Ever been listening to a sad song wondering why it sounds so darn sad? Happy, sad, peaceful or angry — there’s just something about music that makes us feel a certain way. Apart from any lyrics, there seems to be much more to music than meets the ear.



So it is the last Alt Tuesday post of the year. Are you sad? Because I sure am. But I’ve decided that instead of giving you ONE album to digest, I’m going to assign my loyal readers a huuuge homework assignment for the summer. The following albums are some gems that I think will make for really good summer jams.

Grouplove — Never Trust A Happy Song
Grouplove is a band that knows what the hell they’re doing. They formed kind of just for S’s and G’s, but ended up getting picked up and putting out a pretty big album. They got playtime on television because Apple used their song “Tongue Tied” in a commercial. Check out that track and “Colours.” Really bright, generally upbeat songs laced with high, occasionally gritty vocals and solid harmonies.

Foster The People — Torches
Honestly, I’m not going to go ahead and argue that Foster The People has made an album that you are going to be dying to get back to every time you are wondering what you should listen to now. But there are a lot of light hearted, really fun songs on this album. Good for summer dancey music. And who doesn’t love to rock out to good ol’ “Pumped Up Kicks” every once in a while?

Blink-182 – Take Off Your Pants And Jacket
I don’t know about you guys, but Blink-182’s old stuff reminds me of being a kid and that’s awesome if you ask me. Take Off Your Pants And Jacket is one of the quintessential pop punk records that a lot of modern day pop punk kids grew up on. Travis Barker’s drumming is somewhat revolutionarily thoughtful while Mark Hoppus and Tom Delonge continue to produce really catchy pop punk melodies. If you like fast, fun music lined with profanity and undertones of true emotional distress, take a listen to this one. And even if not, listen to “Happy Holidays, You Bastard” and try not to laugh.

Phoenix — Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
This album is honestly just associated with good vibes for me. Everyone’s jam a couple years back was “1901.” Maybe it’s time to dust off the album that that came off of. Phoenix writes very mature and thoughtful new age music, lined with keyboards and bright guitars. And despite the fact that english is Phoenix’s second language, the band still turns out lyrics that are far more clever than a lot of the people who are in their scene. Give this one a shot no matter what. Very accessible.

Reel Big Fish — A Best Of Us… For The Rest Of Us
SUMMER = SKA. ALL DAY ERRY DAY. But seriously, if you have a hankering for some good ska but you don’t know how to get into it exactly, try this album. It is line with really really fun upbeat music from front to back. It is at the top of my “Going To The Beach” playlist for sure.

Have a good summer, people. Thanks for following my posts. Be back Fall 2012.

A film score can make or break a movie. Before the advent of talkies, most movies completely relied on their scores to build suspense, create drama, and serve as an audible link from the images on the screen to the viewer; yet the rise of talkies saw a seismic shift in emphasis, from cinematography and music to acting and the voice.

In recent years, film music has been a lackadaisical affair. There is a small group of greats — composers Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman, Howard Shore, and John Williams — that are responsible for most Hollywood blockbusters. The process has become mechanical: The lead composer writes a theme, which is often a small alteration from a past film and a group of assistants writes the variations. This method can work quite well: The score for The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a perfect example. But often this results in the same sounds being put into multiple films.

Fortunately, there are exceptions to this process. Every once in a while, a newcomer will come to the scene and create something quite memorable. In 2011’s Drive, the score featured the ethereal, ’80s sounding, synthesizer Europop sounds of Cliff Martinez. Apologies to Ryan Gosling fans, but the dreamlike score of Drive is definitely the film’s strongest element.

Film music, like any sort of music, is a mixed affair filled with highs and lows. Perhaps more interesting is how the elements of the score permeate into the rest of the music world. Most recently, Johnny Jewel, the person who everyone thought would score Drive, released the album Themes For an Imaginary Film, which, like Drive, featured arpeggiating synths, dramatic sweeps, and brittle drum machines. The term “cinematic music” is thrown around a lot, but rarely does this term truly imply a cinematic experience. The two hours of music contained on Themes For an Imaginary Film, however, is able to emulate the experience of watching a film. All you have to do is close your eyes and be drawn into your imagination.