Broken Star

Tag: music

  • 2025 Apple Replay

    It’s the time of the year where folks do free advertising for their platform of choice share their yearly round-up of music they listened to. While it has its limits, I always have some curiosity about what my provider (Apple) catalogs about me during the year.

    For the most part, there isn’t anything too surprising, aside from the fact that I apparently listened to a lot of ScHoolboy Q in July. I really don’t understand that one. I would have expected to see some more of my weightlifting soundtrack — Gather, Time X Heist, Strife, and Earth Crisis — make an appearance, but I guess I haven’t succeeded at becoming a straight edge gym bro yet.

    Also, as someone who works on the web, I was a bit disappointed by how Apple presents their Replay. It’s all JavaScript-based and they do things like disabling the copy function and not presenting the content inside the HTML, so it was a drag generating the list. I ended up having to take screenshots and using an AI tool to parse them for the lists. Not exactly user friendly!

    Top Artists by Month

    • January: Slowdive
    • February: Liz Phair
    • March: Guns N’ Roses
    • April: Guns N’ Roses
    • May: Conflict
    • June: awakebutstillinbed
    • July: ScHoolboy Q
    • August: Yasunori Nishiki
    • September: Boysetsfire
    • October: Nirvana
    • November: Camp Cope

    Top Albums

    1. Chaos Takes the Wheel and I Am a Passenger — awakebutstillinbed
    2. Friends In Real Life — Friends In Real Life
    3. Short n’ Sweet — Sabrina Carpenter
    4. OCTOPATH TRAVELER II Original Soundtrack — Yasunori Nishiki
    5. This Much Remains — Conflict
    6. American Thighs — Veruca Salt
    7. Persona 5 Royal Original Soundtrack — Lyn / ATLUS Sound Team
    8. Lucky for You — Bully
    9. Garbage (20th Anniversary Edition) — Garbage
    10. After the Eulogy — Boysetsfire
    11. Brave Faces Everyone — Spanish Love Songs
    12. This Bitter Garden — For Your Health
    13. Look! A Rainbow! — Kara’s Walk Home
    14. Use Your Illusion II — Guns N’ Roses
    15. Whip-Smart — Liz Phair

    Top Artists

    1. awakebutstillinbed
    2. Guns N’ Roses
    3. Nirvana
    4. Metallica
    5. Fifteen
    6. Apes of the State
    7. Sabrina Carpenter
    8. Liz Phair
    9. Friends In Real Life
    10. Bad Religion
    11. Boysetsfire
    12. Mineral
    13. Propagandhi
    14. Everyone Asked About You
    15. ATLUS Sound Team

  • The Locust at Michigan Fest: A Unique Experience

    Growing up in the punk and hardcore scene in the 1990s, I was lucky to see a lot of amazing bands and meet incredibly passionate and talented people playing music, putting on shows, publishing zines, etc. Those experiences exposed me to foundational ideas in my life (like straight edge) and gave me a place of belonging. It taught me that in many ways, culture is something that we can co-create, rather than something handed down from corporations.

    Reflecting on that time, every once in a while, a memory will pop into my head and I’ll recall a band I had the privilege of seeing before they became huge. One such band was The Locust. I remember seeing them at Michigan Fest and it was one of my more memorable experiences in punk. There was a lot of hype around The Locust and the crowd went wild: people had placards, there were some costumes, and everything erupted. I remember the chandelier getting smashed by garbage (captured on video). It was one

    I saw The Locust at least a couple more times in this era, but they weren’t a band I listened to or really sought out. Some years later I remember being surprised to learn from a friend outside of hardcore that The Locust was well-known. I’m sure at the time I probably had some pithy response about how they were better when I saw them. Now, I just cherish the memory.

    The Locust – Live at Michigan Fest 3-24-2000 •• Master Tape •• Soundboard Audio

  • Rare Sounds: Vangelis – Fais Que Ton Rêve Soit Plus Long Que La Nuit

    Long before the composer Vangelis became famous for the sweeping scores of Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner, he recorded one of his strangest and most elusive works: a 1971 album titled Fais que ton rêve soit plus long que la nuit. Part protest document, part symphonic poem, it was born out of the turmoil of France’s May 1968 rebellion. I stumbled across it years ago in the form of a scratchy MP3 rip, and what began as casual curiosity soon turned into a quiet obsession. The record has remained obscure—never reissued, rarely mentioned, and impossible to find on streaming platforms—yet it continues to haunt me.

    Its obscurity has bred rumors. Some say Vangelis was embarrassed by it and rejected the ideas it contained; others point to a very limited release in France and Greece. In the current era of streaming, it isn’t available. I’ve never been able to track down a physical copy. I still listen to my old MP3s, but I’ve since found a better recording on archive.org.

    But beyond its scarcity, what makes the record remarkable is how it blends art and politics into a single sonic experiment. Fais Que Ton Rêve Soit Plus Long Que La Nuit mixes Vangelis’ compositions with sounds he recorded on the barricades in May 1968. The record sleeve describes it as a “’Poème symphonique” or “symphonic poem” which is an accurate description. I’ve always found the album to be quite compelling. Musically, it is rather chaotic with a background of sounds of street battles (tear gas containers, sirens, shouting, etc) with fragments of spoken dialog alongside rather haunting lyrics chanting the slogans of the day. It captures the excitement of the era, the euphoria of believing that the protests have won, and then ends with the somber announcement that French President Charles DeGaulle is re-taking control of Paris and that the occupied university, the Sorbonne, at the heart of the rebellion had been retaken by government forces. The lyrics highlight the revolutionary ideas of the time, drawing heavily from the posters that lined the streets.

    More than fifty years later, this strange “symphonic poem” still feels alive—half revolutionary echo, half forgotten artifact. It captures a moment of euphoria, defiance, and eventual disillusion, etched into sound. If you can track it down, even in a dusty corner of the Internet, it’s worth the listen.

  • The First 3 Songs on a Movie about my Life

    During an icebreaker prompt at work, I was asked what the first 3 songs would be on the soundtrack to a movie about my life. Setting aside the fact that a movie based on my life would be overly self-indulgent, I thought it was an interesting question.

    I forget where I first encountered it, but there has been some recent studies that suggest our musical tastes later in life are heavily shaped by what one is exposed to in high school.

    I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised then that when I contemplated this question, I was immediately taken back to the alternative rock that constituted my gateway into the broader underground scene. I don’t think these songs really need any introduction. They are three absolutely perfect alternative pop rock songs.

    The Breeders – Cannonball

    Liz Phair – Supernova

    Nirvana – Jesus Don’t Want Me For A Sunbeam

  • 2024 Apple Replay

    I always enjoy checking in on my Apple Replay stats at the end of the year. I always listen to music when I’m working, so while the whole “top 15” in each category doesn’t always capture the breadth of what I listen to, it does usually do a good job of highlighting some of the more popular entries.

    I was about 33 years late, but this I year I learned that I really do like Metallica’s self-titled album. I wasn’t big on metal when I was younger (still not honestly), but I really do like the album. I missed them at the time and then largely held a grudge against them for their pursuit of Napster. In the spirit of letting go, I realized that 24 years was long enough to hold onto that.

    As is often the case in these end of the year wrap-ups, there are a lot of staple artists that I’ve been listening to for decades now. Liz Phair, Nirvana, Bad Religion, Garbage, Jawbreaker, and Sonic Youth all would have been on a similar list when I was in high school. Maybe those studies that say your music tastes peak in high school are correct.

    Top 15 Artists of 2024

    1. ATLUS Sound Team
    2. Nirvana
    3. Counting Crows
    4. Liz Phair
    5. Oliva Rodrigo
    6. Metallica
    7. Alice in Chains
    8. Alkaline Trio
    9. Jawbreaker
    10. Sonic Youth
    11. Bad Religion
    12. awakebutstillinbed
    13. The Smashing Pumpkins
    14. Veruca Salt
    15. Boygenius

    Top 15 Songs of 2024

    1. Cannonball – The Breeders
    2. Garden Song – Phoebe Bridgers
    3. Why Can’t I? – Liz Phair
    4. Cherub Rock – The Smashing Pumpkins
    5. Live Forever – Oasis
    6. Negative Creep – Nirvana
    7. Do you Still Hate Me? – Jawbreaker
    8. Bad Time – Alkaline Trio
    9. Porno and Snuff Films – The Lawrence Arms
    10. Schizophrenia – Sonic Youth
    11. vampire – Olivia Rodrigo
    12. bad idea right? – Olivia Rodrigo
    13. Rooster – Alice in Chains
    14. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
    15. Strawberry Wine – Deana Carter

    Top 15 Albums of 2024

    1. Persona 5: Royal Original Soundtrack – ATLUS Sound Team
    2. Guts – Olivia Rodrigo
    3. Chaos Takes the Wheel and I am a Passenger – awakebutstillinbed
    4. American Thighs – Veruca Salt
    5. Look! A Rainbow – Kara’s Walk Home
    6. Castlevania Original Soundtrack – Castlevania Sound Team
    7. Garbage (Super Deluxe Edition) – Garbage
    8. Slanted & Enchanted – Pavement
    9. the record – Boygenius
    10. Dirt – Alice in Chains
    11. Give Up – The Postal Service
    12. Across a Wire: Live in New York City – Counting Crows
    13. Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs – Alkaline Trio
    14. Deeper Well – Kacey Musgraves
    15. 24 Hour Revenge Therapy – Jawbreaker