What are you listening to?

• karo: the joys 
  July 17, 2010, 10:45:59 PM
• karo: I've been busy doing this Summer School for Access to Uni thing.  For the past week or two I have had at least one big essay per week(by big I mean 1500 words, so not massive but still a fair bit for a weekly essay) got one due Monday this week and another due Friday
  July 17, 2010, 10:45:46 PM
• E.Maree: That must have taken some organisation, wow. :O Mega congratulations!
  July 15, 2010, 09:24:08 PM
• Triss: We're hoping to make it an annual event since the first was pretty successful.
  July 02, 2010, 05:56:40 PM
• Triss: A group of us from the LARP society I'm part of decided to put on a role-playing convention, catering to roleplayers of all types from tabletop to LARP, so we got in a whole load of traders and people promoting their groups and stuff. There's quite a big, active RP community in the north-east, so we thought we'd tap into that. So 'Nerd East' was born!
  July 02, 2010, 05:56:13 PM
• E.Maree: Running a convention? Oooh, tell me more! :O
  June 27, 2010, 11:34:45 AM
• Triss: 'lo guys - I'm good, still busy, alternating between a degree and convention running. I didn't predict anything of this sort this time last year...
  June 25, 2010, 11:17:06 PM
• E.Maree: I think everyone's lives have taken a turn for the busier lately, I know mine has. xD How are you?
  June 22, 2010, 09:55:21 PM
• MysticSafewayBag: I have not been on here for a long time but I am very busy. It is my bastard degree; it takes up almost all of my time.
  June 16, 2010, 11:00:12 PM
• MysticSafewayBag: Hello.
  June 16, 2010, 10:59:49 PM
• E.Maree: Tightened up the anti-spam measures on the forum.
  May 31, 2010, 01:47:46 PM
• karo: we need to spark up activity again... hardly anyone comes on anymore...
  April 30, 2010, 01:40:19 PM
• E.Maree: Hi XGIANNIX, how are you?
  April 26, 2010, 09:27:37 PM
• XGIANNIX: E.Maree
  April 20, 2010, 01:34:32 PM
• XGIANNIX: euhmm hello
  April 20, 2010, 01:32:18 PM
• E.Maree: The new forum domain is now live, please change your bookmarks to emmamaree.com/forum.
  April 13, 2010, 11:42:03 AM
• E.Maree: I made a logo!
  April 06, 2010, 12:48:12 PM
• E.Maree: http://emmamaree.com/ is well along its way now. I'll have to move this place over soon. :O
  March 21, 2010, 10:38:08 PM
• E.Maree: Oh man, it's so cold around here, even with the snow gone. 
  January 22, 2010, 08:31:36 AM
• karo: thank you
  January 18, 2010, 05:43:17 PM

[Daveface]

The torrent I got wasssssss...

          1. 2Pac (Feat. Dr. Dre And Roger Troutman) - California Love (4:02)
          2. 2Pac - Keep ya head up (4:22)
          3. 2pac - Changes (4:29)
          4. 50 Cent - Gotta Make It To Heaven (4:01)
          5. 50 Cent - Hate It Or Love It Remix (feat g-unit) (4:23)
          6. 50 Cent - In Da Club (3:13)
          7. A Tribe Called Quest - Award Tour (3:46)
          8. A Tribe Called Quest - Can I kick It (4:12)
          9. Andre Nikatina - Ayo for Yayo (3:27)
          10. B Real, Busta Rhymes, Coolio, LL Cool J & Method Man - Hit 'em High (4:17)
          11. Birdman and Lil Wayne - Know What Im Doin (feat Rick Ross and T-Pain) (4:31)
          12. Birdman and Lil Wayne - Stuntin Like My Daddy (4:27)
          13. Blackstreet feat. Dr. Dre - No Diggity (5:04)
          14. Bone Thugs and Harmony - Fuck tha Police (5:05)
          15. Bone Thugs and Harmony - Thuggish Ruggish Bone (4:41)
          16. Busta Rhymes - Gimme Some More (2:39)
          17. Cage - Agent Orange (5:07)
          18. Chamillionaire - Industry Groupie (3:32)
          19. Cool & The Gang - Celebration (4:38)
          20. Cypress Hill - Hits From The Bong (2:41)
          21. Cypress Hill - Insane In The Brain (3:29)
          22. D12 - Fight Music (4:21)
          23. DJ Cool - Let Me Clear My Throat (4:51)
          24. DJ Format feat. Chali 2na & Akil - We Know Something (4:48)
          25. DJ Khaled - Brown Paper Bag (f. Jeezy, Juelz, Rick Ross, Wayne & Fat Joe) (4:53)
          26. DMX f. Drag - On, Jadakiss & Eve - Ruff Ryders Anthem (3:53)
          27. Dr. Dre & Eminem - Forgot About Dre (3:42)
          28. Dr. Dre - Fuck wit Dre Day (and everybodys celebratin) (4:51)
          29. Dr. Dre - Nuthin But a G Thang (3:58)
          30. Dr. Dre - Still D.R.E. (4:30)
          31. Dr. Dre - The Next Episode
          32. Dr. Dre - The Roach (the chonic outro)
          33. Dr. Dre - The Watcher
          34. Dr. Dre - What's The Difference
          35. Dr.Dre, Eminem, Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg & Xzibit - Bitch Please II
          36. Eminem - Criminal
          37. Eminem - Drug Ballad
          38. Eminem - Guilty Conscience
          39. Eminem - Kill You
          40. Eminem - Role Model (3:25)
          41. Eminem - Stan
          42. Fat Joe - Get It Poppin
          43. Fat Joe - Lean Back
          44. Geto Boys - G-Code
          45. Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five - The Message
          46. House of Pain - Jump Around
          47. Ice Cube - Amerikkka's Most Wanted
          48. Ice Cube - It was a good day
          49. Ice Cube - Pushin' Weight (Feat. Mr. Shokhop) (4:34)
          50. Immortal Technique - Dance With The Devil
          51. Jedi Mind Tricks - Animal Rap
          52. Jedi Mind Tricks - Blood In Blood Out (4:06)
          53. Kanye West - Diamonds From Sierra Leone (3:59)
          54. Kanye West - Hey Mama (5:05)
          55. Kriss Kross - Jump (3:16)
          56. Lil Wayne - Fireman (4:23)
          57. Lil Wayne - Hustler Musik (5:03)
          58. Lil Wayne - Make It Rain (feat. Trina) (2:48)
          59. Lil Wayne - Shooter (4:35)
          60. Lil' Troy - Wanna Be A Baller (5:55)
          61. Loyd Banks - On Fire (3:07)
          62. Ludacris - Area Codes (4:37)
          63. Luniz - I got 5 on It (4:04)
          64. M.O.P. - Ante Up Remix (Feat Busta Rhymes Teflon And Remy Marin) (3:33)
          65. Memphis Bleek - 534 (2:42)
          66. Method Man & Redman - Da Rockwilder (2:15)
          67. Mobb Deep - Shook Ones Pt. II (5:26)
          68. Mos Def - Mathematics (4:06)
          69. Murphy Lee - What The Hook Gonna Be (3:44)
          70. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (4:26)
          71. NAS - Street Dreams (4:39)
          72. Nelly - Must Be The Money (4:51)
          73. Notorious B.I.G - Mo Money Mo Problems (Ft Puff Daddy) (3:20)
          74. Old Dirty Bastard - Baby I Got Your Money (3:59)
          75. Outcast - Bombs Over Bagdad (B.O.B.) (5:05)
          76. Run DMC - It's Tricky (3:04)
          77. Snoop Dogg - From The Chuuuch To Da Palace (feat. Pharell) (4:45)
          78. Snoop Dogg - Get a Light (feat Damian Marley) (3:41)
          79. Snoop Dogg - Gin And Juice (3:31)
          80. Snoop Dogg - Gz And Hustlas (3:51)
          81. Snoop Dogg - Lodi Dodi (4:24)
          82. Snoop Dogg - Serial Killa (3:34)
          83. Snoop Dogg - Vato (feat B-real) (4:44)
          84. Snoop Dogg - Who Am I (Whats My Name) (4:08)
          85. T.I. - Bankhead (ft. psc, young dro) (4:26)
          86. T.I. - Big Shitt Poppin (do it) (4:47)
          87. T.I. - Ride Wit Me (4:04)
          88. T.I. - Rubberband Man (3:02)
          89. T.I. - What You Know (4:34)
          90. T.I. - Live In The Sky (ft. jamie foxx) (5:46)
          91. The Fugees - Fu-Gee-La (4:15)
          92. The Game - Let's Ride (3:57)
          93. The Game - Too Much (Feat. Nate Dogg) (4:11)
          94. The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight (7:09)
          95. Warren G. feat. Nate Dogg - Regulate (4:09)
          96. Wu Tang Clan - Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit (3:36)
          97. Xzibit - Paparazi (3:55)
          98. Xzibit - X (4:22)
          99. Young Jeezy - I Luv It (4:00)
          100. Young Jeezy - Streets on Lock (3:34)


I cut it down to about 30 I like tho to save space on the macbook.

I got some vitamin string quartet not long ago as well. Loving there stuff.

[MysticSafewayBag]

 

[Triss]

I'm going to be blunt here and say I hate rap. It's all lyrics and rhythm rather than actual music, and I've always been a music person. And I've never found any appeal in any rap lyrics I've come across to date. Nope, not for me.

I've been rediscovering the joy of soundtracks. There is nothing as chilling as working or writing with Elwynn Forest in yours ears, or maybe if your work is more urgent, stick on the Lord of the Rings for epicness and a sense of all-important duty. (This seriously works, you have to try it sometime if you need to get something done xD).

[Daveface]

See I'm just a fan of most music. I appreciate the time and effort that goes into it even more so because I fail so badly at playing, singing or writing music. I love the hidden meaning behind lyrics. One thing I kinda love/hate about rap is the way all the rappers go at one another through music, kinda brings them together in a way you don't see as often in other musical forms.


*dowloads LOTR soundtracks*

When it comes to soundtracks do you prefer to hear music with lyrics or wihout? I tend to head towards without because it creates more of an atmosphere without the lyrics telling you what you should be thinking you can feel rather than think if that makes sense.

[Triss]

Definitely prefer it without lyrics, although a lot of soundtracks, especially movie ones, have a song or two for the end credits, which I don't mind. What I don't really like about some films though is that the soundtrack is partly made up of song samples instead of original soundtrack. The one popping into my head right now is Twilight, because everyone's saying that the soundtrack is awesome, but that's only because it's got some good artists on it, not because the film's composer was incredible or anything (I don't actually remember any of the original Twilight music, so I can't really comment on it).

[Daveface]

Yeah I hate that too, the only one I can remember from the twilight one is Muse. Really it's not a soundtrack it's a compilation CD.

[E.Maree]

On the Twilight soundtrack - I can never decide what's better, 'compliation tape' style soundtracks that are just songs by arious artists, or 'original soundtracks' where it's all instrumental and has been composed by someone great specifically for the movie.

Original compositions are great - some of my favourite anime andmovie sounndtracks are mostly instrumental, from Doctor Who to .hack// and Spirited Away; but there are pros to popular artists being used to.

With popular songs, you can write a scene around a tune instead of the other way round, which can really liven up a mental image. It's a technique I love to use when writing, and when I conenct a song in my head to a section of writing it really helps inspire me. But I still wish I could create an orchestral soundscape to describe the scene too. And on screen, having the music go with events can work realyl well - take a look at The Matrix, Trainspotting. Being Human or Queen of the Damned.

So yeah. What I'm saying is, they've both been used to great effect in various movies, and they both have their plus points.


------

On lyrics - as a writer and not a musician (though I try - I really try - to be both) I'm very much more lyrically inclined than musically. However, rap has never been a genre I've enjoyed... until recently.

It takes a fair bit of getting used to, but with enough exposure to the right music - a lot of pop-rap as well as the more famous ones (Dancing with the Devil <3) has absolutely beautiful lyrics, a lot of rappers are a lot more free of opinion than singers (Eminem is always very vocal about his personal lfie in lyrics, though rap does tend to fall into the cliche of talking about drugs, women and how awesome you are - but music falls into similar cliches of talking about how you girlfriend left you, that wench, and how depressed you are), and if you look at bands like Linkin Park, there's a freedom or rhythmn that's almost speech-like, ranting and frenzied, that you can with rap but will find much harder to create with pop or rock lyrics.

My two pence, again.

[Sparky~]

I really like Linkin Park, not sure why (doesn't seem like the type of thing I'd like, haha)... Maybe it's cos they do a fair bit of singing (well, if you can call it singing ) as well. I dunno. There's also really good music going on in most of their songs that's not vocal, so that might be it.

[E.Maree]

Hehe. I like Linkin Park because their lyrics, if angsty, can be a lot of fun to repeat - nailing the rap section of their songs is like a rite of passage for anyone who considers themselves a fan. And they pull off the rap/rock mix really well, switching from normal verses to a rap breakdown without effort, I love it.

Also, their videos are soem of the best.

That said, I've never really been more of a casual listener until I discovered techno remixes of their stuff. I'VE BECOME SOOO NUUUUMMMBBBBB (DO DEE DEE DOOOO DEEE DEE DOO DOO oooonst ooonst oonst). Suddenly they become a lot more fun.

I've been in a 'techno remix everything' mood lately. Everything sounds better with more techno. TECHNO CHOPIN!

[Triss]

OMG. Techno Chopin. If it exists, I want!

Talking of techno, actually, I'm not sure how I made the connection at all, but anyway...for reasons unknown I was trying to find a decent version of the can-can. Having recently bought the soundtrack to Stardust (fantastic soundtrack by the way), and the Pirate Fight track being the can-can anyway, I did a little research to find out what the original was. Turns out it's a galop from an opera called Orpheus in the Underworld, and if you look it up on iTunes, half of the results are weird techno or pop remixes of it. Oh yeah, techno, right. But the Stardust version is pretty close to a normal, orchestral version of it, so I'm happy. I have no idea what brought all that on by the way, I was just very bored last night.

Also, along with the Stardust soundtrack, I bought the Prince Caspian soundtrack. You probably know by now, but recently watching Prince Caspian made me suddenly fall in love with Ben Barnes (<3) but apart from that, I've always loved the Narnia theme running through the two movies, so I bought the soundtrack (and also partly because that awesome song at the end, The Call, is Album Only - damn you iTunes!!). It is now my favourite fantasy soundtrack to date, even, I think, just surpassing The Lord of the Rings at a few moments. Some parts it's just your average fantasy adventure stuff, but I think the main theme melody is genius, and the battle sequence choral stuff just gets those hairs on the back of your neck standing to attention. And the four songs for the end credits are all good, although This Is Home is probably not quite as good as the others, which are pretty phenomenal (although, that said, Dance 'Round The Memory Tree and Lucy took a few listens to properly appreciate them).

I'm in a typing frenzy right now! Quick, I must write while it lasts!

[E.Maree]

I have no idea, but it should. Techno-classical would be a great music trend - if I was any good at digital music, I would do it.

...

...

Heeeeey, MSSSBBBB? >_>

[Sparky~]

I want some Techno Chopin so bad.

Also, I see what you mean about Linkin Park, and I totally love that about them too xD

I've been listening to some Kate Micucci lately (some people will know her from Scrubs, others will know her as an awesome person who plays ukulele... personally, it's both!), she's really fantastic. She and Riki somethingorother are a duo called Garfunkel and Oates. Check 'em out on YouTube (or just go to Kate's myspace, http://www.myspace.com/katemicucci) They have amazing songs, both written on their own (like the ones on Kate's myspace) or as a pair.

I really love Dear Deer (it's the video on her myspace) Especially the video. Definitely go check her out if you have time.

[Nick]

Re: rap...I like some of it in terms of poetry, but I think it's harder for rap artists to escapre cliche than other performers - having more emphasis on rhythm and words they don't have the get out clause of having a good tune - let's face it, with a good melody you can pretty much say anything, whereas they are all to do with the spoken word. That said, most of the time I avoid it.

Re: Linkin Park - Indeed, they are very good.

Re: Film soundtracks - it depends what kind of a film you're watching. For something epic I think you really need something instrumental, with sweeping strings and firey brass and all that. I'm really not a big fan of music with singing in these kinds of films, unless it's part of the story, and even if it is Annie Lennox, whom I do quite like, I'm still irritated by the end of LOTR...plus the music from old films is generally impressively awesome. In proof, I give thee Ennio Morricone's score for 'Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo'...AKA 'the Good, The Bad and the Ugly'
[spoiler][youtube=425,350]pmSjbnbR_pQ[/youtube][/spoiler]
(Actually this reminds me of a time when Emma and I were...somewhere, possibly 2nd year english, and I was trying to convince her that although Clint Eastwood wasn't much of a looker his inherent awesome coolness made him quite the heart-throb in his day. Come on, the guy can wear what is basically a rug with a hole in it and still look cool, he's up there with Steve McQueen on the list of really-cool-actors-in-old-films.)
However, with your modern or not so epic-y films, a more popular music based soundtrack works best (I'm thinking here like Trainspotting or Romeo+Juliet etc.) Plus, there will always be those songs that just remind you of certain films, unchangeably. Where would Back to the Future be without 'The Power of Love', 'Back in Time' or 'Johnny B.Good'? Where would Back to the Future Part 2 be without 'Mr Sandman'? And most of all, where would Back to the Future Part 3 be without ZZ Top's awesome bluegrass version of 'Double Back' for the dance? (even if I can only inexplicably find it dubbed into french - have these people never heard of subtitles?! What have they DONE to you Marty?!)
[spoiler][youtube=425,350]MHTMm4jee_8[/youtube] [/spoiler]
Sorry, got a bit stuck in a Back to the Future cycle there - my point remains: big epic films shouldn't have singing that doesn't fit with the image. Operaticy stuff is fine, but no pop stuff. That's what I say.

[E.Maree]

Usually, adding vocals into a mostly instrumental soundtrack does nothing but bother me - thoguh there are exceptions. I've managed to get used to the use of vocals in the .hack// anime soundtrack and now it's some of my favourite stuff.

Ugh, dubbing. The world would be a better place is we just accepted subtitled work more - that said, it's always nice when dubbing is done well, and it is almost always necessary for video games where you can't follow subtitles and keep up with the action unless the only dialogue is in cutscenes.

Listening to 'Vampire Weekend'. Different and good.

[Daveface]

<3in Vampire weekend to definitely worth listening to, I find it quite relaxing.