This is more or less a list of my all-time favorite songs. Some of these are here only because they used to be my favorites at one time, though some that used to be my favorites at one time aren't in here. Some are in here because I like them to some degree and I want to share them because they're interesting or they're too little-known in my opinion. Some are in this list just because I'm attached to them for reasons other than how good I think they are.
I tried to put them in order from most favorite to least most favorite, but the result is just that the most cherished ones tend to be higher up in the list and most of the songs are more or less in random order.
People who see my favorite songs list tend to say my tastes are eclectic. There aren't a lot of bands or albums that I like a lot of songs from, it's mostly just individual songs. I'm very picky about music. Most of it sounds like crap to me, except for a few specific genres where I like most songs in those genres, such as psychill, goa-psy trance, nitzhogoa, hard dance, and some varieties of jazz, particularly bebop, hard bop, and modern vocal jazz. Some other genres I tend to like are indie electronica, chillout dreams (di.fm), and deep tech (di.fm).
Ludwig van Beethoven - Für Elise
No doubt you've heard this song many times before, but this is the best rendition of it I've ever come across. It's played by Alfred Brendel. This version is from an mp3, so you may experience better quality here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtwFOOOoGlo (assuming it's not from an mp3 too).
I love this song so much that it feels like it's my essence. When I listen to this song, much like when I look at the color aquamarine, I'm reminded of pure freedom. It may have something to do with the fact that my mom used to play this song for me when I was a little kid.
Guitar Masters - 100 Guitar Instrumentals - Für Elise
Here's a rendition of Fur Elise that perfectly captures the melancholy of my long and hard life. Listening to this song is like being brought into a summation of my past. Seeing it so encapsulated, I can almost taste my future liberation from it...
Scirocco - Hyperdrive
Before the invention of mp3 and before computers had enough storage space and fast enough communications to make storing or streaming regular songs viable, we had tracked music. Tracked music files stored a set of sound clips alongside tables of timings, notes and effects at/with which to play them. People made music specifically for these formats using popular tracker programs, and the audio was uncompressed, so in some ways this music had even higher fidelity than most of today's music.
Here's one of those tracked songs, originally HYPERDRV.XM (back then filenames could only be 8 characters plus three-character extensions), made in 1995 by Scirocco. Scirocco primarily made video game music.
To find the originals of any mods on this page, just got to http://modarchive.com.
The visual I used for this is "Hallucin" by Dempa.
Blank & Jones - Mind of the Wonderful
The lyrics of this song don't quite fit a story from my life, but their repeated parts and the instrumentation really do it for me—I can almost see my broken soul gliding over the watery and icy terrain. This song has been an intense and almost metaphysical experience for me.
Suzanne Vega - Penitent
I first heard this song coming from the overhead speaker in a Walmart, just barely against all the noise of the store. I could tell from what I barely heard that I would really like this song. I was able to make out enough of the lyrics to look it up when I got home. I was both surprised and not surprised to find that it was by Suzanne Vega, whom I'd already been extremely endeared by after hearing Tom's Diner, Luka, and some other songs of hers. Suzanne's voice sounds like the vocal embodiment of home to me...whatever 'home' really means.
This song has a great melody, an intro that's exciting in a subtle way, and deep, metaphysical lyrics. I feel like this song may have been unknowingly about my psychic effect on her. I won't go into too much detail, but it just makes intuitive sense to me. I even looked up when the song was made, and it was the same year as the timestamp on my copy of Tom's Diner, which meant it was probably the year in which I discovered her.
If there's one word that describes how I feel about this song, it's "enchanted."
Wumpscut - Thorns [Distant Vocals Version]
A truly awesome song. Hearing that siren-like sound in the beginning along with the tender melody and the strings that follow it somehow reminds me of vacations in my childhood spent at the Cherokee KOA in North Carolina surrounded by streams, mountains, chilled air, cute girls everywhere, and the delicious smell of smoke. Even such small joys back then happened against a backdrop of deep, constant pain and yearning because I was too shy to talk to girls, or to anybody...somehow that sound brings to the surface all of that. Not that that's the only thing I like about this song by far.
I once saw a comment by an apparent Wumpscut fan on YouTube that this song is their worst, like it's some kind of joke or something, yet this song is the only song I actually like by Wumpscut and, obviously, is one of my favorites of all time. (Of course, it's nothing unusual that I only really like one or two songs by a given artist; that's the way it is with most of the songs in this list...)
My good friend Rey de la Torre loves this song too.
HANA - Underwater
GOD I LOVE THIS SONG!!
And, unlike probably every other song on this list, I'm actually in love with the music video as well.
Madonna - La Isla Bonita
I first heard this song on a special episode of Growing Pains (I think it was a two-parter). In this episode Mike has a beautiful love interest. That's something I always wanted more than anything growing up, and also, for whatever reasons, I closely identified with Mike Seaver. But regardless of how I first heard of it, this song has a beautiful melody and is sung beautifully by Madonna, and the lyrics aren't bad either. The instrumentation is of course great too, as is the case with virtually all the songs in this list.
And I have a special affinity for Madonna...on more than one occasion I realized we have a sort of synchronistic connection. Once I spent at least an hour fantasizing a story in which I had a romance with a girl whom life had beaten down and I did everything I could to heal her. In the end she didn't need me anymore and left me. Just as I came out of the fantasy, Madonna's I'll Remember came on the radio (the lyrics fit the theme perfectly), and it was the first time I'd heard it. Another time, I was in a relationship with a girl from Norway in which we were visiting each other, and I heard the album Ray of Light for the first time, and it seemed to perfectly fit our relationship. Also madonna has a gap between her top two front teeth just like my mom has. My mom is the light of my life.
Dirty Audio & ZEKE BEATS - Mind
Just an awesome f*cking song. I found out about this song through my friend Sarah on Twitter, whom I totally resonate with and adore, for reasons that totally escape everybody else (okay, most people). She also happens to have excellent taste in music, amazingly.
Avril Lavigne - Alice
What a powerful and perfectly rendered song. I </3 Avril Lavigne. Like a lot of songs here, a paragon of perfection. I listened to this song in a very hightened mental state once, and every fluctuation of her voice down to the microsecond was perfectly attuned to my own consciousness.
Linda Brava - Flame
Actually, she's gone by two different names, Linda Brava and Linda Lampenius, and I don't know which one this song was released under.
This little-known gem is so obscure it wasn't even on YouTube until I put it there. I have no idea where I got this song from; I just found it on my hard drive one day. Maybe one of my friends thought I'd like it and sent it to me.
This song puts me in a wholly sublime place. I can just picture the room this song resides in glowing with divine light. I've actually danced to this song.
Magnus - WaterWave MaGnUs MiX
This is another tracked song, originally ww.xm. The text in the song goes as follows:
a long stretch of
twisting highway.
Its just you and your
cbr600 with a full
tank o'gas and no
fucking kangaroos to
kill you.
This is what this song
is all about.
remixed by Magnus
originalartist:unknown
(just how sad am i?)
The melody in this song is the one from Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve.
This song makes me think of my disembodied soul dancing with joy at newfound freedom and fulfilling contexts. That's what the fractal I chose for the image represents.
ATC & Pete Konemann - Around the World (La La La La La)
They were masterful at making an infectious song. Perfect.
Françoise Hardy - Le temps de l'amour
When my mood is just right, I can sense the pinnacle of romance in this song, the sum of all newfound flames. And I don't even know French...
April March also has a good cover of this song, only it's in English and the lyrics are totally different. It's called While We're Young.
France Gall - Laisse tomber les filles
I also like the song April March did with the same melody and instrumentals but with different lyrics, in English, called Chick Habit.
LP - Lost on You
The vocals are just beautiful. Penetrating. Like a soul calling out to another soul. I could listen to this over and over. And I have.
The Live Session version of this song is also good. It's a little more mellow. I hard a hard time choosing which one to put here. Apples and oranges.
The Kelly Family - An Angel
I sooo adore this song. My favorite part is where she sings, "Danger's in the air / Tryin' so hard / to give us a scare / But we're not afraid..."
Side note: There's one member of this band that I was really physically attracted to until I found out they're male. =P
Liz Kay - True Faith
I love this song. The melody is great, the singing is great, the genre is great, and, most importantly, the lyrics pretty much describe my life...
I liked this song and the music video so much that I friended Liz Kay on MySpace. She seemed to have gnore it the first time; the second time was a charm. ;D
This song was originally by New Order.
Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
This song is so deep and tender, it makes me think of the center of the earth (in the sense of being at the center of all human experience), or even eternity, with a touch of eternal recurrence. Such an amazing song.
This version is a cover. From Wikipedia, "'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' is a 1957 folk song written by Scottish political singer/songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who later became his wife. At the time, the couple were lovers, although MacColl was still married to his second wife, Jean Newlove." Roberta Flack sang this version in 1969.
ATB - Twilight
Somehow, it takes me to the core of my being, an aspect of it that's totally alone and always has been, and at a time when it's feeling a whiff of true, timeless joy. It's not necessarily alone in a lonely or socially isolated sense (though maybe it is), but more in an "Every man must stand alone" (lyric from Madonna - Like a Prayer) sense. I've listened to this song on repeat for hours and hours more than once.
Dusty Springfield - The Windmills of Your Mind
A looong time ago, I got a music box shaped like a windmill from a garage sale. It was made out of metal, and it had various hues to it as if it were oiled or something. (There's a term for that kind of metal, but I forget it.) The windmill played this beautiful song that I didn't recognize. It made me think of children running up and down hills on a farm somewhere. My mom told me the song was The Windmills of Your Mind, so I searched for it online and found Dusty Springfield's version. The song was so powerful that for weeks I was afraid of playing the whole thing because I thought it might put me in a mental state I'd never come out of, where my mind is stuck in some particular part of itself that resides on a higher level than regular consciousness. I asked my girlfriend once what she thought of the song, and she said it just makes her sad that it represents a place she can't be in...
These are my favorite lyrics of any song. I have them in my list of favorite poems too (http://inhahe.com/poems.html). The theme is brilliant and the rhyming is brilliant.
This song was originally written and sung by someone else for the movie The Thomas Crown Affair. I wrote reviews of both iterations of The Thomas Crown Affair in 2010: http://inhahereviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/thomas-crown-affair.html. Dusty Springfield's voice is perfect for this song—it couldn't be sung by anyone better—and I like a number of her other songs as well. A former friend of mine who has an amazingly pure and pristine, childlike mind once told me he doesn't like Dusty's voice because "it's imbalanced."
Dusty Springfield was a closeted lesbian before it was socially acceptable to be gay. She hid it for fear of ruining her career.
Lamb - Gorecki
I first heard this song during the end credits of the movie I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. I don't normally watch horror movies, but I'm glad I watched that one just because I found that song. In the end of the movie, the protagonist is seen being dragged underneath a piece of furniture by the killer, presumably to her doom. The song starts playing right after that. I took it to imply that the event was romantic and wish-fulfilling on a deeper level for both the killer and the victim. Not that that's why I like it. It just sounds awesome and the lyrics are awesome.
Lamb is a drum & bass band, but this song is much more than your typical drum & bass song.
Marina and the Diamonds - Forget
I just love the way this song sounds, and Marina Diamandis is ridiculously cute. One thing I particularly like about this song is the beat, which sounds seems to unfold in a way that it keeps me on my toes yet isn't outright chaotic, which is awesome. Like it changes just a little bit—skips a beat, adds a beat, etc.—at just the right times...later on I found out that Marina had been disappointed with the beats that were made for her, so she just makes her own beats. Amazing that she came up with a beat that's better than any other beat I've heard.
Here's a video of her looking ridiculously cute.
Masters & Nickson feat. Justine Suissa - Out There (5th Dimension) [Christian Rusch's Chillout Mix]
This song is sooo sweet. I love Justine's Suissa's voice (She's one of my top three favorite vocalists, alongside Suzanne Vega and Nadia Ali), and this is my favorite song by her.
I found this song on http://di.fm/chilloutdreams. All of the music on that channel exactly matches the wavelength/feel of dreaming, and this one perhaps does more than any other.
Once I was listening to this song while dreaming, and I dreamt that I was swimming really looong strokes alongside my friend Rey in a vast ocean with big golden and deep-blue waves in the middle of the night, toward some far-off destination. I can't even describe the feeling of peace this gave me, for lack of a better word. The water was warm, there was complete comfort, there were no worries or complications, and there was a deep sense of purpose. I had theorized that the ocean represented my own brainwaves in some way. I later told my extremely intuitive and astute friend Darin "Stevenson" about the dream, and he said...get this...that it was like I was swimming in my own brainwaves.
Loreena McKennitt - Greensleeves
Such stark/deep feeling in this song the way she sings it, and of course great melody.
I once showed this song to a friend of mine and told him how much I like it, and he understood why I liked it, which is everything I want in sharing music like this. He said something about me along the lines of that I am "too lonely."
This is an old English folk song. The same tune is used in the Christmas song, "What Child Is This?".
Alanis Morissette - Uninvited
Amazing instrumentals in this song and, of course, good melody. My aunt introduced me to this song. She put her headphones on my ears and said something like, "doesn't it just give you goosebumps?". The lyrics are about tentative rejection from a woman but intimating at a possible eventual acceptance, so you can see how it appeals to me with my yearning and rejection issues. =P But it's not only the lyrics that particularly appeal to me, the way the instrumentals move up and down is goosebump-inducing. This song was made for the movie City of Angels, which I noticed is a remake of a much older film that an amazing past friend of mine once told me about, Wings of Desire.
Here's a good cover of it:
Freemasons feat. Bailey Tzuke - Uninvited
Cindy Lauper - All Through the Night
This song is magical, and anyone who's in touch with life should be able to see it. It's apparently about a whole night of sex that's truly intimate—timeless even.
Bing Crosby - Do You Hear What I Hear
I really love Christmas music, but I don't include any Christmas songs in this list except for this one. This is my favorite Christmas song. It just sounds magical, in a way that connects me to the mystery of the world, and it brings me back to my childhood. I love Perry Como's version too, but I had to choose one for the list, and I like this one perhaps slightly better. I also love the visuals that somebody has put together for this video.
Enya - Paint the Sky with Stars
I like a lot of Enya's songs, as you'll see further down this list. This one reminds me of the cosmic essence of night and sleep like nothing else. If I remember correctly, this is an award-winning song.
DJ Tiësto - Adagio for Strings
A friend of mine once asked me to send him song that most represents everything I love about trance, the pinnacle of trance, so that he could perhaps be convinced of what's supposedly so good about trance music. I sent him this song. There are longer and shorter cuts of this song available on YouTube.
This is based on the classical song Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber.
Celine Dion - Ave Maria
Ave Maria has such a deeply passionate melody (I don't know about the lyrics—I don't know Latin), and Celine Dion's rendition of it is one of the best.
Karen Overton - Your Loving Arms
This song immediately drowns me in some sort of comfort and takes the edge off like no other song, except perhaps The Doors - Riders On the Storm. I don't know how it does it; it's like magic. I've listened to this song on repeat when I've felt too stressed out.
There are other mixes of this song on YouTube that are similar and have slightly different strengths and weaknesses to them.
ArchAngel - Archons of Light
This is another tracked song. The original file is AA_AROFL.XM. Like all the tracked songs (and a few others) on this list, the graphic was chosen by me. My friend Mike DeLeonardis also likes this song. I think its score is a 10/10 on modarchive.com.
I sometimes imagine this song to be a group of archangels or the archangel Michael approaching and then receding, and one time I was listening to the part where the notes go up and down the scale a few times and thinking about how it doesn't sit well with me in juxtaposition to whatever else was going on in the song, and at that moment my eyes rested on the random title of another tracked song at modarchive.com, "Michael Not for You."
1200 Micrograms - Acid for Nothing
Just an all-around kick-ass song. It's loosely based on Dire Straits - Money for Nothing.
Afrikaa Bambaataa - Planet Rock [Addams Family Mix]
I occasionally love to dance to this song. I always love the song either way.
Dead Can Dance - The Promised Womb
This song is so melancholy and sounds so great I love it.
Yanni - Keys to Imagination
This song doesn't get nearly enough attention, IMO. Don't worry if you find Yanni too much like elevator music in general: this one is much more intense. This is what I call professional, well-done music.
Yanni - Nostalgia
Same comments as above.
Rihanna - Don't Stop the Music
This is the one song I like by Rihanna (well, Umbrella is okay, except for the rap parts), and I really like it. It's like somehow I'm able to directly know her essence through the way she sings, and I like it. Rihanna is my baby </3. And of course the melody is good, the instrumentation is good...
I once found a version of this song that I think was from 2006 that had more reverb on the main instrument, and I liked it even better, but I lost it and never found it again. =/
The Doors - Riders On the Storm
As mentioned earlier, this is one of the two songs that can really take the edge off when I'm feeling anxious. I've listened to this on repeat for at least two consecutive days before. My good friend Maia thinks this song is creepy because of the lyrics. =P
Enigma - Beyond the Invisible
This song really takes me to the other side. I used to listen to this after a long day's work at the plant nursery, and it was like the nectar of angels.
I also like Return to Innocence by Enigma, which is another song I associate with the plant nursery for some reason, I think because thought deeply while working there, and possibly while listening to the song, whether a return to innocence and vitality was actually possible.
Alex M.O.R.P.H. & Woody Van Eyden feat. Michelle Citrin - Turn It On
I love the tune, I love the way she sings it, and the lyrics are pretty much about if the best thing that could have possibly happened to me happened. It's as if this song was made with me in mind. ;P
Haddaway - Wind of Change
The tune is great, the singing is great, the visual aspect is perfectly well done, and the song is so inspirational and hopeful. Haddaway is a master singer.
This song is originally by Scorpions, but I like this version better.
Avril Lavigne - Sk8er Boi
Great melody (but I say that too often. All the songs in this list have great melodies or I wouldn't like them so much). And something about this song...it's like I can hear Avril's actual heart in it (especially the way she sings "Can I make it any more obvious?" and "Secretly she wanted him as well"), and it makes me crush on her. =P
Johann Pachelbel - Pachelbel's Canon
There are a nummber of iconic classical songs that I really like, but I'm too lazy to find and add them all, and this one is perhaps special. Something about the consonence and dissonance of what seems to me like two different tunes going at the same time, dovetailing in a beautiful way, hits a higher note of consciousness than any other classical song. I once heard a brilliant song on DirecTV's bluegrass music channel that did something similar, but I was never able to find out what song it was.
I had selected this song as the potential wedding song for my last ex and me, and that was before I realized that it's actually really popular as a wedding song.
This is the best orchestration of the piece I was able to find. The original video's title included in parentheses, "Very full orchestra."
Frank Churchill - Little April Shower
Whenever people ask, "what's the most beautiful song you've ever heard?", I say, "Little April Shower from the movie Bambi." It's not the all-around best song I've ever heard, but I think it's the most beautiful per se.
Astral Projection - Ambient Galaxy [Disco Valley Mix]
Astral projection makes awesome music—the best psy-trance—but most of their songs sound very similar to each other. This one is rather different, and it's my favorite because of the way that one instrument's notes move way up and down.
Astral Projection - Nilaya
Deva Premal - Gayatri Mantra
There are a few versions of this song by her or by her and some man on YouTube, and this one is my favorite by far. When I first heard this song, I felt like it was literally the center of the universe...it also strongly brings to mind the concept of compassion.
(Artist unknown) - After the Rain
This is another tracked song. The original file is after_j.mod. You may have noticed that this one has a different file extension. There are four popular file extensions for tracked music, .XM, .IT, .S3M and .mod, which represent four different tracker programs. .mod is the most rudimentary of the four and usually only supports 4 tracks. All tracked songs in general are also known as mods.
This song has power for me and really hits my heart.
Armin van Buuren feat. Nadia Ali - Who Is Watching
I first heard this song at a time when my mind was full of an incredible amount of energy and felt like I had managed to pwn the whole world, yet there was an odd silence to it all, as if I it was all on a wavelength that nobody would see or acknowledge. Of course, it was all unconsciously driven in vain to reach a deep-seated unfulfilled need, which also goes with the lyrics of this song. It's odd—very synchronistic—how well the lyrics of the song matched my state of mind at the time, especially considering that to any normal person they'd seem bizarre and hardly understandable.
I happened to hear later on that this was Nadia Ali's favorite song of hers.
Roula - Lick It
I like how overtly sexual this song is, especially since it's about going down on a woman, and it just sounds cool overall, especially the "boom, ba da da da da boom." She sings it with a perfect slutty voice.
Duran Duran - White Lines (Don't Do It)
What a kick-ass, well-done song. And amazingly for Duran Duran, it's a completely different style from the other really good song I know by them, Come Undone.
Hybrid feat. Julee Cruise - If I Survive
Awesome singing, awesome instrumentation, powerful song.
I like Julee Cruise's voice in general. There's another song by her in this list, Falling, a former Twin Peaks theme song.
4 Strings - Take Me Away
Escapism at its best.
I like how she has an inflection of surrender in her voice which goes with the lyrics.
April March - Cet air-là
This song sounds sooo sweet the way she sings it. This song is originally by France Gall, but I like April March's version much better. Perfect version.
Debbie Deb - Lookout Weekend
They used to play this song at Hotwheels (an old skating rink chain) back in the '80s. I once saw a millennial talking about how music from the '80s was much better than today's, and I think she used this song or the other good one by Debbie Deb as an example. Good to know it's not just me. :)
One time I was at Hotwheels with some kind of club I used to attend regularly, and a kid fell and broke his wrist, and my dad showed up as a paramedic and I saw him there. =P
Debbie Deb - When I Hear Music
Very similar to Lookout Weekend, but they have different melodies (and lyrics, of course) which are both awesome.
Fever High - Casting My Spell
I adore this song. 'Nough said.
Enya - Caribbean Blue
Jase - Kingdom Skies
This is another tracked song transcoded from a mod file, kngdmsky.xm. It's amazing how good this song is for something that few people have ever heard of because it's a mod file.
The Extreme - Matter of Time
I love the beginning of this song, with the dark, low-frequency instrumentation and vocals. I found out that it's a remix of Shannon Hurley - Matter of Time. Or a cover. I still haven't figured out whether it uses the same vocals.
Juno Reactor - Mona Lisa Overdrive
This is from The Matrix Reloaded, which has an all-around great soundtrack. When people ask what my favorite movie soundtrack is, I say that movie. It's also my favorite movie of the The Matrix trilogy,
Robin Fox - I See Stars [Italian NRG Remix]
It was a close call picking my favorite remix of this song. Love the instrumentation, I find it really mentally stimulating. :P
Donna Lewis - I Love You Always Forever
I had a good friend from Israel once on the BBSs, and this was kind of "our song" because we both liked it. She liked how high-pitched the voice is. She intimated that she wanted to ask me out once, but I was too shy to act on it. Sigh.
Stan Getz, João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, & Antônio Carlos Jobim - The Girl From Ipanema [Single Version]
I think this is by Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz; it was hard to find out, and I'm not sure how positive I was.
This song always made me feel like I was spiritually cheating, like I was listening to something from when I'm going to be an old man relaxing and ruminating over my long past; it just has that kind of sound to it.
The Crystal Method - Vegas [full album]
I found out about The Crystal Method from a car commercial in the '90s that had a song I loved and was nice enough to display the song title and artist on the screen. This is the only album they've made that's any good.
The Glitch Mob - Love Death Immortality [full album]
I used to love the album Drink the Sea by The Glitch Mob until I heard Love Death Immortality. Now Drink the Sea seems way too mild.
Basshunter - Boten Anna
This is literally a song about an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) bot. Okay, technically it's not about a bot, it's about someone he thought was a bot. He finds out it's actually a really a nice girl, but the impression is set in stone: she'll always be a bot to him.
PS: I really want that beach buggy he drives around in the video. Maybe not in that color though...
Enya - The Celts
So, I have two Enya songs far away from each other up above, and now I'm going to put all the rest in a row right here...terribly inconsistent I know.
Enya - Only If
Enya - Orinoco Flow
I can actually remember listening to this on the car stereo when it first came out. Okay, it's more like I can remember remembering it. AFAIK this is the song that made Enya big.
Enya - Tempus Vernum
This song always makes me think of one of the hell scenes in What Dreams May Come, like this is the music they should've used. It's unusually dark for Enya.
Enya - Anywhere Is
Enya - Book of Days
Enya - China Roses
Enya - Only Time
Enya - Oíche Chiúin (Silent Night)
Such beautiful singing.
George Friedrich Händel - Gloria In Excelsis Deo
This trumpet sounds like it's in a divine place to me. This rendition is apparently by Maurice André.
Gloria Trevi - Todos Me Miran
In 2006 my g/f was disappointed that I like this song. She said it sounds like any other typical [whatever category of Spanish songs she mentioned, I don't remember]. But I've never heard another song like this. Great melody and such passion. It goes well with the way her head/hair whips right and left in the video.
Simmonds & Jones - Am I On Your Mind [Mind Vox Mix]
Charli XCX - Boom Clap
I've listened to this on repeat, it matched my energy at the time soo well.
This song is apparently from The Fault in Our Stars.
The Pretenders - I'll Stand By You
I've actually shed a tear at this song (many years ago). It's so beautiful. A friend/acquaintance of mine said songs like that just take advantage of people who want to hear that stuff...but he was a huge cynic back then, so IDK.
Giilgämesh - The Epic Of Ramayana Nitzho
I was lucky to come across this song. It's hidden on YouTube, and I wasn't aware of the existence of nitzho or nitzhogoa to search for it anyway. This song is apparently based on another nitzho song (I forget the name/artist) which wasn't nearly as good.
There are a few other good songs by Giilgämesh I have, but I'm not including them here and they're hidden on youtube and I don't know their URLs.
Hixxy & Darren Styles - The Theme
I remember listening to this song (somehow) back at my grandmother's house, so it must've been a long time ago. I remember I eventually lost the song and forgot the name, and I searched and searched for it, checking out dozens of trance anthems, and I don't remember how, but I eventually found it, years later. It's so intense...<3
U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Of course everybody and their brother knows about this song, but I love it so much, and I'm including all the songs I love, even the ridiculously popular ones.
U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name
Love the lyrics of this song. I can almost imagine a better world, free of so much complication, that we all yearn for.
U2 - With or Without You
This and the previous two songs are the essence of chill.
Lady Gaga - Bloody Mary
This is one of only two songs by Lady Gaga I really like, so I don't think it gets enough attention...
Suzanne Vega & DNA - Tom's Diner
I love how light and whimsical the lyrics are (and melody is great), it brings to mind true peace or freedom...and, as mentioned before, Suzanne's voice is like the vocal embodiment of "home" for me, whatever "home" might mean.
In case you haven't heard, there's a funny story behind this song. Suzanne Vega originally published this song as a pure a capella song, then DNA added the backing track and published it without getting any permission at all, and that's obviously the version that became really popular. So, instead of suing them, Suzanne just stole their song and published it on a subsequent album as her own. (The a capella version is hard to find, but I think I have it somewhere...)
Another interesting tidbit is that this song was used as the reference song when they were developing the mp3 standard, because it had the necessary range of qualities to it.
Duran Duran - Come Undone
When I was young, perhaps a teenager or young adult, I firmly believed this song was evil. I'm not sure why exactly because I can't relate to that belief now, but I remember it had something to do with thinking that it was immoral of him to sing in such a high pitch in some parts just to be attractive to girls. And I guess other aspects of the song, the lyrics and the intonation, factored into it too in the same way. I also saw Kiss from a Rose by Seal as evil for similar reasons; I believed Seal went out of his way to make the song feminine-sounding to attract women. I had issues I guess. Anyway, this song is brilliant and magical. I even used part of the lyrics, "Chill, is it something real / all the magic I'm feeding off your fingers" in my essay on the meaning of "magic" here: https://philosophy.inhahe.com/2017/07/12/the-meaning-of-magic/
Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
The other of the two Lady Gaga songs I'm fond of. Such brilliant and well-done composition. She's pretty sexy in this music video too.
Gary Jules & Michael Andrews - Mad World
This song is deliciously sad, and I love that it calls out school for what it truly is.
Mad World is originally by Tears for Fears. Gary Jules made this cover for the cult classic Donnie Darko.
Cyndi Lauper - True Colors
Cyndi Lauper - She Bop
I liked this song way before I ever really paid attention to what the lyrics are about...=P
Here's the music video. I have the non-music video first because the intro in the music video sounds crappy.
RD Project - Ai-Ai Bopem [Cj RcM Chillout Remix]
This song was one of my top favorites when I first heard it. I've listened to it on repeat. I discovered this song on http://di.fm/chilloutdreams.
My favorite part is 4:46-4:56.
FrOYd the DrEUd of USE (Ultimate Sound Experience) - Aria
This is another tracked song, originally ARIA.XM. My first girlfriend said this song is too "syrupy" for her. :P
Sylver - Turn the Tide
This song tugs at my heart strings, particularly the timings and frequencies of the high-pitched dinging sounds and also the lyrics. And I can imagine her singing that about me: I think I have a brave heart and the strongest emotions (impeded only by my crippling insecurity and being comfortably numb...but speaking of my potential, if circumstances were more favorable...=P).
Madonna - Frozen
I think I first heard this song in a store in the mall. I was enchanted by the "mmmmm-mm-mm-mm-mmmmm" parts. And I also resonate with the idea of being frozen.
Hundreds - Rabbits on the Roof
I like this song, but I can't say I understand it very much. How the hell can anybody make sense of this? Do they actually expect us to? But then, I feel that way about a lot of songs...
On some level, though, I feel a kind of fear that I really do understand some of it, because it's about me or the few people like me. :P
Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
Jump, Little Children - Cathedrals
I'm jealous of this person because the way he sings makes me think he must be a heartthrob to the ladies. :P
Stoneface & Terminal feat. Denise Rivera - Inner Voice
This entry is more of an honorable mention just because the lyrics seem to apply so specifically to me.
Lana Del Rey - Once Upon a Dream
This song was made for the end credits of the movie Maleficent. It's so mystically romantic.
Nancy Sinatra - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
The instrumentation for this song was brilliantly crafted to be just as haunting as the lyrics and singing.
iiO - At the End
This is the voice of Nadia Ali. I love the way she sings (she's one of my top 3 favorite vocalists), and this is one of my favorite songs by her if not my favorite. You may have heard iiO's song Rapture.
Orgy - Blue Monday [Club 69 Mix]
Kick-ass bangin' beat. This is a cover of New Order - Blue Monday.
And the original, which is also a really cool song...
New Order - Blue Monday
For some reason the singing in this song reminds me of Pauly Shore.
April March - Mind Phone
April March has apparently been making music for a looong time. (Tidbit: she also spent some time as an animator for The Ren & Stimpy Show.) This song was made my her later in her life, I think decades after her heyday.
I relate this song to Suzanne Vega - Penitent, because I suspect they're both about the psychic influence of unknown obsessors. Unlike Penitent, this song wasn't made at a time when I was very interested in its author, so I don't think it was me...
The image for this video was picked out by me. It relates to the lyric "Sheltering herself from a chemical rain."
A lot of the words of this song are hard to make out, so I went over it a bunch of times and came up with a working theory of what the lyrics are. Here thay are:
You received a call
On your other mind
Leave the phone alone (?)
On another line
Wish it could be true
Code turning blue
She was all alone (?)
In the modern phone (?)
Your static-bound emotion is breaking me down
I'm riding on your sound wave right over the town
Your frequency can never be tracked
Your electric feeling is makin' me crack
Your mind phone
Is calling me up
Your mind phone
Is dialing me out
Your mind phone
Is beamin' me into your dream
"I believe I'm in love"? or "Unbelievably loud" [i think it's the second one]e
But I can't connect
Signal getting strong
In a secret sect
There's a girl in the fire with a phone in her brain
Sheltering herself from a chemical rain
Your mind phone
Is calling me up
Your mind phone
Is dialing me out
Your mind phone
Is beamin' me into your dream
Beamin' me into your dream (dreeaaaaam)
Beamin' me into your dream
Your dreeeeeeam
Yeaah
Yeah you're aloof, but the blood is the proof
Your single dream is splittin' in two
You hear me clearer when you fly from the roof
My private line is "feedin' in two"? or "feedin' in too?" or "feedin' it too"? or "feelin it too"?
Your mind phone
Is calling me up
Your mind phone
Is dialing me out
Your mind phone
Is beamin' me into your dream
Beamin' me into your dream
Beamin' me into your dream
Beamin' me into your dream
Beamin' me into your dream
Beamin' me into your dreeeeeeam
Yeaah
I particularly found the phrase "Beamin' me into your dream" illuminating and relatable.
Aberration - Scream of Death
This is another mod. The original file is deathscr.xm. It was finished in 1998.
Aberration - Gastric
Another mod. The original file is gastric.xm. It was made in 1997. The image for this video was made by me. I have an animated version of it here: https://twitter.com/iyaelsorai/status/1070125643466268678. This song really makes me want to move to the music.
Hanson - MMMBop [Hex Mix]
This is a really really good and uplifting song. Hex Mix is my favorite version of it.
Loituma - levan polkka [excerpt]
This video is called "leek spin" on YouTube, and the more popular version is 10 hours long, seamlessly repeating. The meme is so popular it has its own Wikipedia page. I adore the personality I imagine to be behind the singing in this clip—it seems so emotionally real (for lack of a better word) / down-to-earth.
Salem - Redlights
Once while psychotic on Twitter I said about this song something like, "This is what Archangel Michael feels when he's winding down after battling God's latest 20-dimensional beast."
I love the alternative mode of existence implied by the lyrics of this song, the girl's voice and the way she sings, the masterfully crafted noisy aspect of the song, the deep, powerful darkness, and the inverted symmetry of the lyrics and the rhyme they contain. I've tried other witch house-genre songs after I found out that's the genre of this song, but I just couldn't get much into any, or maybe one a little bit. WRT the alternative mode of existence, I envision a group of disembodied spirits locked in a loop of constant fun-having, where they become further and further removed from roots...
There are at least three slightly different versions of this song, and it's hard to say which one is best.
Vanessa Mae & Mike Batt - Contradanza
I'm glad I happened to find out about this song, I don't remember how. I like a couple others of her songs too, Storm and the one I'm including next.
Harajuku - Phantom of the Opera [Techno Remix]
Vanessa Mae - Storm
This song is originally by Antonio Vivaldi.
Vanessa Mae - Toccata and Fugue
Toccata and Fugue are classical pieces by Bach.
Myleene Klass - Toccata and Fugue
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Wizards in Winter
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
Surely you've never heard of this one...
The lyrics are something else, like in a quantum superposition of many possible meanings (as I've once heard them described), the guitar melody is excellent, and there's something about his voice...
I especially like the lyrics, "And a new day will dawn for those who stand long / And the forests will echo with laughter"; they're in tune with humanity's true calling and with the usually misunderstood and improperly functionalized nature of life.
Lautsprecher feat. Katie Skate - Omnibus
The voices in this song sound otherwordly to me, reminiscent of otherkin. That's of course not the only reason this song is awesome.
Marc Anthony - You Sang to Me
This song is so emotional and romantic and deeply rooted in the now/life...
Music Instructor - Rock Your Body [Brainbug Mix]
This song definitely makes you want to move.
It's so different from Music Instructor's original song that it should probably be called "Brainbug - Rock Your Body."
Salt Tank feat. Neve - Eugina [Sargasso Sea Mix]
It's hard to be sure what this song is really called. I've seen the same song called a few different things:
Eugina (Sargasso Sea Mix)
Eugina 2001 (Sargasso Sea Mix)
Sargasso Sea (I Want to Be Free Mix)
Sargasso Sea (I Want To Be Free Vocal Mix)
Eugina (I Want To Be Free)
While there's a totally different song by Salt Tank called simply Eugina or something like that.
George Michael - Careless Whisper
Another one you've probably never heard of. ;p
Brainbug - Benedictus [Exitiale Mix]
Not sure if this is goth music but it definitely makes me think of goths/goth culture. Maybe I'm just weird.
Brother Brown feat. Frank'ee - Under the Water [Original Radio Version]
A past past friend/acquaintance of mine, who said I was one in thousands regarding my creative intelligence and once told me I was his star, told me about this song, and he said that this song is magical and if you don't love it you must be dead inside, or something like that. I felt pressured to like it. :P I do like it, though. And the way she sings it is really cute.
There are a number of different mixes of this song floating around, and most of them are good...
Apotheosis & DJ Patrick Samoy - Ô Fortuna [Apocalypse Chorus Mix]
This song is originally by Carl Orff.
Heart - These Dreams
They certainly don't make music like they used to (nor hairdos, for better or worse :P).
Zombie Nation - Kernkraft 400 [Sports Chant Stadium Remix]
This song is decidedly sick. I don't normally use the word "sick" as a compliment, but I don't mind using it for this song because at times I've been apprehensious about listening to it in full because I felt something about the particular sound of it could corrupt me (by shorting out my emotional insides). I think it was mostly the parts that sound like electrical zaps, but also a little bit the whole thing.
Two Girls - Musical Passion [Gran Piano Mix]
I have 6 mixes of this song, and they'ra all great:
Dance 'n Trance Mix
DJ Euro Edit
Gran Piano Mix
Italo House Mix
Radio Version (length 4:17)
Radio (length 4:38)
I'm guessing they named themselves before the invention of 2 Girls 1 Cup. :P
Music Instructor & Flying Steps - Super Sonic
I actually found this song, and hence discovered Music Instructor, while searching for JJ Fad - Supersonic because I remembered it from my childhood. Anyway, what a soundscape.
You may have noticed I have original Brainbug songs as well as a Brainbug remix of a Music Instructor song in this list above, but interestingly I discovered Brainbug and Music Instructor totally independently of each other at completely different times.
Natacha Atlas - I Put a Spell on You
It's a tour de force of singing, the melody is good, and I like the idea of entrapping someone into liking me. :P
I'm only including this song and Mistaneek by Natacha Atlas in this list, but I also rather like her song Yalla Chant [Banco de Gaia Remix].
Natacha Atlast - Mistaneek
I have no idea what mistaneek is or what this song is about in general. :P
Liz Callaway - Once Upon a December
This song was made for the animated film Anastasia. It's the essence of nostalgia.
Sheryl Crow - Tomorrow Never Dies
This song was made for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies.
Livin' Joy - Dreamer
I was once thrilled with this song, many years ago. It's so energetic.
Talamasca - Jungle Storm
I was enraptured by this song a long time ago. For one thing, the syncopated (am I using this word correctly?) beat in the beginning really got me. I lost it for a few years, and it was a b*tch trying to remember the name of it well enough to find it again. Actually, I think I ended up finding it on an old hard drive instead.
Filo and Peri with Eric Lumiere - Soul and the Sun [Eric Lumiere´s Radio Mix]
This song really abducts me into a spiritual space.
Joe Satriani - The Extremist
Like Keys to Imagination and Nostalgia by Yanni, this is what I call professional music.
My other favorite song by Joe Satriani is War.
Lange - Nearly Home
I was really impressed with this song back when I first knew about it.
Everything but the Girl - Missing
Such a great job they did at invoking a unique mood.
Eagles - Hotel California
You've heard it a million times of course, but for good reason. This song is a true masterpiece.
There's a 2013 remaster of this song, maybe it's better.
Sade - Pearls
Wow.
And a cover worthy of mention...I think Sade's is better overall, but certain parts of this one are really good.
Kandace Springs & Avishai Cohen - Pearls
La Bouche - Sweet Dreams
Garbage - Milk
This was one of my 5 top favorite songs, I think maybe my 2nd-favorite, in about 2000. I showed it to a really special girl I'd been talking to as something I resonated with, and she said she cried. :P
There's a 20th-anniversary remastered version of this song, maybe it's better.
Garbage - Wicked Ways
There's a 20th-anniversary remastered version of this song, maybe it's better.
Garbage - Stupid Girl
There's a remastered version of this song from 2015, maybe it's better.
Garbage - Only Happy When It Rains
Novus - Revealing
This is another mod. The original file is N_REVEAL.IT, made in 1997. Here's some text from the file:
Dear friend,
I didn't start out writing this song with any theme or central idea in
mind. It was just a great melody that God gave to me, and I did the best
I could with it. Even when I settled on the title "Revealing," I still
didn't think this song was actually about anything. The title just seemed
to fit somehow.
But as I got near the end of the song, I realized that everything that
happens in the song parallels the things that have happened in my life
over the course of the last year. About two years ago, God revealed to me
His plan for my future: to become a Catholic priest. And about one year
ago, I finally made up my mind to follow Him. Ever since then, every day
of my life God has revealed to me a little bit more about how the world
works, why some things happen the way they do, what God wants me to focus
on and accomplish in the future, and why. It's almost never obvious, just
like you may not notice it when a single leaf begins to turn gold at the
beginning of autumn, but gradually the entire tree changes until one day
you look up and are stricken with amazement as you realize for the first
time that the tree is ablaze with color. So it is with God constantly and
gradually revealing to me everything I will need to know.
My good friend Hendrik Kluwe (a.k.a. Traxler) constantly tells me that
"Music tells us more than words," and in this case he was certainly right.
It's a constant struggle to see God in the everyday things of life, but
this song has helped to make that easier for me. So, this song is
dedicated to God for all of the ways in which He works in my life, many
times without my even knowing it.
This song is also dedicated to Rita, a close friend of mine who was
greatly hurt by my decision, but who is an even closer friend now because
of it. (Thanks for being there for me!)
Until next time...
Novus
Neoton Familia - California Dreamin'
This song is originally by The Mamas & the Papas. I think this little-known cover is a little better. It's so little-known that it wasn't even on YouTube until I put it there (hence the image in this video is my selection, based on the lyric "all the trees are brown, and the sky is gray").
Pakito - Living On Video
There's a bunch of different versions of this song, and they're all good.
Rockell - In a Dream
The video portion isn't by Rockell, it's various clips of BoA dancing...A few years ago I was infatuated by her style of dancing (but no, I'm not the one who added those video clips to this song).
Schiller feat. Odette Di Maio - Un Solo Minuto
Pedro Del Mar feat. Emma Nelson - Feel [DJ Shah's Ambient Soul Remix]
I found this song on http://di.fm. The first few times I heard it I thought it was absolutely magical.
Röyksopp feat. Karin Dreijer Andersson - Tricky Tricky
The singer is the same singer as in the band The Knife. I like her voice and the way she sings, she's unique.
I don't get the lyrics to this song, but that's nothing unusual...
There's also an instrumental version of this song.
The instrumentals for this song are hypnotic for me.
t.A.T.u. - All the Things She Said
This and the next song were really popular a number of years ago. The Russian female duo was famous for presenting as a gay couple (and for making really good music, of course), maybe back when the LGBTQ movement was in its infancy, but in reality they're not gay. I've even seen comments by one of them slamming homosexual males, saying something along the lines of they have no right to be such pansies.
t.A.T.u. - Not Gonna Get Us
I think there's also a Russian version of this song.
Cascada - Everytime We Touch
Groove Coverage - Poison
This song is originally by Alice Cooper.
Christina Perri - A Thousand Years
This song has a good, original melody, and Christina Perri is soo pretty. This song was made for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.
Kero Kero Bonito - Picture This
Such a happy-sounding song, and the lyrics are satisfyingly satirical.
Here's a live video of her singing this. She looks so beautiful and happy </3. The energy of her smile seems almost identical to Miranda Cosgrove's.
Warpaint - The Chauffeur
This is a cover of a Duran Duran song.
There's something about the singer's voice, it's so recognizable/archetypal. I especially like the way she sings "your beating heart..."
Dom La Nena - Batuque
Halsey - Castle
This recording was made for the movie The Huntsman: Winter's War, though they'd already had a previous recording of the song in one of their albums.
Before I looked up the lyrics, I thought that the parts where it's chanted "agnus dei" was actually "what you say?" as a joke like it was a foreigner listening to the song. I thought it was pretty funny. :P
Basshunter - I Can Walk on Water I Can Fly
I don't know any other song that represents such cathartic overcoming/success/self-actualization. Well, maybe Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive, though that's very different.
This song would be a lot higher on my list if I were actually taking charge of my life...:P
Dead Can Dance - Severance
Poignant.
There's a remastered version of this song, maybe it's better.
Choco – My Little Donkey (Mi Burrito)
It took a lot of time to find this version I'd heard. Eventually, after listening to many different children singing Mi Burrito, I just searched for "power 96 mi burrito" and found it. (Power 96 is the radio station I heard it on. They play or used to play it every Christmas.)
AFI - Kiss My Eyes and Lay Me to Sleep
The only shortcoming of this song is that it's too short.
Madonna, Javier Garza & Pablo Flores - Don't Cry for Me Argentina [Miami Mix]
Antiloop - Believe
I used to play this song loud (despite the protests of my father) and dance so hard to it. This was the first song I'd heard that had this level of energy to it. That was many years ago.
Abacay - Guitar Girl
I once had the full song to this, not sure where I got it, and lost it. It was not easy finding the full song again, let alone with the music video.
This is about a girl who went through a lot of trauma, so I relate to it. Though the thing that disappoints me about this song is that, just like HANA - Underwater and Madelyne - Beautiful Child, it's aimed specifically at females, so I feel like none of them really care about me and us males.
Lucas TC (Lucas Tirigall Caste) - Need for Speed
I had had this song and lost it. It was remarkably hard to find it again...the correct song, in full, and the right version of it. This song is only on YouTube thanks to me, so the picture for the video was my selection.
Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Rows of houses, all bearing down on me
...
...
...
Be a world child, form a circle
Before we all go under
These lyrics are inspired, and after my own heart. This guy is really in touch. The melody and singing are really good too.
E Type - Here I Go Again
I found out about this song because someone in IRC said it was awesome. I checked it out and was surprised that he was actually right. :P That was many years ago.
Torley Wong - Cetamorphiline
Torley Wong is an autist, and this was composed when he was still in his teens. For some other good works by him, see if you can find A New Piano (Radio Edit), Spotlight Trance Epic, and Techno Jedi Master. (I never was able to find any other version of A New Piano than the Radio Edit.)
The image is my selection for this song. I was able to find a photo that adequately reflects what this song somehow makes me think of.
Torley Wong - A New Piano [Radio Edit]
I've decided to include A New Piano too. See comments on the song above for more info.
Supertramp - The Logical Song
Such a touching and universal subject that's talked so little about, especially in song...
Scooter - The Logical Song
Here's the music video, which I didn't use above because it has ugly motorcycle noises added to it:
Sneaker Pimps - Spin Spin Sugar
AB Logic - The Hitman
This song and Snap! - Rhythm is a Dancer were my two favorite songs when they came out in 1992. The main instrument in The Hitman sounded like living waters/spiritual nourishment to me.
Lotte Kestner - True Faith
This song was originally by New Order.
Jewel - Foolish Games
I know someone in Alaska who used to babysit Jewel's children. She says Jewel was really selfish. :P
Harry Chapin - Cat's in the Cradle
So heart-wrenching.
Ace of Base - Beautiful Life
I read once that the video initially had the people floating around in bubbles (I guess like they are in the very beginning), but somebody important didn't like them so they digitally edited them out, so if they look a little awkward the way they're floating around that's why.
I also like (I Saw) The Sign, All That She Wants, Don't Turn Around, Wheel of Fortune, and Lucky Love by Ace of Base.
The Turtles - Happy Together
This song is the happiest-sounding song I know of. But upon close inspection of the lyrics you realize it's actually about a man fantasizing to a point bordering on delusion about being in love with a girl that he's too afraid to talk to.
Alanis Morissette - Head Over Feet
I love the lyrics, and the melody is good. The story is a lot like something I would've daydreamed years ago, in the role of the person she sings about.
Gene Wilder - Pure Imagination
Excerpt from the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I must've watched this movie 100 times when I was little. This song is so ethereal, and I love the freedom that it intimates.
I used to have part of this song auto-play on my MySpace profile.
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'n' Roll
This version of the song is a cover. From Wikipedia, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows in 1975."
One of the few Rock 'n' Roll songs I actually like. The other ones are Joan Jett - I Hate Myself for Loving You, Uncle Kracker - Drift Away, and Bob Seger - Old Time Rock and Roll. I can't explain why three of the four happen to be about rock 'n roll itself.
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I Hate Myself for Loving You
Julee Cruise - Falling
I like Julee Cruise's voice, and I like the haunting quality of this song in particular. As mentioned earlier, this used to be the theme song of Twin Peaks.
Merril Bainbridge - Mouth
I adore the innocent flirtatiousness of this song.
Morgan Page feat. Lissie - The Longest Road
Cool song. And I like how she's talking about a guy who's frequently in love with various girls and she's telling him to hold her down, figuratively speaking.
Snap! - Rhythm Is a Dancer
As mentioned earlier, this song and AB Logic - Hitman were my two favorite songs when they came out in 1992. I don't think I really had favorite songs before then, except for Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now when I was a kid.
Frank Sinatra - Strangers in the Night
This song is a cover. From Wikipedia, '"Strangers in the Night" is a song composed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. Kaempfert originally used it under the title "Beddy Bye" as part of the instrumental score for the movie A Man Could Get Killed. The song was made famous in 1966 by Frank Sinatra, although it was initially given to Melina Mercouri, who thought that a man's vocals would better suit the melody and therefore declined to sing it.'
The melody is awesome, Sinatra was a great singer, and I love how the song contains the seeds of romance, like you never know what could happen...
Nadia Ali - Ride with Me
I love Nadia Ali, so I like this song because (I think?) she wrote it herself. Also I like the low-key, low-pressure call for a relationship—no demand to be heavily in love and all that...I'd feel a lot more free that way, and when I feel free I have more to give. And demands and expectations are what kill relationships.
Frente! - Bizarre Love Triangle
I like her sweet voice. The fact that it sounds less professional makes it seem more real. Actually this is one of the songs that used to be one of my favorites years ago.
I also kind of like Open up Your Heart and Let the Sun Shine In by Frente!, but I'm not including it here because it's too childish and Christian-based.
This song is a cover of a New Order song.
Information Society - Running
This was one of my favorites a long time ago. I always thought the vocals were really solid.
Information Society - What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)
My other past favorite Information Society song.
Mannheim Steamroller - Joy to the World
I was really impressed by this song a long time ago. I downloaded all of Mannheim Steamroller's songs. Nowadays it just sounds meh.
Seal - Kiss from a Rose
This song just sounds really good and dreamy. Rumor has it this is a song about doing coke...
See also my comments on Duran Duran - Come Undone.
The Beach Boys - Kokomo
This song is magical. Like some other songs in this list, I overlook the fact that it's actually about a guy trying to woo a woman, which I'm not, and just feel the magic of the sound of it.
Shannon Hurley - Matter of Time
Not sure why I included this one. I guess I liked the lyrics.
I found this song via The Extreme - Matter of Time. I wanted to find out who did the vocals for that song. Still not sure whether it's the same person or not.
Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten [US Version]
Daniel Bedingfield and Natasha Bedingfield are brother and sister. Amazingly, they both have a song in this list.
This song is so powerful and alive.
Daniel Bedingfield - Gotta Get Thru This [UK Version]
I love the part when he sings, "When your love is pouring like the rain / I close my eyes and it's gone again / When will I get the chance to say I love you."
Nicole Atkins - The Way It Is
There are a few songs I like by Nicole Atkins: The Way It Is, Maybe Tonight, Brooklyn's on Fire, and Together We're Both Alone.
Ohm-G - This Is Not the Ocean
I've sometimes listened to this and the next two songs on repeat together all day. They're just sooo relaxing on a spiritual level.
The title/lyrics to this song are somewhat intriguing. What does it mean, "this is not the ocean"? Is it like "ce n'est pas une pipe"? Is it some kind of reverse psychology? Etc.
Saint of Sin - Song of Divine
Bliss - Silence
Rene Ablaze & Toni Simonen - Clear Skies [Chillout Mix]
An Eligible Quartet - Kissing in the Rain
From the Great Expectations soundtrack.
Mono - Life in Mono
From Wikipedia, "The song was used as the theme to the 1998 version of the movie Great Expectations (reportedly chosen by actor Robert De Niro)..."
My friend Rey introduced me to this song, saying he knew I'd probably like it. He was right. It was probably one of my top, say, 5 favorite songs then.
Natasha Breanne Thompson - All in the Mind
This is from an old mod file. The original is allmind.it. There was another song I liked by her, but I lost it wasn't able to find it again.
Taylor Swift - Love Story
It's not the lyrics about this song that I love, it's the melody. Once I had a dream where I was hearing the melody from this song while swinging around in circles on some kind of swing, and it felt like God was communicating with me. Also Taylor Swift sings beautifully.
Taylor Swift - You Belong with Me
Again, it's the melody. The lyrics are kinda cool too, though.
The Bangles - Walk like an Egyptian
The Bangles - Manic Monday
Stevie Wonder - I Just Called to Say I Love You
Summoning - Khazad Dum
I don't normally like nasty, guttural singing, but in this song it's almost...atmospheric.
Velvet Acid Christ - Decay
Pretty much the same comment as above.
Tonci Huljic & Bond - Gypsy Rhapsody
The Chemical Brothers - The Private Psychedelic Reel
This song, or at least the name of it, reminds me of firework wheels. Here's a good, huge, home-made one:
The Police - Every Breath You Take
I know this is the 2020's and this song has serious stalker vibes, but I think it's romantic, or at least I relate to the watching and wanting from a distance. And the breathy singing goes well with the wistfulness of it, and of course the meledy is great.
Berlin - Take My Breath Away
I relate this song to the previous song for, I think, obvious reasons. And it's almost as or equally as great.
This song was made for the movie Top Gun.
Three Dog Night - Joy to the World
VNV Nation - Rubicon
The instrumentals do some cool things in this song, and I like the utter forlornness of the vocals and lyrics.
aRTy - Galaxy
This is another one from a mod file. The original mod file is GALAXY.IT. My friend once said my taste in music is very galactically oriented.
Hooverphonic - Battersea
Conjure One feat. Chemda Khalili - Redemption
Good song in general, but once I listened to this song and the precise way in which she sings it was actually the perfect release for how I was feeling at the time, amazingly.
Janis Ian - At Seventeen
There's a remastered version of this song, maybe it's better.
There's a cover of this song that's just as good by Tara Maclean:
DJ IO - DJ IO's Happy Hardcore
I had this song and another song by him that I liked a long time ago, I think from mp3.com, and lost them both. It wasn't until years later that I was able to find a remix of one of them, and then just the other day I searched again and found an original on YouTube. The song title above is based on what I vaguely remember from the files I had; it could be wrong.
Here's the remix I'd found, by Moogl3...
Luther Vandross - Dance with My Father
I never had a relationship like this with my father—my father was Satan to me as I was growing up—but I can feel the nostalgia of this song nonetheless. I guess maybe, in a way, his lamenting his loss in this song is my lamenting what I never had.
Tiffany, Gearge Tobin & Bill Smith - Could've Been
While we're doing sad songs, we might as well include this one. The next song in this list is why I'm also partial to this song.
Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now
This was my favorite song when I was about 10. It was my first favorite song.
I had wanted the song on tape, and while I was away (at school I think), my dad recorded it on a cassette from the radio. I think he requested that they play it too. For many years this act of generosity from my dad was very important to me because it was my first or one of my first indications that maybe he actually cared for me. I still have the cassette somewhere. It has special ending that's a lot like the beginning of the music video that I've never heard any other place.
Donna Summer - Macarthur Park [Single Version]
This song was originally sang by Richard Harris and written by Jimmy Webb. Richard Harris' version is fine, and maybe even more poignant, but I just prefer a female voice.
Edit: On second thought, I think I like Harris' version better. Let me include that here.
Margaret Berger - Lifetime Guarantee
Just an interesting song that I heard on the radio over and over when I was in Norway in 2006.
Margaret Berger - Will You Remember Me Tomorrow
Bertine Zetlitz - Midnight
Same comment as above.
Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
She sings this so well. (Ignore the crappy beginning of this music video if you're not familiar with the song.)
Björk - Human Behavior
Björk was so forking cute and eccentric!
Ashra - Two Keyboards
I once told a friend that there's a deep inner layer of my being underlying everything else in my consciousness whose energy matches this song.
Vlatko Stefanovski & Miroslav Tadić - More Čičo Reče da Me Ženi
I've played this one and the previous one on repeat together for hours. My parents thought it was just one song. :P
I find it very warm and soothing.
Massive Attack - Angel
Miss Jane - It's a Fine Day [ATB Radio Edit]
Unto Ashes - Teach Me How to Drown
Armin Van Buuren & Perpetuous Dreamer - The Sound of Goodbye [Tribal Feel Edit]
Robert Miles - Dreamland [full album]
Dreamland was one of the first CDs I ever got. 23am, Robert Miles' next album, was the first CD I ever bought with my own money. I didn't even know what it would sound like when I bought it.
Originally I just had Children in this list, the first song on this album, but then I decided to include the whole album.
There are other versions of this album that have a song not on this version, '4us', but I couldn't find a copy of one of the other versions that didn't have a pause at the end of each song, which isn't good because the songs run right into each other on the actual CD.
Robert Miles - 23am [full album]
I added this album to this list at the same time I added Dreamland. I decided what the heck.
Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
What an excellent portrayal of longing.
I've read that the Plain White T's guy saw some girl at a party named Delilah and thought she was so beautiful he told her he would write a song about her. When it came out the girl thought it was weird that he would sing that about her. I think she mistook it for some kind of obsession, while he was just using her name and/or his memory of her with a creative license for inspiration.
Richard Marx - Right Here Waiting
Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died in Your Arms
Nina Simone - Sinnerman
I first heard this song in The Thomas Crown Affair (1999).
Nina Simone didn't invent this song. It's a "traditional spiritual song" according to Wikipedia.
Haddaway - What Is Love
Haddaway - Life
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
Just an all-around cool song and cool music video.
DJ Kaycee - Escape [DJ Icey Mix]
Here's the original:
DJ Jean - The Launch
Dillion Francis & DJ Snake - Get Low
Fairly cool song and pretty cool music video, especially for having such a lower-vibrational theme.
Iglooghost - Clear Tamei
I also like a few other songs by Iglooghost: Bug Thief, Gold Coat, Niteracer, and Xiangjiao.
Steve Reich & Kronos Quartet - America - Before the War
This is the first of a series of three songs surrounding WWII. I can really sense the essences of the respective zeitgeists through listening to these songs, so I think they're brilliant. My mom says she doesn't get out of it what I do, so YMMV. :P
Steve Reich & Kronos Quartet - Europe - During the War
Steve Reich & Kronos Quartet - After the War
There's a remastered version of this song, maybe it's better.
Nightwish - Wishmaster
Britney Spears - The Beat Goes On
This is a cover of a Sonny & Cher song. I could swear she sings "blah blah" in a couple of places because she couldn't tell what the original lyrics were. :P
Yazoo - Situation
I'd always thought this was sung by a guy. :P
Soft Cell - Tainted Love
Bubbles - Bidibodi Bidibu
I found out about this song from Super Troopers.
Nine Inch Nails - Closer
Midnight Syndicate - Haunted Nursery
There are a few different versions of this song. I saw one that had a video, something about a baby in a cradle outside at night. I couldn't find it for this list though.
Katy Perry - Hot n Cold
Good melody.
Wamdue Project - King of My Castle
Armin Van Buuren feat. Justine Suissa - Burned With Desire
OceanLab - Secret
Justine Suissa is the vocalist for OceanLab, AKA Above & Beyond presents OceanLab.
OceanLab - Miracle
Oceanlab - Just Listen
Daft Punk - Technologic
And here's a cool live version:
Kristal Gandhi - MMX (The Social Song)
I love the sound of the vocals, particularly the parts that aren't in any language, and the part "There is no mountain I can't climb / The melody makes me high" really hits me when I'm listening to it on http://di.fm/chilloutdreams while dreaming. And the face of the girl in the video and the way she dances in some parts totally intrigue me.
Katie Melua - I Cried for You
On one hand, this song makes me sad because there will never be anybody who feels this way about me. On the other hand, it reminds me of who I really am...
Bright Eyes - Poison OakAaron Carter - I Want Candy
'Weird Al' Yankovic - Tacky
The original is good too:
Pharrel Williams - Happy
'Weird Al' Yankovic - Foil
The original is good too:
Lorde - Royals
'Weird Al' Yankovic - Word Crimes
Darude - Feel the Beat
My favorite part starts at 2:00.
Miami Sound Machine - Conga
Gloria Estefan - Turn the Beat Around
This was one of my top favorites a long time ago.
Nicki French - Total Eclipse of the Heart
This is a cover of a song by Bonnie Tyler. Bonnie Tyler's version sounds absolutely awful in comparison.
Escape By Night - Where Joy Shall Reign
Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
51 Days - Paper Moon
Talk about constructing an emotional space! Ever since hearing this song, so many songs on di.fm's "deep tech" channel sound like shadows of this song.
This song was apparently a big hit in the clubs back in the day.
Acumen - Affection
Another mod file, ac-aff.it, composed in 1998.
Basic Element - Love 4 Real [Instrumental]
I had this song a long time ago (no idea where I got it), then lost it. Eventually around 2006 I looked for it on the internet and found it in exactly one place, on a CD for sale by some guy on another continent. So I bought it and got it about 2 months later. Unfortunately, the only version I have of it now is an mp3, so I probably lost the file I ripped from the CD (don't know where the CD is either) and found it on the internet again.
Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth
This was one of my top few favorite songs a buncha years ago.
DJ Sammy, Yanou & Do - Heaven
Blue Man Group feat. Venus Hum - I Feel Love
This is a cover of Donna Summer - I Feel Love. https://learningmusic.ableton.com/song-structure/i-feel-love.html says about Donna Summer's version, "This disco track from 1977 was an early example of dance music with almost entirely electronic instrumentation, and continues to be a huge influence on electronic artists in a variety of styles."
Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy
Cherry Poppin' Daddies - Zoot Suit Riot
Coast 2 Coast feat. Discovery - Home
I like this song because of the way she sings "Iiiiii feeeeel those days so close to me," etc.
Corona - The Rhythm of the Night
Such a mood.
Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping
Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance
I used to sing a part of this in the shower sometimes. I thought it sounded pretty good. :P
Joey Calderazzo - So Many Moons
I don't actually like this song a whole lot. I don't know why it's in this list. I must have been enamored with it at some point for some reason / being in some particular headspace.
Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World
Karl Jenkins, Mike Ratledge, Adiemus, Jody K. Jenkins, London Philharmonic Orchestra & Mary Carawe - Adiemus
ATB - Everything Is Wrong
/\\/\|> /\\|>< - the 12 days of xmas!
This is from a mod file from 1993, chrdayz2.mod AKA xmasdaze.mod.
Chris Robin & Jonas Saalbach - You Know [Dennis Ihm Remix]
I like the vocal part of this.
Cibo Matto - Sugar Water
Connie Francis - ¿Quién será?
Skaven of Future Crew - Catch that goblin!!
This is from another mod file, CTGOBLIN.S3M. Skaven was very well-known in the mod scene.
There's a code signifying end-of-song before the track data ends, so depending on what program you use to listen to the original mod file, you may not hear the last ~62 seconds of it. Maybe Winamp, the program I used to transcode this, is the only program that plays it, and it's not as good without the last minute, so you're lucky you heard it here. :D
Salt-n-Pepa - Push It
I remember this song from when I was a child. I always thought it was sung by guys (teenagers I guess), and I thought it was odd that they were saying "push it."
Elemental - Planet on Acid
Another mod file, ELE-PLAN.S3M, from 1995. Elemental was a member of Night55, the same guys who made the Sonique media player (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonique_(media_player)).
I used to envision this song as representing a time when everyone's hearts suddenly rise and we all dance and the world is magical and fun again. My friend Jay (the same friend mentioned earlier in my text about the Dusty Springfield song) didn't like it. He said it was scary and and gave him nightmares. I asked him why, and he said, "evil cloud, eat people, spit out bones."
Nobuo Uematsu - One Winged Angel
This is from Final Fantasy VII, the last battle.
Freezepop - Seven Boom Medley
I first heard this song a looooong time ago while bored to death in a shoe store in the mall.
uniblab - Freudian Dream
Another transcoding of an old mod file, freudian.mod.
This song always evoked very specific visuals for me. A small stage in the middle of a large crowd with four or five band members, one of them is bald and is sweating profusely down his large, yellowish face from the physical exertion and the hot lights.
Fun feat. Janelle Monáe - We Are Young
Another song I first heard (part of) on a commercial, I think another car commercial.
Ginz Project - Mango Island
Space Men - Space Melody [Sunset Chill Version]
Limahl - Never Ending Story
This song was made for the movie The NeverEnding Story. If you haven't seen it, you don't know what you're missing.
Harold Faltermeyer - Axel F
This is the main theme for the movie Beverly Hills Cop starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley.
Harry Belafonte - Jump in the Line (Shake, Señora)
This song is featured in the movie Beetlejuice. That's what the clips in this video are from.
Harry Belafonte - Banana Boat (Day-O)
Same comments as the song above.
Hypha - Gimme Di Weed [Jigsy King & Ward 12 Vocomashup]
Shania Twain - You're Still the One
Ini Kamoze - Here Comes the Hotstepper
I remember when this song came out in 1995. I pictured him younger and skinnier.
I like the way he sings—he sounds very skilled—and the "na na na" part has a great melody.
Yuri Kane feat. Kate Walsh - Right Back
Keep Shelly In Athens - Silent Rain
Spiritual Project - O' Fortuna
The video portion is from Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2.
Lets Be Friends - This Means War! Vol. 1
Lets Be Friends - This Means War! Vol. 2
One album that I like that sounds a lot like the above is かめりあ (Camellia) - INVAIDAS FROM DA JUNGLE:
Lisa Loeb - Stay (I Missed You)
This song is so honest and humble, it's a real rarity in that way. And I like the passion of it/the fast-paced singing. (And, of course, good melody.)
Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
Loreena McKennitt - The Mummers' Dance
This song is how I found out about Loreena McKennitt. Now I like her song Greensleeves a lot better, but this one is still cool.
Other songs I like by Loreena McKennitt are All Souls Night, Between the Shadows, and Courtyard Lullaby.
Los del Río feat. Carla Vanessa - Macarena [Bayside Boys Remix]
I'm not ashamed of liking this song, haha. It was wildly popular for a reason. I like the female vocalist's sultry singing; she does it perfectly.
Fun fact: The Bayside Boys remix, which is the remix that made this song hugely popular and the one you've probably heard, was commissioned by a radio station in my city, Power 96. (There was no female in Los del Río's original version.)
Love Is Colder Than Death - Oxeia
I once downloaded dozens and dozens of darkwave/ethereal wave/neoclassical darkwave songs looking for good ones, and this was the best one I found. It's the only one I still have.
Lisa Gerrard - Now We Are Free
This song was made for the movie Gladiator.
Lisa Gerrard & Denez Prigent - Gortoz A Ran
I'm not sure if this song was made for the movie Black Hawk Down, but I know it's featured in it.
Ian Van Dahl - Castles in the Sky
I loved this song back in 2000. I noticed that a lot of people hated it. I asked my friend Rey why, and he said, "cos it's honest." That really affected me.
DJ Sammy made a good version of this song too.
Larry Mullen Jr. & Adam Clayton - Theme from Mission: Impossible
Adam Clayton is a member of the band U2, so this song is usually miscredited to U2.
DJ Irene - Halloween Theme [Techno Remix]
The first half of this song is pretty good. The second half is just okay; I wish the song had evolved into something more complex or intense.
MUST DIE! - Octopus
One of the best Dubstep songs ever, though it's not exactly normal dubstep. It sounds kind of like a seething pool of machine larvae.
Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song
Nat King Cole - Unforgettable
The Cardigans - Lovefool
No Doubt - Don't Speak
Nobuyuki Tsujii - Elegy for the Victims of the Tsunami of March 11, 2011 in Japan
Rickie Byars - Om Shanti
I was introduced to this song by my friend Anthony. It's probably the only religious song I like. Well, actually, Om Shanti Om is apparently a Hindu mantra, and another song in this list, Gayatri Mantra, is also a Hindu mantra. Oh yeah, and I guess Do You Hear What I Hear is also a religious song.
Peaches - Fuck the Pain Away
One time I listened to this song in just the right state of mind, and the instrumentation sounded absolutely perfect and brilliant, like I really got it. (But I already liked this song before that.) This happened once with one other song, Qum - Sunshine, when I was just waking up.
Qum - Sunshine
One time I heard this song while in a hypnopompic state of mind, and I guess with my subconscious participating it hit me just right, and it sounded absolutely brilliant and perfect. I guess it's always been brillant and perfect in its own way and I could only see it once. I liked it even before then, though.
This is another one from an old mod file, sunshine.xm from 1999.
Shpongle - Periscopes of Consciousness [Space Jesus Trap B(.Y.)TLEG]
Peter Bjorn & John - Young Folks
Good melody.
Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
This is the only song I ever liked by Backstreet Boys or any of the really popular boy bands. I guess it went well with my desperation, and ...dun dun dun dun... it has a good melody. =D
R. Carlos Nakai - Lake That Speaks (Flute Solo)
Rammstein - Engel
Rammstein - Klavier
Roxette - It Must Have Been Love
Scatman John - Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)
Scatman John didn't look anything like how I first pictured him. For one thing, I pictured him black. :P
Secret Garden - Song from a Secret Garden
Selena - I Could Fall in Love
Selena - Dreaming of You
Shannon - Let the Music Play
There's something about the way she dances, btw. She's good.
Sixpence None the Richer - Kiss Me
Some guy once said he didn't like this song because it seems like she was whining. I thought that was weird, but I never forgot it.
Spin Doctors - Two Princes
Swing Out Sister - Am I the Same Girl?
Gregorian - Sebastian
This song was introduced to me by my friend Anthony who really likes it. He says it reminds him of past lives as a monk. :P
The parts with three descending notes like at 0:42 get me evrytiem. So piercing.
Technomancer 2: Mindbending Climax [full album]
Bobby Goldsboro - Honey
This song makes me tear up evrytiem.
Priscilla Ahn - Fine on the Outside
Jules Massenet - Thais
I first heard this song on my musical keyboard. I searched far and wide for a better version of it, but none sounded as good as my keyboard's version, so here it is. :P
GliTcH (Rob Doell) - IMMeNSeLY INTeNSeLY
Another transcoding of a mod file, GL-IMM.XM, from 1996.
A long time ago I used to dream of building an actual complex machine that could recreate this song exactly solely through its mechanics.
Iconoclast - In These Times...
I like the part at 1:45-1:50 and the parts like it. And the rest just makes for a nice background song.
I think I found out about this song a long time ago from my friend Serdar who was into emo/screamo.
Jungle Logic - Zero
I got this song a long time ago off mp3.com or somewhere similar. The filename I had was simply zero.mp3, but I think I vaguely remember the artist being called "Jungle Logic." I could easily be wrong.
Anyway, I remember there was a story behind this song. Jungle Logic (or whoever) had been making EDM music which I thought was terrible, and his friend dared him to make a classical song. He made one just to prove that he could, and, in my opinion, it was ironically much better than any of his other music.
Adam Sandler - Ode to My Car
I know Adam Sandler is corny, but I find this song funny and well-done. I also liked him in Happy Gilmore.
UCLA Marching Band - Come Out and Play
The tune is originally by The Offspring.
Danny Elfman - This Is Halloween [Dance Dance Revolution Remix]
The original song was made for the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas.
I'm not actually sure this remix is from the game Dance Dance Revolution. All I know is it's different from what you'll usually find and it has no words. For some reason I have this song twice with different filenames, and both file names call the song "Techno Dance House." One of them has "DDR" in it too. So it's a mystery to me.
DHT - Listen to Your Heart
The original is by Roxette. I think this version is much better (and not just because it's a dance remix—the singing too).
Mini-Moni - Mini Strawberry Pie
No idea why I had this song on my computer.
Heineken - Moderate Drinkers Wanted
Sonny & Cher - Little Man
Acida - Presente Permanente
Sinead O'Connor - Molly Malone
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - What I Am
What I like most about this song/music video is just Edie Brickell :) 3
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
I once knew somebody who said he cried to this song. (???)
Bruce Springsteen - Dancing in the Dark
Fun fact: Courtney Cox (Monica on Friends) is in this music video (before she got famous).
The Contours - Do You Love Me
I had a dream once with a song very similar to this. It was at the same level of quality if not better, so it probably would have been on the Billboard Hot 100 if only I could record my dreams (and also if it had been a couple of decades earlier;p). I'm not totally sure it wasn't actually this song.
Smash Mouth - Walkin' on the Sun
I've found three or four different veriations of this song before, with slightly different lyrics and, I think, instrumentation. I'm not going to try to find all of them again to see which I think is best. :P
Butthole Surfers - Pepper
J2 feat. Blu Holliday - Born to Be Wild [Epic Trailer Version]
Elaine Paige - Memory
This is from the musical Cats. I didn't check out a lot of performers to try to find the one I'd heard when I was young or to see which one sang it best, I just like the song.
Whitehot Robot - Tree of Knowledge
I also like their song 'Eye'. and 'Heterochromia'. And a few others. They're all not bad, but after a while they all start to sound the same.
Irene Cara - Fame
This was one of my favorites a long time ago. It's so powerful because it's so passionately ambitious. I particularly like the line "I can ride your heart till it breaks," because of how it gives reality to the unseen by spelling out the process of its interaction, and also because it has so much oomph to it.
The Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin
I just found out about this song from the '70s a few weeks ago. Apparently everybody else already knew about it and it's famous. He sings it so hauntingly..
Processor - Traditional Dance (Nitzhogoa)
Trio - Da Da Da
I like how low-key this song is. It sets the bar so low that it takes off the pressure of life. Sort of like the movie Napoleon Dynamite.
Holo Bass feat. Amelia Watson - Pop on Rocks
The vocals in this song are soo cute.
Holo Bass feat. Amelia Watson - Green Eggs and Spam
Same comment as above.
Sigur Ros - Danarfregnir Og Jardarfarir
Rich/deep/powerful.
Say Lou Lou - Julian [Dubka Remix]
Love this song. Haunting, in a way.
Lio - Le Banana Split
This song has been stuck in my head ever since I heard it in the yellow iPhone 14 commercial. The video is cute af, too. Every time I get to about 1:04-1:05 (and maybe 0:20-0:22?) I laugh out loud in delight because of the way she shakes her hair.
Golden Features feat. The Presets - Paradise
This song really takes me to another place when I listen to it while half-asleep. Such a powerful aesthetic.
I heard this song on di.fm/deeptech.
Alex ll Martinenko & Kalinqua - Intergalactic Connection
I heard this song on di.fm/deeptech.
Shpongle - Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland [remastered 2020] [full album]
I love a lot of Shpongle's music, but I don't want to post all of it here. So I'm just including one album. I'm not even sure if it's my favorite of their albums, EPs and singles, I just don't want to listen to all of them over again right now to determine for sure which is my favorite.
Someone I know who has done psychedelics and whose metaphysical outlook has been drastically changed by psychedelics and meditation said that Shpongle's music captures the essence of the psychedelic experience like nothing else can.
Like some other entries near the bottom of this list, this one should probably be a lot further up, but the dumb way I coded the webpage makes it difficult to insert new entries further up.
Younger Brother - A Flock of Bleeps [full album]
I love psychill, I think it's my favorite genre lately. There are other albums I could include, but I don't want to include too many hours of psychill.
Gonzi - Set
I guess this isn't actually a song or album called Set, but a live session at some unknown time and place.
It's great techno, or supposedly techno.
blvck ceiling - Davey Drawings
A hot mess, a psychotic's daydream
Dave Thompson - Approaching the Light
This song is just so pleasing to me for some reason, or at least the first 7 minutes are.
Steppenwolf von Mensch - Dreamflight
Alan Menkin feat & Lily Collins - I Believe in Love
From the movie Mirror Mirror (2012), a live-action adaptation of Snow White
Ravenscoon - Inertia EP [full album]
This album is cool & powerful AF.
Chvrches - Good Girls [Unicorn Mix]
This remix is by Whitehot Robot. He's a very prolific releaser of songs, and most of his songs sound very similar in style, but it's a cool sound.
Howard Blake - Walking in the Air
From Wikipedia: "Walking in the Air" is a song written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film The Snowman based on Raymond Briggs's 1978 children's book of the same name.
This video is taken from the film.
This song sounds profoundly sad to me somehow, but it's good.
Amara Tanta Tyri - The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud
Very witchy.
Buddha Lounge & Bar Music # 2016 Paris Edition
Le Cafe Paris - Living Lounge Mix
Joe "Fingers" Carr & 80 Drums Around The World - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) part I & II
This song is just really fun, like the other two versions of this song I'm about to include.
Ayhan Sicimoğlu - Istanbul Pas Constantinople
They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (not Constantinople)
This is my favorite song by TMBG. Other ones I remember (kinda) liking are Particle Man and Someone Keeps Moving My Chair.
Ben E. King - Stand by Me
This is a great, classic song.
Dr. Alban - It's My Life
This song is pretty catchy.
It took me years once to find out what song this was after only remembering a little bit of it.
Blackpink - How You Like That
This song just has some really cool-sounding parts, particularly the "How you like that, that-that-that-that, that-that-that-that?", and some other parts are kinda cool.
Joe Rainey - Niineta [full album]
Like touching grass but cooler. Note that the first song may sound basic and underwhelming, but the other songs are different.
Macroblank - Hostile [full album]
Very smooth with satisfying bass, in a rather strange/unique way.
Karol G - El Barco
Love how "warm" this song sounds, for lack of a better word, and it has a nice melody.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Soundtrack) [full album]
Many years ago, I used to listen to Cinemagic and other incarnations of the movie soundtrack channel on DirecTV. I considered it to be like classical music, only better because it was more dynamic, more dramatic, more stimulating. This soundtrack reminds me of the best of that channel.
Radio stations and streams I like:
WDNA - Jazz. I never used to like jazz; I thought it was for people who gave up on life. Then I gave up on life, then I liked jazz. I told my friend this once, and he LOL'd.
WVUM - University of Miami's radio station - Indie electronica, indie rock, and other genres. I pretty much only like the indie electronica.
WRGP - Florida International University's radio station - Indie electronica, indie rock, and other genres. I pretty much only like the indie electronica.