Day 3 of the Writing 101 challenge was – Write about the three most important songs in your life — what do they mean to you?, the first 2 came easily in a flash, but selecting a third and final was infinitely more difficult
Dj Shadow – Organ Donor (Extended Overhaul)
The Extended overhaul version is key here, as it’s the longer version (4 minutes ish) where as the shorter version on Entroducing is just not enough.
Organ Donor is one of my all time favourite tracks, it must be over 15 years ago when I was introduced to Entroducing (‘scuse the pun)back when I was in University. The opening bars of the creepy almost out of tune organ still sends a chill up my spine when I hear it today. I’ve seen Shadow perform live at least 6 times (and travelled to far flung places such as Cardiff and Prague for a show)and unlike most performers who might tire of playing ‘their most famous / popular track’ it doesn’t seem to bother Shadow, he knows how to please a crowd, and no matter whether his show is Hip Hop based or Dubstep driven he drops this and the crowd goes wild, it becomes one big party!
This track may be heading towards its 20th birthday but I don’t think I’ll be tiring of it any time soon
Sigur Ros – Olsen Olsen
If you’re not familiar with the Sigur Ros film Heima then I strongly recommend a viewing, it’s a beautifully shot documentary film from 2006 when the band returned home to Iceland and played a series of free concerts for the people.
One of my favourite parts of the film starts with scenes of people getting ready to watch the band, on a very cold looking mountain side, lit with torches, all huddled together in cosy looking groups of friends and families, young and old and the notes of Olsen Olsen start filtering through, it’s so atmospheric.
Last summer I was fortunate enough to see Sigur Ros perform in the shadows of the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank as part of their Transmission series. In stark contrast to a previous concert we’d attended there in June where it was a scorcher (it was so hot I had to buy a commemorative tea towel to wrap around my head and prevent sunstroke it was so hot!), the August bank Holiday instead was quite cool, patches of rain but not enough to ruin the fun of sitting on the grass. Sigur Ros took the stage late evening, and it must have been about 10pm when the field was in darkness save for the stalls around the perimeter, and I was thanking my lucky stars I’d brought a hoodie, as i snuggled up to the husband.
The telescope was playing host to some wonderful swirling light displays and as the first notes of Olsen Olsen started, we swayed in time to the music and I could have been on that hillside in Iceland back in 2006…
Stereophonics – Dakota
This song epitomises summertime for me! It’s a favourite song of my husband and I, we even had it on our wedding reception play-list. I could easily imagine us both driving along a coastal road in an open top car (a girl can dream!) with this blasting out, the wind whipping through our hair, the sun on our backs. In fact the video for this track has Kelly Jones driving around in a red sports car much like the one in my daydreams, but his landscape is far less enjoyable, and having a couple of mates in the back isn’t as fun either. The lyrics are quite romantic as well without sounding overly mushy…
Culturenator 