More, more, more (but that song's not here)

Ah, well, the music's a callin' and I'm a comin', also I'm chronically short on time, and while by no means short on ideas I am comically only able to access those ideas when I don't feel like writing them down. Or maybe scrap all that, and stick with Music=Awesome, Rand=Awesome, therefore Rand=Music.

1. Absolutely (Story of a Girl) by Nine Days - From the album The Madding Crowd - Although I'm not fond of that album name, I absolutely love this song (you get it, absolutely love, eh, never mind). I suppose it has something to do with the fact that guys love tragic girls, they bring out protection instincts, admiration instincts, sympathy instincts, etc. + it ends with her smiling, and a girl's smile always has a special charm for a heart of a guy.

Lyrics

Nine Day's video - An awesome video, but very odd if you think about it. I suppose it speaks to skill of the director to make the oddness of the video fit the song. Until the end, we may find the images strange, but they all tell the story of a girl.

Absolutely (A Story of a Girl) AMV - anime - His and Her Circumstances - Now, first of all, the fact that I like this anime does suggest that I am actually a girl, but no I'm not, I'm just a guy who likes shojo. But beyond that, what's nice about this AMV is how it takes just the weirdness and problems of the girl star of His and Her Circumstances and make it fit the song even though her story, even as depicted in the video doesn't objectively match the story of the song, still the video makes it feel like they match.

2. Bad Touch by The Bloodhound Gang - From the album Hooray for Boobies - Now I believe sex belongs in marriage and I believe this song, while not explicit on the matter, believes everything but that, still it rocks immensely.

Lyrics

The Bloodhound Gang's video - This video makes no sense on so many levels, for so many reasons.

Bad Touch AMV - anime - FLCL - Given that the title of this anime means "Grab the Boobies," it seems like a good fit. And the video does not disappoint since it keeps everything moving and moving insanely, with a dark undertone which fits perfectly with the song, after all it is a Bad Touch.

3. Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz - From the album Gorillaz - Are you questioning the awesomeness of this song? ARE YOU questioning the awesomeness of THIS SONG? For shame, for shame.

Lyrics - This is one of those great songs for rapping it yourself, again and again, till you have managed the lyrics to the extent that it has become a federal offense.

The Gorillaz music video - This was my first exposure to Gorillaz, and it taught me to love the band and always fear zombie ape attacks.

Clint Eastwood AMV - anime - Cowboy Bebop - It's hard to go wrong with a Cowboy Bebop AMV, although it is possible. But this nicely matches the soft parts of this song with some nice fight scenes of Spike, which work especially well, given the water-based fighting tactics of Spike (read a little about Bruce Lee to see what I mean), while matching the aggressive rapping with Ed, who's as funkier than any ghost could possibly be.

4. Meet Virginia by Train - From the album Train - I have never been fond of the use of a band's name as an album title, but let that not detract from this song. It's beauty is like the beauty it describes, a little bit off, a little bit confusing, a little bit less than it could be at times, but in the end, simply wonderful.

Lyrics

Train's video - a nice soft-moving, self-explanatory video, nothing wrong with that.

Meet Virginia AMV - anime - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - There are a couple missteps to this video, like starting out with the girl showing her bra in a video talking about an unconventional beauty (although that could be said to be unconventional, and the unconventionalness of the girl is established with most of the video). But this video is amazingly edited. It represents in some ways a different level of technical skill than is usually seen in AMVs, that said, technical skill cannot replace skillful matching of video and music (although it can enhance it), and fortunately this AMV does just that. It does it in fact well enough that I decided to check out the anime (I hadn't seen it before, but from the episodes I've seen it's pretty cool, and hilariously funny, Haruhi's got gumption, as another gumption-haver, how can I not love her?).

5. Closing Time by Semisonic - From the album Feeling Strangely Fine - The reason for picking this song to end with is not strange, because as this sentence itself suggests I am immensely corny. But the reason for using this song instead of not using it is a matter of quality, and of the resigned (or perhaps satisfied) longing of the song.

Lyrics

Semisonic's video - See, I told you! Longing.

Closing Time AMV - anime - Love Hina - What does this AMV have to do with closing time? Well, I suppose, it's you know end of the day, and there's that one scene, and... Well, it doesn't have to have anything to do with closing time, in fact given that closing time is only the song's literal meaning and just using that would be lame, it's good it doesn't have anything to do with closing time. Instead, it's about longing, the feeling of the video is matching the feeling of the song, and that's how it's supposed to be.

So gather up your jackets, move into the exits, I hope you have found a friend. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here. Actually you can, and since you're probably reading this from home, your trip home isn't going to take you very long, but anywho... Just remember, a little lyrical longing ain't a bad thing, just don't let it swallow you whole.

So anyways, take it to your head, take it to your heart, and remember Rand rocks. Goodnight Folks!