Please excuse my lack of words and ability to string them together in a fancy sentence structure.
I’m feeling drained.
I’m feeling tired.
Brain = Jello
But I have a great interview with the band Draag that I’m excited to post and I have a weird hang-up about back to back interviews. So thankfully I have this Sounds Like post I can put up between Camari Carter’s interview and Draag.
I admit this Sounds Like post is a bit of a reach, but I swear there is something here. I am picking up on some musical patterns and I hope you are too.
Harry Style’s ‘Sign of the Times’ sounds like Dr. Dog’s ‘Abandon Mansions’
It’s been awhile since I’ve published one of these, so let me T-up this series.
I have zero musical talent. I think it’s why I’ve always been a “music person.” I used to interview local bands on the regular, interned for a music magazine, was a part of the music department of Myspace music (when that was a thing). I always fantasized about falling in love with a musician (spoiler alert – I married one). And like I said, I have zero ability to actually make or produce any type of rhythmic enjoyable genius sound outside of dorky sing-song melodies about an activity that I’m actively engaged in. i.e. I’m making a pie – oh my, yes sir – I’m making a pie (apply any tune you’d like)
However, I have one talent that can be applied to music and that is spotting patterns. I love patterns and connecting the dots. Every once in awhile I’ll be listening to a song and think, hey I’ve heard this before, this sounds like another song I’ve heard. I’ll then play the tracks and find their subtle similarities. It will be the same melody except one is slower than the other, or similar chord progression. It’s like the songs come from the same parents, but are completely different. They have the same DNA just different configurations.
I don’t pull sampled music into my Sounds Like database, because those are samples. To me, it’s like cloning a part of a song. I try to find the more nuanced connections.
On that note, here is a very non-nuanced connection as “Honeymooning” by the Holy Motors immediately can be identified as sounding like “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak – but it’s not a sample, so I think it falls on the list.
Looking forward to sharing more sounds like connections.
And for the record — I totally like Holy Motors video better than Chris Isaak’s video, although I feel like Wicked Game was one of my favorite songs as a kid. I was a moody child.
It’s not uncommon for me to find musical similarities in songs. And I don’t mean noticing clear sampling like Sir Mix Alot in Niki Minaj’s Anaconda. But I tend to connect really obscure songs together, like Bastille’s “Bad Blood” and Lost Boy’s title track “Cry Little Sister” by G Tom Mac. I like to think I have a talent for patterns. But this Selena Gomez and Duran Duran random musical connection was discovered by Bowerbird!
I love Selena Gomez. She is seriously one of my top 3* favorite pop singers. So when I was professing my love for Bowerbird by singing “Love You Like A Love Song” it was only natural to then play the rest of Selena’s hits. And as we were in the Starbucks drive-thru and he was trapped in my car, I played him “The Heart Wants What It Wants” explaining the deep meaning behind the song. Then as Selena hits the chorus he says she ripped off Duran Duran’s “Come Undone”. Of course I jumped to Selena’s defense (more like Selena’s producers defense) and say “No, she did not!!”, but as he hummed the earworm I quickly heard the connection.
Now as I write this post I’ve played Duran Duran’s “Save A Prayer” and I think the song has more similarities to that tune.
I’ve been obsessed with vampires since I was around 5 or 6 years old. Watching vampire films, and asking my Dad to tell me about vampire lore. Most would think letting a 9-year-old watch ‘From Dusk till Dawn’ is inappropriate, how about a 7-year-old watching Interview with a Vampire. My favorite television show as a teen was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and yes I had already watched the classic Buffy the Vampire film with Kristy Swanson around 5-years-old.
But my favorite vampire film has always been Lost Boys. When Lost Boys, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Interview with a Vampire played at the Cinespia Hollywood Cemetery screening this past summer, I squealed with excitement. So what does my obsession with vampires, pre-flippn Twilight BS, have to do with music.
Bastille’s “Bad Blood” is completely reminiscent of the title song in Lost Boys! And the fact Bastille’s song is called “Bad Blood” makes me think this isn’t just a coincidence*. I have a tendency to hear musical connections that others don’t always hear. The musical connection is not obvious, and it’s not like I’m saying Bastille’s Bad Blood is exactly like the Lost Boy’s “Cry Little Sister” by G Tom Mac. BUT they definitely both used some cinnamon in their songs, if you get my random cooking metaphor. Listen below and tell me what you think.
p.s. Lost Boys came out the same year I was born, so I was born with Vampire love in my blood!
*I admit that’s a bit of a reach.
(MYFAVORITEMAOI.COM WAS MY OTHER BLOG – NOW ON HIATUS)
