The Eye of Musiclarity

Strangely Attracted to Mercurial Free Music

2008-10-17T08:39:00.003+08:00

Yep, you read that right. Mercury Rev has new albumS out, and they're giving away one of em free on their website HERE. If you're a sucker for free stuff like I am, you should head over there now and sign up to download Strange Attractor, the instrumental companion album to 'regular' album Snowflake Midnight.

What, never heard of the Mercury Rev? Well, before this, me neither, not much anyway, but hey, now's a bettter time than ever to get to know them eh? Don't like their instrumental music? What you complaining about, it's free, ain't it. tsk tsk.

Today's Acquisition: Mercury Rev - In My Heart, A Strange Attractor

One Hell Of A Heavy Metal Riff, Boy

2008-10-16T00:28:00.006+08:00

Remember the Hellboy II trailer a while back, with the rocking soundtrack? Well, the song for that trailer is actually by this bunch of German metal rockers Rammstein.

It's one of my favorite of their songs, really. Not that I've heard many of their songs in the first place. But I have no fucking idea what they are singing about. Heck, they could be singing about chicken soup, for all I know. But hey, that's a brilliant riff/hook, dudes.

Acquisition:

Rammstёin - Mein Herz Brennt (from Mutter)

Life In a Rabbit's Playground

2008-10-15T18:02:00.007+08:00

If you're as nuts about Life as I am now, you'd have already watched the first (and second, and third and fourth) episodes of the new season, AND googled the lyrics of that song in the first episode that was playing when they were opening the chests.

Well, I'll save you the time looking for the song on Limewire or Torrent... here it s, Gram Rabbit's Devil's Playground!

Acquisitions:

Gram Rabbit - Devil's Playground (from Cultivation)

Yes, the blog is BACK! No direct downloads though, but click on the link and you'll go to the Savefile page where you can er... acquire the song. :D

CRAP.

2008-06-29T10:51:00.001+08:00

AH CRAP.
Fileden suspended my account.
So I can't upload anything for now.
At least until I find another host for the files.
Anyone can suggest a good (free) file hosting service so I can resume the mp3 uploads?

Recycled Post of The Week: Jimmy, Stay on my World Tonight

2008-06-27T16:37:00.004+08:00

Welcome to the Recycled Post of the Day! Here, I shall recycle some of the past music posts I posted on EoE before, this time complete with the mp3 files for download.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Jimmy, Stay on my World Tonight
(Originally posted at Eye on Everything on 19 January 2006)

For today's Eyeris' Music Week post, I shall talk about one of my favorite bands - Jimmy Eat World.

You see, they have a new EP out, called Stay On My Side Tonight, and I only just got a listen a few weeks back when I was in Singapore.

Now, why do I like this band? Well, not only are they the pioneers of emo rock, I like their music because of all the reasons stated in my last post - nice tunes, good clean vocals, and meaningful lyrics. Plus it helps that their songs are good for singing in the car as well.

Anyway, The EP consists of five songs - Disintegration, Over, Closer, Half-Right and a so-called 'Styrofoam Remix' of Drugs And Me, which was originally on the Futures album. Of these songs my favorites are Disintegration and Half Right.

Disintegration is another of the band's trademark super-long, more-than-seven-minutes epics, in the vein of Goodbye Sky Harbour (which clocked in at almost 15 minutes long!) and 23 (which is one of my favorite Jimmy Eat World songs EVAR).

Anyway, Disintegration has got the usual mellow and emo verses, and a catchy hook and chorus that you can't stop singing over and over again. Everytime you hear that line 'Hanging on a cigarette', you just wanna sing a long as well. It's my favorite type of Jimmy Eat World song, and definitely my favorite on this EP.

Half Right is a cover of a song by Heatmiser, and is good enough that I thought it was their own song at first (this was before I heard the original... which sounds almost the same wtf). Sure, it tends to repeat itself over and over again (the tune I mean), but the way they sing it is just classic emo rock. And I have to say that I have never heard the word 'motherf**ker' sung so delicately and sensitively before. haha.

As for the other songs, well, Over is quite catchy, but Closer was a little to bland for my liking. HOWEVER, both songs did not really stand out for me. They can be categorised as part of another of Jimmy Eat World's typical songs - the rather unremarkable filler song that no one really remembers. The band always seems to have one or two of these fillers on their albums - songs that are just THERE, and don't really stand out or make you go WHOA I wanna hear that again! I just never expected it on an EP of only FIVE songs.

And as for the final song , the 'styrofoam remix' of Drugs and Me... lets just say I hope they don't remix any of their songs again, shall we? Unless it's an acoustic version, of course.

Anyway, if you've never heard their stuff before, I suggest you get either of these albums first - Clarity, Futures or Bleed American - and NOT this EP.

For fans like me, this EP was a welcome distraction, as it satisfies our hunger for more of their stuff while we wait for the next album.

Now, if only we could get them to come to South East Asia to perform...

Downloads:

Jimmy Eat World - Disintegration (from the Stay On My Side Tonight EP, 2006)
Jimmy Eat World - Half-Right (from the Stay On My Side Tonight EP, 2006)

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

Moments of Musiclarity: Details in The Mraz Fabric

2008-06-24T21:54:00.004+08:00

Moments of musiclarity is where I post songs with my so-called 'musiclarity' moments. For more on this made-up word, go HERE.

Ah, Jason Mraz. I remember when I went to the Mosaic Music Festival two or three years ago, and I saw this dude at the hotel lobby looking a little lost. I wanted to go over to him and say "Yo Jason, waiting for your rocket to land?", but I figured that having wished Erlend Øye good luck on his show in the elavator; and asked Eirik Glambek Bøe what was wrong with his guitar at the taxi stand, I'd already used up my quota for talking to famous musicians.

But anyway, Mr A-Z has a new album, and I kinda like this song in it that features (a definition that could mean anything from the 'featured dude' singing backup vocals, rapping, or mere playing the xylaphone on the record) James Morrison.

It's not just the tune, it's the lyrics that got me most. I like cool lyrics that roll of the tongue nicely, and in this one, its this particular line that is my personal moment of musiclarity...

If you’re shocked it's just the fault of faulty manufacturing

Ah, pure poetry, that.

Downloads:

Jason Mraz (feat. James Morrison) - Details in The Fabric (from We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, 2008)

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

Weekend Junkbox #3: Because Swiss Army Knives Rock

2008-06-21T12:00:00.004+08:00

Because I just found my long-lost Swiss army knife.
It reminded me of the coolest theme song ever.
And THAT mullet.
On this guy whose name is Angus.
But you probably know him better as MacGyver.

Downloads:

Theme from MacGyver

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

It's Official. The Death Cab is a Cutie for Singapore

2008-06-20T13:27:00.001+08:00

It's Official.

Death Cab For Cutie will be in Singapore on 12 August.

(thanks Reta for the heads up!)

Death Cab for Cutie: Live in Singapore
Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Time: 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Location: Esplanade Concert Hall

I'm half-tempted to boycott the damn thing just to show 'em who's boss. I don't even like their new album all that much anyway. However, the reality is that Singaporean (and Malaysian) fans of The O.C. will flock to it anyway, so my noble gesture would ultimately be a supremely futile one. Plus I really want to hear Marching Bands of Manhattan live.

So yes, I'll probably be one of those suckers who will be joining Reta for the show. And to paraphrase her, who else wants to join our Malaysian contingent eh?

But if they really do retain the bloody 4-minute intro for I Will Possess Your Heart during the show, I think I'll start booing. Talk about a bloody waste of precious concert time, man...

Downloads:

Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart (from Narrow Stairs, 2008)
Death Cab For Cutie - Marching Bands of Manhattan (from Plans, 2006)

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

Recycled Post of The Day: Goldfrapp Breathes the Most Gorgeous Pop Song Of the Year

2008-06-18T08:14:00.008+08:00

Yes, it's Goldfrapp again. If you also read my other blog, Eye on Everything, you'll have read this following post before, and know that I've written about them before too.

So... welcome to the Recycled Post of the Day!

Here, I shall recycle some of the past music posts I posted on EoE before, this time complete with the mp3 files for download.

The idea for this so-called coloumn is because:

I used to think that some of my past music posts on EoE throughly deserved to have the songs for download as well.
I can't be arsed to think of new things to post here ALL THE TIME.

So, without further ado, here's that old post on THE MOST favorite song of mine this year.. Goldfrapp's A&E!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Goldfrapp Breathes the Most Gorgeous Pop Song Of the Year

(Originally posted at Eye on Everything on 22 February 2008)

My latest obsession: Goldfrapp.

Didn't used to like them before, but one day, an odd thing happened. I actually listened to ONE SONG non-stop, on loop, for almsot an entire day.

I repeated Goldfrapp's A&E for god knows how long - that same song over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

And I'm still listening to it even right now as I type this.

I'd never really gotten into Golfrapp before, because I'm not THAT fond of electronica, and their last album - Supernature - was mostly dance-oriented. But A&E is such a perfect pop song for me that I went out and bought their Seventh Tree album just based on that one song.

For me, it's the best song I've heard so far this year. The tendering intro, the soaring instrumentals, the uplifting refrain and chorus, and of course, that gorgeous, gorgeous voice of Alison Goldfrapp just BREATHING through the song... it's the sexiest vocals I've heard in a song since like... FOREVER.

Go download it. You won't regret it.

Downloads:

Goldfrapp - A&E (from Seventh Tree, 2008)

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

Reviewing Sigur Rós' New Album in Eyerislandic

2008-06-17T14:46:00.004+08:00

Eyerislandic toink toink bleh.
Sigur Ros toink toink kabuhayaki laf laf pet-pet.
Toink laf laf laf pet pet laf laf laf.
Haiyaryar bleh bleh kabuhayaki toink "Iceland"
"Hopelandic"/"Icelandic" huh, toink toink ?????
Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust huh huh huh?
Masimasi dagahaiyar mahayo toink.
Takk, (), Ágætis byrjun, Von.
Toink!
Toink "Goobledigook" kabuhayaki "()" aisehfaluma.
Aishefaluma mai "()" "Hopelandic"
"Last.fm" gratis strim-strim laf laf toink.
Toink kala toink!
Bleh bleh Toink!
Sigur Ros Toink!

Downloads:

Sigur Rós - Goobledigook (from Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, 2008)

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

The Death Cab is No Longer Cute Because They Prefer Singaporeans

2008-06-16T11:19:00.006+08:00

MCH WTF CCB TNS MFL THROW YOUR MOTHER OLD SHOE.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

Yes, apparently we WON'T be seeing Ben Gibbard and co in Malaysia in August after all.

From the Pirates of the Bargain Bin:

While us Pirates take great delight in spreading doom, gloom and cheerlessness where ever we are, it still doesn't give us pleasure to announce that the Death Cab for Cutie show in August is cancelled. The official reason is that a Singapore organizer has offered the booking agent a better deal.

MCH, I officially hate Singapore even more than I already did.

Monday Movie Music #2: TV Is The New Radio

2008-06-16T00:29:00.009+08:00

Ok, these aren't exactly 'movies', but hey, these two shows are actually better than MOST movies, and they have way better music too.

Heck, a lot of the TV shows I watched these days have pretty good music, and a lot of it are from indie artistes.

Anyway, there's nothing more cool than hearing a song you really like come on during a movie or a TV show. And since I had two of those moments in quick succession recently, I decided to share those two songs with you today.

As you all might know already, the theme music for House is Massive Attack's Teardrop. And when José González's acoustic guitar version of that song came on during the Season 4 finale, I was practically whooping for joy. Er. as joyful as I could have got after watching what was one of the show's saddest episodes ever, that is.

Also, right now I'm watching Chuck, and the third episode featured what is one of the most fascinating bands ever, or at least the band with the most unique baritone lead vocals ever - The National. The song featured was also one of my favorites off their Boxer album - Slow Show. Get the damn album, it's awesome.

Downloads:

National, The - Slow Show (from Boxer, 2007)
José González - Teardrop (from In Our Nature, 2007)

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

Weekend Junkbox #2: Beer Beer Beer!

2008-06-15T21:56:00.005+08:00

This week's Weekend Junkbox is dedicated to that sweet nectar of life... BEER.
Because I drank WAAAAY too much of it this weekend.

Downloads:

Homer Simpson - The Homer Beer Song

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

We All Listen To a Mellow Submarine

2008-06-10T15:41:00.005+08:00

I seem to be listening to a lot more full albums these days than just the individual songs on the albums. By that, I mean I've been listening to these albums - ALL THE SONGS, mind - on loop for at least three or four times before changing. The Submarine's Honeysuckle Weeks was one that I had on rotation a couple of weeks ago, wrote a post about, and then promptly forgot about the draft.

Anyway, the album consists of very catchy catchy sweet sweet indie pop, and it's yet another of those bands with both male AND female vocals that I seem to be attracted to these days. the female vocals are sweet and crisp, while the guy's voice is close enough to my kind of pitch to be highly suitable to sing in the car.

Xavia is my favorite song. It's the kind of song I've always liked - mid-tempo, with a catchy chorus, uplifitng and nice to sing along to as well. The same ALMOST goes for You, Me, & The Bourgeoisie, except that it's sung mostly by the girl, so I can't sing along to it as much. But it's still catchy though. But just don't ask me what a Bourgeoisie is.

Anyway, after a couple days of heavy rotation, I got a little sick of the songs, to tell the truth. There's only so much sweet indie pop I can stand in one go. But I still have the following two songs on rotation on my 'Must Play' playlist though. Go figure.

Downloads

Submarines, The - Xavia (from Honeysuckle Weeks, 2008)
Submarines, The - You, Me, & The Bourgeoisie (from Honeysuckle Weeks, 2008)

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

Monday Movie Music #1: Falling Once, Slowly

2008-06-09T08:00:00.004+08:00

I like watching movies. And I like it when a movie has a great song in exactly the right place. And because people don't usually watch movies on Mondays (and for want of a better reason other than the fact that 'Monday' starts with 'M' just like 'Movie' and 'Music'), I hereby dedicate every Monday to songs in movies I like.

First up, Once. Yes, the movie that won that Oscar for Best Song. I Not-Reviewed the movie on EoE before, so I won't talk about the movie. But its a nice little movie. Go watch it.

Anyway, it says a lot about the music in the movie that I actually went out and bought the soundtrack album IMMEDIATELY after watching the movie. It's mostly guitar driven singer-songwriter stuff by Glen Hansard, and my favorites has to be Lies, When Your Mind's Made Up and of course, Falling Slowly. I especially like it when Markéta Irglová is singing along as well.

I'm not going to post Falling Slowly here. Instead, I'll post my actual favorite from the whole album: Lies. It's a little slow at first, but the pay-off is the bridge and the chorus, which I just could not get out of my head after watching the movie.

Go watch the movie! It's on GSC International Screens for now, but donno how long its gonna be on! And after that, go get the soundtrack, it's awesome!

Downloads

Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová - Lies (from the Once OST, 2007)

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

Weekend Junkbox #1: Becos I So Liddat Lor...

2008-06-08T00:14:00.006+08:00

Why 'Weekend Junkbox'?

Because the weekend is too precious to waste on writing proper posts.
Because I have this whole folder of mp3s labeled 'Junk' in my HD.
Because some of those 'songs' are too good NOT to share.
But I share oledi you better come back here hor?
Dowan?
Why you so liddat har?

Downloads

Kopi Kat Klan - Why You So Like Dat?

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

MusicaLive: Rock n' Roll Meets Rave n' Rant

2008-06-05T00:01:00.004+08:00

Welcome to the first edition of MusicalLive, a so-called 'column' that will be covering any live concerts or gigs that are held/will be held in Malaysia (or Singapore).

First up, this weekend's Rock on Rave music festival, which will feature Butterfingers, also known as the indie rock gods of this part of the world. They're not the only ones though - there's also other local bands like Deserters, the Otherside Ochestra, Bittersweet, Couple etc.

Nope, no Pop Shuvit or One Buck Short in sight. Whether this is an improvement on the lineup is up to you. And if the music ain't good, it might be entertaining to see the Bargain Bin Pirates throw the lousy acts off the roof.

Anyway, here're the details:

Date: 7th and 8th June
Venue: Cineleisure Damansara Rooftop (gee I never knew we could go up there...)
Time: 1pm - Midnight
Price: RM50 (2-day pre-sale ticket), RM30 (1-day pre-sale ticket), RM35 (at the door)

So see you there, people. Who knows how long this resurgence of live rock music is going to last, so let's enjoy it while we can, ok?

Downloads:

Butterfingers - The Chemistry (Between Us) (From Transcendence, 1999)
Deserters - Last Chance (from Last Chance EP, 2007)

Four more songs by some of the featured bands at the hideout of the Pirates of The Bargain Bin.

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

Musiclarity, Explained.

2008-06-04T20:08:00.004+08:00

So what exactly is this "Musiclarity" thing?

Well, it's a word I made up to describe that moment in each song in which I forget about everything I’m doing, I drop everything else, and just wait for that moment.

It’s just that moment in the song that connects with me, that makes me want to listen to that song over and over again just to catch that one moment, long or short, and which makes listening to the song so worth while.

Songs without that moment are not listened to more than once in a long while. Songs with it are always on my five-star must-play list and listened to over and over again, no matter whether its a mainstream or an indie song.

Good or bad, my personal tastes in songs are all based on that one, single moment. I call it my own personal moment of musical clarity, my personal musical supernova.

I wrote about this on Eye on Everything long time ago, with a LOOOONG list of songs and their moments of musiclarity.

Here are four of those songs (for the original list, WITHOUT the mp3s, go HERE).

It’s Liam's rasping vocals on the verses of Rockin’ Chair
It's the improvision on the live acoustic version of She Will Be Loved
It's the sudden switch to that rocking beat halfway through Like A Friend
The almost plaintively wailed, musicless, drawn-out "IS THIIIIIINKING" bit in Nude

Downloads:

Oasis - Rockin' Chair (from The Masterplan, 1998)
Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved (acoustic, live)
Pulp - Like a Friend (from the Great Expectations OST, 1998)
Radiohead - Nude (from In Rainbows, 2007)

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

The Beginnings of Eyeris' Musiclarity

2008-06-04T17:00:00.005+08:00

I've always wanted to start a music blog, with actual downloads of mp3s. But I never really got around to it until now. But hey, better late than never, eh?

I'm still not sure on the direction this blog is going to take. What I DO know is that I'll be focusing mostly on indie music, and hopefully news on local gigs or musicians.

But first, I gotta test the links to the music files. So let's start off with four of my favorite songs of 2008 so far, shall we?

Downloads:

Coldplay - Viva La Vida (from Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, 2008)
Goldfrapp - A&E (from Seventh Tree, 2008)
Indelicates, The - We Hate The Kids (from American Demo, 2008)
Nada Surf - Whose Authority (from Lucky, 2008)

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks. Please read the disclaimer before you download!

Disclaimer: Please Read Before Downloading Anything!

2008-06-04T16:59:00.000+08:00

All the mp3s available here are for sampling purposes only, and will only be available for upload for a maximum of two weeks only. So don't be an irresponsible pirate - if you really like the songs, be sure to buy the album also, ok?

BTW, if you have a problem with the mp3s I've listed on the blog and want me to take them down, please email me at eyeriz@gmail.com, and I'll remove it at once.