The Eclipse Soundtrack. Why the hate?

Last week, one of my Facebook friends was complaining that he refused to pay $15 for that stupid Eclipse movie soundtrack despite the fact that it contained a handful of songs he wanted. Since then I've seen a few other things (blogs, status updates, tweets) in which people are complaining about something along those lines. And honestly, I don't get it.

Ok, yes, the soundtrack is tied to the movie, but buying the soundtrack does not force you to become a fan of it. It's just music. Really good music. Who cares why it was compiled? You don't have to watch the movies to be allowed to buy the soundtrack. The purchase of it does not mean anything more than you have good taste in music. What's the problem?

I can sort of understand how if you're a big fan of a certain artist you may take issue with them being involved with the franchise. I know Muse fans (of which I am one) had nothing good to say about the band's involvement with the movies (on a side note, click here  for an article I love about Matt Bellamy talking about what he thinks of that). But that's not really the case with people who complain about having to buy the soundtrack to get some of the songs they want, and that's why I'm confused. My aforementioned Facebook friend was not complaining about the artists being on the soundtrack. He was complaining about having to buy the Eclipse soundtrack.

I can't help thinking, at this point doesn't everyone know that if nothing else, the movies produce really good soundtracks so that if you were "caught" with it on your iPod, most people would just give you a pass? You may hate the movies, but the music has always been good and original and there are few who could really argue that. So I can't help but ask again, what's the problem?

Here's the delicious Florence + The Machine song Heavy in Your Arms which I honestly can't stop listening to. It's just too good.

DMB: Let the Fans Pick the Setlist. Just once? Please?

I was on Muse's website earlier today and saw that they are supposedly letting fans pick the setlist for 27 upcoming shows in England this summer. While I think it'd be a brilliant idea, I also think it makes for a great April Fools joke. And if it is one, they're going to have some pissed off (or at least marginally annoyed) fans when they let them in on the joke. Since I can't make the England shows, it makes no difference to me one way or another, I guess.

But it did get me to thinking... why don't bands do that from time to time? Namely, why doesn't the Dave Matthews Band let us do that? I think they'd be perfect for it because they tour every summer, so one show out of a whole summer tour is not going to disrupt anything, and they have some of the most loyal fans on the planet! Letting us have a say on what we want to hear for one show would be a nice thing to do. Right? The other thing is that of course, with the amount of show trading within the community, we could all get our grubby little paws on it. Or, they could release it as part of the Live Trax series.

I understand that we'd all go for the obscure stuff that Dave has forgotten the lyrics to, but hell, he forgets the lyrics to even the non-obscure stuff, so it wouldn't really big a big obstacle:  If it was voted on early enough  it's not like the band couldn't take some time to prep for it. I'm just sayin'. A pain in the ass for the band, no doubt, but relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, no?

The more I think about it, the more I convince myself it's a brilliant idea. I couldn't tell you the logistics of it, like how, with the many options of songs, we could narrow it down so we're not all over the place with choices. Or what venue it should be held at. I think it should be between the Gorge, Alpine or SPAC because those are hardcore fan favorites and the ones most fans migrate to. How would that work out for the casual fan? No clue. Valid things to work out, but certainly not deal breakers, methinks. I'm sure there's a reason- a good, valid reason for why this is not a realistic thing to do, but until someone can explain to me what that is, I may just start a movement on Facebook. Hey, that's how they got Betty White to host SNL, right?

Rainy Day in L.A.

It's raining (one might argue it's sprinkling) in Los Angeles today and Angelenos everywhere are complaining to anyone within earshot and getting into accidents all over the place because we don't know how to drive in the rain. I, for one, have always loved the rain and think it's a nice change. I know, I stand alone. I  have nowhere I need to be, so I don't have to drive and that might also help with my non-hatred!

I'm gonna get the fireplace going- not because it'll be nice with rainy weather but because my stupid heater doesn't work and I'm freezing! But since I do have a fire going and no place I need to be, I made a rainy day playlist, which I tried to whittle down to just one song per artist and failed miserably. It turns out I just don't know how to whittle. The fact of the matter is almost any album by David Gray or Damien Rice would do for a rainy day so it's really hard to narrow them down to just a song! It's kind of a weird mix, and one might argue depressing or melancholy, but I like it, and as I'm only trying to please myself here, it'll do! Here it is, in no particular order:

1) Slow Life by Grizzly Bear

2) Wonderwall by Ryan Adams

3) Come Pick Me Up Ryan Adams

4) Slow Motion by David Gray

5) This Year's Love by David Gray

6) Cold Water by Damien Rice

7) I Remember by Damien Rice

8) Elephant by Damien Rice

9) Go On Say by It Blind Pilot

10) Stay Or Leave by Dave Matthews

11) Captain by Dave Matthews Band

12) Make No Sound by Gomez

13) An Audience with the Pope by Elbow

14) Lover, You Should've Come Over by Jeff Buckley

15) Endlessly by Muse

16) No Other Way byPaolo Nutini

17) Let It Be Me by Ray LaMontagne

18) You Really Gotta Hold On Me by She & Him

19) Lifeboats by Snow Patrol

20) Sweet Thing by Van Morrison

21) Impossible by Band of Skulls

22) Cold Flame by Band of Skulls

I could go on but I was trying to keep it to twenty- and I was close! I might do another one on another rainy day (whenever that might be) and see what I come up with... I can do melancholy with the best of 'em!

It's Visceral: Endlessly by Muse

We all have them. Songs that affect is in ways we can't quite explain.You don't just love it. There's more to it than that. You feel it. It comes on and you have a visceral reaction to it. For me, if I can, I close my eyes, turn it up and just sing it like my life depends on it. Again, I can't really say what it is about any given song I feel this way about. It just resonates somewhere in me and no matter how many times I hear it, it just doesn't get old. This is one of those songs for me.

Quit Teasing Me with Tour Dates, Muse!

Yesterday (or early this morning, I guess), Muse released a couple more tour dates in support of The Resistance album. Over the past couple of months tour dates have slowly been trickling out. This morning it was Vegas and Mexico. This is fantastic, but enough already! Where are the L.A. dates? I beg of you Muse, quit messing with my mind!

Vegas is do-able for me but L.A. would be better. I cannot imagine any scenario where Los Angeles or the surrounding area would not be a stop on their tour (or just about any artist) so I know it's just a matter of time but I ask you, how am I supposed to know if I should try for Vegas tickets if I don't know when they're hitting L.A.? My best guess is of course mid April, but I've got a lot of stuff going on April and if I can't make the L.A. show you bet your ass I'll be driving over to Vegas (tickets for which go on sale Friday) but I'd rather not go to Vegas if I can do L.A.. And so here we are. What to do? What to do?

While I ponder, here's some Undisclosed Desires...



UPDATE:

Since I originally published this post (Jan. 12, 2009) Muse has announced that they will be playing Coachella. So I guess there is a scenario in which they would not play the Los Angeles area. I'm told when they agree to play the festival, they cannot play any of the surrounding areas three months before or after. Which blows.

I'm still thinking they might come back later on in the year, but either way I'm covered. I can't make Coachella- especially since in their wisdom, this is the year you cannot buy a day pass- but I did get tickets to the Vegas show after all and I'm very much looking forward to that. Especially after watching their latest video, which was also released after my original posting. The tour looks amazing! Cannot wait.

Resistance