So start shuffling through your music collection randomly and tell us about at least the first two lions and the first two lambs you come across. Just keep it random. This could be interesting. I'll probably do a few more than two.
My Lambs:
T0morrow - U2 - one of the quieter tunes from October, and a song that doesn't get much mention when people talk about U2. "Won't you be back tomorrow?" Good song.
Set the Scene - Umbrellas - I love the sound of these guys. This is a laid back tune that isn't super quiet, but is definitely more lamb than lion. If you haven't heard them, check 'em out.
All Things End in Water - At the Close of Every Day - great indie rock band from the Netherlands, and most of their songs are more on the lamb side, nice quiet ambient, acoustic alt-rock.
Damien Dreams - Jeremy Enigk - beautiful quiet song from Enigk's last solo disc. Really showcases his amazing voice.
Can't Cry Hard Enough - Julie Miller - a very sweet and quiet lamb. Beautiful song. I can't get enough of her voice. She has a new album out with her husband, Buddy, but I'd love to get another solo record out of her.
My Lions:
Not I - Demonhunter - yeah, kick in the hardcore. I definitely have a loud side, too. This definitely isn't for everyone.
Bodyrock - Moby - wasn't sure where to put this, but it is more upbeat, so I'm calling it a lion. Great danceable, groovin' tune.
Here We Go - Brandtson - Not really all that loud, and certainly not their most lion-like tune, but they can kick up a nice beat.
Wild Wild West - Kool Moe Dee - oh yeah. This brings back some memories. Not really loud, but hey, I can't really call this a lamb, even though it is kinda laid back.
This is the Sound - Party People - distorted vocals, driving drum beat, and it builds to a nice hard rockin' tune. I need more music from these guys.
OK, so there's my five lions and five lambs. I had to skip a lot to get some of the lions, so I definitely have more lamb-like music in my collection. Now it's your turn! Comment here with your lions and lambs.
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10 comments:
Lambs:
I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You – Colin Hay
A little melancholy, a good rainy day song. I love Colin’s voice and the words make it a perfect heartbreak song.
On Peak Hill – Stars
Something I can picture myself listening to on the beach this summer. Has a nice, lackadaisical sound and lightly fun beat.
Lions:
Cursive – Art is Hard
Not necessarily a “heavy” song, but I enjoy Cursive’s music and the little bouts of screaming.
Taste the Red Hands – Dead Poetic
A little screaming can do your day some good. The whole album is great for running and workout inspiration as well.
nice, Shanelle. I'm surprised Dead Poetic didn't come up for me. I love just about anything Jesse Sprinkle is involved with.
Lambs:
Bookends - Simon and Garfunkel
This short song is so mellow and so soft that it could almost lull you to sleep
Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect - The Decemberists
The repetitive guitar on this one is almost hypnotic that it makes me think I should be in a hammock by the ocean or something
Lions:
Fire - Jimi Hendrix
There's no doubt that this one has an edge, and some amazing guitar
Maggie's Farm [Live Version - Newport Festival] - Bob Dylan
Typically Dylan wouldn't necessarily fit into the "Lions" category for me, but the electric sound heard 'round the world, dylan's first-ever plugged-in performance seems good enough to fit the bill.
Great idea, Ken! Although, I think I'm gonna take a slightly different path with my answers. Some of my favorite tracks on my iPod end with very different feels than they begin with, so I'm shuffling through some of what I'll call...
Lambs Into Lions (or vice versa):
Uninvited - Alanis Morissette: Say what you want of her, I love this song. An interesting mix of vulnerability and fascination that sonically turns into anger and fear. It's unclear if hatred ever enters the mix.
Booker - Harry Connick, Jr.: Harry shows his musical prowess by playing all the instruments on this track that tells of the titular character's dying "of a broken heart" in a smoky groove that eventually swirls into a madcap instrumental break featuring an oddly appropriate call-out of the Woody Woodpecker theme.
Secret World (live) - Peter Gabriel: A paean to childhood or an ode to a lost, foolish love? Neither, both. The steady, joyous, almost locomotive rhythm of the main portion of the song is reduced to single notes plucked out on a distorted piano near the end that underscore the loss.
That's a nice handful I got at the beginning of my shuffling. Didn't even hit any of the prog rock tracks I've got, which had a habit of switching moods, styles, and time signatures in the middle of songs. Fun stuff, indeed. :)
Lambs
Rouler sa bosse, Bruce Cockburn. Definitely a lamb, coming from Cockburn's all instrumental album "Speechless." I've always been a fan of his instrumental tunes.
Strange Waters, Bruce Cockburn. Not a lion, despite the great guitar solo midway through, but I'm struggling to see this as a lamb because there's an undercurrent of stress and questioning that is so not lamb-like. However, if you read the lyrics as a prayer ("You've been leading me beside strange waters ... if I lose my grip, will I take flight"), then the biblical metaphor of man-as-sheep makes sense.
Lullaby, Dixie Chicks. Can a lullaby be a lion? Not this one.
Everything I Said, The Cranberries. Kind of a strange sounding lamb. Maybe it's that Irish accent.
Come Together, the Beatles. Isn't this what the shepherd tells his lambs?
Lions
Zombie, The Cranberries. Most definitely a lion, a slow-to-anger lion that you know you don't want to upset as he lies there growling. And when you do, you pay the price.
A Sort of Homecoming, U2. Not a rocking lion that some of U2's songs would be, but definitely one with a roar that makes you take notice.
All the Mercy We Have Found, Vigilantes of Love. Bill Mallonee's guitar growls from the start and never lets up, settling into a groove in the chorus but always coming back to make a point.
The Trouble With Normal, Bruce Cockburn. From a musical and lyrical perspective, it's a lion all the way. (Side note: I hate it when my shuffle overselects one artist).
15 Doors, The Choir. Mid '80s alternative Christian rock. Kind of a quiet lion, but good stuff.
Lambs:
"Clara" by Sonya Kitchell on Cold Day. I discovered Kitchell when I worked for the Tralf in Buffalo. She did a gig there and was really amazing.
"Shame" by Evelyn "Champagne" King. Ok this might be a funky lamb, but it's groove is chill. It always puts me in a mellow mood.
Lions:
"The Launch" by DJ Jean. What can I say? It's got a beat and you can dance to it.
All Yours (The Doctor) by Dangerous Muse on Give Me Danger EP. Not hard rockin' but it's got a great '80s retro beat. And it's a little dirty.
Lions
Pearl Jam, 'Animal' What a perfect shuffle, eh? I think after a long, dead winter we're all saying "I'd rather be with an animal" like the month of March.
The Roots, 'Rock You' For a record that has "rock" in the title yet isn't in any way rock, this one rocks.
Lambs
Chris Connor, 'Anything Goes' I've long been a fan of the classic black female jazz singers (Billie Holiday, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald), but it wasn't until I read a letter to the editor in the June 2006 issue of The Atlantic from Jody Williams, with Benjamin Schwarz's response, that I was prompted to discover their white counterparts. Now I can't get enough of Chris Connor.
Johnny Cash, 'Help Me Jesus' "In like a lion, out like a lamb" would be a totally apt description of Cash.
Lions:
"Gasoline" Audioslave
"Cat" Sugarcubes
"Cheer Up Boys" Foo Fighters
"We Care A Lot" Faith No More
"Out of My Head" Puddle of Mudd
"Jimmy" Tool
Lambs:
"Nanci" Toad the Wet Sprocket
"Begin" also by Toad (for the record Toad came up about 3 more times, but I figured you probably wanted more diversity)
"Birthday" Sugarcubes
"On the Strip" Sonic Youth
"Brothers Unaware" Live
"The Three Sunrises" U2
I swear that I have more than three albums, but my shuffle was pretty limiting today. I do need to upload some more stuff though.
Lambs:
Fragile Heart - Celestial
Modern day C86 jangle twee from Sweden. boy-girl vocals, they were probably wearing thrift store sweaters with lambs stitched in when they record this.
Anenome - Brian Jonestown Massacre
Generally their music is dangerous enough to always be lions. But this ones for laying in the grass on a breezy early spring day watching the clouds roll by.
Lions:
Flower Travelin Man - Earthless
Earthless doesn't generally have vocals. Just 3 dudes jamming for 20 minutes hitting some serious grooves and riffage. A combination of stoner rock, krautrock, early Sabbath/Zeppelin/etc and japanese psychedelic (I'm guessing the tune is named in honor of the early J-Psych band the Flower Travelin Band). This tune is for lions on acid talking with melting, laughing gazelles.
To Fix the Gash in Your Head - A Place to Bury Strangers
Oliver of APTBS owns an effects pedal company called Death By Audio, which, uh, as the name suggests makes loud, noisy pedals. APTBS have sounds no one else do because of it. Combine Psychocandy era Jesus and Mary Chain with My Bloody Valentine and early NIN and arm them with boutique noise pedals no one else has and you get APTBS. Pretty intense song. Blast this from a boombox if you're ever walking the plains of Africa and no lions will bother you.
No time to comment: taxes await! Let it just be said that the lions lay down with the lambs in my iPod...
Lions:
The Stooges: Real Cool Time
Nine Inch Nails: Survivalism
Morrissey: Irish Blood, English Heart
Ramones: Howling at the Moon
The Doors: 20th Century Fox
Lambs:
Bob Dylan: Mr. Tambourine Man
Randy Newman: Dixie Flyer
Tegan & Sara: Monday Monday Monday
The Four Tops: Still Water
Billie Holiday: Please Tell Me How
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