5 songs that sound better outside the recording studio

I’m normally a big fan of studio-recorded songs, because it’s usually pretty clean, and given enough takes, should be exactly perfect and the way the artists wanted the song to be heard.

Also, I used to edit a whole bunch of videos, and when choosing background music I’d prefer to use studio-versions of songs, because live versions tend to suffer from the following problems:

• Poor audio quality (usually really lousy bass)
• Distracting ambient noises
• That loud girl that sings along during the chorus, and yells out “I LOVE YOU” during verses.

However, I do realize that some songs sound a whole lot better when performed outside of the studio, be it in a concert, or some other impromptu location. There’s a bunch of reasons for that, like maybe the emotion in the voices are stronger, there’s more energy… but usually it’s cos clean guitar strings sometimes sound better than distorted stuff.

Sometimes, you just sing and play the guitar better when you’re sitting in a garden chair

Here’s a list of 5 songs with non-studio versions that I think sound better than the original studio-recorded versions. Check them out and let me know if you agree with me.

Tegan and Sara – The Con

I LOVE the original version of this song. I played the hell out of it in Rock Band 3, and will continue to do so in an effort to learn how to play the piano again. But there’s just something about this performance that makes it really stand out. Maybe it’s Tegan’s expressions, but she sounds a lot more emotional here… to the point where I’m pretty much about to cry at my work desk.

But like she says, nobody likes me when I cry.

vs the studio version.

Heather Nova – Virus of the Mind

These two versions sound pretty similar, actually… but there’s just something a bit more jovial and laid back about the 2 Meter Sessies version which gives it a more singalongable vibe.

vs the studio version.

Liz Phair – Extraordinary

I like distorted guitars just as much as the next guy; I listened to Nirvana and heavy metal and stuff. But this song sounds just so much better when stripped down. Yes, Liz Phair’s voice kinda breaks during some of the higher notes, but I can deal with that and will always prefer this version over the studio one.

vs the studio version.

Dave Grohl – Everlong

There are many reasons why I prefer an acoustic version of Everlong, and yes, the lack of Dave Grohl aneurysm-inducing screaming has a lot to do with it. But it’s also such a sweet song that sounds great on an acoustic guitar.

vs the studio version (do check this one out if you haven’t seen it – the Michel Gondry-directed music video is AMAZING).

Tegan and Sara – Back in your head

Yes, it’s Tegan and Sara again… but these two girls are just that talented! I mean, they’re playing in a park! A public park, damnit! Who sounds that good out in the park?

And besides, xylophones are awesome.

vs the studio version (which I adore, btw).

Twice the musical goodness!

For some reason, I really like music videos that make clever use of the split-screen effect. Maybe it’s because it seems so difficult to coordinate all that action and keep your cameramen from knocking into each other or getting each other in shot, or maybe it’s just because I’ve never had the luxury of shooting with more than one camera at a time.

Here are two of my favorite split-screen videos… and further emphasizing the whole duality theme is the fact that they both feature singer-songwriter duos.

Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori from Cibo Matto

First up is Cibo Matto’s Sugar Water, followed by Tegan and Sara’s I Hear Noises.

PS Sugar Water was directed by Michel Gondry, who is a genius with a camera. Here’s the guy who’s done amazing things like the Foo Fighter’s Everlong video and Kylie Minogue’s Come Into My World, and how about that amazing synchronized reverse/forward action in Sugar Water? How does he come up with this stuff?

Tegan Quin and Sara Quin, from well… Tegan and Sara

Happiness is a bounce in your step

I think I’m a pretty happy guy. I tend to bitch about a lot of things, but overall I think I’m pretty happy.

One of my favorite times of the day is actually the five minute walk between the train station and my workplace. Like this morning, when I was plugged into my earphones and my tunes, and I had a bounce in my step.

I know I had a bounce in my step, not because I’m an animator and I’m supposed to study the way different people walk and stuff, but because I wanted to walk with a bounce in my step as an expression of my joy. No kidding!

People around me are sulking and dragging their feet, but I’m walking at 1.5x speed, like I’m in a Charlie Chaplin movie or something.

Walk like Charlie Chaplin!

It’s not because I’m extremely eager to get to work or anything (although I do love my job), but it’s because I just want that extra feeling of speed and liveliness. I’ve got Tegan and Sara playing in my ears, and I’m simply not satisfied with dragging my feet. I wanna feel that little bit of extra breeze against my face, and I want to bounce a bit.

I realize that it might look incredibly douchey to be bouncing and strutting to work, but if some jerk wants to resent me for being happy, then he deserves his unhappiness. I didn’t win the lottery or anything… I’m just happy for what I’ve got right now:

Good music, a job that I enjoy, and a wonderful wife and dog that I’ll see at the end of the day. What else do I need?

Well, getting the Diablo 3 servers to actually work during those rare times when I try to log in would be nice… but not entirely necessary.

Koalas are not bears!

One thing my wife and I always debate about is koalas. She loves the furry little things, and quite frankly, who doesn’t?

Anyway, like many people in the world, she was brought up to believe that koalas are bears… thus the commonly used but incorrect term “koala bear”.

I grew up in Australia, and the second thing they teach you in schools there (after spelling Australia) is that koalas are marsupials… NOT bears. They might look like bears, but they’re not related to bears. Just like how Zooey Deschanel is not related to Katy Perry.

They look alike, but they’re not bears

I’ve told wifey this several times, and pointed out credible websites and sources that irrefutably state that koalas are not bears.

But the moment any shred of evidence comes up that koalas might actually be bears, she’ll latch onto it and shove it in my face while yelling “SEE!?! Koalas ARE bears after all!” It doesn’t matter to her if the “evidence” might be a badly worded poster or some children’s story book; she just wants so badly for koalas to be bears.

One recurring piece of “evidence” for her case is a song by Tegan and Sara called My Number – about 1:36 into the song.

Closed down the last local zoo
I’m gonna win the endless war
Over who kills the last koala bear
And who in death will love him more and I

You see, wifey and I totally adore Tegan and Sara – so she’s going to use that against me forever. “If Tegan and Sara says it’s a koala bear, then it must be true!”

But they’re Canadian! What do Canadians know about Australian wildlife?

Possibly the funniest image I have seen in months!

Anyway, we were just watching Tegan and Sara’s concert DVD last night, and I was supposed to be working on a press release but I was completely glued to the TV because they’re just so funny and awesome.

As such, I’m in a real Tegan and Sara mood, so every post this week will include some kind of Tegan and Sara reference! Yay!

Come visit Revo-Emag!

I don’t know if you guys know this, but before I started this blog, I was running this other blog called Revo-Emag. That blog was about geeky stuff like movies and videogames, with a more humorous take on things.

Anyway, when the other contributors started getting bored of it and stopped writing, I let Revo-Emag slowly die too, especially when I started this one.

But I figured most people who read this blog probably don’t really give a crap about movies and videogames, so I decided to reboot Revo-Emag and get it running again.

So if you like videogames and/or movies, please do drop by Revo-Emag once in a while!

Here’s a sample of the kind of posts you’ll find on Revo-Emag:

• 5 reasons why The Shining Sucks
• How the Playstation gimped the hands of a generation
• Pokemon Avatar
• Games want geeks to fear girls
• What if the Japanese took over the Halo franchise?
• Top 5 movie brawls

Hopefully, I’ll also reboot my dog’s blog someday too!

Where do plastic bags come from?

A combination of carrying a bag full of pet food and a sudden flashback to a Radiohead song led me to this puzzling question:

Anyway, here’s that aforementioned Radiohead song. I’m not a huge Radiohead fan, but this song is pretty awesome… and it’s on the Clueless soundtrack! Bonus points!