RIP Ric Ocasek

Cars frontman Ric Ocasek has died.

The Cars were my favorite band when I was young. I had every single Cars album on CD, from their debut to the underrated Panorama to the 2011 comeback Move Like This.

Vangelis’ Alpha

One of my latest musical obsessions has been Vangelis’ Alpha.

I like instrumental electronic music and have liked a lot of his past works. Apart from being well-written and catchy, this has one of my favorite musical trends-the slow start that gradually grows more and more lush. Alpha concludes with a massive triumphant blast of synths.

The cosmic theme of its original album fits perfectly with what feels like a journey through an increasingly beautiful landscape until the full wonders of the universe suddenly come into view.

The Twins

One of my longtime favorite obscure music groups is The Twins.

This 1980s-dominant German group of Sven Dohrow and Ronny Schreinzer can be considered a faster Human League. Their music isn’t the most deep or complex, but I like them anyway.

Children of the Sun

Billy Thorpe’s “Children of the Sun” has to be one of the strangest pop rock songs I’ve heard (even if it’s very good, IMO). Children of The Sun has two main “issues”.

• Doesn’t really sound like anyone else (and that’s a good thing). If I had to describe it, it’d be “Bad Company with weird sound effects”.
• Is uncomplicated music-wise but has the outer-space lyrics and sound effects of progressive rock.

So it’s weird but good.

Good Christmas Music

Amongst the wave of recycled and remixed Christmas “classics”, there are a few gems. One is the Pretenders’ 2000 Miles, which remains my favorite Christmas song ever, and which I’ve blogged about before. Another recent one I found both good and novel is Dido‘s Christmas Day.

The End of Payday 2

So, Payday 2 got its official end.

I only got the bad/non-Secret ending myself, and am nowhere near as good a player to get the good/Secret Revealed ending. While the game turning into a ridiculous wannabe-Assassin’s Creed mish-mash of every conspiracy ever might seem bad in isolation, in context it worked as well as it could have and showed how a little earnestness can go a very long way.

I feel bittersweet. I’ve been playing Payday 2 for a very long time. It’s (a distant) second only to Command: Modern Air Naval Operations, my dream game, in terms of actual time played. I remember playing it on a computer that could barely run it at all, and then seeing the contrast when I got a better system. It’s definitely one of the most mainstream games I’ve played and enjoyed. And the music-the music is incredible.

 

Music from Your Childhood

Listening to music from your childhood is an interesting experience. Re-listening to an old favorite of mine, Styx’s The Grand Illusion, brings back the memories of the times I endlessly played in the past. Some are embarassing, many more are fun.

My first Fuldapocalypse Essay

So I have made my first serious essay on Fuldapocalypse, talking about how the WW3 and technothriller genres interwined, and taking a divergence to look at one of my other guilty pleasures-progressive rock, and how it’s oddly similar to technothrillers.

Take a look at it here.

Good Writing Music

Good writing music is frequently long, ambient, and low-intensity, for lack of a better word. It’s just noticeable enough to distract you from the outside world while you write, but not prominent enough to take attention away from the writing itself.

There are exceptions, of course, but I’ve gotten a lot done listening to relaxing instrumental music.

A New Instrumental Album From One of My Favorite Artists

One of my favorite instrumental music artists is user “Duttonsayshi“.

Now he’s released a free album. Give it a listen!