You're a sweetheart, Vaftrudner. Too kind, too kind.

Populist.

No songs for yesterday nor today? =(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6cZprEkSok

^ They played this on national radio today.

Just watched dubmdell's video - funny stuff!

I also thought it interesting that you pronounce the name as "argh-vuh", I've always thought it in my head as "ay-ver"

Sarg, I kind of hear what you're getting at with my pronunciation. I hadn't heard that before! Interesting the sounds we make without realizing, yes?

Like, your name is to be pronounced something like "Sarg mah her," yes?

Thanks for sharing that insight. I googled the pronunciation of Ava and both AY-vuh and ah-vah are acceptable. So I guess in the future I should check with whomever I am writing a song for about pronunciation, hm? =)

Yeah, people often think my name is 'Serg' as in 'Sergeant' but it's more like 'Saag' as in the Indian word for spinach. My name is German.

I always think of your name in my head as "dub'em'dell".

At least we all know how to say names like 'President Eden' and 'Lando Calrissian' correctly. Something I think I should have picked a more phonic name.

Zergmacher, the king of Starcraft

Zestmaker, the king of lemons.

Vaftmacher, the genetic engineering experiment gone horribly, horribly wrong.

dubmacher, the king of... dubstep? =P

@Sarg, ah, thank you for the explanation. I was leaning towards a German pronunciation in my mind. Thanks for confirming!
And very good on separating out my name. It is dub''m''dell, as you have suggested. =)

So Vafty, when are we getting another song of the day??

DAY 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbJ63spk48s
Venetian Snares - Hajnal

Time to get challenging on your asses. Venetian Snares is not a band, but one single bipolar, ADD-afflicted genius of an electronic musician. Breakcore is a development of hardcore/jungle/drill'n'bass/IDM, whatever you want to call it, where the focus is on speed, intensity and impossible beats. The genre has the same problem as extreme forms of metal, being bro-ish and stupid, only made for humour or shock value with no real intelligence. Venetian Snares reinvented the genre, not only by taking it further than anyone else in his complete disregard for structure and time signatures, but also by combining it with minimalism, glitch and modern art music.

This particular song comes from the album Rossz csillag alatt született, an album that is both an orgasm of creativity and a tribute to great Hungarian composers. The songs intertwine samples of these composers, as well as some other classics, remixed and rearranged, with jazz and brilliant bursts of insane breakcore. I was a bit hesitant to recommend this song, because it doesn't really start until 3:30, but fuck it, it's the best one and if you can't have a little patience, get out of my thread!

fiedler, sorry, missed your post! Hadn't heard that one before, but it's in the vein of other Swedish singer/songwriters from the 70s and 80s. A good song. What nation was it played in, if I may ask?

ahah! Glad you likey. Twas broadcast on Radio New Zealand.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national

It's a swedish version of an english language parody of irish folk songs, by Tom Lehrer, a yankee. Btw all his other songs kinda suck it.

If I'm feeling brave I might have a listen to your 'electronic music' link
:P

Do. Makes acoustic music feel like stone age crap for 7 minutes.

And why that showed up in New Zealand is an utter mystery to me. Wikipedia tells me a grand total of 1257 people identified as having a Swedish legacy in a 2006 census. I haven't heard the original parody, but this one in Swedish was pretty funny. And gory.

Hey not bad. It's not really very happy music is it? :)

"And why that showed up in New Zealand is an utter mystery to me."
- it was on a quirky radioshow called Matinee Idle that plays on public holidays.

The best music never is :)

Time to stop being challenging and just dance.

DAY 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3FPGGZHQZ0
The Whitest Boy Alive - Don't Give Up

TWBA, fronted by Øye from Kings of Convenience, started as an electronic dance group, but has since evolved into more of an indie pop band with a strong electronic element. Their albums are very hit-and-miss, the songs often feel bland and unimaginative, but the occasional nuggets more than make up for it. This song is TWBA at their best. A simultaneously sad and uplifting song with a beautiful melody, building itself up from its bare-bones beginning to a subdued climax. To quote the Kings of Convenience debut, quiet is the new loud. Their restraint, even in emotional statements, grabs your attention and gives it a slick but not artificial elegance.

One thing I'd like all mainstream producers to learn from songs like this is how it subtly evolves, intertwining electronic sounds with acoustic instruments, increasing in complexity and resonance all through the song, before tying it all back at the end. I hate hearing a song that could be four seconds long without losing any of its content. It also makes me sad when the lyrics are just plastered on without the music interacting and reacting to them. I want some fucking emotion in my music, or at least some sense that you care about it.

It's rhythmic enough that it sort of encapsulates the mind, protecting it from other noise. I could work to this. Of course, the music nor vocals are so overpowering that they demand one's attention. I agree about the increasing complexity. That is nice, but again, it was not arresting. This is the sort of music I studied to in my former years because the vocals were present but the focus, and so the vocal became another instrument rather than the star, so to speak.

Lyrically, it reminded me of this Avett Brothers song, although they have a very different approach to emotion in singing and the music itself is more woeful. I apologize that there is not a version posted without a crappy video attached.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVtkOUJhpcA

All in all, TWBA's "Don't Give Up" isn't my favorite of the Vafty's songs of the day series, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. =)

Keep 'em coming, friend!

Thanks for your comment dubmdell. Yes, it can be a bit sleep-inducing when the music is so subdued, and I often keep TWBA in the background when playing games or studying. They're good enough to be stimulating, while not so good that you lose attention in what you're doing. This particular song really catches me every time I listen to it, though.

Pretty good song by the Avett Brothers by the way, but I don't really see the connection in anything except the low intensity :)

Speaking of Swedes and music, I just bought my concert tix for Roxette.

Ah, fuck it. It's already Friday in Bangkok. The Hanged Man just gave me an urge to show what else Sweden has produced besides ABBA and Roxette. Scandinavia has of course also produced some of the world's best metal, but I'm not ready to jump into that pool yet, so I'll stick with pop stuff for now.

DAY 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzDzJDfwtCo
Atomic Swing - Panicburgh City

When their debut album hit Sweden in 1993, Atomic Swing were instantly declared the greatest thing ever by unanimous critics. As a comparison, think about the Libertines in the UK or Arcade Fire in the US. This lasted all the way into 1994, when they started sucking, and only the Japanese fans remained loyal. But their first album is still one of the best things recorded in Sweden. I don't know if it reached the US and the rest of Europe, so I'm highlighting it here.

Atomic Swing were the brainchild of Niclas Frisk, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He had his roots in the progressive Swedish rock of the '70s, and even though Atomic Swing is pure guitar-driven pop, the influences shine through constantly. The oddly fuzzy and creative guitarwork, the sometimes weird chord progressions, the changes in mood all come from his progressive past and gives his music a texture and depth that contemporaries like Roxette could only dream about.

This is the first song on the debut album, A Car Crash in the Blue, and a good introduction. It's not the best song however, Stone Me into the Groove is. I could not find a good version on Youtube though, everything was live or had awful quality. But you should all check it out. Yes, Vaft's thread now has homework. Get to it, you lazy bums!

Frisk's voice in Panicburgh City reminds me of Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse. Poking around re Frisk led me to Vanessa and the O's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcA2CsB5TYs I dig the French female lead singers like Nouvelle Vague.

Hey, you forgot about the Cardigans.

It's easy to hear Frisk in that song, but it wasn't terribly exciting. I wish female French pop singers could be a bit more ballsy, their female punk singers are off the hook. Tons of great anarcho-punk from over there if anyone's looking.