randomizerradio

[randomizerradio]

It’s only been about seven years since my last post; why not revive the blog, see what happens?

Welcome back to Randomizer Radio, fam. It’s song recs all the way down. Some, like Love From the Other Side by Fall Out Boy, are popular top 40 hits. Some are going to be hilariously obscure. Either way, it’s music for music’s sake and it is fun.

[randomizerradio]

Randomizer Recommends:

Neon Moon by Brooks & Dunn

[randomizerradio]

Randomizer Recommends

“The Sound of Silence” covered by Disturbed

[randomizerradio]

I had way too much fun with these and I regret absolutely nothing.

Let’s Get Together - A Pacific Rim FST, Disney Style

Because it was one in the morning and I just could not help myself. The track list:

Let’s Get Together - The Parent Trap

You’re Only Second Rate - The Return of Jafar

I Will Go Sailing No More - Toy Story

One Last Hope - Hercules

Be A Man - Mulan

Getting to Know You - For Our Children

You’ve Got a Friend in Me - Toy Story

I2I - A Goofy Movie

C.L.U. - Tron Legacy

Working Together - Kingdom Hearts II (Piano Cover)

Available here on 8Tracks

I’ve also made a second, more traditional (rock heavy) FST, also on 8Tracks, but I’m not gonna lie - I like the Disney one better.

Enjoy Jaegercon, everyone!

[randomizerradio]

I'm pretty sure it's physically impossible for me to get tired of Radioactive covers. Great song, great interpretations, everyone wins.

No postprocessing, straight from the Game Boy. 

Listen close and you can hear where I gave up on making this sound good and lazily transposed 60 or so chains!

[randomizerradio]

Foo Fighters: Walk

Turns out my playlist wasn't quite as long as I thought it was - this is the last song, which makes this the last in today's deluge of posts, I promise!

Walk is very, very good for uplifting scenes. The character's made it through a desperation scene (or they haven't, and things have been very bad for them as a result), and it's time for them to pick up and start moving on again. Like Dog Days Are Over, this song works well for that lyrically as well as tonally - again, with a chorus that starts with, "learning to walk again," you know exactly what you're in for.

To be honest, it's also a good song for the end of NaNo. It's the end of a long sprint, a long commitment, and it's very easy to just collapse after that 50K mark is safely in the rearview mirror. Giving yourself time to collapse is a-ok - you deserve it, after the month you've had - but picking up and going on with the story or real life or both is the tough part, and cuing up this song helps.

Thanks for sticking with me for this playlist! Congrats to everyone with a purple bar, and best of luck to those of you still working frantically to get those last few words in before the clock strikes 12. Happy writing!

[randomizerradio]

Florence + The Machine: Shake It Out

Last Florence song of the day, I promise! This is the song that actually got me into the group in the first place, so of course it has a soft spot in my heart and my iTunes.

I found Shake It Out to be good for lighter scenes, actually, ones that Rumor Has It didn't quite fit. Quite a few scenes of characters hanging out talking, playing cards, and generally getting to know each other and having a good time (read: character development) were written while this song was playing. Given the emotional tone and weight of the song itself, I realize it's something of an odd match-up, but somehow it did work.

[randomizerradio]

Ellie Goulding: Lights

Lights is actually an odd song out on the playlist in that I don't use it for any particular scene type. There are days where it blends well enough into the mix for me to use it for anything without interrupting the playlist; there are days where it works so well for one scene that it goes on repeat until said scene is done, and said scene is almost always a different genre than the one I used the song with previously; and there are days when it doesn't work at all and I skip it every time it comes around. Lights is a little odd that way, at least to me, but it's one of the best songs to come out of the British pop scene in years and well worth a listen even on days when I can't make it fit.

[randomizerradio]

Adele: Rumor Has It

This is the best song for banter ever. Of all time. I write a ridiculous amount of banter in my stories (to balance out the action scenes and occasional tragedy, of course), and the pacing and utter sassiness of this song make it absolutely perfect for witty repartee and one-liners.

[randomizerradio]

Florence + The Machine: Dog Days Are Over

I have an unhealthy amount of love for this group, okay? Okay.

Like about half the songs on this playlist, this one is also good for action scenes. Unlike most of the songs, this one is particularly good for action scenes that almost can't focus on the action - things that need to move quickly but can get confusing if they get too fast. Of course, if confusingly fast is what you're going for, on a level, this works for that too - a confused narrator makes for a confused reader, which means anything that surprises that narrator in that state will likely shock the reader. It's a tough writing tactic, but a good one if employed correctly. (I can't. I've tried. I just confuse myself.) Of course, anything with a chorus that begins with "run fast" is going to be good for a quick pace.

[randomizerradio]

Linkin Park: Burn It Down

This may be the first time Linkin Park shows up on this blog, but it's not going to be the last by a long shot. I like this band entirely too much for that. You've been warned.

That said, Burn It Down is another song that's very good for determination scenes, especially ones that get incredibly desperate- against all odds, oh God oh God we're all gonna die, last stand, Whedon-style desperate. This song just embodies that tone for me.

Plus, it's Linkin Park. I could listen to these guys all day.

[randomizerradio]

The Killers: Human

I'm not sure if this song ever became a single for The Killers; if it did, it's an incredibly underappreciated one. I didn't expect this band to be able to do a song that's absolutely haunting, but they've definitely pulled it off here; slightly different instrumentation and a different vocalist would make this a perfect Florence + the Machine song, no lyrical or tonal changes necessary. That, to me, is awesome.

This song is incredibly good for pensive scenes, where a character is quiet and pondering. Believe it or not, those scenes can be incredibly difficult, and having a song like this really does help with tonal balance and getting into the right mood.

[randomizerradio]

My Chemical Romance (As covered by the Glee cast): Sing

Pretty sure I've just alienated half my followers by posting this one, given the love/hate relationship going on with Glee right now. Before you ask, no, I no longer watch the show; yes, I have heard the MCR version; yes, I do prefer this version, namely for the male/female duet and harmonies they've got going on.

This is a song that's good for what I call determination scenes, in which a character needs to get something done and get it done now or face consequences. For my story, this translated to a few arguments and several battle scenes. It was also good for a moment or two of self-realization. It's a motivator.

And you cannot tell me that you can listen to your preferred version of this song and not want to sing along with it. I won't believe you.

[randomizerradio]

Florence + The Machine: No Light, No Light

This song is probably the most-played song on my list. It got me through a lot of dramatic scenes, a lot of exposition and battle and, unfortunately, a stabbing. (I'm not exactly writing the happiest of stories, though it does have its high points.) If there's one thing Florence knows how to do, it's hold a mood, and this song does it beautifully.

Also, this is kind of what NaNo looks like at the beginning, when one realizes one has signed up to write 50K words in a month. It's kind of a daunting obstacle.

[randomizerradio]

Long Live NaNoWriMo!

I should probably apologize in advance because this blog is about to get a lot of posts. Like, one every hour until midnight PST. There's a simple reason for that: NaNoWriMo is almost over, and I'd like to put up the playlist that's gotten me through 50K+ of words.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, National Novel Writing Month - or NaNoWriMo for short, NaNo for even shorter - is an event in November in which one sits down and writes 50,000 words before midnight on the 30th. It equates to 1,667 words every day, more if you're ambitious. There's a foundation, a ton of participants, write-ins where participants can come together to write and swap ideas and horror stories, and a wrap-up party that I'm definitely looking forward to. It's definitely something to consider for those of you who've been kicking around a story idea that you just don't seem to have time to do otherwise.

I have a ten-song playlist that's gotten me through most of this month that I'll be sharing with you, every hour on the hour (except for one that's going up right after this post) to get you through the last hours of NaNo up until midnight PST with a validation song. Enjoy!

[randomizerradio]

I realize that Disney is about as popular and widely heard as it gets; however, I do have to wonder how everyone feels about the remixes. No, not covers; remixes.

Back in the mid-nineties, Disney released an album called Mouse House Dance Mixes, in which some of their greatest hits (Under the Sea, So This Is Love, Beauty and the Beast, etc.) were remixed into upbeat dance tunes performed by some pretty big musical names (notably Donna Summer). This one's my favorite, and also a solid indication that this album was from the nineties - it's the Tiki Tiki Tiki Room remixed to the beat of the Macarena. It's nostalgic and dorky and wonderful.

Mouse House Dance Mixes is available on iTunes and Amazon. Please support the original artist.

[randomizerradio]

A Bit of Housekeeping

Hey all!

You've probably noticed that posting hasn't been keeping up as of late. That's partially because I still need to figure out a good MP3 host (it's hard to queue up posts when tumblr only gives you one upload a day) and partially because my work has really gotten busy recently.

To that end, this post has two purposes, both of which require your input.

1) I'm taking requests! Are there any particular songs you'd like to see up here? Artists? Genres? Let me know and I will do my best to get them up here. There's always a chance that I won't know what they are, though, which leads me to my next point...

2) I am taking submissions! If you have a song or artist you'd like to get a little more recognition, if you have a band of your own you'd like to put up, or if there's a playlist you enjoy, go ahead and submit it as a post and I will queue it up! My only rule is that all text and images (including cover art) must be work safe; if the song itself is explicit or includes foul language of any kind, you must put an explicit or language warning in the post title. This makes things just a bit nicer for everyone.

Thoughts?