illusionofjoy | Seven songs I'm currently digging

Quite possibly because she secretly hates me, bonamoz tagged me to do the latest LiveJournal meme. Okay, says I, but we're going to do it my way. No tagging from this camp, but I'll list the seven songs and do everyone one better by linking videos and providing them with my ever-so-clever commentary. Get listening:

#1.
Röyksopp - "Remind Me"
It's spacey synthpop with a beat. I recently discovered this band and want to hear more. The video for this song manages that damn near impossible feat of making flowcharts and schematics interesting to look at. Finally, this group has an accent mark in their name! Who doesn't love a group with an accent mark in their name (aside from Motley Crüe)?

#2.
MC Lars - "Signing Emo"
What would happen if The Bloodhound Gang's primary songwriter, Jimmy Pop, could stop thinking about sex for five seconds? Ponder that and also what would happen if the Beastie Boys were as interesting now as they were during their heyday, and you have a pretty good idea of what MC Lars is all about. This track is about a fictional everyemoband named Hearts That Hate who gets swept up into major label dementia as part of the latest craze. It's not so much a stab at emo itself (*cough*fish in a barrel*cough*) as it is the music industry's attempts at getting their money hooks into whatever the latest hot trend may be. It's tragic, sure, but the delivery is the hilarious sort that only a quirky white kid who went to Stanford could give us. If MC Lars had been around in 1994, this song would likely have been titled "Signing Grunge."

#3.
Thrice - "Red Sky"
Thrice is a hardcore group, but wait - what's this? The song starts softly and at a moderate tempo. There's no screaming - what the hell is going on? Thrice have always had loftier ambitions than many of their contemporaries and this song is proof of just how high they could go. "Red Sky" is the closing track of Vheissu and I can think of no better way to take your final musical bow than a searing epic ballad. That they chose to release it as a single shows either balls or marketing savvy and the modulation to a major key at the end of the song leaves one with that elated feeling of adrenaline pumping after seeing a good show, while simultaneously damning the band for not playing an encore (it is the last track, after all).

#4.
The Bolshoi - "A Way"
Some of the best songs ever written can be summed up in three words: fuck you, bitch. Those that do it with subtlety and style rise even higher...

#5.
The Epoxies - "Synthesized"
It's New Wave, but since the song came out in 2005, it must actually be nu-wave. Whatever. It's got lots of keyboards, a good beat and you can dance to it. I can't help but to think that this group wants to challenge Placebo's neo-glam throne. As an aside, if you have The Sims 2: Open For Business expansion pack, you can hear this song in Simlish (along with songs by Depeche Mode, Howard Jones and Kajagoogoo).

#6.
B Movie - "Nowhere Girl"
Actual new wave, this song came out in 1982 and was never a hit in the United States despite the fact that it so richly deserved to be. In all likelihood, it was overshadowed by another 1982 single which shared the same aesthetic (and guitar tremolo): "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls.

#7.
Interpol - "NYC"
Slow, sad...mope rock. They sound like Joy Division. Is this what it feels like to die?