sen_no_ongaku | Top fives, Part III

cute_fuzzy_evil:

Desserts:

While I certainly enjoy dessert, I really don't have that much of a sweet tooth...

1. Anything from Finale.
2. Tiramisu.
3. Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.
4. Bananas Foster.
5. Edy's Thin Mint Ice Cream.

I like ice cream a lot, though.

xclamationpt:

Composers:

I'll assume you mean classical, and other than myself.

1. Steve Reich

Our greatest living composer, I first encountered his music in 1996; a sampler CD in a magazine I bought had the opening of The Desert Music on it, and I was forced to purchase a full recording. I was blown away; nobody had told me that modern music (after Stravinsky) could have so much propulsive energy. I consider him a modern-day

2. J.S. Bach

Yes, I would sooner go without Bach than Reich. I'm most attracted to Bach's keyboard works, which is unsurprising, as I am a pianist. A former teacher of mine told me to consider every one of his works a dance; I'd say the same of Reich as well.

So we note that I'm very attracted to intricate counterpoint and a strong sense of pulse and rhythm.

3. Igor Stravinsky

The primitivist early years, anyway. I love Le Sacre du Printemps, Petrushka, and Svadebka for their excitement and...again...rhythmic energy. They're just So Fucking Badass. I can't really get into his Neoclassical or Serial periods much, with the occasional exception.

4. Michael Gordon

In the tradition of Reich, who was himself in the tradition of Bach and Stravinsky, is a movement uncomfortably named postminimalism, which I consider myself a part of. As in nearly all the music I really dig, physical impetus is key. And I think Weather, Tinge, and Light is Calling are proof that he's one of the best composers for strings around.

5. Olivier Messiaen

I love his harmonies, and the timbres of his piano music. My favorite pieces of his are about joy both spiritual and (I think) sexual, or the transcendence of the tyranny of death. In contrast to the above four composers, my favorite pieces of his are about the absolute negation of the physical.

If you did mean non-classical composers, I'd try to find a way to toss in Radiohead, XTC, The Beatles, and post-Barrett-pre-Waters's-departure Pink Floyd.

woobat:

'80s Songs:

Goddamn, this is a tough one to reduce to five. Do I go with quintessential '80s? Great dance songs? New Wave? Proto-goth? What about songs that were written in the '80s but aren't really associated with the era? I'll tend to stuff that's maybe a bit out of the way.

1. Blue Monday, New Order (Substance 1987 version)

At some risk, I admit that I consider this version of Blue Monday (and The Perfect Kiss, on the same album) symphonic in their structure. I've mentioned this album before as being, in retrospect, not unimportant to my compositional style.

2. Peek-a-Boo, Siousxie and the Banshees

Way, way sexy. Just...yeah. Sexy.

3. A Sort of Homecoming, U2

The first track on The Unforgettable Fire, which is mostly about death. I've heard it said that this album marked U2's real emergence as artists; I think it and Zooropa are their best albums. (And I think Lemon, off of Zooropa, is the most beautiful and moving song they've written.)

4. Forever Young, Alphaville (Dance Mix)

I think this is one of the best New Wave dance songs there is. And stupid iTunes doesn't have it.

5. Johnny & Mary, Robert Palmer

Palmer is, obviously, best known for pelvic-thrusty songs with videos that feature sexy-but-oddly-mannequinish women. No arguing with that. This song, though, is a quiet and lovely one about a woman who puts up with her husband's infidelities.

(last). Y Kant Tori Read.

Let's not talk about this.

It hurts not to include R.E.M.'s Near Wild Heaven, and A-Ha's Take On Me. Such is Liff.

Shout-outs to XTC, Kate Bush, Einstuerzende Neubauten, and Tom Waits -- all of whom, while they worked in the '80s, are too much themselves to include on this list.