Nightmare Revisited

Every few years Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, and team see it fit to re-issue "The Nightmare Before Christmas" soundtrack, and add a bonus CD with covers of all the song by current artists. This year was one of those years!

"The Nightmare Before Christmas" really is a classic. It was a movie that was ahead of it's time in stop motion animation technology. Not to mention it had an amazing score/soundtrack written and composed by master of movie music Danny Elfman.

The music is really what made the movie so magnificent. More than a decade later people still line up yearly to see the movie in theatres (in 3D), and kids (and adults too) sing along with the great songs.

Nightmare Revisited takes today's artists and gives us the songs we loved from the movie, with a twist.



The Track list
Coupled By My Opinion Of Each Song


1.Overture-DeVotchKa
[This track really got me. It's quite the opening. The style is almost Cirque Du Soleil. Very circus. An absolutely wonderful start to the CD!]

2.Opening-Danny Elfman
[This isn't that different than the original which was narrated by actor Patrick Stewart. I do think that Danny's voice has a very neat sound to it though, especially since he did Jack's vocals in the original]

3.This Is Halloween-Marilyn Manson
[Definitely a Manson track. Creepy as ever. Has some techno undertones, but sticks with the goth sound that Marilyn does so well.]

4.Jack's Lament-The All-American Rejects
[This isn't my favorite track, by any means. Tyson's voice seems a bit whiny for the song...not as good as it could have been.]

5.Doctor Finklestien/In The forest-Amiina
[This was really nice. There's a slightly Asian backbone to the song, and I love the deep strings (Bass I think?) that keep the beat. It also has a music box feel.]

6.What's This?-Flyleaf
[One of my favorite tracks on the CD. Flyleaf did an amazing job. The song is quite a bit slower and more melancholy than the original (and definitely more so than Fall Out Boy's cover from the last special edition!). Lacey's voice really shines in this song.]

7.Town Meeting Song-The Polyphonic Spree
[The beginning of this song was really cool, futuristic! Lol. Almost David Bowie's Space Oddity sounding. Actually, the whole song had a Bowie-esque sound to it. I liked how they changed the vocal melody...it's like a completely new song. Towards the middle it gets a bit Broadway sounding. It's really something new.]

8.Jack and Sally Montage-The Vitamin String Quartet
[Exactly the excellence you'd expect of Vitamin. Beautiful strings. I could listen to this over and over.]

9.Jack's Obsession-Sparklehorse
[Falsetto. That really sums it up lol. I will say though that the acoustic guitar is quite beautiful, as well as the vocal melody, which like in The Town Meeting Song was changed. There's the faint hint of something that could be a lullaby, maybe.]

10.Kidnap The Sandy Claws-Korn
[Classic Korn. Creepy, strange vocalizations, the whole nine yards.]

11.Making Christmas-Rise Against
[Love the electric guitar opening! And being a Rise Against fan, I'm kinda biased, but I'll say that I really liked this. Very hard-core. Love it.]

12.Nabbed-Yoshida Brothers
[Done in a very beautiful classical Japanese style, with a techno/dance twist. Really great.]

13.Oogie Boogie's Song-Bordrigo y Gabriella
[Spanish! It has that wonderful acoustic guitar flair you get from Spanish flamenco music.
This is the first track on the CD that takes a song that originally had vocals and made it instrumental.]

14.Sally's Song-Amy Lee
[What can I say other than gorgeous when describing Amy's voice? She just owned this song. It's haunting. I love the extra Goth she added to the song. Absolutely amazing, brilliant, beautiful!]

15.Christmas Eve Montage-Rjd2
[Electro. Fun. Christmas with it's own neat little spin. All I can say is it's way fun to listen to, and you can definitely dance to it!]

16.Poor Jack-Plain White T's
[I liked this one. Tom's voice really complimented the song, it's not very unlike the original Elfman version. This song really shows a side of Tom's voice I've never heard, he has quite a range. This exceeded my expectations. Really a good song.]

17.To The Rescue-Datarock
[More electro, techno, synth-pop, whatever-you-wanna-call-it. I'm also a Datarock fan, and I can say they did quite the job on this instrumental piece. Fun stuff.]

18.Finale/Reprise-Shiny Toy Guns
[I love how it starts with a almost "broken carousel" version of "Here Comes Santa Clause" with the guys in the band creepily whispering "la-la-la-la". Then it goes hard-core on us. They even through in a few "Phantom" style organ chords. Another curve, it turns into a very pretty ballad, with church style organs. Again, vocal melodies have been changed, but it's all for the better. The song is really great.]

19.Closing-Danny Elfman
[Same as opening really. Just the original piece narrated by Elfman instead of Stewart]

20.End Title-The Album Leaf
[A very clam, pretty, instrumental end to the CD. Kinda makes me that warm kind of sleepy when I hear it.]



Anyway, it's a great album with surprises around every corner. Be sure to get a listen! Truly a great album, and definitely the best so-far of the Nightmare remakes.

I'm going to share one of (because there's no possible way to fit all of them!) my favorite tracks, Flyleaf's version of "What's This?.

Enjoy!





What's This?-Flyleaf


Lyrics

What's this? What's this?
There's color everywhere
What's this?
There's white things in the air
What's this?
I can't believe my eyes
I must be dreaming
Wake up, Jack, this isn't fair
What's this?

What's this? What's this?
There's something very wrong
What's this?
There's people singing songs

What's this?
The streets are lined with
Little creatures laughing
Everybody seems so happy
Have I possibly gone daffy?
What is this?
What's this?

There's children throwing snowballs
instead of throwing heads
They're busy building toys
And absolutely no one's dead

There's frost on every window
Oh, I can't believe my eyes
And in my bones I feel the warmth
That's coming from inside

Oh, look
What's this?
They're hanging mistletoe, they kiss
Why that looks so unique, inspired
They're gathering around to hear a story
Roasting chestnuts on a fire
What's this?

What's this?
In here they've got a little tree, how queer
And who would ever think
And why?

They're covering it with tiny little things
They've got electric lights on strings
And there's a smile on everyone
So, now, correct me if I'm wrong
This looks like fun
This looks like fun
Oh, could it be I got my wish?
What's this?

Oh my, what now?
The children are asleep
But look, there's nothing underneath
No ghouls, no witches here to scream and scare them
Or ensnare them, only little cozy things
Secure them in their dreamland...

What's this?

The monsters are all missing
And the nightmares can't be found
And in their place there seems to be
Good feeling all around

Instead of screams, I swear
I can hear music in the air
The smell of cakes and pies
are absolutely everywhere

The sights, the sounds
They're everywhere and all around
I've never felt this good before
This empty place inside of me has been filling up
I simply cannot get enough

I want it, oh, I want it
Oh, I want it for my own
I've got to know
I've got to know
What is this place that I have found?
What is this?

Kremlin Dusk

It seems that I've been contributing a lot of dance/electro style music to the site lately, and in realizing that I'm amazed that I haven't shared this song yet, or this artist for that matter.

Utada Hikaru is a multi-national artist, recording both here and in Japan. She was born in New York, and grew up speaking both languages (English and Japanese), thus perfecting both dialects. So when she sings in English it's clear, and when she sings in Japanese it clear. But her pronunciation isn't the only thing that's clear! Her voice is wonderful. She has a clear, full, voice with an amazing range.

She's best known in the US for her contributions to the Kingdom Hearts video games soundtracks. Especially her song Simple and Clean. What many people don't know is that she has released many albums both her and in Japan, the styles of her albums reaching from rock to dance to R&B.

Kremlin Dusk is my favorite of her songs. There's something about how she sings this, her heart goes into it. The melody is soft, starting with a slightly melancholy tone to it. Then it slowly builds into something more forceful.
Her voice soars to this beautiful note as she sings the ends of the phrases.

The lyrics have this longing to them. . .a beautiful longing though.

Enjoy.

Kremlin Dusk-Utada Hikaru


All along I was searching for my Lenore
In the words of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe
Now I'm sober and "Nevermore"
Will the Raven come to bother me at home.

Calling you, calling you home
You. . .calling you, calling you home

By the door you said you had to go
Couldn't help me any anymore
This I saw coming, long before
So I kept on staring out the window

Calling you, calling you home
You. . .calling you, calling you home

I am a natural entertainer, aren't we all
Holding pieces of dying ember
I'm just trying to remember who I can call
Who can I call

Home. . .calling you, calling you

I run a secret propaganda
Aren't we all hiding pieces of broken anger
I'm just trying to remember who I can call
Can I call

Born in a war of opposite attraction
It isn't, or is it a natural conception
Torn by the arms in opposite directions
It isn't, or is it a Modernist reaction

Born in a war of opposite attraction
It isn't, or is it a natural conception
Torn by the arms in opposite directions
It isn't, or is it a Modernist reaction

Is it like this
Is it always the same
When a heartache begins, is it like this
Do you like this
Is it always the same
Will you come back again
Do you like this

Is it always the same
Will you come back again
Do you like this
Oh, do you like this
Is it like this
Is it always the same
If you change your phone number, will you tell me

Is it like this
Is it always the same
When a heartache begins, is it like this
If you like this
Will you remember my name
Will you play it again, if you like this

My City Screams - Earning Respect The Right Way

This post will be unlike others on music.is.life. This band has no music videos for me to share. I've never heard a complete song by them, so I have no lyrics to share, either. I can't tell you to go out and purchase their album, because they dont have one. What I can share with you, readers of this blog, is a short tale about a guy I met who's just trying to make it work for he and his band.

I was at my local mall yesterday, casually wandering, headed for f.y.e to see what new albums may have come in stores. On my way I got stoppd by a guy I'd never seen before, with white gauges and a Social Distortion tee shirt. He asked me what kind of music I liked, if I listened to local music, and then explained that he was in a local, unsigned band and was going around the mall telling people about the band, trying to hook new listeners and fans. He pulled out an iPod and let me listen to some of their stuff. And I guess you can assume I iked what I heard; why else would I be talking about it on this site?
The guy (named Avery, as I discovered by checking out the band's MySpace the next day) compared their sound to Death Cab for Cutie, but I have to say I liked the sound of his band - My City Screams - much better. A mix of indie, electronic, and acoustics, the whole vibe of the tracks I heard were very, very cool. I could see myself listening to this stuff on a regular basis. I got a chance to listen to their "intro track" and their "single", neither of which I learned the title. I do know that the intro had an almost industrial-metal-meets-techno beat, and that the vocal melodies of their single were beautiful.
Avery explained that My City Screams was in the running against five other unsigned hopefuls to become one of three to open for Panic At The Disco at an upcoming show, and that he was selling My City Screams' first demo at the mall to fund such a gig, should his band be selected to open for Panic!. Regretfully, I didn't have the money on me at the time to purchase the demo. So, since I couldn't support this up-and-coming band with money, I thought the least I could do was spread word-of-mouth about them on my blog.
I'm extremelly happy to see a band actually working for the recognition they desired. In this day and age, it's odd to see something like what Avery was doing; a band actually making an honest effort to get the word out about their music. So many talentless artists these days are getting signed and then just hitching a ride on whatever gig their managers think up - often times drifting away from what they really wanted to do as artists in the first place. I'm proud of Avery for going out of his way to try and make this work for he and his band, and I wish My City Screams the best of luck with getting to open for Panic!. And believe me - that's one show I'd pay to see ;)

So, with no music videos, no lyrics, and no official band websites to share ... the only thing I can offer you, readers, is the link to My City Screams' MySpace. And my own word about this band's talents.

http://www.myspace.com/mycityscreamz

Keep an eye out for these guys; they may be the next great thing.

Ladytron

When I was going through my all-Freezepop faze I started looking into similar artists. Bands with synth-pop/techno sounds to them while still keeping a definite rock background. I stumbled across Ladytron in the process, and fell in love with their CD "Witching Hour". Specifically the song "Soft Power".

There's something about their sound, haunting, calming, beautiful. I loved Helen Marnie's vocals from the get-go. Very quiet, yet strong and elegant at the same time.
This album is incredibly easy to listen to, at any time. It's music that can be the background to anything, or can be intently listened to.

There's something about what they've done with the synth/electro genre that transcends genres, making the band simply "Ladytron" and harder to describe in words than just that. You really have to listen to them to get the full effect.

What I found so compelling about "Soft Power" was the whole downplay of the electro sound. It's there, and it's the whole backbone of the song, but it's hard to pinpoint. They've developed this sound that doesn't sound real. Something mythical it's quite great. The song really peaks at Helen's vocalization in the middle. That same calming/haunting sound I described earlier.

Really a wonderful band. Below is Ladytron performing "Soft Power" live in the studio.


Soft Power: