❄ | MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERY! ONE!
AND NOW FOR MY GIFT TO YOU
Because a lot of people expressed a desire for new music recently, I decided I would share the songs I listened to obsessively this year with you, my friends.
You really ask a lot of me, you know that. Sharing things I love.
Geez.
omg so cool wow look at that photoshopping so srs bsns we climbed this whole mountain.
❄ | ELIZABETH'S TOP PLAYED SONGS OF 2012
a chronological listing of festivities and phat beats for your holiday enjoyment
FIRST OFF. If you haven't already, you should check out Songza. LIFE CHANGER. You can ask their concierge to play you whole playlists specifically designed to fit a particular mood or activity, like watching the rain or coding or driving with the top down. And, unless you specifically ask for a top 40 station or something, your playlists will probably be full of artists you've never heard of before. You don't even have to sign up if you don't want to. IT'S BASICALLY THE BEST THING.
BEST FIND OF 2012?
I THINK YES.
And my favorite playlists, if you want them, are: Rude Girls (badass lady singers being unapologetically badass,) Superheroes and Dinosaurs (collection of superhero theme songs and kid anthems about dinosaurs!), and Electronic Nonvocal Dubstep (which is excellent for grooving and focusing on work at the same time).
Anyway, on to the rest of the music now:
Raintears - Scala & Kolacny Brothers | ❅
don't taunt me
because you're not here
Everyone remembers that shockingly well-done Sherlock fanvid that came out right after Reichenbach Fall, back in January? This song, brought to you by the same choir that brought us Mark Zuckerberg's anthem from the Social Network (the cover of Radiohead's Creep), is the one that plays in the first half. It's definitely a song I play when I need to channel SAD INTROSPECTION when writing.
Under the Midnight Sun - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross | ❅
instrumental
Arguably my favorite off the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack (which is saying something, considering it's a 3-disc soundtrack and also, those Nine Inch Nails guys won an Academy Award, didn't you hear?) I experienced the same feeling with Under the Midnight Sun that I got with Soft Trees Break the Fall off the TSN OST: namely, that it's impossible to listen to this song and not feel like the loneliest person on the planet. Also, seven minutes long, so it's good for focus writing.
Bad Girls - M.I.A. | ❅
live fast, die young
bad girls do it well
If the Bad Girls music video wasn't your favorite music video of 2012, then you are wrong (or you're allowed to have your own informed opinion, whatever.) M.I.A. is my favorite everything and every flawless thing I aspire to be in life, and the top played artist on my Last.fm. I kind of like her a lot?
Your download will include the full version of Bad Girls, along with four of my favorite remixes (I have about fourteen remixes, so whittling them down was hard. I REALLY LIKE THIS SONG, CAN YOU TELL?): the Barbaric Merits Chain-Banging remix, which has a hyped-up bass; the Monolith remix, which I'm going to put on a Lila Zacharov fanmix SOMEDAY; the NARS remix, featuring Missy Elliott and Azelia Banks, for further badassery; and the Urban Noize remix, which would be excellent to kill zombies to.
The First Time I Saw Jupiter - Fall on Your Sword | ❅
instrumental
So for Religious Studies Movie Night at my uni back in February, we watched Another Earth, an indie film by Brit Marling that won Sundance in 2011. And. Well. Everybody knows what happened to me after that. You can stream the whole movie here. The First Time I Saw Jupiter is the song that plays in the opening credits, and it's one of my favorite opening sequences in the history of ever.
The Creator - Santigold | ❅
me, i'm a creator, thrill is to make it up
the rules i break got me a place up on the radar
soxdamnxcute suggested this song to me for a Mark Zuckerberg fanmix. I would say she has a point.
Hindi Dub - Builder | ❅
instrumental
ruins_of_sodom posted this on his Tumblr and I absolutely fell in love with it. Again with the dubstep that's easy to groove to and focus to.
Nicki Minaj vs Skrillex (Killer Bass) - DJ Sneaky | ❅
i want to kill
everybody in the world
MASH-UP ALERT. Skrillex and Nicki Minaj's Super Bass. Good song for plotting murder, and also probably for playing loudly while sawing apart corpses, you know? I play this song a lot. this is a really creepy description, I'm going to stop typing.
Go - Santigold feat. Karen O | ❅
people want my power and they want my station
stormed my winter palace, but they couldn't take it
Brought to you by Santigold and the woman who did the cover of Immigrant Song for TGWDT, here's a song for all the ladies! Seriously, this song is the best to march and kick ass to, it's my head canon song for all sorts of awesome ladies: Korra, Lila Zacharov, Alicia Florrick, Moneypenny. /wistful sigh
November - Max Richet | ❅
instrumental
I got this one off a Sherlock/John fanmix and then somehow wound up with it on repeat while I was finishing up Shermer's Theory (and by finishing up, I mean, writing the most difficult, most important scenes, because I'm that intelligent person who saves the hardest bits for last.) It's this long, poetic, string anthem, and it's really excellent at setting a poignant mood. Violins are my favorite, have I mentioned that before?
I Am the Doctor (Dubstep) - Murray Gold | ❅
instrumental
I have nothing to add to this. It's I Am the Doctor, but dubstep. YOU CAN SAVE THE UNIVERSE AND WUB-WUB-WUB AT THE SAME TIME, HOW IS THAT NOT A THING YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO REPEATEDLY?
King - The Romanovs | ❅
long live the king, the king is dead
your prayers won't call him back to your bed
no spells or tricks will bring him home
So I turned in my senior thesis and celebrated by going to the midnight premiere of the Avengers, and immediately thereafter, lady_amaunet gave me this song and it racked up a ridiculous number of plays kind of immediately. I always thought it could work for Asgard in a number of different scenarios, because it's the kind of song that tells a story. If I were going to make a fanmix for Snow White and the Huntsman, this would be on it. (Or, hey, you know, the Merlin finale. YOU'RE WELCOME.)
Gone - James Newton Howard | ❅
what brings us together is what pulls us apart
gone our brother, gone our heart
I know when it comes to mournful ballads sung by medieval dwarves in 2012, the Hobbit edges out Snow White and the Huntsman by a terrific margin, but this is still my favorite song off the soundtrack (sorry, Florence and the Machine.) It's a funeral hymn, if that tells you anything about the kind of mood it sets.
Eat Flowers, Breathe Light - Inlakesh | ❅
instrumental
Inlakesh has a booth at our summer arts festival every year, selling their handmade didgeridoos and giving live performances, and this year I walked away with their CD, which is the only thing in their stall I could afford without selling a minor internal organ or something. Didgeridoo might by the only thing I enjoy more than violins (but not more than dubstep. /poker face.) IF YOU WANTED EIGHTEEN MINUTES OF IT, HERE YOU GO. I seriously turn this song on whenever I'm doing anything; cleaning, napping, driving, reading.
Iron - Woodkid | ❅
i want to feel the pain and the bitter taste
of the blood on my lips, again
I got this one off a Thor & Loki fanmix on Tumblr, because I heard the Avengers got pretty popular there for awhile. It is seriously snazzy, in terms of beat. Best listened to with headphones!
Put Your Graffiti on Me - Kat Graham | ❅
denim-jean jacket, pink chucks, and a miniskirt
be your bad habit, throw me up against the wall first
So this commercial happened (warning: video is NSFW, for three minutes of naked male underwear models touching each other inappropriately. you're welcome,) and once I stopped blinking and wondering what the hell just happened, I realized that that was actually a really catchy song. So I found the original, and prompty found myself unable to STOP listening to it.
Bonkers - Dizzee Rascal | ❅
some people pay for thrills, but i get mine for free
man, i'm just living my life, there's nothing crazy about me
So I don't know if you heard, but London hosted this minor little get-together called the Olympics over the summer. One of the study abroad classes I took looked at the sociopolitical and economic effects that the Olympics have on the host city, and what London did to win the bid back in 2005, and so during the opening ceremonies, I kept on yelping "WE LEARNED ABOUT THAT," and generally geeking out far more than an American probably had the right to geek out, but caitism and mutecacophony politely refrained from murdering me just for some quiet. I really, really looked forward to getting my hands on a copy of the soundtrack to the opening ceremonies, because a) Underworld composed the instrumental bits and b) the United Kingdom's greatest export since the sun set on the British Empire and they stopped being the world's industrial powerhouse is music.
Gangnam Style - 싸이 | ❅
heeeeeeeey,
sexy lady!
YOU KNEW EVENTUALLY ONE OF 2012'S TOP SONGS HAD TO BE ON HERE, I'M ONLY HUMAN. Negl, I love Gangnam Style in all its shapes and sizes. I even like the Glee version, come at me, bro. I listened to it obsessively after ripping the mp3 from the YouTube video, which Amanda showed to Anthony and I at the lunch table and then video'd our reactions, because she's an excellent person, and to me, it's kind of the anthem of August and the start of school. (also, I wound up reading a lot of Teen Wolf fic with it playing in the background, so I accidentally formed some sense memory there, MY BAD.) Because I figure that if you really wanted it, you'd have the original already, your download includes the orchestral version and a mash-up with Space Jam. Because reasons.
Below My Feet - Mumford & Sons | ❅
well, i was told by jesus all was well
so all must be well
So Babel was also thing that happened this year! I have same the emotional attachment to Mumford & Sons that the majority of the TSN fandom does, so queue up that wild banjo strumming!
Youthless (Acoustic) - Beck | ❅
your mouth is full of wordless hyms
and run-on sentences
astrofisica was one of my artists for TSN Big Bang, and she put together this mixtape to go with Heave Ho, Thieves and Beggars, because she is actualfax one of the best people ♥ In one of her rough draft e-mails, she linked me to this song, and I wound up putting it on repeat and shaping parts of the (then 75% unfinished) fic to fit it. It's acoustic, so it's a good song to have on in the background when you're trying to power through something, but don't want to be distracted.
Little Ghost - the White Stripes | ❅
little ghost, little ghost, one i'm scared of the most
can you scare me up a little bit of love?
Although technically I first heard this song during the ending credits to Paranorman, I later found it on a Halloween mix. It's a foot-stomping, knee-slapping, tamborine-banging song, and I think it's one of the happiest songs on this list, even though it's about death and necrophilia. Whateva, whateva. If I ever do a Nico/Hazel fanmix, I will slap this on there so fast I'll probably get whiplash. Just saying. I fell in love with a little ghost and that was all!
You Shall Not Pass! - Ekojo | ❅
contains various soundbites
including that one about hobbits and isengard
hiza_chan linked this song in one of her LJ entries in the middle of a completely unrelated story, and somehow, it magically wound up downloaded to my laptop about half-a-listen later. Does everything need a dubstep remix? YES, YES IT DOES.
Cannibal - Ke$ha | ❅
i love you,
i warned you
I first heard this song when it queued up on lady_amaunet's iPod in a car full of girls and one boy stashed in the trunk on our way to play Cards Against Humanity, which is basically Apples to Apples for people going straight to hell, and then when it showed up on eduardozuckerberg's M.A.D. fanmix, I decided the world just really wanted me to obsessively listen to this song again and again. So I did.
Paperman - Christopher Beck | ❅
instrumental
Tying with Little Ghost for the happiest song on this list, here, have the soundtrack to that short that played right before Wreck-It Ralph. YOU KNOW THE ONE I'M TALKING ABOUT. help, i just have a lot of feelings.
Steppin' on Babylon - M.I.A. | ❅
making money last, hide it in a flask
sound of a bomb blast, throw it in a bag
Another mashup! This time between M.I.A's Steppin' Up and ... um, something else I don't know, oops. Whatever, it is super catchy and is definitely the kind of song you can shake your ass to on a sweaty, strobelit dancefloor, and it's the one I've been listening to on repeat for the last week.
NOW THAT YOU'VE GOTTEN YOUR DAILY ALLOTMENT OF EXERCISE BY SCROLLING PAST ALL THAT, LET'S GET TO THE GOOD PART, YES?
GO AHEAD, OPEN YOUR PRESENT:
❅ - DOWNLOAD - ❅
wow so cool wow
I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY ♥
Because a lot of people expressed a desire for new music recently, I decided I would share the songs I listened to obsessively this year with you, my friends.
You really ask a lot of me, you know that. Sharing things I love.
Geez.
omg so cool wow look at that photoshopping so srs bsns we climbed this whole mountain.
❄ | ELIZABETH'S TOP PLAYED SONGS OF 2012
a chronological listing of festivities and phat beats for your holiday enjoyment
FIRST OFF. If you haven't already, you should check out Songza. LIFE CHANGER. You can ask their concierge to play you whole playlists specifically designed to fit a particular mood or activity, like watching the rain or coding or driving with the top down. And, unless you specifically ask for a top 40 station or something, your playlists will probably be full of artists you've never heard of before. You don't even have to sign up if you don't want to. IT'S BASICALLY THE BEST THING.
BEST FIND OF 2012?
I THINK YES.
And my favorite playlists, if you want them, are: Rude Girls (badass lady singers being unapologetically badass,) Superheroes and Dinosaurs (collection of superhero theme songs and kid anthems about dinosaurs!), and Electronic Nonvocal Dubstep (which is excellent for grooving and focusing on work at the same time).
Anyway, on to the rest of the music now:
Raintears - Scala & Kolacny Brothers | ❅
don't taunt me
because you're not here
Everyone remembers that shockingly well-done Sherlock fanvid that came out right after Reichenbach Fall, back in January? This song, brought to you by the same choir that brought us Mark Zuckerberg's anthem from the Social Network (the cover of Radiohead's Creep), is the one that plays in the first half. It's definitely a song I play when I need to channel SAD INTROSPECTION when writing.
Under the Midnight Sun - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross | ❅
instrumental
Arguably my favorite off the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack (which is saying something, considering it's a 3-disc soundtrack and also, those Nine Inch Nails guys won an Academy Award, didn't you hear?) I experienced the same feeling with Under the Midnight Sun that I got with Soft Trees Break the Fall off the TSN OST: namely, that it's impossible to listen to this song and not feel like the loneliest person on the planet. Also, seven minutes long, so it's good for focus writing.
Bad Girls - M.I.A. | ❅
live fast, die young
bad girls do it well
If the Bad Girls music video wasn't your favorite music video of 2012, then you are wrong (or you're allowed to have your own informed opinion, whatever.) M.I.A. is my favorite everything and every flawless thing I aspire to be in life, and the top played artist on my Last.fm. I kind of like her a lot?
Your download will include the full version of Bad Girls, along with four of my favorite remixes (I have about fourteen remixes, so whittling them down was hard. I REALLY LIKE THIS SONG, CAN YOU TELL?): the Barbaric Merits Chain-Banging remix, which has a hyped-up bass; the Monolith remix, which I'm going to put on a Lila Zacharov fanmix SOMEDAY; the NARS remix, featuring Missy Elliott and Azelia Banks, for further badassery; and the Urban Noize remix, which would be excellent to kill zombies to.
The First Time I Saw Jupiter - Fall on Your Sword | ❅
instrumental
So for Religious Studies Movie Night at my uni back in February, we watched Another Earth, an indie film by Brit Marling that won Sundance in 2011. And. Well. Everybody knows what happened to me after that. You can stream the whole movie here. The First Time I Saw Jupiter is the song that plays in the opening credits, and it's one of my favorite opening sequences in the history of ever.
The Creator - Santigold | ❅
me, i'm a creator, thrill is to make it up
the rules i break got me a place up on the radar
soxdamnxcute suggested this song to me for a Mark Zuckerberg fanmix. I would say she has a point.
Hindi Dub - Builder | ❅
instrumental
ruins_of_sodom posted this on his Tumblr and I absolutely fell in love with it. Again with the dubstep that's easy to groove to and focus to.
Nicki Minaj vs Skrillex (Killer Bass) - DJ Sneaky | ❅
i want to kill
everybody in the world
MASH-UP ALERT. Skrillex and Nicki Minaj's Super Bass. Good song for plotting murder, and also probably for playing loudly while sawing apart corpses, you know? I play this song a lot. this is a really creepy description, I'm going to stop typing.
Go - Santigold feat. Karen O | ❅
people want my power and they want my station
stormed my winter palace, but they couldn't take it
Brought to you by Santigold and the woman who did the cover of Immigrant Song for TGWDT, here's a song for all the ladies! Seriously, this song is the best to march and kick ass to, it's my head canon song for all sorts of awesome ladies: Korra, Lila Zacharov, Alicia Florrick, Moneypenny. /wistful sigh
November - Max Richet | ❅
instrumental
I got this one off a Sherlock/John fanmix and then somehow wound up with it on repeat while I was finishing up Shermer's Theory (and by finishing up, I mean, writing the most difficult, most important scenes, because I'm that intelligent person who saves the hardest bits for last.) It's this long, poetic, string anthem, and it's really excellent at setting a poignant mood. Violins are my favorite, have I mentioned that before?
I Am the Doctor (Dubstep) - Murray Gold | ❅
instrumental
I have nothing to add to this. It's I Am the Doctor, but dubstep. YOU CAN SAVE THE UNIVERSE AND WUB-WUB-WUB AT THE SAME TIME, HOW IS THAT NOT A THING YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO REPEATEDLY?
King - The Romanovs | ❅
long live the king, the king is dead
your prayers won't call him back to your bed
no spells or tricks will bring him home
So I turned in my senior thesis and celebrated by going to the midnight premiere of the Avengers, and immediately thereafter, lady_amaunet gave me this song and it racked up a ridiculous number of plays kind of immediately. I always thought it could work for Asgard in a number of different scenarios, because it's the kind of song that tells a story. If I were going to make a fanmix for Snow White and the Huntsman, this would be on it. (Or, hey, you know, the Merlin finale. YOU'RE WELCOME.)
Gone - James Newton Howard | ❅
what brings us together is what pulls us apart
gone our brother, gone our heart
I know when it comes to mournful ballads sung by medieval dwarves in 2012, the Hobbit edges out Snow White and the Huntsman by a terrific margin, but this is still my favorite song off the soundtrack (sorry, Florence and the Machine.) It's a funeral hymn, if that tells you anything about the kind of mood it sets.
Eat Flowers, Breathe Light - Inlakesh | ❅
instrumental
Inlakesh has a booth at our summer arts festival every year, selling their handmade didgeridoos and giving live performances, and this year I walked away with their CD, which is the only thing in their stall I could afford without selling a minor internal organ or something. Didgeridoo might by the only thing I enjoy more than violins (but not more than dubstep. /poker face.) IF YOU WANTED EIGHTEEN MINUTES OF IT, HERE YOU GO. I seriously turn this song on whenever I'm doing anything; cleaning, napping, driving, reading.
Iron - Woodkid | ❅
i want to feel the pain and the bitter taste
of the blood on my lips, again
I got this one off a Thor & Loki fanmix on Tumblr, because I heard the Avengers got pretty popular there for awhile. It is seriously snazzy, in terms of beat. Best listened to with headphones!
Put Your Graffiti on Me - Kat Graham | ❅
denim-jean jacket, pink chucks, and a miniskirt
be your bad habit, throw me up against the wall first
So this commercial happened (warning: video is NSFW, for three minutes of naked male underwear models touching each other inappropriately. you're welcome,) and once I stopped blinking and wondering what the hell just happened, I realized that that was actually a really catchy song. So I found the original, and prompty found myself unable to STOP listening to it.
Bonkers - Dizzee Rascal | ❅
some people pay for thrills, but i get mine for free
man, i'm just living my life, there's nothing crazy about me
So I don't know if you heard, but London hosted this minor little get-together called the Olympics over the summer. One of the study abroad classes I took looked at the sociopolitical and economic effects that the Olympics have on the host city, and what London did to win the bid back in 2005, and so during the opening ceremonies, I kept on yelping "WE LEARNED ABOUT THAT," and generally geeking out far more than an American probably had the right to geek out, but caitism and mutecacophony politely refrained from murdering me just for some quiet. I really, really looked forward to getting my hands on a copy of the soundtrack to the opening ceremonies, because a) Underworld composed the instrumental bits and b) the United Kingdom's greatest export since the sun set on the British Empire and they stopped being the world's industrial powerhouse is music.
Gangnam Style - 싸이 | ❅
heeeeeeeey,
sexy lady!
YOU KNEW EVENTUALLY ONE OF 2012'S TOP SONGS HAD TO BE ON HERE, I'M ONLY HUMAN. Negl, I love Gangnam Style in all its shapes and sizes. I even like the Glee version, come at me, bro. I listened to it obsessively after ripping the mp3 from the YouTube video, which Amanda showed to Anthony and I at the lunch table and then video'd our reactions, because she's an excellent person, and to me, it's kind of the anthem of August and the start of school. (also, I wound up reading a lot of Teen Wolf fic with it playing in the background, so I accidentally formed some sense memory there, MY BAD.) Because I figure that if you really wanted it, you'd have the original already, your download includes the orchestral version and a mash-up with Space Jam. Because reasons.
Below My Feet - Mumford & Sons | ❅
well, i was told by jesus all was well
so all must be well
So Babel was also thing that happened this year! I have same the emotional attachment to Mumford & Sons that the majority of the TSN fandom does, so queue up that wild banjo strumming!
Youthless (Acoustic) - Beck | ❅
your mouth is full of wordless hyms
and run-on sentences
astrofisica was one of my artists for TSN Big Bang, and she put together this mixtape to go with Heave Ho, Thieves and Beggars, because she is actualfax one of the best people ♥ In one of her rough draft e-mails, she linked me to this song, and I wound up putting it on repeat and shaping parts of the (then 75% unfinished) fic to fit it. It's acoustic, so it's a good song to have on in the background when you're trying to power through something, but don't want to be distracted.
Little Ghost - the White Stripes | ❅
little ghost, little ghost, one i'm scared of the most
can you scare me up a little bit of love?
Although technically I first heard this song during the ending credits to Paranorman, I later found it on a Halloween mix. It's a foot-stomping, knee-slapping, tamborine-banging song, and I think it's one of the happiest songs on this list, even though it's about death and necrophilia. Whateva, whateva. If I ever do a Nico/Hazel fanmix, I will slap this on there so fast I'll probably get whiplash. Just saying. I fell in love with a little ghost and that was all!
You Shall Not Pass! - Ekojo | ❅
contains various soundbites
including that one about hobbits and isengard
hiza_chan linked this song in one of her LJ entries in the middle of a completely unrelated story, and somehow, it magically wound up downloaded to my laptop about half-a-listen later. Does everything need a dubstep remix? YES, YES IT DOES.
Cannibal - Ke$ha | ❅
i love you,
i warned you
I first heard this song when it queued up on lady_amaunet's iPod in a car full of girls and one boy stashed in the trunk on our way to play Cards Against Humanity, which is basically Apples to Apples for people going straight to hell, and then when it showed up on eduardozuckerberg's M.A.D. fanmix, I decided the world just really wanted me to obsessively listen to this song again and again. So I did.
Paperman - Christopher Beck | ❅
instrumental
Tying with Little Ghost for the happiest song on this list, here, have the soundtrack to that short that played right before Wreck-It Ralph. YOU KNOW THE ONE I'M TALKING ABOUT. help, i just have a lot of feelings.
Steppin' on Babylon - M.I.A. | ❅
making money last, hide it in a flask
sound of a bomb blast, throw it in a bag
Another mashup! This time between M.I.A's Steppin' Up and ... um, something else I don't know, oops. Whatever, it is super catchy and is definitely the kind of song you can shake your ass to on a sweaty, strobelit dancefloor, and it's the one I've been listening to on repeat for the last week.
NOW THAT YOU'VE GOTTEN YOUR DAILY ALLOTMENT OF EXERCISE BY SCROLLING PAST ALL THAT, LET'S GET TO THE GOOD PART, YES?
GO AHEAD, OPEN YOUR PRESENT:
❅ - DOWNLOAD - ❅
wow so cool wow
I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY ♥