Tag: music

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What’s your all-time favorite album?

Posted on by jennrae

This is tough for me. There are a few contenders for my all time favorite. Resident Alien by Spacehog comes to mind because of a lot of nostalgia I have for it. I spent a lot of time as a teen singing the songs which were silly and catchy and fun.

I also have a lot of attachment to Alice In Chains’ Jar of Flies. I will stop and sing Don’t Follow every time and it is a song I just can’t interrupt. My all time uninterruptable song though is Nothing Else Matters by Metallica, although Ride the Lightning is my favorite album of theirs. That song is one of my favorites. I also adore Melanchollie and the Infinite Sadness by Smashing Pumpkins. That album has a ton of tracks and a lot of different styles and moods. There is a song for every occasion on that album. Such a great variety. Bullet with Butterfly Wings and Zero are more heavy rock, while Tonight, Tonight is almost a lullaby. 1979 is almost done like a dance tune with a hint of electronica. I could never get bored with it. Not every track is a winner, but a lot of them are.

Soundgarden Badmotorfinger is a favorite of mine. I probably listened to Superunknown more back in the day, but I like the rougher more experimental edge, the less refined and honed sound of the older album. I have even older albums, but Badmotorfinger has that right balance of production value meets edginess. Superunknown is catchy and polished, and Down on the Upside even more so, although I enjoy all of them. Limowreck is a favorite of mine, as is 4th of July, which is from Superunknown.

I also have to circle back to Spacehog. I do have a special place in my heart for The Chinese Album. Lucy’s Shoe is a favorite of mine. And there is something about the not so popular album. Almost like it is a secret, even though there are newer even less known albums. I liked the darker atmosphere of that one. It is still silly and light hearted, but there is a dark undercurrent to it.

Last contender for me, but definitely not the least, would be Radiohead’s Ok Computer. I never get tired of it, and none of the songs are skippable. I have to listen to it all the way through, it is a dramatic beautiful album, and like all the other ones a classic of nineties music.

I grew up in the nineties and I think going through a musical era as a teen does leave a footprint on your soul. I do like some newer, and some older stuff, I love David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and even some Lana Del Ray. So, I do like other stuff. But this is the stuff that grew as I grew.

This was in the cultural zeitgeist as I was becoming a young human. An honorable mention for me would have to be Oasis’ What’s the Story Morning Glory? I do have to say I did like The Masterplan with the B sides more, but there are still some songs like Some Might Say, and Champagne Supernova that I just enjoy the hell out of.

So, which would be my all time fave? My personal all time fave would have to be Jar of Flies, like Ok Computer, there isn’t a bad track on there, I get affected whenever I hear it. It is short but a good example of nineties rock with emotion. If I am not feeling silly, Spacehog, or sad, Radiohead, I think Jar of Flies has a good variety. Melanchollie and the Infinite Sadness has some tracks that are not quite up to par in between all the good ones, but there are so many you do get more time out of it than Jar of Flies.

But, my first instinct would be still Jar of Flies. I could recommend it to anyone. Whereas some people will never be able to tolerate Billy Corgan’s voice, although I don’t have an issue with his style, it isn’t for everyone.

I think the harmony in AIC is pretty awesome, and I get some not getting into Dirt because of all the drug references and oftentimes how bleak and depressing some of the songs can be, Jar of Flies does have some hope in it. It isn’t all doom and gloom. So, that will be my final answer, for now anyway.

Posted in Life, Writing

What Would Your Life Be Like Without Music?

Posted on by jennrae

I am listening to music as I write this. I often use music to write. Sometimes it sets a mood or inspires an idea or even can inspire me to go in a completely different direction. I like shuffling playlists. I enjoy the randomness.

Without music, life would be a lot quieter. My son is in a hard rock/metal/grunge band. So, there are guitar picks and instruments all over the place. So, I suppose I would have more space. I think life would be a lot more dull.

Maybe I would replace it with painting or some other artistic outlet. Maybe I would read more. Right now I am in the middle of so many books. I have like the reading equivalent of ADHD. Maybe I would finish writing a novel and have it be good. I don’t know though, because music is so integral to my process. I can’t imagine how I would do it. Or who I would be for that matter.

People who don’t like any music at all are kind of odd. I guess they have other hobbies. Maybe I would be into Anime. But then there is music in that. Maybe I would be more into color. That is the only thing that makes sense.

I would have to replace it with something else that affects mood. Maybe I’d have more pets. They are positive for mood, although one of my cats doesn’t like me to get any writing or recording done whatsoever. I couldn’t imagine having more like her and getting anything done. I like to listen to music when I clean the house too.

And it makes longer car rides enjoyable. If I still resembled me, I suppose I would go further into my head and just think internal musings and thoughts a lot more. When I rode public transit before I had earbuds I would take a book and sometimes just daydream out the window. I got some good short story ideas that way actually.

Eavesdropping on the other passengers and hearing snippets of their lives and how they interacted. I was like an alien studying earthlings and how they work. I was the type and still am if I am being honest, to put up high walls with most people. I don’t let many in, and it takes me a while to trust people. It is partly my personality, and partly from some not so great past experiences.

Posted in Life

What Makes You Feel Nostalgic?

Posted on by jennrae

Watching movies from the nineties makes me feel nostalgic. I just watched Reality Bites. Other movies that are good for this are: Singles, Empire Records, The Usual Suspects, and Four Rooms all make me feel nostalgic. Because I remember them from back in the day. Music will also make me feel nostalgic. I’ll associate music with a time or place, an event or a time period for sure.

Sometimes, walking or driving down a street will make me feel nostalgic. We went to the Regal Cinema in Lakewood, which I haven’t been to in years. And, it reminded me there used to be a twenty-four hour bowling alley with mini golf there. It is gone now, but the sign is the same. It was a bit surreal.

It was like I was transported to another year, but things were also different, so it was more like another dimension. Sometimes I will see a photo, or even a television commercial that will remind me of another time or place. It seems like the older I get, the more likely I am to be nostalgic, the more triggers I am going to have, good or bad, for other memories.

Sometimes someone will say something that will trigger something, or it could be as simple as a random thought in a chain of thoughts that eventually leads to something from the past. I don’t mind feeling nostalgic, but I don’t want to get trapped in the past either. I also want to look ahead to the future. So, I have to be cognizant of that and pull myself out of it sometimes.

Daily writing prompt
What makes you feel nostalgic?
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Posted in Life, Uncategorized, Writing

Inspiration and the Idea of the Muse

Posted on by jennrae

I am sure all the writers out there have different ways for finding inspiration. It isn’t a one size fits all type of thing. For me, I often use headphones and music to help me get in the  mood. For action scenes I often use tunes that are taken from soundtracks. These soundtracks are often movies, but also video games or even television shows. Defiance has an amazing score that I can listen to looped. Bear McCreary also did the soundtrack for the Battlestar Galactica Reboot, and I just love how he uses instrumentation with synth type sounds. It just says, “this is sci-fi, buckle your seats.” Defiance Soundtrack.

If I want a more fantasy style drama, anything Lord of the Rings will do. Or Enya, or Yanni, or anything by Yasunori Mitsuda, the composer responsible for the unforgettable and unbelievably amazing ChronoCross score. For those that are  not into video games, or older video games, ChronoCross was a game for the Playstation, a Sony console that came out around the same time as the Nintendo 64. This was the system that launched Sony into gaming and finally gave Nintendo some competition other than Sega.

Mitsuda often mixes almost Celtic style sounds with American Indian, mixed with Japanese and a hint of new age. And it works. Amazingly well. So well, you can still get the soundtrack even though the game itself is not that popular, plus it is like twenty years old or more now. For those that may be curious : Chrono Cross OST

There are a few orchestral versions out there as well, that are very well done. Video Games Live put out a  Through Time and Space compilation that has a beautiful version of Scars of Time, one of the defining songs of the game. Of course, Final Fantasy also has a ton of amazing music that I listen to as well, especially orchestral versions of FF7 and older. I just prefer the oldies. But Chronocross has a special place in my heart perhaps because it is a little more obscure. Video Games Live Scars of Time.

Now, if I want something like a tragic love scene, I listen to everything from Adele, to the Carpenters. I have a sad love song playlist just for this. And, a happy love song list, and a dramatic list, and a more action like list. The headphones also help block out the distractions of the television, the cat and whatever else may be going on. It kinda makes me focus and set aside time that is undivided and just for writing which I find useful.

How do you get inspired? What helps kick start your writing? Do you believe something or someone can be your muse? I have been inspired by people more than once, sometimes they don’t even know they actually inspired me. Actually, that is usually the case.

Overhearing bits and pieces of conversations at coffee shops or in the laundromat is why I love writing in public spaces. But sometimes, a certain person will inspire me more than most. That is my muse, and the music of course always helps. I find I am most inspired when I get inspired by people and the music and life experiences. It all helps. I would say not one person or thing is my muse, but the collective environment around me is usually my muse.