(Art) All The Music That's Daft And Grimes My Ears

It's not often that I dabble into music. But it's not rare either. Growing up I've been into the usual pop songs like Westlife, Backstreet boys and the like, and went into some Rock/Hip-hop(read: Linkin Park.) However my taste in music is kind of fickle and greedy at the same time.

I play videogames and watch a lot of anime so it's not surprising for me to have quite a number of music that came from both. One of the more timeless classics that I like is the Voltes V opening themesong, that is if I'm trying to be mainstream. I have listened to sublime compositions like that of Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda. I have swooned as well to "Eyes On Me", "Melodies of Life", "Suteki Da Ne", and even "Aria de Mezzo Caraterre" to name a few. When I feel like I wanna have a James Bond vibe I prefer listening to "Snake Eater" performed by Cynthia Harrell from the MGS series.  Personally though, I like "Ai Oboete Imasu Ka" by Kazuhiko Kato performed by Mari Iijima from "Macross: Do You Remember Love". It has a very nostalgic vibe that moves me. I liked it so much that I memorized it.

Over time my taste in music kind of changed. No, doesn't necessarily mean that I don't like the ones I already have. Since 2011 I started going a bit mainstream, listening to lots of pop songs especially those in the Billboard Top 40. Eventually I got a bit bored. That's when I started exploring other genres from what I already know. This year I started exploring house and electronic/dance music. That's when I got to meet Daft Punk.

For a time I listened to Dubstep but apparently it's not *really* my cup of tea. I prefer the tunes of Daft Punk and how they do their mixes. Not bad for a duo who were experimenting with music. It's amazing what they came up with. To start up with, the masks are a unique touch. They look like robots on stage. From what I understand it's because they don't want people to focus on them but rather they want the fans to focus on the music. The irony is their masks became iconic.

Daft Punk: If you search in Google you'd see the faces behind the masks.
In real life they're Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. 

Not too long ago I met a friend who's a music lover (Shout out to Jeng!). She has vast knowledge of other tunes that are so obscure and far away from the mainstream. She introduced me to Grimes. She sent me a link to Grimes' latest song. After hearing it, I liked it. Now I have Grimes playing on my phone. What I like about Grimes is it sounds surreal. Listening to it is like floating in the clouds. While Daft Punk's tunes sound kinda techie and a bit nostalgic (some tunes remind me of an older era of music), Grimes is a bit surreal, sensual and at times a bit creepy- some refer to this as Witch House Music. Basically it's house music that's themed with the occult. It's amazing what people can do in the electronic music genre.

Claire Elise Boucher, a.k.a. Grimes

Don't get me wrong though, I still like my Tartini and Beethoven. "The Devil's Trill" is sublime, and "Ode To Joy" is memorable. There are others along that in my play list like "The Barber Of Seville", "Flight Of The Valkyrie" and even the "William Tell Overture" I still like my classical music. But alas! I am in search for new things. Right now I'm still enjoying Grimes. I have in queue a few others, though. One thing is certain though: Most of the music I listen to will not come from the radio, but rather from other sources. Hooray to online streaming for giving us access to media that's truly creative beyond the production of the money making machine!

... Then again, I still listen to 90.7's Papa Jack and his "True Love Conversations" segment... Less for the music and more for the LOLs.