what color is your music?: November 2009

Green is the new white? well, that was my initial thought when i decided to get inspired for today's list by searching my iTunes library for the color green. First up, Barenaked Ladies (shh. quiet, you.) "Green Christmas" from their Album "Barenaked for the holidays" - reason i say this, (aside from the fact its about a green Christmas, of course) there is a lot of green associated with that holiday, including bad memories of Christmases passed, where we didn't get any snow, or it melted before the next morning. Also, the association of 'green' with money, which is a big part of Christmas as well. Anyway, this isn't so much about Christmas as it is Green, So, onward!

Green is one of my favorite colors. It can be deep, intriguing, mysterious. In its most basic form, an ideal primary color. It's hard to mix with other colors to get anything useful (aside from shades of brown, really) thus it stays fairly pure. Always my favorite crayon to use, they wrote so well. Rich, lush, saturated. It's found all over in nature. How does it make me feel musically? So far, I'm noticing its clearly a more "pop" driven color at first glance, but does start to delve into the more esoteric. Barenaked Ladies, Big Audio Dynamite, then... Brian Eno, which I think is a stepping stone right there. It's like going from that nice poppy, fun energetic Crayola Green to Dark Forest Green.. I'm diving in to the swampy green ocean of The Brian Jonestown Massacre (which from a synesthetic point of view is also a black and red band as well, but going strictly by conventional naming and such, green..at least this song), Can (totally green. like, can of nasty canned spinach green.) Clem Snide, Coldplay and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Given obvious associations (at least in the US) with money, im going to have to put Pink Floyd's "Money" on my list as well, although it didn't come up in my green search playlist. Perhaps not fair to "P!nk" for getting snubbed yesterday, but such is life.
Green does not make me think of Space, Science (aside from Earth Science), or cooking really, although vegetables are green. Green reminds me of money, grass, football, Christmas.
It just exists as green, different shades and all, some more forgiving to the eyes then others (for example, Crayola green is gorgeous, childlike and playful.. however pine green feels evil, dark and sinister, it has something to hide, perhaps evil things done in its past. It's hiding someone in the woods.)
Crayola Green = Barenaked Ladies
Brownish-Green = Can
Forest Green = Brian Eno
Grass Green = Creedence Clearwater Revival
That's what i see when i listen to these bands.

At any rate, on with the playlist for today, Green.

1.) Green Christmas - Barenaked Ladies (from Barenaked for the Holidays)

2.) The Green Lady - Big Audio Dynamite (from Megatop Phoenix)

3.) Green Grass - Big Audio Dynamite II (from The Globe)

4.) Another Green World* - Brian Eno

5.) Evergreen - Brian Jonestown Massacre (from The Diane Perry Tape)

6.) I'm So Green - Can (from Ege Bamyasi)

7.) All Green - Clem Snide (from Soft Spot)

8.) Green Eyes - Coldplay (from A Rush of Blood to the Head)

9.) Green River - Creedence Clearwater Revival (from Chronicle, vol. 1)

10.) Under the Greenwood Tree - Donovan (from A Gift from a Flower to a Garden)

11.) Green Buds in Springtime - DJ Frane (from Electric Garden of Delights)

12.) Green Shirt - Elvis Costello (from Armed Forces)

13.) This Green City - The Glove (from Blue Sunshine, which is one of the BEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME)

14.) Eerie Green Storm-Lantern - Robyn Hitchcock (from A Middle Class Hero)

15.) Green Pennies - Matt Pond PA (from Deer Apartments - he himself doesn't like this album, i think its good, but not quite as amazing as Last Light, which is one of the best pop albums ever made)

so i believe thats it for today, still trying to get a feel for how im going to continue with this - be it literal naming (using songs with the color in it) or songs that mean a color to me. but either way, here's to today, green.

i had the idea of color-coding my music. its like musical synesthesia.

today's color: Pink. Pink is a great color for music, although visually not really there for me. Its like red that gave up. It has a feminine touch (given years of association - i just asked a 10 year old what he thinks of when he hears the word "pink" and as expected, i got "hmm...Pink = Flamingos,Strawberry Ice cream, GIRLS!!!!"). It feels soft, it smells sweet, but not sickly sweet..like a a rose bush in a breeze sweet. Nice. Warm. It feels like those old iron-on patches you used to get out of cereal boxes, back when they still put cool things in cereal boxes. In terms of its sound however, I think it really does range from obscure to mainstream, spanning genres and decades alike. Psych/prog rock pioneers Pink Floyd, a brilliant Pianist/Classical Composer Angelo Badalamenti, New-New Wave Rock The Big Pink, Folk icon Nick Drake, Post-Rock/sludge Pelican, and (disclaimer: my fav band EVER) those dreamy Shoegaze legends The Cocteau Twins. Clearly, the one thing that cannot be deduced about a song or musician by the color pink would be the style of music. Floaty music and soft lyrics, dancy 4-on-the-floor beats, rockin' guitars and everything in between.

Enjoy.

1.) The Pink Room - Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks Soundtrack)