Best of...

Here are my list of favourite songs and albums from 2009. The one thing I realized from making this list is that I didn't listen to many whole albums and more individual songs (damn you Zune!) and that my taste in music has expanded considerably over the course of the year. Also, per usual, my list doesn't match up with any other list I've read this year save for the inclusion of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in my top songs list. And Miike Snow and Franz Ferdinand. Everything else is just proof of how not indie I really am.

Top 15 Songs (In No Particular Order)

• Emasculate Me - The Cribs
• Don't Upset the Rhythm - The Noisettes
• Remedy - Little Boots
• Never Gonna Happen - Lily Allen
• Dr. John - Mika*
• Tigerlilly - La Roux
• French Navy - Camera Obscura
• Not the Only Person - The Rumble Strips
• Twilight Omens - Franz Ferdinand
• Animal - Miike Snow
• Dimestore Diamond - Gossip
• Zero - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• The Golden Age - The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
• Seattle - BPA
• Morning Light - Ida Maria

Top 5 Albums (In a Kind of Order)**

1. Miike Snow - Miike Snow
2. The Boy Who Knew Too Much - Mika
3. It's Not Me, It's You - Lily Allen
4. Tonight - Franz Ferdinand
5. La Roux - La Roux

Honorable Mentions for Top Albums

• Fortress 'Round My Heart - Ida Maria
• Ignore the Ignorant - The Cribs
• Fruit - The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

Albums I Wish Had Been Better (Or That I Would Have Liked to Have Liked Better)

• Quicken the Heart - Maximo Park
• It's Frightening - White Rabbits
• Humbug - Arctic Monkeys
• Strict Joy - The Swell Season
• The Resistance - Muse

And finally an explanation for the album order: As with my choice for my favourite Mika song, I didn't want to be too obvious in picking my #1, so I went with the most consistently really good album. From there I ordered the albums according to a) how consistently good they were and b) how many tracks I consider to be above par. Hence why Franz Ferdinand comes after Lily Allen (the entire end of the album being crap as compared to the one or two tracks being not very good.) As mentioned in my foot note for this section, there are albums that I probably would have included if I had listened to them in their entirety :cough: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Noisettes, Gossip:cough: and some I'm sure I would have included if they had been released in the US this year :cough:VV Brown, Little Boots:cough: So there's the logic for my top 5 albums. There is no logic for my top 15 songs because I basically just picked songs that I listened to a lot that were released in 2009.


*I picked this based on the fact that a) "We Are Golden" is too obvious and b) it's the second most listened to song according to Zune
**The problem with this category is that a lot of the albums I would like to included (I'm sure) haven't been released in the US. That and the fact that I didn't listen to many whole albums from 2009, just individual songs. I plan on emending that for some artists, but again I'm limited by what has and hasn't been released in the US.

Christmas Time is Here Again

I have acquired an irrational fear of the holidays. They always seemed to sneak up on me like a bad dream or crappy grades. One moment every thing's fine and then bam: awkward holiday meals where I'm left talking to relatives who have nothing to say to me and who I have nothing to say to, watching my parents get more and more obnoxious and feeling overly tired. This year, for whatever reason, the holidays haven't been that bad. My cousins are pleasant and talk to people other than themselves and while my parents remain obnoxious, the whole process doesn't seem nearly as taxing as it has in previous years. Of course the spectre of previous Christmas meals still looms, I feel optimistic about today's meal. I sincerely think it won't be as bad as Christmas' past. I also sincerely hope I'm not proven wrong, otherwise I may go back to strongly disliking all family gatherings, just on principle.
On a completely different note, I got some really excellent swag this year (even though I kind of knew about all of the DVDs and books that I received.) I got a lot of "practical" gifts (guide books, maps, UK-style chargers) but possibly the silliest gift was given to me by my sister. Every year she gets me something I didn't ask for and almost never need. I love her to death though because the gift is invariably linked to whatever I'm interested in (hence the bootleg Kaiser Chiefs DVD I still haven't watched). And since I have a really spiff camera, here's a picture of what Sophs got me:

I really do love her. Even if she gets me ridiculous articles of clothing. (And for those of you who are unsure, yes that is a shirt that says "We Are Golden" and is from the official Mika web site.)

2009: Favourite Moments in Chronological Order

This has been a fairly negative year for me. I wouldn't say it's been the worst year I've ever had (that one goes to 2004) but it wasn't exactly a happy-go-lucky/gosh isn't life wonderful year (that would be 2006). Despite the rather devestating event earlier this year, there have been a number of good moments which have made the year not really terrible. There have also been general trends that I'll mention through out this list. Yes, bullet points will be used. So here are the highlights from 2009:

• The acquirement of a pen-pal (even if it was fairly short lived) who finally got me to listen to Pulp
• Becoming closer friends with Heather and Ana after the break-up
• Discovering Ashes to Ashes and Life on Mars
• Becoming an unofficial member of the radio station elite, without even trying very hard
• Getting to see Franz Ferdinand for the first time and absolutely loving it
• Discovering music that lies just slightly outside of what I normally listen to and letting those discoveries lead me to even better discoveries
• Giving Mika a chance
• Getting into the University of Westminster for the spring semester
• Becoming more and more fabulous
• Watching "Bad Romance"
• This season of NMTB
• Getting into the practical module I wanted at the University of Westminster
• All the really great friends I made and solidified over the past year

So that's my favourite moments of 2009. Tomorrow I may or may not post my favourite songs/albums of the year. We shall see. In any event there will be something after the holidays and in the lead up to my leaving for London. Happy Christmas and a good New Year to you if I don't say something before then.

Lengthy Updates Are My Speciality

Well, Westminster let me back into their system, which was awfully nice of them. My ID card is going to be a bit scary, but I now know when my three classes meet, in what buildings, and that British syllabuses are called handbooks are equally boring to American syllabuses. So let's get with the descripting!
Music Radio
This class is the one that confuses me the most in terms of scheduling. We meet twice a week from 10am to 5pm but it's only listed for meeting for the first half of the semester. Which confuses me because I'm getting a full 15 credits for it (4 in the American system). But in terms of content I'm really glad I got into the class because it's going to teach me an invaluable skill: How to incorporate quizzes into my radio show. That and other technical stuff that will be really good to know once I graduate from free form radio to regular programmed radio. Also one of the books we're suppose to read for the course I've already read, so that's nice.
Law and the Music Market
Contracts! We meet once a week for two hours where in I will learn about intellectual property, copyrights and you, and contracts! I'm actually really quite excited about this class because...well because I am. The copyright and intellectual property stuff is actually very pertinent what with illegal downloading and mash-ups and all that good stuff. I don't care what anyone says, it's going to be interesting dammit. Even if I can't explain why.
Principles of Music Marketing
This is the class I'm least excited about largely because I have no plans for going into music marketing. Sure it will be interesting from an intellectual standpoint and in terms of transfer credits it will do quite nicely, but in terms of real life interest...not so much. So yeah.
Well those are my classes. Last night I slept with my older dog (Nikki) who, once she is in position, doesn't move. This was annoying because a) I wasn't expecting to sleep with her and so my door was open and b) meant it was very hard to adjust the number of covers I had over me when it got too hot. So I didn't sleep very well last night.
In other news Rage Against the Machine got the #1 Christmas single this year. The group won over a Simon Cowell creation, so that's nice. But on the other hand Rage Against the Machine aren't a very good band. Yes I'm all for taking down crappy pop acts that do a disservice to the entire genre, but people of the British Isles, think about who you've given this title to: An American metal band that very few people in America like anymore. If you're going to take down the system why not do it with a British band (Franz Ferdinand, the Cribs, etc) who are actually talented (Arctic Monkeys, La Roux, etc) not some crap American band (Rage Against the Machine.) Nonetheless, down with crap manufactured pop music, all hail crap American metal.
Umm...snow. Lot's of snow. 19 inches of snow. And I've been assigned to the morning orientation group which meets at 9:15am. However I get pastries so that's something. And snow. More snow than we've had in years and years and years. And I did really well this semester and brought my GPA up to almost a 3.0. I went to Williamsburg on Thursday and spent 2+hrs looking at wreaths and thinking "dear God I'm bored and cold and bored. Why did I say yes to do this again?" I think that covers everything. I've been having weird dreams, but that's not that bizarre in actuality. So yeah, that's everything. Until next time, don't panic.
Edit: Here's the AV Club's take on the whole British Christmas single. It's an excellent summary for anyone who's either never seen Love, Actually or just wants a more descriptive reason for why RATM's win is a big deal.

And You Won't Let Me In

Before I got locked out of everything at the University of Westminster site (for no reason as far as I can tell) I found out what classes I'm signed up for. I got into one of the practical modules I requested (Music Radio) which means that my portfolio must not have sucked as badly as I thought it did. I'm also taking a class in music marketing (eh) and music law (interesting). After finding this out I almost immediately got locked out which makes me unhappy because I'd really like to be able to login to things, but at least I know what classes I'm taking. And I can complain about not being able to login when I get there since I know the vital information (which classes I'm taking.)
There was something else I wanted to talk about, but now I can't remember what it was. In light of this fact, I'm going to take a nap. Ahh, it's good to be on winter break.

Slightly Related Items of Interest

To make up for a lack of posts, I'm doing double duty tonight. Here are two random, but somewhat related items from Youtube.
*



*I would just like to say that while I'm mostly a-political* and I do my best to keep this blog neutral** I wanted to post this video because it really brings home what it's like to be gay and not have the right to get married because of that fact. Again I seldom touch on this stuff because I don't feel it's my place to proselytize to my readers, but just think what it would be like if you had to ask over a 300 million people*** if you could get married to the person you love. :shrugs:
*I believe in a democratic system and all and I consider myself a liberal but...after eight years of a douche for president you're either going to be extremely active in politics or shun it all in my opinion
**Two of the closest friends I've had have been deeply conservative. They're good guys and I value my friends, so I had to learn pretty quick how to keep my mouth shut because losing friends over something you don't care about is stupid.
***According to Population Finder the estimated population in the US for 2008 was 304,059,724. The estimated of population of VA (where I am) is 7,769,089. So yeah.

Completely Off Topic

But still amusing to me. I found this tid bit of information at List Universe and was glad to know that what I'm hearing is real. So here's the tid bit:

Intrusive R and Linking R are pronunciations of the letter ‘r’ in English dialects that don’t generally pronounce a final ‘R’ (such as New Zealand English). For example, in these dialects, when saying “don’t go far” – the word “far” has a silent ‘r’ – but the ‘r’ is pronounced in the sentence “he is far away”. This linking ‘r’ smooths out the phrase. Intrusive ‘r’ is when an ‘r’ is added where one doesn’t exist at all – as in the case of “Africa or England” – this would be pronounced “Africar-or-England”.

This principle also applies to "saw" and "idea" but I find "saw" much more amusing because it sounds like they're saying "sawr" which isn't a word and therefore highly amusing. I think this is a strange hold over from the Norman conquests because they French are all about making everything sound really smooth. So yeah, that's my exam week interruption. I'm going to watch Mock the Week and Firefly, completely ignoring the fact that I have a music history exam I probably should be studying for. Until next time, don't panic, like me, and go "oooommmm."

Tired End of the Semester Rambling

I'm going to make something of an admission which, if you look at the entries over the past three months(ish) shouldn't come as much of a shock: This has been the most stressful semester of my college career. The odd thing is that it's been stressful not because of the classes I'm taking but because I've procrastinated on so much of the work I have to do for those classes. And I think the reason I procrastinated more this semester than in previous semesters is twofold but basically comes down to one thing: applying to study abroad. In the first half of the semester I procrastinated* because I was stressed about applying to Westminster. When I found out that I had gotten into Westminster I procrastinated because, as much as I knew I needed to do the work, I just didn't give a damn. Of course I'm a horrible procrastinator to begin with, but this semester has been truly appalling. As an example I finished my Mozart paper about an hour before it was due. For me, that's terrible. I don't like doing that because it causes me to lose sleep, but I just didn't care enough, so I put it off. But just thinking about this semester and looking at entries from the past few months the main theme seems to be stress and when I think about why I was stressed it largely had to do with putting off crap until the last possible second.
With the end of this semester less than a week away (four tests, one project presentation) it's been slowly dawning on me how strange next semester is going to be. And as I tried to explain to my sister it's not just because I'm going to be in a different country. Granted saying "I'm going to be in a different country" kind of covers all the bases, but it's little things that are going to be strange. Not doing my radio show, not having band or chorus at their normal hours. Not seeing a certain group of people every single day, not having breakfast as Seaco. Not playing the clarinet or having a private lesson every week. No more randomly running into friends on college walk or trying to not stare at every one who walks past me (Yes, I'm weird.) Just weird little things that, yes, do get covered by not being at Mary Wash, but whose I'm absences I will feel nonetheless. I've been banking on having some kind of breakdown as my departure date gets closer, but I keep thinking about all the things I'll miss but it's more of a mental exercise than me actually missing them. I guess that will come in time, but I wish I was acting a little more sad than I am right now. I suppose that will come with time as well.
I think either my sleep debt is finally catching up with me or I'm getting sick because I'm just so tired. Ridiculously tired. And if I am getting sick, I'm going to be well pissed because now is not the time to be getting sick. So let's hope it's just my sleep debt.

Big Ball of Stress

So this week has gone from mildly frustrating to "Oh my god, why does the world hate me so very, very much?" in the matter of about five hours. I haven't been updating on Twitter or Facebook because they only way I can describe my current state of mind is by making strangled noises of frustration and then curling up in the fetal position. I just want this week to go away and not come back ever, ever again. Of course all of this means that I've been listening to Mika non-stop since this morning because clearly listening to a strange amalgamation of techno/pop/glam is the best way to deal with the massive amounts of stress I'm under right now. Funny thing though is that my roommate said that I don't worry about anything. Oh how wrong she is about that. I worry, I just don't let people know (thanks Dad!) unless of course they read this blog. Then they get to hear about it all the freakin' time.
First major stresser this week is a paper I have due on Thursday in music history. One of the key resources we need for said paper has been checked out by a mysterious entity who is not in our class. There's a neat little summary on Google books and I can kind of glean some stuff from various reviews of the book, but seriously. I just want to glance over the real thing so I can accurately describe what all the hubbub is about. But no, no luck there. Thankfully it's a not a very long paper and there are other sources I can talk about in more depth, but...I just want the book to come back so I don't have to worry about it.
Second major stresser is that I've been waiting for weeks now to hear about boarding at Westminster. I get a neat little email this morning fro, the housing officer at Westminster saying that they haven't heard from me and that I missed the deadline. However if I can get my paperwork in by Friday all will be well. I didn't get an email. I don't have the paperwork. And the housing officer guy hasn't responded to the email I sent him this morning. Now I realize there's a four hour time difference, but seriously. I sent it at 10am EST which would be 2pm GMT. He had time to respond to my email, or at least in my mind he should have had time to respond to my email. And what if I don't hear from him soon? Will I not get a room because of some clerical error or whatever? Then what will I do? :makes gargled frustrated noise:
I also had a tiff with my mom last night over a power cord I ordered almost a month ago that got delayed. I try not to argue with my mom as much as possible because in her mind she is always right and I am always stupid. So in an effort to not have a fight about the layout of the Dell website (which is frustrating and stupid, like most tech websites) I just tried to move on. She wouldn't let it go, so I had to say, in a loud voice, "anyway" just to get her to let go. It's just...aaargh.
Then of course there was my jury last night. Thankfully I didn't almost cry this time, so in comparison to last year's jury, much better. However I'm very glad I won't be doing this again. Very, very, very, glad.
So that's it. I hate this week almost as much as it hates me and I have my last radio show on Wednesday. Thank god I already made up the play list otherwise the show wouldn't be happening. I'm now going to play solitaire and listen to Mika. Because that's how I roll.

Edit: Westminster rooming situation has righted itself, thank god. And my Mom decided to buy me a copy of the book I need for my paper. Which may or may not get to me in time to be useful. In which case, I have a book on Mozart's Requiem that I really don't need. So yeah, one less stressor is still a good thing.

The Day After Thankfullness

It's the day after Thanksgiving and since I spent most of yesterday wishing it would be today, I'm going to list what I'm thankful for this year. It's largely the same as last year, with a few minor changes.

• My music, without which I would have little reason to be sane
• British panel shows which keep me amused and teach me things I would not have known otherwise
• My sister, who's the only member of my family I can stand for longer than an hour
• Getting into Westminster, because it means so much to my future and my sanity
• My friends, who I will miss desperately when I'm over in London
• Facebook and Twitter, which will allow me to keep in touch with the friends I will be missing desperately while I'm over in London
• The radio station and all the people involved in the radio station, which will hopefully still be around and intact when I get back next fall

So those are the reasons I'm thankful for eating massive amounts of food. And now back to watching Bones.

Ridiculous Human Being Continued

Here's the transcript from the round I mentioned in my last entry. Enjoy. And keep in mind that Ryan mumbles a bit (and has a rather thick accent.)

Ricky: was it because a) there weren't enough tour buses to transport her hangers on, b) five of her dancers fell ill after sampling deep-fried Mars bars for the first time or c) her trademark ostrich feather cloak was impounded at Glasgow airport customs.

(Bill talks about the ridiculousness of having a trademark ostrich feather cloak)

Ryan: It's actually b, because although that sounds like the most ridiculous one, you know the deep-fried Mars bar, if it's a or c then she's just a ridiculous human being (goes on to explain why a and c are more ridiculous than b)

Ridiculous Human Being

Before I post what I'm going to post I need to explain the origin of one of my favourite phrases. "Ridiculous human being" comes from an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks, specifically the one Ricky Wilson hosted in series 18. For those of you who don't pay attention, NMTB is split up into four rounds, with three of the rounds being set in stone (one being the intros round, the second to last one being an ID parade of some sort and the last being next lines [I give you a line in a song, you give the line after it]). The first round of the show, however is up for grabs. In the episode that Mr. Wilson hosted the first round asked the panelists why a certain artist had to cancel a show or tour. Bill's team, which consisted of a DJ none of you have heard of (Colin Murray) and Ryan Jarman, where asked why Missy Elliot had to cancel a Glasgow show. The choices they were given are as follows: There weren't enough tour buses to hold her "massive entourage," one of her back-up dancers became sick after sampling a deep-fried Mars bar for the first time, or her ostrich feather cloak was impounded by customs*. While trying to figure out which answer was the correct one (it was the tour bus one) Ryan Jarman declared that if the answer had to do with the ostrich feather cloak, that would make Missy Elliot a ridiculous human being. So there, that's the origin of my favourite phrase to describe myself and most pop stars. Every time I say that phrase in my head I hear Ryan Jarman's voice. Anyway, onto the posting of things.
A friend of mine recently got into Mika's new album, much to my joy and happiness. And, like any sane person, the first song she really got into was "We Are Golden" (because that's what sane people do.) On her blog, when telling the world of her love of that song, she decided to embed a YouTube video of just the audio track because the actual video of the song was too fabulous for her. I wanted to point out that all of Mika's videos are fabulous, but decided against because I didn't want to explode her brain. However, I do feel the need to post the video for his new single before Thanksgiving break starts (aka before my last show) because I think it's the most ridiculous thing I've seen, save for the video for Bad Romance but really Lady Gaga is just her own category of ridiculous. So, in conclusion, Mika and Lady Gaga are both ridiculous human beings. As am I. Enjoy**.
Rain (with spiders!!!***)

*This entire section was done from memory which either means a) I've watched that episode way too many times or b) some of the information might be incorrect. I'm going to watch the epi. later and will tell you which it is.
**People need to tell him to stop dancing, or give him some proper choreography. My brain can't take much more, eventually it will explode. 0_0
***Oh "Vienna," you never fail to amuse me. Also, no spiders, just...watch the video.

I'm Becoming More Fabulous By the Day

Somewhere deep inside of me lives a three year old exhibitionist. Due to social norms and other things, that exhibitionist doesn't get out very much. However, when it grows up it wants to be Karen O. For now it will just have to revel in the glory of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance video. For it is spectacular. I'm not a huge fan of Lady Gaga's music, but I respect her outlandish fashion sensibilities and blatant referencing of the Mighty Boosh. That's it. I have another blog to update and will hopefully be getting to bed early so I can wake up early. We shall see. Until then, don't panic.

What? Okay I'll Update...

It started raining on Wednesday, which is my excuse for not updating for over a week. The rain and cold made me sad, and not much happened. Not a lot has happened in the past few days to really warrant an update. There was new Doctor Who, but mostly it just made me excited for the series two-part finale. Hurrah for crazy John Simm. I watched a lot of BBC/movie adaptations of Jane Austen novels (Emma, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice.) Didn't nearly fall asleep during my radio show, but did have it on shuffle, which always makes me feel slightly guilty, but on the other hand I am essentially lazy so...yeah. Stephen Fry was on Bones which made me exceedingly happy, but then it was all dark and cold so the happiness didn't last for very long. Went out to dinner on Friday with some music major peoples which was fun and quite nummy. Bemoaned to Ana that I don't need a preview of British weather two months in advance, that I'll get use to it when I'm there. Saturday was Jane Austen day/complain to my sister about how frustrating my room mate can be at times. Sunday I worked on the analysis paper that was due today, mainly by transcribing into Finale the piano reduction from the adagio movement of Mozart's Concerto for Clarinet. I finally finished the entire transcription this morning, but somehow managed to finish the paper at a reasonable time last night. There was a pre-departure orientation for study abroad which was when I wrote a large chunk of my analysis paper because I know not to act like a dumb American and more about British culture than I really should. Thank you panel shows. Then there was DW which as I said before just made me excited for the Christmas/New Year's specials because I <3 crazy!John Simm. I also bought beer, some of which I plan on consuming tonight, something I've not done since I turned 21 (the buying part, not the consuming. I've consumed.) There's another analysis paper due next Monday but I'm far less concerned about that mainly because it's not due until Monday and I've already done the heavy lifting (Forte analysis). I also have a chorus concert this Sunday, but again less concerned with that because it's not until Sunday. Oh procrastination, what have you done to me? So that's it. I'll update when something happens.

Two More Things

Extra Credit Bullet Points:

• After watching "Love Today," and "Grace Kelly" two billion times (each) I've decided that Mika should give smeyes-ing* lessons to the next cycle of models on ANTM. It would ridiculous and therefore hilarious. And I'd die from squeeing so hard.
• I've made it my mission to have at least one video in my collection for each letter of the alphabet. Thus far I have videos for a, b, c, e, f, g h, i, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, u, v, w, and z (aka most of the them.) So if any of you, my loyal readers can come up with videos for the missing letters, that would much appreciated.

*smeyes - To smile with one's eyes, as coined by Tyra Banks on America's Next Top Model.

I Like Bullet Points

And men who dance around in their underwear.

• In effort to explain Mika to my music history teacher, here's what I came up with: David Bowie if he had only listened to ABBA. She said that was a disturbing thing to think about so I tried, in vain, to give a better description. Then Stephanie mentioned "Big Girls (You Are Beautiful)" and all hope was lost. Related Edit: My sister's description of Mika: Like Queen, but gayer. Oh how I love my sister.
• I will never eat Doritos again because of a weird phenomena of classical conditioning. Thanks 6th grade day trip to Philadelphia!
• My brain failed me on Wednesday. I'm still mad at it.
• Everything I know I learned from TV, music, or movies. And books. But mostly TV and movies.
• I've been so tired the past few days. I actually went to bed at 10pm last night. I'm still tired, but I just watched "We Are Golden" so that's given me enough energy to write.
• Off With Their Heads spontaneously reached Silver Listener badge-dom yesterday much to my surprise. I find this whole system amusing, but I'll try not to write about it too often in the future.
• When I grow up I want to be Karen O, or at least have her hair.
• Glitter is a wonderful thing.
• In music history yesterday we spent a large chunk of the class trying to pin point what makes something funny. We watched a Monty Python clip ("How Not To Be Seen") and Tristram Shandy was mentioned. Best music history class ever.

In a perfect world I would go to bed now. Sadly I have theory soon and then my second to last psych experiment, so no sleep anytime soon. Maybe later.

A Break in Analysis

The reason I like the Forte analysis system is the same reason I like pop music: It's succinct*. If a grouping of notes (a cell) aren't in the Forte chart, it doesn't exist as a cell. Unlike with late 18th/19th century music, there's no question as to what something is. If you can't find it in the chart, then you screwed up and need to re-do the math. With late 18th/19th century analysis there are about fifty different options for every chord. It could be an augmented 6th, it could be a seventh diminished, so on and so forth. I prefer to listening late 18th/19th century music, but if I had to choose between Forte analysis of a piece by Stravinsky and Roman numeral analysis of a piece by Chopin, I would pick Stravinsky in a heartbeat (in fact I'm sorely tempted to analyse this piece by Stravinsky that I played in high school, but that's way beside the point.) It's like if I had to choose between only listening to classical music or only listening to pop music. I would choose pop music because it's to the point, just like the Forte system. No hemming or hawing. It is what it is and that's why I like the Forte system of analysis.
And now, half an hour of solitaire and back to counting semi-tones.

*Obviously not all pop music is succinct. But really the longer songs in the pop catalogue are actually rock and therefore don't count. I'm looking at you Lyndard Skynard/Led Zepplin.

Issues

For some reason I thought that once I got into Westminster, if I got in, everything would be easy. I didn't think about all the paperwork that goes into travelling and studying in a foreign country, nor did I think about all the bureaucratic hoops I would have to jump through (because there are always hoops) to even get to point where I could go abroad. I just thought once I got in everything else would fall in place. As I sit here with a half written email to the head of the business department, I'm realizing how wrong I was.
The process for applying for a visa makes no sense. The UK Border Agency's website is convoluted but I'm semi-loathe to put off applying for a visa until December because that feels like I'm cutting it too close. On the other hand IAS seems to be of no help because they're information on applying and acquiring a visa to the UK isn't up to date (though the UK's new system is really f-ing confusing and the changes have to do with continental Europeans living and working in the UK illegally and trying to root those people out). So either I apply for a visa over Thanksgiving break or try and suss out how to do it all by my lonesome. Issue 1.
After talking to Dr. Long and IAS it seems that two of the course I'm trying to get approval for work best as general electives under the business department. Thing is I've never taken a business class and wouldn't know the chair of the business department if he smacked me on the butt (though that would be well creepy.) So I'm sat here trying to write an email to this person I don't know to set up some time to get these two courses approved. I hate writing emails like this. I never know where the line between formal enough and not formal enough is and therefore I get hopelessly stuck trying to come up with a formal version of what I'd really like to say (please see me tomorrow so I can get these courses approved thank you.) I hate doing this with professors I do know, so writing one of these is like ten times worse because it's to someone I don't know the person I'm writing to and he doesn't know me. It always helps if the person knows me because then my inability to write is made up for by my nice personality and the like. Issue 2.
It's almost fucking November. When the hell did that happen? It doesn't feel like it was all that long ago that I was working on my demos and fretting over my lack of a Zune. Obviously it's been quite a long while since September, but really, what happened to October? Where did that month go and how can I get it back? I'm not ready for the end of the semester. The end of the semester means that London is really happening and I'm not ready for that either. I need more time to bask in the glow of my acceptance. Also I'm not ready for finals or any of that other crap. So please, can I have October back now? Issue 3.
That's it. I need more time to process everything and get everything done (finished the email, but yeah...still a valid point.) And of course it's raining, but at least I have wellies. And now I'm going to go hide under a rock until the semester is done. And listen to happy music.

Incomplete Sentences and Bullet Points

Because I just can't be arsed to write a proper entry. I used up all my motivation yesterday with that review, so today you get bullet points. :raspberry:

• Before I dropped my Zune in the toilet, I had no videos. Then I a) discovered Mika and b) discovered that 80GB is a lot. Now I have almost all of Mika's videos, plus 1 video each from the following artists: La Roux, the Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Kaiser Chiefs, Patrick Wolf, Franz Ferdinand, OK Go, and The Cribs. That's right I went from zero to fifteen! I'm so proud of myself.
• Weird thing that I do that you wouldn't know I was doing if I didn't tell you: On the stairs to Pollard, the ones I walk down I do in tempo with whatever song I'm listening to. Today it was "Love Today" and I walked the sixteenth note. I was super impressed with myself, but you'd never know I was doing that if I didn't tell you. Yes, I am that big of a geek.
• I realized during skills on Tuesday that as excited as I am about getting into Westminster now by January I'm going to be freaking the fuck out. Like literally. I can imagine, right now, when I get to the dorm I'm staying in I'm going to be a nervous, crying wreck. It's going to be amazing.
• The best part of Dollhouse is when Eliza Dushku isn't on screen. However Firefly is by far Joss Whedon's best show. And my ex is an idiot when it comes to practical obvious crap. [That last bit was in no way related to Joss Whedon, more just saying something else that's fairly obvious.]
• When the ex found out I was studying in London his first reaction was "I hate you." His second reaction was to state "You're going to stalk David Tennant." I told him that no, there are other people I would rather stalk :cough:Mika:cough: and something I thought of later: There's no guarantee that David Tennant even spends all of his time in London. He is Scottish ya know.
• Two of my classes for next semester might get transferred in as business electives. This is the only time I plan on taking any kind of business related class ever. I just find that really amusing. More amusing was Dr. Long's description of them: "They sound good." Yes Dr. Long, they are good.
• Watching the certain music videos without sound are still entertaining, especially if the alternative is John Doe. 0_0

That's it. Until next time, don't panic.

La Roux Is Definitely Into The Boy Who Knew Too Much

There is something to be said for good sugar pop (as a fellow radio colleague called it). As I've said in the past, writing a good hit-worthy pop song is not easy task, something that far too many people don't seem to appreciate. However so much of sugar pop is disregarded as fluff while more "artistic" bands and artists are lauded over while the writers of pop songs are ignored and pop stars left for rehab (or worse.) Every once in while though, sugar pop should be, or at least deserves to be, reviewed and treated the same way its more respected musical categories are treated.

When Life in Cartoon was released in 2007, I had no idea it had been released. I had never heard "Grace Kelly" (or for that matter "Relax (Take It Easy)") and was quick to hop on the bandwagon of slagging off Mika for the pleasure of making fun of someone who was in competition with my favourite band, Kaiser Chiefs. So when I stumbled upon the fact that Mika had released a new album and single I saw an opportune moment to take up the mockery once again on my radio show (since that's what I do and most of the original mockery had occurred well before I had a radio show.) I stuck "We Are Golden" towards the end my show and didn't really bother to give it a listen. [It should be noted that in the previous weeks and months I had given my self unto the wonderful joy that is brought about when listening to Barry Manilow, Queen, and the Scissor Sisters* so my state of mind was in a good place to accept what I'm going to describe next. It's amazing what listening to the Scissor Sisters repeatedly will do to one's point of view.] In the course of broadcasting my show and subsequently having actually listen to "We Are Golden" I found out something about Mika: He knows how to write a really infectious pop song. A trained musician (with some of that training having happened at the Royal College of Music) Mika knows how to effortlessly incorporate the musical trickery of the Western European tradition into the format of your standard pop song. But what's slightly more impressive (at least in my mind) is his further incorporation of his falsetto range, which he manages to do without falling into the Darkness trap of using it just for shits and giggles or as some odd way of showing off (something can't be said for his first album, which does sometimes fall into that trap more than once.) The best sugar pop sound effortless and simple while being actually much more complex on the page. The Boy Who Knew Too Much, the majority of which was written by Mika, does just that while also showing the kind of musical growth you would expect of an artist who is so clearly influenced by glam rock and elector/glam pop**.
Recommended Tracks: The whole damn thing except for maybe "I See You." But even that's tentative, so just the whole damn thing.

The self-titled debut album from British techno pop group La Roux starts off promisingly enough. The first half of the album sounds like a throwback to the early 80's when drum machines and synthesizers ruled the airwaves*** but with enough gloss to show that it was written and recording in the 00's. Although a clear line could be made between between La Roux and many of the early new wave band what makes La Roux distinctive, at least for the first half of the album, is Elly Jackson's vocals. While in many of the songs Ms. Jackson tends to let herself settle into her breathy upper range, the moments when she goes back into the lower part of her range (which in my opinion is the stronger part) a needed grittiness is added to the songs. Unfortunately after "I'm Not You're Toy" the album lapses into a repetitive cycle of broken hearts and thin textured techno beats. With time and more maturity La Roux could quite possibly be an excellent band. La Roux defintely shows that the band has that potential and it's a good album. It's just not brilliant.
Recommended Tracks: "Tigerlily," "Bulletproof," "I'm Not You're Toy," "Armour Love."
Album Grades: The Boy Who Knew Too Much: B+; La Roux: C+

On a minor side note, I just checked how many listens Mika has according to Zune. It's 930, which means that, as I predicted, Mika will be the next artist to get a Silver listener badge thingy. Also, Zune has the "Blame It On the Girls" video. I really need to get a life and soon.

*I'm not trying to assert that these three are in any way related. They're all just very dramatic and bombastic. I would never equate Queen to Barry Manilow, I'm not thick.
**I don't think glam pop is an actual pop music sub-category, but it's the best descriptor I could come up with for most of the music heard on The Boy Who Knew Too Much. However if its, go me!
***Ultravox is what I'm thinking of. And yes, they didn't rule the American airwaves, but La Roux isn't from the US, so that's okay.