Skuzzie's Last.fm Journal

Reset

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:42:25 +0000

I've decided this a while ago: when I hit 100.000 tracks scrobbled, I'm gonna reset my charts. Not that there's any valid reason to do so, but then again, it's my list, and I can do whatever I please with it! The current list isn't really representative for my current musical preferences. Classic rock is way too present in my overall charts, whereas the britpop and indie is underrepresented. Resetting will do the trick (setting it to rolling year charts would do too, but you only get monthly updates). And I must admit, I'm kinda looking forward to it.

I've made a screenshot of my profile right after it hit the 100.000 tracks, which can be gasped at here: [/url]

My favourite song... has changed!

Sat, 2 Feb 2008 09:28:12 +0000

Such a dramatic event has occured in my life! I have decided my favourite song should be a different one than I had until that point. Of course, something like that isn't decided in just a flash (especially since I'm 22 now :p). It's a slow, continuous (don't really know how does one spell that) process, and it started a while ago. It was in the days that I tried learning every song with a couple of easy chords on my guitar.

Don't Look Back in Anger didn't have very difficult chords, so it didn't take me too long for me to learn them and sing along at the same time. That's where it all began.

What happened next... My mp3-player (Sony Walkman) had a little glitch in it's top 100 function. When you listen to a song more than average, you might find a song in the top 100 eventually. The rating of those songs is also eventually changed, so there's really nothing you have to do. But, as soon as songs hit the 5-star rating, they vanished from the top 100. Don't Look Back In Anger made it back though. At the end of the ride it had made it's way back into the top 10. Then I decided it was a good idea to format the whole thing, and refill it again. Again, Don't Look Back In Anger has made number 1.

Everytime I hear the song, I start to smile. Everytime VH1 plays it, I'm going into "screw-the-neighbours"-mode, and turn the volume way up. It's not just a happy song though, it's for all moods. A couple of days ago, I wasn't feeling too great, and when the song came up, it just made sense.

Besides all that, it's a great song to sing along. When you hit the "sooooooooo, sally can wait"-part (also knows as the chorus :p), it just gives you a rush. And, apparently (again, do you spell it like that?), when you're making some music with your friends, and you sing/play it, they start suggesting doing an Oasis-set. It's especially rewarding when the lead-guitarist claims the band "already knows that one". 2 weeks later he's bitching about the tricky solo's and violin-parts.

So that's why Don't Look Back In Anger, has taken the top spot from Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven.

The King is dead, long live the king.

CD Wishlist

Sat, 8 Dec 2007 14:13:44 +0000

I always thought my wishlist would be about endless, but it turned out to be the opposite.I had to think hard (and use my mp3-playlist) to figure out which albums I would like to add to my collection. It turned out to be the following:

The Beatles:
Beatles For Sale

Bruce Springsteen:
Darkness on the Edge of Town

Caesars:
Love For The Streets

Camera Obscura:
Let's Get Out Of This Country

The Connells:
Ring

Guster:
Easy Wonderful

The Hold Steady:
Boys and Girls in America
Heaven Is Whenever

The Last Shadow Puppets:
The Age Of The Understatement

Motion City Soundtrack:
Even If It Kills Me

The Shins:
Oh, Inverted World
Chutes Too Narrow

Tinted Windows:
Tinted Windows

The Velvet Underground:
The Velvet Underground

Albums I really, really own!

Sat, 8 Dec 2007 14:01:58 +0000

Well, second attempt, and this time, I'm planning on updating it regularly. Up next, my wishlist. I've recently discovered how handy it can be to have an up-to-date wishlist, especially when you, let's say, celebrate a birthday *hint hint*

ABC:
Lexicon of Love

Acda en de Munnik:
Acda en de Munnik
Naar Huis
Hier Zijn
Groeten Uit Maaiveld
Liedjes van Lenny
Nachtmuziek
Jouw Leven Lang Bij Mij

Arctic Monkeys:
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Who The Fuck Are The Arctic Monkeys?
Favourite Worst Nightmare

Barenaked Ladies
Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits

The Beach Boys
Pet Sounds

Beady Eye:
Different Gear, Still Speeding

The Beatles:
Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day's Night
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Magical Mystery Tour
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
White Album
Abbey Road
Let It Be
LOVE

Big Star:
#1 Record/Radio City

The Black Crowes:
Shake Your Money Maker
Amorica

Bloc Party:
Silent Alarm

Blur:
Parklife

The Byrds:
The Very Best Of

Bob Dylan:
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde On Blonde
Blood on the Tracks
MTV Unplugged

Bruce Springsteen:
Born To Run
The River
Born In The U.S.A.

Caesars:
39 Minutes Of Bliss
Paper Tigers

The Cars:
The Cars
Heartbeat City

Clash:
London Calling
Combat Rock

Coldplay:
A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Daft Punk:
Discovery

Death Cab for Cutie:
Transatlanticism
Plans

Deep Purple:
Made In Japan

Doors:
Greatest Hits

Elbow
Build A Rocket, Boys!

Eric Clapton:
After Midnight (Live)

Fleet Foxes:
Fleet Foxes

Fleetwood Mac:
Rumours

Fountains Of Wayne:
Fountains of Wayne
Utopia Parkway
Welcome Interstate Managers
Traffic & Weather
Sky Full Of Holes

Franz Ferdinand:
Franz Ferdinand
You Could Have It So Much Better

The Fratellis:
Costello Music

The Gaslight Anthem:
The '59 Sound
American Slang

Gerry Rafferty
Baker Street (EMI Greatest Hits)

Guns N' Roses:
Appetite For Destruction
GnR Lies
Greatest Hits

Guster:
Lost And Gone Forever
Keep It Together
Ganging Up On The Sun

The Jam:
The Very Best Of The Jam

Jamie Cullum:
Pointless Nostalgic
Twentysomething
Catching Tales

Jay-Z:
The Blueprint

Jimi Hendrix:
Voodoo Child: The Very Best Of

John Fogerty:
The Long Road Home

John Mayer:
Room For Squares
Heavier Things
Try!
Continuum
Where The Light Is: Live in Los Angeles
Battle Studies

Journey:
Greatest Hits

Kaiser Chiefs:
Employment

The Kinks:
Lola vs Moneygoround pt. 1

The Kooks:
Inside In, Inside Out

The La's:
The La's

Led Zeppelin:
I
II
III
IV
Houses Of The Holy
Physical Graffiti

Linkin Park:
Hybrid Theory

The Madd:
Ongeneeslijk Beat

Mando Diao:
Bring ´em In
Hurricane Bar
Ode To Ochrasy
Never Seen The Light Of Day

Miles Kane:
The Colour of the Trap

The New Pornographers
Challengers

Oasis:
Definitely Maybe
(What's The Story) Morning Glory
Be Here Now
The Masterplan
Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants
Familiar To Millions
Heathen Chemistry
Don't Believe The Truth
Dig Out Your Soul

Paul McCartney & Wings
Band On The Run

Pearl Jam:
Ten

Pink Floyd:
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Dark Side Of The Moon
Wish You Were Here

The Police:
Outlandos d'Amour
Regatta de Blanc

Ramones:
Rocket To Russia

Red Hot Chili Peppers:
Californication
By The Way

Rolling Stones:
Exile On Main Street

The Shins:
Wincing The Night Away

Simon & Garfunkel:
Bridge Over Troubled Water

Simple Minds
Glittering Prize

The Smiths:
The Queen Is Dead

The Streets:
Original Pirate Material
A Grand Don't Come For Free

The Strokes:
Room On Fire

Supertramp
Retrospectacle

Tears for Fears
Tears Roll Down

Thrills:
So Much For The City

Vampire Weekend:
Vampire Weekend

Velvet Underground:
Velvet Underground & Nico
Loaded

Weezer:
Weezer (Blue)
Pinkerton
Weezer (Green)
Maladroit
Make Believe
Weezer (Red)

Who:
Who's Next

Wolfmother:
Wolfmother

Guitar Hero III setlist confirmed!!!1!1oneone!!11!

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:55:08 +0000

Yes, I admit, I'm a gamer. Nothing to be ashamed of, really. Over the last couple of years, I've had some good times on my consoles, being an Xbox and a GameCube. I sometimes regret never to have bought a PlayStation2, but what the hey.

When Guitar Hero first was released, I envied the PlayStation-owning bastards like mad! A game that combines both music and gaming. I had to change my boxers after reading the review. Damn you Harmonix, for making such an übercool rhythm game!

Times have changed however, and I am currently a proud owner of an Xbox360 (for those interested: yes, I already had to deal with the Red Ring Of Death), and Guitar Hero III will appear on it. I didn't buy part 2, mainly due to the poor tracklist. A lot of big rockers, that don't really appeal to me. Guitar Hero III features a setlist that's a little more diversified. Thank the rock Gods!

The List!
Queens of the Stone Age - 3's and 7's
The Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The U.K.
Heroes Del Silencio - Avalancha
Heart - Barracuda
Santana - Black Magic Woman
Rage Against the Machine - Bulls On Parade
The Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock
Blue Oyster Cult - Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll
Lacuna Coil - Closer
Living Colour - Cult of Personality
Pearl Jam - Even Flow
Revolverheld - Generation Rock
Bret Michaels - Go That Far (didn't he do some sextape with Pamela Anderson?)
Bloc Party - Helicopter
Die Toten Hosen - Hier Kommt Alex
Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
The Hellacopters - I'm In The Band
Gallows - In The Belly of a Shark
Muse - Knights of Cydonia
ZZ Top - La Grange
Priestess - Lay Down
Naast - Mauvais Garçon
Backyard Babies - Minus Celcius
AFI - Miss Murder
Mountain - Mississippi Queen
Weezer - My Name Is Jonas (ohhhhh yeah!)
Metallica - One
The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Superbus - Radio Song
Slayer - Raining Men, err, Blood
The Strokes - Reptilia (ohhhhh yeah!)
Kiss - Rock and Roll All Nite
Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane
Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
Alice Cooper - School's Out
The Stone Roses - She Bangs The Drums
Velvet Revolver - She Builds Quick Machines
Foghat - Slow Ride
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Suck My Kiss
In Flames - Take This Life
Poison - Talk Dirty To Me
Tenacious D - The Metal
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
DragonForce - Through The Fire And Flames
Guns 'N Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
The Killers - When You Were Young

I have to admit, a lot of songs don't ring a bell, but I still can't wait till I get that 5-buttoned Les Paul copy in my hands.

Source: IGN

Looking back on 50.000 tracks

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 12:54:37 +0000

Truly, this might be a very lame journal for people to read, but I've seen examples that we're actually quite amusing. Next week I'll probably hit the milestone of 50.000 listened on Last.fm/Audioscrobbler. Reason enough for me to write a journal about it. Finally an excuse to review my own top 10. Yay!

I'll just start off with number 10, and work my way up to the number one.

Numero 10: The Kinks
Officially, it's my number 11 on the charts, but since Caesars Palace and the Caesars are the same artist, I've decided to include this one. And I have to admit, they're definitely not my favorite artist. I've only heard 2 albums of them, and it has been a long time since I checked em out regularly. They have been surpassed by a lot of artists.
Highest position: 5th (I think)
Albums I own: none

Numero 9: Caesars / Caesars Palace
As I said, the same artist. And if I was consistent, I should place em much higher, cause if you add em all up, they would be around 5th. To me, Caesars were the artist that proved you don't need sites like Last.fm to extend your musical library. I've picked em up when I was playing SSX3. That game had a killer soundtrack (got me into Röyksopp too), and that's how the ball started to roll. I downloaded an album, and I instantly liked it. And I still do.
Highest position: Caesars hit 10th, Caesars Palace has been on 1

Number 8: Jamie Cullum
I have a feeling I should be ashamed of liking his music. But that really makes no sense, I love his work. First time I heard a song of him, it was Frontin', the Pharrell cover. I totally liked it, which lead eventually to me buying the album Twentysomething. World class album, truly great. Catching Tales is great too. I don't really listen to him nowadays, because I really need to feel like listening to him. But I'm sure I will in the future.
Highest position: 7th (I think)
Albums I own: Twentysomething

Number 7: Boudewijn de Groot
I'll have to be honest, I mostly ripped his cd because of my mom, cause she absolutely loves his music. That's also the reason he is on 7th position.
Highest position: 6th
Albums I own: none

Number 6: Weezer
Weezer and me got off to a bad start. I checked out the Maladroit album a couple of years back. I didn't like it, so I erased it from my computer. But a year back or so, I surfed Newgrounds, and I noticed a Weezer Jam Session, something like Donkey Konga. Anyhoo, I checked it out, and that's how I stumbled upon Buddy Holly. I loved it, and it got me to download 2 albums. I started to appreciate it, and I now have all albums on my computer. Still like em a lot, and they're my favorite American band ever. Up to now that is.
Highest position: 6th
Albums I own: Pinkerton

Number 5: Pink Floyd
I had a period of complete Pink Floyd adoration. I would drive my parents crazy, cause everytime I got home, I turned on WinAMP and the matching Pink Floyd songs. That has faded away though, I listen to them in a somewhat regular fashion, but not excessively. Much to my parents' relief.
Highest position: 1st
Albums I own: Wish You Were Here and Dark Side Of The Moon

Number 4: Mando Diao
The second Swedish band in my top 10, and also my favorite Swedish band. You gotta love their simple, catchy, rock 'n' roll tunes. I liked their first album, Bring 'Em In, but I really got into them when I started liking Hurricane Bar. That is one kickass cd, jam packed with loads of great songs. It bums me out that the band isn't big in The Netherlands, cause they should be.
Highest position: 3rd
Albums I own: Hurricane Bar

Number 3: The Beatles
Well, that artist connection should make this journal available to 300.000 potential readers. And they can instantly start whining that I'm not a real fan. True, I don't own any of their albums yet (I plan to though), and I really got into them after the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death (even though this sound really cruel). But then again, a great band is a great band, even though I don't listen to them thát long. My favorite album... I used to say Magical Mystery Tour or Revolver, but nowadays I really like Abbey Road too.
Highest position: 3rd
Albums I own: none

Number 2: Acda en de Munnik
Currently my sister is the one that listens to them most frequently, but I still love them. They make simple pop songs, just a guitar, a piano, and some good Duthc lyrics. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it a whole lot.
Highest position: 1st
Albums I own: Acda en de Munnik, Naar Huis, Hier Zijn, Groeten Uit Maaiveld, Liedjes van Lenny

Number 1: Led Zeppelin
Something I got into myself. No one recommended it to me. It was back in the days when Suprnova was thé Bittorent site. I was just checking stuff out, and I stumbled upon Led Zeppelin IV. I downloaded it, and I loved it. But I'll have to be honest, if it didn't have Stairway to Heaven, I really don't know I would've gotten into them. StH was a song I could fall back to; if I didn't like the rest, there would always be Stairway to Heaven. Looking to my charts at the moment, it's a really close call between Led Zeppelin and Acda en de Munnik, but the peak of my LZ-listening was before I even got the AS-plugin, and even then it took me a while to realise you needed tags. So they're my number one, even though they might fall behind.
Highest position: 1st
Albums I own: I, II, III, IV, Houses of the Holy

And that should be it.

The music industry sucks

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 11:38:24 +0000

I'm not here to bitch about the chokehold hiphop and R&B have on the current music scene. Which, of course, is the fault of the music companies. No, I, from now on, despise their way of promoting legal downloading. Or in a more general way, paying for your music.

For the record, I'm not a hardcore downloader. Of course, I have a fairly extensive playlist on my computer, including loads of music I do not own. But I'm not the one that downloads every damn thing shows up on the internet. Besides, I also buy cd's. In fact, I started buying cd's AFTER downloading music.

The music industry sees me as an enemy though. Even I am buying some of their albums, I still download more than I buy, which makes me a criminal in their eyes. Their argument: download music from sites where you have to pay. Sure, the prices are right, and you can download the songs you like, you don't have to pay for the songs you don't want.

The point is, those mp3-files suck. I've read stories about sites that offered music. People paid and downloaded songs, but the money didn't go to the music companies, so they sued the site, which forced the site to block every mp3 that had been downloaded from their site. Without a refund for the customers. That's just plain nasty.

Nevertheless, they keep advertising those sites. Painting a picture that p2p is one virus-infected dangerzone, that normal people would avoid. How do you avoid those viruses? Buying music from sites that can block those mp3's at any time. Not a whole lotta options here fellas. That, and the fact that I have never ever gotten a virus while downloading music. Not even with Kazaa, which appears to be a rarity nowadays.

And last but not least... I bought a CD the other day from The Who, and IT DIDN'T EVEN WORK! The first four songs or so worked fine, after that nothing but noise. I mean, cmon. Legal mp3's are a deathtrap, and now you can't even buy cd's that work? But hey, the music industry will probably say it was money well spent.

And to annoy people with this nonsense:
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
Weezer

Ain't It The Life

Fri, 12 May 2006 13:47:34 +0000

Hotdamn! I was sitting in the bus the other day, on my way to school, just waiting 'till the busdriver got in. Then he entered, started the bus, and put on the radio. That whole radio thingy isn't really standard, but some busdrivers listen to it. I don't mind, I've had some nice artists before.

Anyhoo, the second he turned on the radio, the sweet vibes of Norah Jones filled my ears. At that point, some kind of warmth came over me, and I figured thát's how life should be. Sitting in a bus, on my way to school, temperature about 25 degrees Celsius, listening to Don't Know Why.

It sure as hell was reason enough for me to rip the album my mother owns. And yes, I like it.

Underrated music?

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:08:08 +0000

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not talking about some indie-bands no one listens to. Of course, there are some bands that deserve to be listened to, but I don't feel those bands are underrated. They just have a small fanbase, and the rest of the people just don't know they exsist.

But, here we go, bands like Linkin Park and blink-182 could be described as being underrated. So-called music lovers listened to 2 songs of those artist, realise they don't like it, and make up some bullshit story saying the music is crappy.

First of all: technical perfection in a song means completely nothing to me. That could be me, but I listen to songs in a whole, and not just the guitar riff or the bassloop. If I like it, I listen it. I've got a couple of friends who are really into metal, and they keep on stressing the point that the music is technically brilliant. Can't say I really care, I hate metal. I don't like to listen to it, it's way to loud for me. I'm not saying metal sucks, just pointing out that I don't like it.

Besides, there are some different demographic groups that listen to different kinds of music. blink-182 focusses mainly on high school kids. I can't really say I hate the lyrics if they're just not meant for me. Same goes for Linkin Park. If kids can get some kind of support out of those songs, then who am I to say that music sucks.

In addition to that, Hybrid Theory has some friggin' catchy songs. There are some songs I don't like, but overall I like the album. The same goes for blink-182, the last album Blink has made. I just love it. And I'm sure a lot of blink-haters would love the album too, if they listened to the damn album. But they won't, cause it's blink-182. Yuk! Just because they heard All the Small Things on MTV a couple of times.

It's just, I don't see why Bloc Party would be better than Linkin Park. If you like LP better than BP, you should be listening to that.