjoy writing my thoughts on music, I’d like to hear yours for a change. So somewhat regularly, I’m going to put up some music on here and I want your reaction. Leave a comment and for any/all of the songs, write your reaction to the song – keep it brief! (5-15 words, extra points if you hit exactly 10) After a few days, I’m going to publish the most evocative/impressive/amusing comments here. Be sure to leave your name!
Ready?
Ready?
UPDATE! The best reactions follow:
androgynous folk cabaret
Antony and the Johnsons – Hope There’s Someone
roots reggae ballad
Ken Boothe – Everything I Own
1950’s game show theme
Norman Paris – I’ve Got A Secret (Plink Plank Plunk)
A&tJ: Creepy voice, but hauntingly beautiful regardless.
KB: Basic, boring reggae verses; but an excellent gets-in-your-head chorus. :)
NP: Magic land where kids and candy found happiness together in the fifties
A&tJ: this vocalist was most certainly ruthlessly teased in elementary school
KB: more twinkle and spunk than the stale version by Bread
NP: an energetic lullaby for the impressionable young Alex Trebek, perhaps?
NP: kittens in pajamas tidying up the house
A&tJ: The vibrato is out of control! Yet somehow it’s still very nice.
KB: It’s stuck in my head.
NP: Leroy Anderson can’t be beaten in the arena of happy music.
I really like “I’ve got a secret.” It sounds like something that would be in “Ren and Stimpy.”
a&tJ: the everyman variety of existential angst from an otherworldly throat.
NP: we want to see it performed; we’re left with imagination.
A&tJ: Aaron Neville and Joanna Newsom birthed one child named Antony.
KB: I think I’ve been listening to Madness too much lately because I really like this.
NP: Plucktacular!
A&J: Love him w/ Cocorosie, love him solo, haunting song
A&J: if my ears has testes this song would kick them. hard.
KB: thisreviewistheshortestoneyoullgetbecauseitisonlyonewordseehowtherearenospacesorpunctuationthatmeansthisisalloneworditsanincrediblewordtoobecauseitisonewordthatnotonlyaccuartelydescribesmyopionionofapieceofmusicbutitalsodefinesitselfthereisnootherwordlikeitinallofcreationthereishowevermoresongslikethisoneitsnotabadsonganditiscatchyandithinktheguyhasagoodvoicebutitjustdoesntstrikemeassepecialasthisword
NP: like angelfood cake: sweet and light
Antony & the Johnsons:
Atmospheric wind-howling vocal attacks with thunderingly emotional piano accompaniment.
Ken Boothe:
Twice-as-memorable cover solely for an intrinsic earnestness the original lacked.
Norman Paris:
There’s a caper happening. Look quick or you’ll miss it.
A&tJ: The Neville Brothers’ little brother sings in a gospel cabaret.
KB: Pardon me, but have you seen my backbeat around here?
NP: Cartoon characters chasing each other through the house on tip-toe.
—L.
A&J: Annoying whimpering manthing. Haunting, yes, like a ghost. He is the Freddy Krueger of music.
– http://www.dustinland.com
A&tJ: Ethereal. Moving. Emotional and evocative, all while being soulful.
KB: Better than the original. Suitable for a mixtape for a loved one.
NP: A Cheerful compliment to the others, now it’s stuck in my head. Thanks!?
A&J: Corine Tucker of Sleater-Kinney recast as a 400lb. troubadour.
a> Scary voice; I don’t think vibrato should be so controlled, regardless of what modern pop suggests. (shit, 16 words. ;)
b> David Gray’s wannabe brother meets a red stripe fanboi – no thx.
c> Plink Plank Plunk went the drunken bumblebee.
Plink Plank Plunk was the name of Chalie Mingus’ first band.
antony: nina simone reincarnate. troubled souls can produce beauty. somehow.
“Hope There’s Someone”: A reminder that we all die alone. Broken dreams. Regret.
“Everything I Own”: Ken’s longing vocal somewhat negated by dispassionate and bouncy instrumentation.
A&tJ: And you thought the Castrati were all dead. This song is about his lost manhood, and I can kind of relate. Sometimes I miss my foreskin so much I can barely stand it.
15 words? Pfffttt…
sincerely raw, desperately pure, I hear your fear grinding on
insipid in its theft of alien verse for vanilla purposes
blissfully energetic, meth filled music binge. can’t not be happy
Antony = (tiny tim + iggy pop) / keith jarrett . i won’t listen to it again, but i’m not sorry i heard it.
ken boothe sucked the syrupy goodness out of a classic and filled it with soul-free reggae. don’t do that anymore, ken.
norman paris would make good background music for gym class at a mental institution.
A&tJ: Always seems to be faking that anguish… Somebody get him some Elvis Costello records, please.
KB: Boring
NP: Brilliant! Funny, lighting, delightful…
A&tJ: the cyclical final is a superb spyral growing up to the blue. It seems a Mike Olfield outburst!! Please, anybody who write me the lyrics? (Spain. Europe)
AB&J: Please put the poor fellow out of his misery…
KB: I like reggae and this is cute…
NP: PPP is exactly correct… I would use this a torture for my unexpected guests…
Leroy Anderson: Master composer of the best novelty music of all time. See http://www.leroy-anderson.com.