Today, Bjork:

While I might well have posted something from her in the past, I wanted to post this because I’ve been listening to Debut, her first significant US release, and it’s still pretty interesting on its own merits, outside of time period and context. The video is really weird, as you can see, but I find it interesting that Debut as a record is probably one of her tamer efforts. It’s also her least popular one as well; despite the fact that Bjork basically needed Debut as a record to get traction in the US market, it was the lowest ranked, chart-wise, in the US of all her records. Considering how hard it can be for some acts to keep themselves in the public eye, the fact that Bjork has managed to chart consistently for over two decades in the US is kind of impressive, even if she’s never been the kind of artist who generates multi-platinum records with but a touch.

On the other hand, one of her records, Volta, features her dressed up in a multi-colored soda bottle with feet on the cover, so really, why wouldn’t you buy that, if only because of perverse curiosity?

Today, Lifer:

Because I mentioned it yesterday, here’s the song in case you were curious.

Fun fact: this is not only uploaded to the band’s VEVO channel, it’s the only thing uploaded to their VEVO. It’s still an acceptable enough song, though I would note that time hasn’t been kind to it and it sounds kind of hokey in this day and age.

Today, Feint:

Admittedly, this came up while I was searching for an Eisbrecher song, and damned if it isn’t a surprisingly solid piece of work. I like the composition here; the progression from verse to chorus is surprisingly lively for what is a fairly simple track (structurally anyway), and the beat’s lively. It’s a song that makes you feel pretty good, honestly, and I like it quite a bit.

Today, Georgio Moroder:

I went with this song for two reasons.

First off, if you’re a fan of David Guetta and/or Daft Punk, it’s a good thing to see where those sounds came from, if you haven’t already. While the more devoted music fan out there will probably have heard this already, for the rest of you, Giorgio was a huge disco creator in the 70’s, and he inspired and created a significant amount of music, including much of the electronic music we love today. As such, it’s worth listening to if you haven’t, because you can see the influences in popular music of today, and you can see why Daft Punk respected the man enough to write an entire song about him, because he’s very talented, if nothing else.

Second off, if you’re a wrestling fan who doesn’t like Daft Punk or David Guetta, I wanted to post this to point out that you probably like Georgio Moroder, since this is the theme song of the Midnight Express and all, so maybe you should go back and give those acts another shot. Just a thought.

Today, David Guetta:

David Guetta is, logically speaking, the evolutionary next step in music from Daft Punk, so it’s not hard for me to understand why I like what he’s been doing with music for the past few years. Our favorite bands eventually fall into their patterns because mental plasticity eventually fades and artists stop growing, but new artists who’ve learned from those favorites growing up will take away lessons (good and bad) from those acts and bring them into new music to do something evolved, but familiar. Alice Cooper inspired Marilyn Manson, Madonna inspired Lady Gaga, and so on, and it’s not hard to trace the lines and see how the things we loved inspired the things that exist now. Georgio Moroder inspired Daft Punk, and Daft Punk inspired David Guetta, and as I appreciate one, so do I appreciate the next.

Also, when Guetta works with Nikki Minaj he manages to keep her focused in a way she rarely is in her own music, and I respect the hell out of that.

Today, 30 Seconds to Mars:

I know that most people jumped on with 30 Seconds to Mars with either A Beautiful Lie or This is War, but for me, their self-titled debut record was the best. Part of this is because it sounds like something different, while their later records kind of sounded more consistent with the standard expectations of popular rock of the time. A much bigger part of it, though, is because it had a very specific execution to it that gave it a very otherworldly feel, like Jared Leto and company were trying to create a sci-fi rock opera of sorts. It’s hard to really put it into words, but basically, when the band was taking their name and trying to make it mean something in context, I loved it, but when later records just kind of became… “normal” I think, the band lost me.

To put it another way, I was absolutely on-board with the band when they sounded like an intellectually challenging, musically complex band, but now that they sound like The Killers, I’ve lost interest. As such, while you might have a good or bad opinion of the band as they are now, I recommend the above track, because it’s so different from what you’re likely used to from them, and it’s rather good.