Monday Morning Aural Sex: 2020-02-17 (Just Make Me Feel Something Edition)

Hi! Emoclew to the Just Make Me Feel Something Edition of Monday Morning Aural Sex! Why? Well, I appreciate your listening, and I wanted to emoclew you. Truth be told, I want to emoclew you all night long, baby…

 

Anyway, hi! As my more ardent perverts may know, these ambiguously named editions are pretty much just whatever as far as genres. Genres far and fuckin’ wide across the spectrum in this. As far as the title goes, that’s basically my approach to music in general: just make me feel something. Revulsion counts, by the way. That’s why I’ve included the 645AR track called, “4 Da Trap,” because it’s the most hilariously, outlandishly ridiculous thing I’ve heard in quite a while, and it needs to be shared much like Vitas’ song, “The 7th Element.” If you haven’t heard that track, treat yourself to a listen sometime. I won’t spoil it. The dude’s actually a fantastic singer, even though that particular song is hilariously bizarre. I can’t say the same for the former, however. He’s still a new discovery, though. There might be some notable talent lurking somewhere.

 

So, to expand further on the title, and as I mentioned in a previous edition, I tend to approach music being as emotionally blank as possible. I more often let the music determine my mood than vice versa, because that enables me to be more open to new sounds, perspectives, etc. That’s one of the main reasons I’m always finding new artists and tracks, along with not wanting to tire out old favorites. To be fair… there are a lot of artists in this edition that I already knew and have played before, but it’s pretty much all entirely new tracks this week. Anyway, I also wanted to make this edition since Valentine’s Day just happened, and Valentine’s Day is about feelings ’n’ shit, sooo… yeah.

 

Another way I approach music is that when I hear a song that doesn’t particularly appeal to me, I see it as an issue with myself rather than with the music itself. I see it as a deficiency in my own understanding and/or emotional capacity. Sure, I have plenty of legitimate reasons for disliking certain things. However, there are a few genres, sub-genres, specific songs and such for which I have yet to find a taste, and it’s not necessarily the fault of those things themselves or the people who like them. I just crave something else or more than what those genres, sub-genres and/or specific songs tend to deliver. That’s why a lot of pop music (including pop country and mainstream rap) leaves me cold. I want more than that stuff typically gives me.

 

Not to say I’m so advanced or any such bullshit like that. I don’t condemn or condescend to anyone for their tastes in music; not anymore, at least. I’ve had to unlearn a lot of counterproductive and downright destructive psychosocial habits instilled in me over the years. I’ve even stopped ragging on Disturbed, because I saw a really rather socially-conscious video of theirs talking about mental illness, addiction and suicide. I realized that for whatever reason, some people really find comfort in their music. I can’t relate, but I’m not going to shit on anyone’s comfort unless it seeks to diminish or destroy others’ or my own. I’m sure there are plenty of myopic Disturbed fans out there who criticize others for their tastes, but I’m not going to sink to that level. Not anymore. Shit, even Chad Kroeger of Nickelback somehow managed to endear himself to Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad. Neither Disturbed nor Nickelback will likely ever be played seriously on this podcast, though. Who knows? Stranger things have happened, but I’m not holding my fuckin’ breath either.

 

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, but I think it’s profoundly fascinating to examine the psychology behind music and people’s tastes, especially my own. As far as I’m concerned, I think we should all appreciate (and even listen to) a vastly diverse array of music that coincides with our capacity for emotion. Obviously, nobody is happy all the time. Nobody is mad all the time. That’s why it boggles my mind that some people envelop themselves in one or two genres for so long. The human experience is indeed an emotional one, so I think we owe it to ourselves to explore and understand it as much as possible. I think it enables us to communicate with each other on far deeper levels. So much as I can tell, all music is an emotional expression of some sort. Most likely, every musician who felt compelled to disturb the equilibrium of air pressure with their music did so due to some emotion or another. Even the most minimalistic compositions have emotion. I’d say one exception to the rule would be music produced entirely by an artificial intelligence for whom the concept of emotion is foreign.

 

Another thing I think needs to be addressed, as my roommate Josh aptly reminded me, is the aspect of artist versus entertainment. Having interned at a pop music studio in Hollywood back in 2011, I gained some insight into the process (not to mention the egos) in that industry, and there are definitely some who are only in it for the money. Even that’s an emotion, however. It’s a horrendously ugly one that causes untold suffering across the world, but greed is indeed an emotion. There are a number of pop artists who have tracks with lyrical content beyond the ever-so-staggering depths of partying, fucking, falling in or out of love, etc. You know what I’m talking about. You probably know and love a few of those artists and tracks yourself. Shit, I even put a Lady Gaga track near the beginning of last week’s edition, and I remember that I considered her pretty bland when I first delved into her stuff. Finding out that she actually writes her music herself as opposed to many other pop artists was definitely a plus, but the tonality and lyrical content still left me cold. I’ve tried to re-sensitize myself to things I once considered mediocre because of that aforementioned sense of personal understanding and/or emotional capacity deficiency, and the process has gotten easier over time, but I most definitely used to be far more close-minded than I am now.

 

I remember back in 199-fuckin’-4 when I was watching Woodstock on Pay-Per-View, and I scoffed at Nine Inch Nails because - dumb little kid that I was - I thought that keyboards had no place in heavy metal. I was primarily into mainstream metal like Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden and such, and I felt like anything that didn’t coincide with that sound was just worthless. Mind you, before I discovered metal, I was into stuff like Vanilla Ice, Michael Jackson, and even Jefferson Starship when I was in pre-school and kindergarten. I used to rock the fuck out to We Built This City on my way to pre-school, and I’ve never really lost my enthusiasm for that track, despite it being cheesy as fuck as it is. Fuck you, I like cheese, okay? Except on Chinese food. Chinese food seems to have very little cheese involved at all. I dunno.

 

So, having established that most pop music tends to be representative of a more superficial experience of emotion, the goal then becomes to go deeper. Go deeper into euphoria, rage, despair, etc. The problem with that is just that even far beyond pop, a lot of music just doesn’t go particularly far into those things. It’s emotional, sure, but the emotions are typically expressed in pretty mediocre ways. Yet, that’s not even a bad thing! There’s plenty of excellent music that doesn’t serve that purpose. There’s plenty of stuff that’s great for just shutting off your brain for a little while, and that stuff has merit just as much as the most objectively fulfilling compositions in existence. Because of that, I can’t logically condemn or condescend to anyone for liking pop, country, mainstream rap, salsa, etc. That, and I just don’t want to be a dick. The world’s got plenty of that shit to go the fuck around and off a goddamn cliff.

 

I say that elitism needs to fuck off forever. Your experience of music and emotion isn’t superior to anyone else’s; it’s just different. Country music fans aren’t blithering morons for liking what they like. It’d be awesome to see them dig deeper into music as a whole, but even if they never do, I’m no one to condemn or condescend to anyone, and neither are you. Shit, as someone who greatly enjoys Insane Clown Posse, I know how quick people are to judge others for their tastes. Unfortunately, a lot of that comes from the experiences with certain fans. There are shitty people everywhere, though. There are shitty fans of every genre that give others bad names, and I think that ought to be considered before rushing to any judgments. Right, like that’s going to happen. One fuckhead podcaster is going to change the world with his opinions, right? I know.

 

The biggest lament that I have is just that so many people seem to be completely content with whatever terrestrial radio stations spit out between blocks of commercials. There are entire oceans of amazing stuff out there just waiting to be explored, but many people seem content to just play in the puddles. That’s one of the reasons why I cherish communication so much. I want to communicate as effectively as possible in an effort to inspire people to live more fulfilling lives, full of discoveries that blow their fuckin’ minds, if only they could find it in themselves to be a little more curious. Even simply branching out in genres with which they’re downright nauseatingly familiar (in terms of the span of time, not the scope) can be so rewarding. I don’t know. I just know we can all do better. We can all be living more fulfilling lives, and sometimes the ways we can enhance our lives require damn near minimal effort of us. Frankly, I think it’s more taxing and generally difficult to avoid emotion than it is to feel and try to understand it. When we put in that effort, we can communicate more effectively, and communication is what makes or breaks humanity. It’s the purpose of language itself, and music too, for that matter.

 

Speaking of music, let me try to wrap this fuckin’ novel up already so we can proceed the yojnement. Couple things I want to mention:

 

1. The Cheap Trick song, “Mighty Wings,” is epic as fuck and it might melt your face off, so watch out.

 

2. AG’s song, “Terrible Thing,” is there because of the Sabrina show on Netflix. It plays during an awesome scene, and I won’t spoil it just in case that show happens to be unwatched in your list.

 

3. The John Dolmayan song, “Street Spirit,” is there because John’s the drummer for System of a Down! He’s coming out with a full length album sometime soon, but I’m pretty sure there’s only this one single for now. I hope you perverts already knew that, but I thought I’d clarify just in case.

 

4. Igorrr’s track, “Very Noise,” has an amazing music video. All their videos are amazing, frankly. I imagine most people might skip that group entirely, but I find them phenomenal. Maybe you will someday, too.

 

5. Prophets of Rage is a side-project that 3 out of 4 members of Rage Against The Machine put together with Chuck D of Public Enemy and B Real of Cyprus Hill on vocals, and they’re fucking awesome. I saw them in concert back in 2016, and what a fuckin’ show, man. If they ever come around again, definitely treat yourself to a ticket.

 

6. Lisa Miskovsky did the vocals for the theme to the video game Mirror’s Edge. That song’s called Still Alive, it’s one of my favorite video game songs of all time, and I just happened to stumble across this new collaboration of hers this week. So yeah, fuckin’ yojne that good and hard.

 

7. The Billie Eilish song is there because, well, I like it. I know that opinions fuckin’ abound about her, but I enjoyed the track when I heard it, so I included it. End of story.

 

8. Gymnopédie 1, even though I’m probably butchering the pronunciation, that’s there because it reminds me of a certain someone… Same goes for the Yestalgia song, “See You Tomorrow Sunshine.” So, ya know, hintity-fuckin’-hint-hint or whatever.

 

9. The songs, “Sway (Chainsmokers Remix),” and, “New York City (JayKode Remix),” are songs that I found through a pornographic rhythm game called Cock Hero. It truly is as thoroughly ridiculous as it sounds. Ask or Google it if you’re curious, because it’s really quite hilarious to behold. Kinda strange how the two I chose both had something to do with The Chainsmokers. Totally unintentional, and additionally, I’ve actually heard tracks that I’ve played on my podcasts in that series. Kind of amusing to have those songs reframed in such a context. Doing that sort of thing is excellent for weakening the impact of bad memories on certain songs, too. I know from experience.

 

Aaaaand with that, we now commence the holy ritual of yojneeeee…

 

 

01 Bandlez - Fun (from Rave Savers EP) [00:10:10]

 

02 Prophets Of Rage - Unfuck The World (from Prophets Of Rage) [00:13:19]

 

03 FEVER 333 - BURN IT (from BURN IT) [00:17:18]

 

04 Afu-Ra - Reign on Me (feat. Mann) (from Reign on Me) [00:21:05]

 

05 645AR - 4 Da Trap (from 4 Da Trap) [00:24:35]

 

06 Cheap Trick - Mighty Wings (from Top Gun OST) [00:26:10]

 

07 GRAVEDGR - MOVE (feat. Krischvn) (from MOVE) [00:29:56]

 

08 Oh! the Horror - Boomstick! (feat. Blaze Ya Dead Homie) (from Boomstick!) [00:32:55]

 

09 Anna Of The North - Sway (Chainsmokers Remix) (from Sway (Chainsmokers Remix)) [00:36:07]

 

10 FiNCH ASOZiAL - Rave Religion (feat. Little Big) (from Rave Religion (feat. Little Big)) [00:39:02]

 

11 Igorrr - Very Noise (from Very Noise) [00:42:00]

 

12 Trampa, MARAUDA - Ruckus (from Ruckus) [00:43:40]

 

13 SYN - Sans lendemain (from Sans lendemain) [00:46:04]

 

14 Anti-Flag - 20/20 Vision (from 20/20 Vision) [00:48:49]

 

15 Stonebank - The Government (from The Government) [00:51:15] (Yo, what the actual fuck? Track title and time code… That’s kinda bananas)

 

16 Teminite - Bring Me To Life (feat. The Arcturians) (Evanescence cover) (from Bring Me To Life) [00:55:15]

 

17 The Chainsmokers - New York City (JayKode Remix) (from https://youtu.be/PbL4IDNAGC4) [00:59:32]

 

18 Extra Terra, Retrology - Exodus (from Exodus) [01:04:26]

 

19 John Dolmayan - Street Spirit (feat. M. Shadows & Tom Morello) (from Street Spirit) [01:07:22]

 

20 Zack De La Rocha - digging for windows (from digging for windows) [01:10:52]

 

21 Onyx - Never Going Back (from Lost Treasures) [01:14:18]

 

22 AG - Terrible Thing (from Terrible Thing) [01:18:05]

 

23 Slushii - Candy Flip (from Candy Flip) [01:21:36]

 

24 Gareth Emery, NASH - Yesterday (feat. Linney) (Extended Mix) (from Yesterday) [01:24:42]

 

25 August Burns Red - Defender (from Defender) [01:29:29]

 

26 Delta Heavy - A.I. (Wheezly ReWired) (from Only in Dreams (Remixes)) [01:33:40]

 

27 Koko Taylor - Wang Dang Doodle (from The Alligator Records Years) [01:38:15]

 

28 Eptic - Propane (from Propane) [01:43:03]

 

29 Gang Starr, Redman, Method Man - Bad Name (Remix) (from Bad Name (Remix)) [01:46:18]

 

30 Incubus - Our Love (from Our Love) [01:49:53]

 

31 S3RL - You Are Mine (feat. Kayliana) (from You Are Mine) [01:52:58]

 

32 Marsheaux - Eyes Without a Face (from E-Bay Queen Is Dead) [01:56:08]

 

33 The Undisputed Truth - Smiling Faces Sometimes (from The Undisputed Truth) [02:00:50]

 

34 Mija - Digressions (with Gammer) (from Digressions (with Gammer)) [02:04:02]

 

35 Bear Grillz - Smile Without U (feat. Nevve) (from Smile Without U (feat. Nevve)) [02:07:56]

 

36 Billie Eilish - No Time To Die (from No Time To Die) [02:11:01]

 

37 Zeds Dead - Save My Grave (feat. DNMO & GG Magree) (from We Are Deadbeats (Vol. 4)) [02:14:54]

 

38 Logistics - Stay True (feat. Thomas Oliver) (from Stay True) [02:18:31]

 

39 Twiztid - 4get U (feat. Ekoh & Young Wicked) (from 4get U) [02:23:41]

 

40 Pelle Ekerstam - Det Som Hände Mig Var Du (feat. Lisa Miskovsky) (from Det Som Hände Mig Var Du) [02:28:14]

 

41 t+pazolite, P*Light - IZANA (from IZANA) [02:32:29]

 

42 The Rydas - Ima Be A Ryda (from The Rydas) [02:34:30]

 

43 Kompany, Wooli - Bussback (from Bussback) [02:41:53]

 

44 Polyrhythmics - Lord of the Fries (from Caldera) [02:45:53]

 

45 The Amity Affliction - Catatonia (from Catatonia) [02:52:01]

 

46 Special Darkness - Stock (from Occult Box (Deluxe Edition)) [02:55:32]

 

47 Vaski - Midnight Air (from Weightless, Vol. 2) [02:59:42]

 

48 Potatohead People - Returning the Flavour (feat. Trian Kayhatu) (from Do My Thing / Returning the Flavour) [03:03:10]

 

49 The Roots - Who Tells Your Story (feat. Common & Ingrid Michaelson) (from The Hamilton Mixtape) [03:06:08]

 

50 Metrik - The Arrival (feat. Jan Burton) (from The Departure) [03:10:19]

 

51 San Holo, Broods - Honest (from Honest) [03:14:47]

 

52 Taylor Torrence - If We Say Goodbye (feat. Natalie Major) (Extended Mix) (from If We Say Goodbye) [03:18:31]

 

53 Erik Satie, Thomas Lemmer - Gymnopédie 1 (from Gymnopédies) [03:24:49]

 

54 SYN - Seven (from Seven) [03:28:23]

 

55 Gost - Lights (from Fall The Stars EP) [03:31:34]

 

56 J2 - I Am Fire (feat. Eivør) (from I Am Fire (feat. Eivør)) [03:34:34]

 

57 Yestalgia - See You Tomorrow Sunshine (from See You Tomorrow Sunshine) [03:37:51]