Damaris (original) (raw)

(no subject)	[Feb. 6th, 2011\|04:40 pm]DurAnorak
So I was just thinking, ugh, I'm too crazy to post another song, why would I even bother anyway, when I was suddenly reminded of a track I had on Now 92 that I've not heard for about thirteen years. I've not heard it for that long because as soon as I had more than six or seven albums in the whole world, you would have had to pay me actual money to sit through listening to it ever again; I made it through one and a half minutes on YouTube before giving up in disgust. Everything I own is better than that, and so, just about, is 'Everything I Own'.Anyway, here's a much better song. Fuzzbox, or, to give them their proper, good and ridiculous 80s name, We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It, basically sound to me like Jem & the Holograms would have if they'd just settled that silly feud with The Misfits with a nice tequila and some sex. My favourite song of theirs is their utterly cracked-out cover of 'Spirit In The Sky', but iTunes shuffle today declares you get the fabulous 'International Rescue', which is a marvellous mid-80s pop song about Thunderbirds. Not referencing it in a brief, tangential way, but actually about it. F.A.B. you're coming through - they need your help, no one else can do! I love the 80s.International Rescue - Fuzzbox
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(no subject)

[Feb. 6th, 2011|04:40 pm]DurAnorak

So I was just thinking, ugh, I'm too crazy to post another song, why would I even bother anyway, when I was suddenly reminded of a track I had on Now 92 that I've not heard for about thirteen years. I've not heard it for that long because as soon as I had more than six or seven albums in the whole world, you would have had to pay me actual money to sit through listening to it ever again; I made it through one and a half minutes on YouTube before giving up in disgust. Everything I own is better than that, and so, just about, is 'Everything I Own'.Anyway, here's a much better song. Fuzzbox, or, to give them their proper, good and ridiculous 80s name, We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It, basically sound to me like Jem & the Holograms would have if they'd just settled that silly feud with The Misfits with a nice tequila and some sex. My favourite song of theirs is their utterly cracked-out cover of 'Spirit In The Sky', but iTunes shuffle today declares you get the fabulous 'International Rescue', which is a marvellous mid-80s pop song about Thunderbirds. Not referencing it in a brief, tangential way, but actually about it. F.A.B. you're coming through - they need your help, no one else can do! I love the 80s.International Rescue - Fuzzbox

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(no subject)	[Feb. 4th, 2011\|09:00 pm]DurAnorak
You know when everyone is going crazy about a book, or a film, or a band, and you just get sick to death of even seeing it mentioned, even by people you like or whose opinions you trust? And then you deliberately avoid paying attention to it because you're so annoyed by its very existence? That's sort of where I am with The XX at the moment - they're on the back of buses, pasted all over London, on every fanmix in every fandom, colonising t-shirts one hipster at a time like some sort of ironically transmitted disease, etc and so forth. So god damn them for writing such an amazing song as this one, a quiet, wary love song of the hopeless that, as someone wrote on songmeanings.net, "is really easy to ignore, but you listen to it carefully once and you're hooked again again." I like that 'again again'. I think it was probably a typing mistake, but it suits the song, which is like those pictures you see of girls you know are beautiful even though they're turned away, facing out into the somewhere else, having already given up on here and now.Crystalised - The XX
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(no subject)

[Feb. 4th, 2011|09:00 pm]DurAnorak

You know when everyone is going crazy about a book, or a film, or a band, and you just get sick to death of even seeing it mentioned, even by people you like or whose opinions you trust? And then you deliberately avoid paying attention to it because you're so annoyed by its very existence? That's sort of where I am with The XX at the moment - they're on the back of buses, pasted all over London, on every fanmix in every fandom, colonising t-shirts one hipster at a time like some sort of ironically transmitted disease, etc and so forth. So god damn them for writing such an amazing song as this one, a quiet, wary love song of the hopeless that, as someone wrote on songmeanings.net, "is really easy to ignore, but you listen to it carefully once and you're hooked again again." I like that 'again again'. I think it was probably a typing mistake, but it suits the song, which is like those pictures you see of girls you know are beautiful even though they're turned away, facing out into the somewhere else, having already given up on here and now.Crystalised - The XX

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(no subject)	[Feb. 3rd, 2011\|06:45 pm]DurAnorak
Well, clearly I'm not going to manage to post a song every day, because for the last...what is it, like, six? I have kept trying and then deciding that nobody wants to hear anything I like and I should probably hide in a box rather than ever saying words ever again. Which is unhelpful, and also does not give you songs, which, obviously, is my purpose in life. So here's another one; if you live within the vague orbit of the mainstream then you've probably heard this song already, because somehow general music taste has made a blissful swing back towards the electronic just in time for Hurts to be painfully cool rather than swept under the carpet. Just in case you don't know it, though, allow me to make an introduction : it's like driving through a long tunnel at full speed listening to the greatest hits of 1982 all run together in a beautiful euphoric mess full of lights and sharp turns, at night, with nobody else on the road but you and whoever's in your car leaning out of the passenger window and laughing with the wind in their hair. It's freaking great, is what it is.Better Than Love - Hurts
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(no subject)

[Feb. 3rd, 2011|06:45 pm]DurAnorak

Well, clearly I'm not going to manage to post a song every day, because for the last...what is it, like, six? I have kept trying and then deciding that nobody wants to hear anything I like and I should probably hide in a box rather than ever saying words ever again. Which is unhelpful, and also does not give you songs, which, obviously, is my purpose in life. So here's another one; if you live within the vague orbit of the mainstream then you've probably heard this song already, because somehow general music taste has made a blissful swing back towards the electronic just in time for Hurts to be painfully cool rather than swept under the carpet. Just in case you don't know it, though, allow me to make an introduction : it's like driving through a long tunnel at full speed listening to the greatest hits of 1982 all run together in a beautiful euphoric mess full of lights and sharp turns, at night, with nobody else on the road but you and whoever's in your car leaning out of the passenger window and laughing with the wind in their hair. It's freaking great, is what it is.Better Than Love - Hurts

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(no subject)	[Jan. 27th, 2011\|04:56 pm]DurAnorak
Should have known my 'oh no, I am talking, everyone will hate me for talking' wouldn't let me post every day :x So, three songs today, to make up for the last two days' lack of any :Gary Numan is one of those artists whose credibility has fluctuated so wildly over the years that nobody really knows any more where he stands on the line between 'legend' and 'hilarious'. Certainly he's had some great moments and some decidedly less great moments, but as is my wont I'm quite fond of one of the albums for which he's most often ridiculed - 1984's Berserker, which is much less experimental than his first few albums and a lot dafter. It's kind of lacking in identity, but I like the title track all the same - it feels sort of wistful, like he stood on the edge of the charts all through 83 making notes and then went home to try and recreate what he heard in his bedroom with possibly his kid sister on backing vocals. Which is probably what actually happened.Berserker - Gary NumanOnce upon a time in the 80s, Yazoo released a great track called 'Situation' which somehow sounded like it would be modern for the rest of time no matter how old it became. Although nothing can really match Alison Moyet's giant voice, I love this glowy futurepop cover of it from the unsurprisingly little-known Yazoo tribute album. It's not groundbreaking or anything. I just like to surround myself with stuff that sounds like fireflies at a disco.Situation - Brain Garden feat. Allison MayerI love this Kate Bush song so much that I have written it down in books for people, and on myself, and keyworded icons on just about all my journals with its lyrics. She's well known, of course, for really throwing herself into crazy narratives like 'Babooshka' and the amazing 'Experiment IV' and stuff, but this is so quiet and beautiful and mad in a tiny way, the sort of thing you'd get on early Tori albums. Her voice is still tremoring all over the place, but if you can handle that and you like small songs where people give you their secrets, then you should listen to this.Under the Ivy - Kate Bush
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(no subject)

[Jan. 27th, 2011|04:56 pm]DurAnorak

Should have known my 'oh no, I am talking, everyone will hate me for talking' wouldn't let me post every day :x So, three songs today, to make up for the last two days' lack of any :Gary Numan is one of those artists whose credibility has fluctuated so wildly over the years that nobody really knows any more where he stands on the line between 'legend' and 'hilarious'. Certainly he's had some great moments and some decidedly less great moments, but as is my wont I'm quite fond of one of the albums for which he's most often ridiculed - 1984's Berserker, which is much less experimental than his first few albums and a lot dafter. It's kind of lacking in identity, but I like the title track all the same - it feels sort of wistful, like he stood on the edge of the charts all through 83 making notes and then went home to try and recreate what he heard in his bedroom with possibly his kid sister on backing vocals. Which is probably what actually happened.Berserker - Gary NumanOnce upon a time in the 80s, Yazoo released a great track called 'Situation' which somehow sounded like it would be modern for the rest of time no matter how old it became. Although nothing can really match Alison Moyet's giant voice, I love this glowy futurepop cover of it from the unsurprisingly little-known Yazoo tribute album. It's not groundbreaking or anything. I just like to surround myself with stuff that sounds like fireflies at a disco.Situation - Brain Garden feat. Allison MayerI love this Kate Bush song so much that I have written it down in books for people, and on myself, and keyworded icons on just about all my journals with its lyrics. She's well known, of course, for really throwing herself into crazy narratives like 'Babooshka' and the amazing 'Experiment IV' and stuff, but this is so quiet and beautiful and mad in a tiny way, the sort of thing you'd get on early Tori albums. Her voice is still tremoring all over the place, but if you can handle that and you like small songs where people give you their secrets, then you should listen to this.Under the Ivy - Kate Bush

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(no subject)	[Jan. 24th, 2011\|08:03 pm]DurAnorak
Today's song combines synthesisers, medieval vocal harmonies, and lyrics from Carmina Burana, as you'll probably already know if you've ever heard any QNTAL before. This is in my top five of their songs and if any of that sounds like your thing, then you should already have this, because it comes on like a perfectly-choreographed firework display in a huge vaulted cathedral and there's nothing not to love about that.Flamma - QNTAL
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(no subject)

[Jan. 24th, 2011|08:03 pm]DurAnorak

Today's song combines synthesisers, medieval vocal harmonies, and lyrics from Carmina Burana, as you'll probably already know if you've ever heard any QNTAL before. This is in my top five of their songs and if any of that sounds like your thing, then you should already have this, because it comes on like a perfectly-choreographed firework display in a huge vaulted cathedral and there's nothing not to love about that.Flamma - QNTAL

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(no subject)	[Jan. 24th, 2011\|11:05 am]DurAnorak
I know I'm just asking for further indecision here but out of curiosity, if you were going to read a piece of fiction/short story/book about a closely involved group of people, wherein the interlinking relationships and personal interactions are more immediately significant than any of the context in which they happen (and if you're never going to read a book like that, that's fine, just ignore me), would you be more interested if :a) The story had a single protagonist (or narrator) through whom everyone else's interactions were observedorb) The story had multiple but defined protagonists (or narrators) between whom your viewpoint switchedorc) The story had no defined protagonist (or narrator) but was told as though uninflectedly observed from outside the group?& regarding protagonists/narrators, which would interest (or annoy) you most - first person, second person, third person, past tense, present tense, future tense?I've read books/stories of all these kinds in the last year and I'm delighted by all of them, so I'm the wrong person to answer this question for myself, I am pretty sure there are some people who get annoyed by books telling them what they did, and/or by present-tense narrative. :)
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(no subject)

[Jan. 24th, 2011|11:05 am]DurAnorak

I know I'm just asking for further indecision here but out of curiosity, if you were going to read a piece of fiction/short story/book about a closely involved group of people, wherein the interlinking relationships and personal interactions are more immediately significant than any of the context in which they happen (and if you're never going to read a book like that, that's fine, just ignore me), would you be more interested if :a) The story had a single protagonist (or narrator) through whom everyone else's interactions were observedorb) The story had multiple but defined protagonists (or narrators) between whom your viewpoint switchedorc) The story had no defined protagonist (or narrator) but was told as though uninflectedly observed from outside the group?& regarding protagonists/narrators, which would interest (or annoy) you most - first person, second person, third person, past tense, present tense, future tense?I've read books/stories of all these kinds in the last year and I'm delighted by all of them, so I'm the wrong person to answer this question for myself, I am pretty sure there are some people who get annoyed by books telling them what they did, and/or by present-tense narrative. :)

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(no subject)	[Jan. 23rd, 2011\|12:45 pm]DurAnorak
Hey kids! What I have been doing :* Work (continues charming)* Seeing Tron Legacy (ridiculous but also superbly visually beautiful)* Playing Lego Harry Potter with asrana (never less than wonderful)* Family lunch for my nan's birthday (hilarious - my dad has acquired a seventeen-year-old disciple he can't get rid of, it could only happen to my family)* Sorting out the world with clockworkwasp (invaluable)* Watching Skins like an obsessive hoarder of tiny damaged teenagers (which I am - please no spoilers, I have only just finished season 2 and am determinedly avoiding spoilering myself for the second generation)What I have not been doing :* Managing to get to Vagabonds (sorry, guys. I really wanted to, but so exhausted)* LJ (again, sorry everyone - fell off the grid, as it were, thank you, Tron Legacy)* Making mix CDs for you like I promised.The last of these is bothering me because a weekly mix is totally doable, but I keep coming up against a huge wall of, but, nobody will care, and nobody will download, and what if I post it on a day when nobody is around, and everyone hates my music, and blah blah whatever, and then not posting anything. So I am going to go back to the idea of a song a day, which I will be less fussed about because it takes less effort on my part and also on yours, & at the end of the week I'll just link to all the previous songs in one post for people who weren't around to pick them up during. I know, nobody but me cares, but I've got all this music and it ought to go somewhere that isn't just here.With some of which in mind, here is the staggering 'Night' by Zola Jesus, a howlingly beautiful, wrong, dark and devotional thing that cries out this is the worst idea either of us has ever had but come here, come here over a vast, flickering lake of electronics and drums. It is amazing and you need it. Or maybe that's just what it wants you to think.Night - Zola Jesus
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(no subject)

[Jan. 23rd, 2011|12:45 pm]DurAnorak

Hey kids! What I have been doing :* Work (continues charming)* Seeing Tron Legacy (ridiculous but also superbly visually beautiful)* Playing Lego Harry Potter with

asrana (never less than wonderful)* Family lunch for my nan's birthday (hilarious - my dad has acquired a seventeen-year-old disciple he can't get rid of, it could only happen to my family)* Sorting out the world with

clockworkwasp (invaluable)* Watching Skins like an obsessive hoarder of tiny damaged teenagers (which I am - please no spoilers, I have only just finished season 2 and am determinedly avoiding spoilering myself for the second generation)What I have not been doing :* Managing to get to Vagabonds (sorry, guys. I really wanted to, but so exhausted)* LJ (again, sorry everyone - fell off the grid, as it were, thank you, Tron Legacy)* Making mix CDs for you like I promised.The last of these is bothering me because a weekly mix is totally doable, but I keep coming up against a huge wall of, but, nobody will care, and nobody will download, and what if I post it on a day when nobody is around, and everyone hates my music, and blah blah whatever, and then not posting anything. So I am going to go back to the idea of a song a day, which I will be less fussed about because it takes less effort on my part and also on yours, & at the end of the week I'll just link to all the previous songs in one post for people who weren't around to pick them up during. I know, nobody but me cares, but I've got all this music and it ought to go somewhere that isn't just here.With some of which in mind, here is the staggering 'Night' by Zola Jesus, a howlingly beautiful, wrong, dark and devotional thing that cries out this is the worst idea either of us has ever had but come here, come here over a vast, flickering lake of electronics and drums. It is amazing and you need it. Or maybe that's just what it wants you to think.Night - Zola Jesus

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Over and over again.	[Jan. 10th, 2011\|11:35 am]DurAnorak
Back at work; bored. Fix it, internet! Tell me something wonderful.
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(no subject)	[Dec. 30th, 2010\|08:13 am]DurAnorak
Delighted. Thank you, IKEA, happy Christmas to you too.
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(no subject)	[Dec. 25th, 2010\|10:31 pm]DurAnorak
Doctor Who is the best thing in the whole wide world, apart from all the other best things, but they are totally having to fight to keep up right now. Just saying.annnd I'm seeing people disagreeing on the internet, and it breaks my tiny heart. It does, though, like. what do you want from television? Honestly? What do you want?
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