Of This and Other Worlds

For all the literal-minded people out there... watchmebe found this, and I HAD to share. If (like me) you have already seen the original video 1,000,000 times, bear with it past the opening instrumental sequence and you'll see what I mean.

First, one that I took on my own and scored a frightening 110% on -- I did miss a few songs along the way, but I made up for those losses by getting most of the obscure (and therefore higher-scored) answers plus a couple of bonus questions.

( 80's Music Test )

Now for the really fun lyrics quiz, and as Dora the Explorer would say, "We need your help!" Created as part of this year's MIT Mystery Hunt by the perennially clever and witty callyperry, it's a quiz called "Denial". And since it was designed to be solved by a group, I'm asking my f-list to help me out.

( Here's how it works... )

So... anyone on my f-list care to comment with your guesses?

ETA: ( Got another one! )

...for I have discovered Puretracks, and David Sylvian has a compilation album I didn't know existed. Plus, they have old Fixx songs. My wishlist runneth over. I will not, not, repeat not, buy them all at once...

On a more positive note, I have finished the Snape essay for Convention Alley, and now have only to finish the footnotes and bibliography and generally Chicago-proof it... well, that and cut out about 2,000 words, seeing as they were asking for five to seven double-spaced pages, and I think twenty-two might be a bit excessive.

Don't worry, though, whatever doesn't make it into the final draft of the essay will go into the presentation. Even if it means I have to talk really fast. :)

Sometimes cover versions are as good as the original (i.e. Jesse Cook's lovely, Spanish-guitar version of "Fall At Your Feet", or george's remake of "Under The Milky Way"). Sometimes they are better (Aztec Camera's brilliant acoustic take on Van Halen's "Jump", ). And sometimes they make you want to pound your fists on the floor and cry "No! No! Why did you have to ruin that song?"

I don't have anything against No Doubt, honestly. I mean, I know nothing about them. None of their past singles have succeeded in annoying me (mind you, they didn't thrill me either). And I figure, if they like Talk Talk they must have some sort of musical taste. I wasn't even against the idea of them doing a cover version of "It's My Life". I was quite curious about it, in fact, so I listened to it today.

Unfortunately, all I can say right now is "agggggggggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!" I feel like I need to listen to the original Talk Talk version again, preferably multiple times, to wash Gwen Stefani's screechy voice and that horribly flat instrumentation out of my ears. The best thing about it was the bass line -- and that was basically the same as the original version. Oh, please, please, people who like this song and have not heard the original, go listen to Talk Talk instead, and do yourself a very great favour. The real version has bird cries! And trumpeting elephants! But best of all, it has Mark Hollis, whose voice is by no means conventional, but who knows how to put actual emotion into a song instead of just whining it.

*sticks pinky fingers in ears and twists them around*

*deletes MP3 from playlist*

*feels better*

From the music of the 80's, name...

5 popular songs that you still aren't tired of hearing yet: ( Read more... )

5 popular songs you never want to hear again as long as you live: ( Read more... )

5 songs that made you jump in front of the mirror and sing to your hairbrush: ( Read more... )

5 ballads that made you ache with their beauty: ( Read more... )

5 bands you really miss: ( Read more... )

5 bands you don't miss even a teeny tiny bit: ( Read more... )

5 songs that bring back vivid memories (and, if it's not too personal, which ones): ( Read more... )

5 songs you're pretty sure nobody else remembers: ( Read more... )

That was fun. Now we'll see how far it spreads...