MONDAY MIXTAPE #8 - Favourite Songs For The Week!

hardikv (65)in #mondaymixtape • 6 years ago

#mondaymixtape.png

I started a new tag:
#mondaymixtape

Quick rules for anyone who wants to participate in the #MondayMixtape tag:

Make a post with #mondaymixtape as your first tag

Post links to 5 songs you like

Tell us why you like them. Point out features that surprised you, stuff you learnt from the song, etc etc.

I shall do my best to Upvote all #mondaymixtape posts 😇

I think is a great way for everyone to discover new music!

So without further ado, my 5 picks for this week:

I have missed a couple of weeks of posting the #mondaymixtape coz of some work which didn't leave me enough time to write down my posts. Today I forced myself to find some time and get this rolling again.

Let's begin by paying tribute to a wonderful artist who passed away just a couple of days back - AVICII
The very first Avicii song I heard was Wake Me Up and I was pleasantly surprised since this was an EDM track which actually had acoustic elements used very creatively and in addition had great lyrics which I connected to.
Even though he is gone, Avicii's songs will live on forever. RIP.

Now onto my regular list of 5 songs.
This week I decided to list few of my favourite soundtracks from movies, TV and games.

1. Westworld Soundtrack - Main Title Theme - Ramin Djawadi

In case you haven't noticed, Westworld is back with Season 2! (I already watched the episode.) I have been a fan of Ramin Djawadi since I first heard the Game Of Thrones theme. And this one definitely has his signature style. I love how he chooses very appropriate sounds and the main melody is something you can always hum and easily remember. The western bar-upright piano sound is what I have tried to recreate on many occasions using Arturia's Piano V as well as Pianoteq. (love both those piano VSTs - Piano modelling has come very far, time to say goodbye to sample libraries!)

2. Game of Thrones - Light of the Seven (Live)

Apart from the Red Wedding scene, this scene from Season 6 Episode 10 of Game Of Thrones is probably the most talked about. This is the very first time a Piano was used in the GoT score. Yes, first time in 6 seasons! What a piece of genius this is! And to fully appreciate it, you need to watch this live version. It will give you chills, guaranteed.
Then, go watch that scene again paying attention to the score. Brilliant!

3. Is She With You? - Batman v Superman Soundtrack - Hans Zimmer & Junkie XL

What happens when two powerful movie score composers collaborate? You get a massively power inducing track.
As someone says in the comments of this video - "This is the moment when Batman and Superman became sidekicks" and I 100% agree with this guy.
Some facts to note here:

The main melody you here is an Electric Cello (not a guitar). It's played by Tina Guo. You must check out this music video of her's where you can see her play it with the intensity of Wonder Woman herself!

The melody note choices are quite similar to Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song. Going a semitone down creating dissonance and then resolving back up a semitone. Immigrant Song also gives the same feeling of intense power when you listen to that wail by Robert Plant. (So next time you wanna create a powerful riff, you know what to do 🤓)

4. Max Payne - Main Theme

Let's move on to some game themes. This is one game I have played many many times over. Of course, the bullet time was the main reason, but I also loved the soundtrack. This main Piano theme is a favourite of mine. There are couple of instances in the game itself where you will find a piano and if you take Max near it, he will try to play this tune (and fail 😝). Quite a quirky easter egg. I also love the kick drum in the track which kinda give the feeling of a heartbeat and the piano phrasing put together with it creates a feeling which makes me just a little tense and uncomfortable. Kinda gives a feeling of what must be going on in Max Paye's head. This brings back a lot of childhood memories.

5. Belleville - Django Reinhardt (Theme from Mafia game)

Mafia is another game from my childhood and I remember this track specifically since I have spent countless hours driving around the game map in those 1940s cars (terrible handling) listening to this song on the radio station in the car. This usually came up when you are driving past Central Island. In fact, I guess this was my first introduction to Jazz music! 🙈And now, I quite enjoy driving around in real life as well listening to some good old jazz!

So what is your #mondaymixtape.
You can even post in the comments and let me know.
Or make a post and drop the link the comments!
Have a great week!

Previous posts:
MONDAY MIXTAPE #1
MONDAY MIXTAPE #2
MONDAY MIXTAPE #3
MONDAY MIXTAPE #4
MONDAY MIXTAPE #5
MONDAY MIXTAPE #6
MONDAY MIXTAPE #7