Phylix’s Top 25 [#15 – #11]

Welcome back to our Top 25 music posts. Detanfy and myself have given you 15 of the wonderful and gracious songs that have kept us sane this year. If you’d like to check out the songs again, feel free by using these links;
Detanfy’s 25 – 21
Phylix’s 25 – 21
Detanfy’s 20 – 16
Phylix’s 20 – 16

Now that justice has been done to that, I’m gonna make a slight change in the way I put up my songs. Nothing major, just more of Detanfy’s style… See I’ve been trying to give you the details of the songs on a brief and somewhat formal level. And also tried to not include possessive pronouns (‘I’,’you’ for instance) where applicable so I could sort of apply it to whom it may concern. Seeing as this is my Top 25, I’ll steer it more into ‘I’ and indulge ‘you’ to try out the songs to see if it’ll have the same, or even better impacts on ‘you’ as it did on ‘I’. Now that I’ve cleared my conscience, let’s get down to my next 5;

number 15

The first time I got introduced to Death Cab For Cutie was when Detanfy kept displaying their song ‘We Laugh Indoors’ on his facebook wall. At the time I decided to just skip over them and continue with my then playlist. But at a point, i started seeing others commenting and praising the song;I saw that as somewhat abnormal.
Nevertheless, being the inquisitive embodiment of flesh and bones that I m, I decided to dive in and understand what was so special about the song. Fast forward say 5 months later and I’ve been praying Death Cab For Cutie release another album. I could have gone and put We Laugh Indoors in this spot, but since I’ve mentioned it already why don’t we look at another of their glorious songs.

All Is Full Of Love really got my fancy. And the first thing that got me hooked was the use of bongo drums. Now don’t misinterpret this and think the song is a loud mess;it’s actually the opposite. I don’t think I’ve heard bongos used in such a relaxing, soft and smooth way before. Unless you think I’m mistaken and these aren’t bongos, you’ll still agree with me that it’s smooth and relaxing. This is the type of song that can pull your stress away from inside and even nudge you closer to sleep (it’s that relaxing).
The message is quite simple, everything surrounding you has love in it. You’re probably ignorant of that fact/don’t want to believe it and hence not receiving it. I actually believe that, and based on moral standards there’s a bit of good in everyone. This is a song that makes the Indie genre proud.

For you enjoyment, listen to We Laugh Indoors here
and All Is Full Of Love here

number 14

It comes as a big surprise to some (if not all) when after seeing me rapping to the likes of 50 Cent, Eminem, Lil’ Wayne, Twista, Snoop Dogg and some others that I can actually sit down and listen to a song like this. But you better believe it, I love opera. Not like, but LOVE. I’m not boasting or anything but U haven’t seen anyone with equal interest, but I’d really love to meet one though (it’s a sort of dream for me).
Why would I love opera? You might ask… well, I’m one who appreciates the soprano of the wonderful females or the bass of the males,both which would echo into the background of the theatre. Let’s not leave the sleek strings of the violists and the precision of the pianist when moving from a minor to a major… and the backups where applicable. With all these, you shouldn’t be surprised at the fact that opera theatres come to life when that plump/slender lady/man stands alone on the podium and begins to give notes that could break glass.. and they do this while hardly breathing, maintaining a straight face.

Back to Lilium. Don’t be phased by the above anime picture, this hasn’t turned into an anime post. Lilium is the opening theme song for Elfen Lied (pronounced ‘leed’), an anime about a Diclonius (a genetically mutated human with horn-like protusions and telekinetic abilities) named Lucy who is cast away, bullied and isolated because of her appearance. In rage and sorrow, she becomes a stone-cold killer; using her telekinesis to severe the body parts of her victims. It’s a tale of sadness, of wanting to be accepted, jealousy and murderous rage and Lilium us just the perfect eye opener for such an anime. Elfen Lied also has a resemblance in story to The Phantom of The Opera.

I solemnly urge you to listen Lilium here

If you want to be embraced by the artistic and symbolistic beauty of Gustav Klimt‘s art in the opening of Elfen Lied, then watch here

Need something from The Phantom of The Opera? Then listen here for Iron Maiden.

number 13

‘We ain’t here to mourn, we here to celebrate. So this one is for all my dogs who didn’t make it in the struggle men’..
Obie Trice begins this song with a tribute to the fallen soldiers, with the song itself being a tribute to them as well. When I speak of fallen soldiers, I don’t mean only those of war. This song also goes out to friends, relations, even family members who are no longer with us. Be it due to accidents, assassinations, drive-by shootings, sickness ot what have you; this is a tribute to them all.
They struggled with us, hustled too. Helped us when we were down and helped us remain up. Then suddenly, either with bad timing (mostly the case) or with the wrong move we hear that said loved one died or was killed. I speak all this from the heart I too have lost loved one, won’t speak on that now but I did lose someone I’d been trying to communicate with for years. This song is wonderful because Obie Trice is telling us to raise our glasses of beer, gin even fanta to the Fallen Soldiers.

Rather than mourn them, celebrate their achievements, cherish their memories, boast of their lives and clink your glasses together as we all say ‘CHEERS’!
‘All ma homies who ain’t here, Rest In Peace!’

To honour this invitation, then listen to the song here

number 12

Ever have one of those days you’re at school or work and getting close to your wits end, then someone keeps bugging you with something; a question or some gist you don’t even want to hear at all? Then he/she finally crosses the line and you just want to hit the person with something, then either you actually do so or almost do so? That’s the point behind this song.
I’m not really familiar with Laurent Wolf’s works, but when I watched the video of No Stress, I was completely fascinated. Showing different people in different locations coming close to their wits end, the aftermath comes when the song climaxes close to the end. You see paper flinging, computer breaking and all those other things you’d do to just express your stress level so whoever is bugging you will have a fit and run.

The song is Pop, and although I’m not exactly one who cherishes pop so much (mostly because of it’s constant use of populated beats resulting in something far from quiet but still enjoyable), this one has me in it’s traps. I had this song on repeat a dozen times, I even tried using it as a stress reliever, and I can say it worked a couple of times. We’d all love to not go to work/school, just lazy around or go out and play… while away time and not bother about responsibilities. The lyrics of this song help paint that portrait pretty well. I’m planning to dive deeper into Laurent Wolf’s works and get to be able to associate myself with his music, and dance to the populated beats.

Want to not punch that annoying person just yet? Why not listen/watch No Stress here

number 11

‘I went from the favorite, to the most hated. But would you rather be overpaid or underrated?’
While you ponder helplessly on that question, I’ll dive into the song and let you know why this appeared on my list. Even though it has some of the highs and mighty of the hip-hop world, that’s not exactly my reason for liking this song (although I’ll admit, it’s Kanye West… only people that don’t understand him don’t like him). This track is about as original as the artistes in it, and with that you should know that means this song is really hard to fake. The authenticity of the lyrics gets to you, and you can’t help but listen to the end.
To be appalled is to be disgusted, afraid, disturbed or unpleasantly surprised. The artistes are disturbed by the sudden turn in events. Once they were loved, and they loved back, then a rumour of sorts spread, then people turned their backs and started hating. Another side of the coin is other rappers dissing them for probably no reason (not sure who these are though).

We all can relate to that, at one point we have, say friends. Then at the blink of an eye they don’t believe us or even leave us, because of a rumour… unfortunately they weren’t good friends enough to stand up to you and ask if what had been circulating was true or not.. others were probably afraid of tarnishing their image.
Kanye West features Swizz Beatz, Jay-Z, The RZA, Pusha T and Cyhi The Prynce in this interwoven art of lyrical craftsmanship

Listen to it here

Well, that’s all for today folks. And sorry for this post coming rather late, some unforeseen circumstances caused it. Till the next post, I leave you with the chorus from Obie Trice’s Cheers…

So grab your cups of BEER! Put ’em up let’s CHEER! Here’s a toast to all ma soldiers who ain’t here! This is it my niggas this what we boast about, put yo bottles homie pour some out.
So grab your cups of GIN! Put ’em up let’s WIN! Here’s a toast to never looking back again! This is it ma niggas this what we boast about, put yo bottles homie pour some out…