D-BOY BLOG

Best Music Moments in Film

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:23:00 -0400

Is there anything better than a perfect song for just the right scene?

No one does this better than Kubrick, Scorsese, and Tarantino. Although P.T. Anderson, Fincher, and the Coen brothers have certainly made their statements over the years.

Appropriate.

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:49:09 -0500

Appropriate.

HBO’s Game of Thrones has reportedly enlisted...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:41:00 -0500

HBO’s Game of Thrones has reportedly enlisted Brooklyn-by-way-of-Minneapolis indie rockers The Hold Steady to cover “The Bear and the Maiden Fair,” a song written by creator George R. R. Martin and an apparent popular tune within the story’s mythology.

It’ll be interesting to hear Craig Finn’s sing-speak rasp tackle lines like “He licked the honey from her hair” and “I’ll never dance with a hairy bear,” to say the least.

1. Frank Ocean – “Pyramids” A self-produced, ten-minute,...

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:30:00 -0500

1. Frank Ocean – “Pyramids”

A self-produced, ten-minute, time-traveling, dizzying, dual-act, epic tale of two Cleopatras - the first half is a synth-driven cheetah chase through Ancient Egypt, the second is a slow-burn stripper anthem set in low-budget motels and divey booty clubs some two thousand years later - the scope of which no other song came close to in 2012, proves to be Ocean’s magnum opus, a literary watershed moment for this new wave of R&B, spellbinding storytelling the genre hasn’t seen since Prince’s Purple Rain, and solidifies the young artist as the upper-echelon singer-songwriter of, at the very least, the moment, and just perhaps, his generation.

“Top-floor motel suite, twisting my cigars / Floor-model TV with the VCR / Got rubies in my damn chain / Whip ain’t got no gas tank, but it still got wood grain / Got your girl working for me / Hit the strip and my bills paid”

2. Grizzly Bear – “Sleeping Ute” Channeling the likes of...

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 11:41:00 -0500

2. Grizzly Bear – “Sleeping Ute”

Channeling the likes of Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, and even The Allman Brothers Band, Shields’ jaw-dropping opener is an ethereal, nervous, dream-like romp through the subconscious, simultaneously intimate and operatic, with crashing guitars, ominous keys, and a thunderous rhythm section, crafted by an uber-talented Brooklyn quartet with the special ability to make even the most mathematical of music feel like much more than zeroes and ones, and like an entire undiscovered world.

“Dreamed a long day / Just wandering free / Though I’m far gone / You sleep nearer to me”

3. Japandroids – “The House That Heaven Built” The jet-fueled...

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 14:04:00 -0500

3. Japandroids – “The House That Heaven Built”

The jet-fueled escapist anthem of the year, made by two dudes who exhaustively jam-pack their catalogue with enough vim and vigor to convince listeners they might as well be an entire army, is living proof that, no matter what technological advances are made in popular music production, through hard-workmanship, unbridled passion, and the age-old belief that anyone can start a band, the punk spirit will never, ever die.

“When they love you, and they will / Tell ‘em all they’ll love in my shadow / And if they try to slow you down / Tell ‘em all to go to hell”

4. Kendrick Lamar – “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” This...

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 13:50:00 -0500

4. Kendrick Lamar – “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe”

This intoxicating track, despite deviating from good kid, m.A.A.d city’s central narrative to position itself as an opening credit theme song / mission statement of sorts, highlights Lamar’s seemingly effortless execution of layering flow upon flow over a svelte, spaced-out beat and snare echoes that feel like splashes of cold water, creating a sound entirely his own (the Lady Gaga-hijacked demo was wisely scrapped), and making New West Coast’s strongest case yet for the young emcee as the genre’s bona fide poster boy.

“We live in a world, we live in a world on two different axles / You live in a world, you living behind the mirror / I know what you scared of, the feeling of feeling emotions inferior”

5. Fiona Apple – “Every Single Night” The singer-songwriter and...

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 13:29:00 -0500

5. Fiona Apple – “Every Single Night”

The singer-songwriter and pianist has always been a bit of a therapist’s dream (or nightmare), but it’s the lead single off of The Idler Wheel… where she so candidly grants her listeners direct access to her twisted psyche in this three-and-a-half-minute, Being John Malkovich-style, point-of-view peep show, where her anxieties have never been higher, her desires have never been so unsuppressed, and her talent has never been so exposed and absolute.

“Every single night’s a fight with my brain / I just want to feel everything”

6. Frank Ocean – “Bad Religion” Six days after a Tumblr post...

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 16:59:00 -0500

6. Frank Ocean – “Bad Religion”

Six days after a Tumblr post revealed in open letter format (originally intended as part of Channel Orange’s liner notes) that his first true love was a man, Ocean released his official debut studio album to near universal acclaim, an LP that included this raw, honest, organ-driven piece of poetry at its core, in which our narrator uses the back of a taxi cab to confess his struggles with his own sexuality to a potentially homophobic driver, symbolizing the artist’s concerns regarding the African-American music community’s ultimate acceptance of his identity.

“Taxi driver / I swear I’ve got three lives / Balanced on my head like steak knives / I can’t tell you the truth about my disguise / I can’t trust no one”

7. The Shins – “Simple Song” Natalie Portman’s character...

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 10:46:00 -0500

7. The Shins – “Simple Song”

Natalie Portman’s character in Garden State declared that James Mercer’s music “will change your life,” and his Portland-based troupe’s latest and greatest regains that early Shins magic (of which the frontman is the sole original member), bottling what only the best pop tunes are able to achieve - feelings of youth, nostalgia, and invincibility under the breezy guise of clever metaphor and Beatles-esque composition.

“My life in an upturned boat / Marooned on a cliff / You brought me a great big flood / And you gave me a lift / Girl, what a gift”

8. Sleigh Bells – “Demons” No one does loud quite like Derek E....

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 18:42:00 -0500

8. Sleigh Bells – “Demons”

No one does loud quite like Derek E. Miller and Alexis Krauss, and their leather-clad brand of deceivingly nuanced noise pop / arena rock is best defined by their Reign of Terror centerpiece standout - with calculated double-bass drums and crisp power-chord assaults, fronted by fiery female exorcising, never has a descent into Hell sounded so damn heavenly.

“Demons / Live on / And when I die, hang me high”

9. Usher – “Climax” While the rest of the pop world used a...

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 10:42:00 -0500

9. Usher – “Climax”

While the rest of the pop world used a dubstep beat to excessive effect, the Diplo-produced soundscape adopts a minimalist’s approach to give Mr. Raymond his most sonically ambitious record, probably ever, a song that builds and teases (that “at all” crescendo is career-defining, highlight-reel material) before ultimately ebbing inwards, as if “we’ve reached the climax” just before the track begins, resulting in a perfect marriage of post-apocalyptic composition and post-break-up lyrical perspective.

“Going nowhere fast / We’ve reached the climax / We’re together, now we’re undone / Won’t commit so we choose to / Run away”

10. Major Lazer – “Get Free (Feat. Amber of Dirty...

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:57:00 -0500

10. Major Lazer – “Get Free (Feat. Amber of Dirty Projectors)”

Enlisting the summery vocals of an indie starlet, Diplo trades in his typically frenetic production style for a submerged reggae beat disguised as dancehall and masterfully pulls off the unlikeliest of combinations by merging global oppression protest sentiment with shimmering cruise-ship leisure.

“All of my life been wadin’ in / Water so deep now we got to swim / Wonder will it ever end / How long, how long till we have a friend”

11. Kendrick Lamar – “Money Trees (Feat. Jay Rock)” K-Dot has...

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:30:00 -0500

11. Kendrick Lamar – “Money Trees (Feat. Jay Rock)”

K-Dot has subtitled his much-lauded good kid, m.A.A.d city ”A Short Film by Kendrick Lamar,” and not only does this highly entertaining album highlight act as a mid-movie montage, recapping the concept album’s major developments up until this point in the story (plus foreshadowing a friend’s eventual death “in front of the gun”), but it possesses the literary focus and calculated restraint of a much more seasoned artist than the Compton native’s 25 years would suggest, and captures the moment when he accepts his life as a gang-banger, street code as gospel, and the dollar as king.

“A dollar might just f**k your main bitch, that’s just how I feel / A dollar might say f**k them n****s that you came with, that’s just how I feel”

12. Sky Ferreira – “Everything Is Embarrassing” Pulling off her...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 22:20:00 -0500

12. Sky Ferreira – “Everything Is Embarrassing”

Pulling off her best Tim Burton heroine impression, the bleached-blonde 20-year-old’s breakout track is a gorgeously hypnotic, dance-pop downer of the highest order, an absolute monster filled with melodramatic teenage confusion and a slap-happy bass line that harkens back to the early 90s, laced with a bit of modern-day doom and gloom.

“Maybe if you let me be your lover / Maybe if you tried, then I would not bother”

13. Bat for Lashes – “Laura” As The Haunted Man’s...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 09:58:00 -0500

13. Bat for Lashes – “Laura”

As The Haunted Man’s unsettling centerpiece, this baroque piano pop ballad is simultaneously a love letter and intervention session to an old friend who, unaware of her own unraveling, continues to be the life of the party, written by singer Natasha Khan herself and Justin Parker, Lana Del Rey’s co-writing cohort on last year’s “Video Games.”

“You say that they’ve all left you behind / Your heart broke when the party died / Drape your arms around me and softly say / Can we dance upon the tables again?”

14. Frank Ocean – “Thinkin Bout You” After penning a string of...

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 17:22:00 -0500

14. Frank Ocean – “Thinkin Bout You”

After penning a string of love songs for the likes of Beyoncé and John Legend, Ocean keenly kept this one for himself as his breakout album Channel Orange’s lead single (although an early version was originally slated for recording artist Bridget Kelly’s debut), an at-times regretful reflection on a failed first relationship and the power it still holds over the young singer-songwriter, complete with restrained orchestral swells, sparse snare hits, and a stunningly simple chorus sung in falsetto.

“Or do you not think so far ahead? / ‘Cause I been thinkin’ ‘bout forever”

15. Beach House – “Myth” The Baltimore duo has been fine-tuning...

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:41:00 -0500

15. Beach House – “Myth”

The Baltimore duo has been fine-tuning its signature, blissful, ethereal sound for four albums now, and no track to date has quite reached the level of heavenly perfection that Bloom’s opener has, a dream-like romp through the stratosphere, one that builds so gracefully its own bubble of introspection damn near pops from flying too close to the sun.

“If you built yourself a myth / You’d know just what to give”

16. Odd Future – “Oldie” This ten-minute-plus cypher track is...

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:45:00 -0500

16. Odd Future – “Oldie”

This ten-minute-plus cypher track is the definitive moment for the L.A. based collective, highlighting the group’s quirky camaraderie and style stockpile, and includes a rare rap verse from Frank Ocean, closing mission statement and group origin story from lead dog Tyler, the Creator, and nearly two minutes of nasty lyrical somersaults from Earl Sweatshirt, marking the young, talented emcee’s return to the US (and the studio) after a stint in a Samoan school for at-risk boys.

“And me? I just spent a year Ferris-in’ / And lost a little sanity to show you what hysterics is / Spit till the lips meet the bottom of a barrel / So that sterile piss flow remind these n****s where embarrassed is”

17. Kanye West, Pusha T, and Ghostface Killah – “New God...

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:56:00 -0500

17. Kanye West, Pusha T, and Ghostface Killah – “New God Flow”

The hardest track off Cruel Summer features Push pledging allegiance to Ye beyond studio walls as G.O.O.D. Music’s consigliere, Mr. West stepping outside of his curator role to deliver his most impassioned verse on the album, and Ghost reminding the rap world he remains one of the most entertaining, visual storytellers in the game, rhyming restlessly about his pet lion, gold eagle bracelet, and red-top imagery over re-hashed samples from his own “Mighty Healthy.”

“I came aboard for more than just to rhyme with him / Think ‘99 when Puff woulda had Shyne with him”