Uh, have you considered Vitamin C, Scott?
I don't know why this took me 15+ years to figure out. I know it started my junior year in high school, when I discovered Pink Floyd's "The Wall". (It's a teenage rite of passage.) I was a moody bastard from 1988 to, oh, 2004. It occurs to me that a steady diet of suicidal, dark-ambient music has *POSSIBLY* tarnished my psyche.
So, I'm burning three CDs to put the matter to rest. The first one, "Inferno" is done. These songs set my demons a-dancin' to a lively jig:
1. Of The Wand and The Moon - Nighttime Nightrhymes: intro track (written in Nordic rune)
2. Kronos Quartet - Black Angels: "Departure"
3. Angelo Badalamenti - Lost Highway soundtrack: "Fred and Renee Make Love"
4. Gary Numan - Pure: "I Can't Breathe"
5. Swans - Soundtracks for The Blind: "All Lined Up"
6. In Slaughter Natives - Cold Meat Industries sampler: "INRI...Raped by The Cross" (Fuck, dude, don't sugarcoat it...)
7. The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud - The Smell of Blood But Victory: track 8 (This one truly rattles me, because it's based on an actual series of killings.)
8. Swans - Soundtracks for The Blind: "Hypogirl" (I can't listen to that song in the dark. Call me a wuss, but hey...)
9. Swans - The Great Annihilator: "She Lives!"
10. The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud - The Smell of Blood But Victory: track 17
11. Swans - The Great Annihilator: "Alcohol The Seed"
12. Robert J. Kral - Angel TV soundtrack: "The End of The World" (The key change from C-minor to B-minor with the harp arpeggio breaks my heart.)
13. Sigur Ros - () (I don't know what the hell you'd call that): last track
Ladies, I know Tori Amos and PJ Harvey could beat the shit out of some of these songs. It's just good to finally have them in one place. If I ever decide to move on from sad/twisted music, I can just chuck this one CD in the trash and move on.
The next disc, "Purgatorio", will have songs that get me through the dark. Lots of Lycia, some Faith and The Muse, lots of Cure, some Mors Syphilitica, some VAST, and tons of film music. Actually, this one might require two CDs. Beauty and sadness, but NOT rage and despair.
"Paradiso" will put a big smile on my face. More Cure (oddly enough), heaping helpings of Prince and The Revolution, Led Zeppelin, Living Colour, Barry White, some Billy Idol, and some comedy album excerpts.
This could be the year I step away from the pain in music and enjoy its power to heal. It might also be the year I start eating fruit on a regular basis...
...nahhh, I think I'm just bullshitting you now.
So, I'm burning three CDs to put the matter to rest. The first one, "Inferno" is done. These songs set my demons a-dancin' to a lively jig:
1. Of The Wand and The Moon - Nighttime Nightrhymes: intro track (written in Nordic rune)
2. Kronos Quartet - Black Angels: "Departure"
3. Angelo Badalamenti - Lost Highway soundtrack: "Fred and Renee Make Love"
4. Gary Numan - Pure: "I Can't Breathe"
5. Swans - Soundtracks for The Blind: "All Lined Up"
6. In Slaughter Natives - Cold Meat Industries sampler: "INRI...Raped by The Cross" (Fuck, dude, don't sugarcoat it...)
7. The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud - The Smell of Blood But Victory: track 8 (This one truly rattles me, because it's based on an actual series of killings.)
8. Swans - Soundtracks for The Blind: "Hypogirl" (I can't listen to that song in the dark. Call me a wuss, but hey...)
9. Swans - The Great Annihilator: "She Lives!"
10. The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud - The Smell of Blood But Victory: track 17
11. Swans - The Great Annihilator: "Alcohol The Seed"
12. Robert J. Kral - Angel TV soundtrack: "The End of The World" (The key change from C-minor to B-minor with the harp arpeggio breaks my heart.)
13. Sigur Ros - () (I don't know what the hell you'd call that): last track
Ladies, I know Tori Amos and PJ Harvey could beat the shit out of some of these songs. It's just good to finally have them in one place. If I ever decide to move on from sad/twisted music, I can just chuck this one CD in the trash and move on.
The next disc, "Purgatorio", will have songs that get me through the dark. Lots of Lycia, some Faith and The Muse, lots of Cure, some Mors Syphilitica, some VAST, and tons of film music. Actually, this one might require two CDs. Beauty and sadness, but NOT rage and despair.
"Paradiso" will put a big smile on my face. More Cure (oddly enough), heaping helpings of Prince and The Revolution, Led Zeppelin, Living Colour, Barry White, some Billy Idol, and some comedy album excerpts.
This could be the year I step away from the pain in music and enjoy its power to heal. It might also be the year I start eating fruit on a regular basis...
...nahhh, I think I'm just bullshitting you now.