Woodkid – Iron

May 18, 2012

This song is rated: 3 Pills – heavy prescription; may induce side effects

O hay look, it’s cheerlubber.

I apologize for not getting around to a Sunday classical post this past week (for those .001% of you who actually care) but things just got a little busy. They’ll be even busier this next week but I’ll try to be better about posting anyway. Today I shall feature something a little different. What’s that? Threeee pills?!  :O  This is our first 3-pill song so I hope you guys are prepared (3 pills is the highest, jsyk). Y’know, thinking about it though, I don’t know if this song is that extreme. It’s different, definitely different, but we’ll play it safe because we’re not exactly sure how sensitive you guys are. Give this a listen and let us know–not only what you think of the song–but if it’s rightfully classed as a 3-pill-er or if it can safely be a 2-pill. We’d like to know how far we can push you guys. Bet you’re excited about that. :D

What we have here today is the song Iron by Woodkid, otherwise known as Yoann Lemoine, the name by which he is credited as the director of music videos like Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream, Taylor Swift’s Back to December, Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die. and Mystery Jets’ Dreaming of Another World. He’s a multi-talented guy that decided to try his hand at songwriting as well, releasing his first EP last year. He’s got plans to release a full album later this year and I can’t wait to hear what he’ll bring to the table.

I love Iron because it’s so different. There’s no guitars, no booming bass, no synths. What it does have is tribal war drums, haunting organ, frantic flutes, and blaring horns. To that, Woodkid adds his low, smooth voice, complete with French accent. Some of the words may be a bit hard to understand but I think it adds to the exotic-ness of it all. I’m not really sure how to label a piece like this, but I sure wish I could because I want more of it. It sounds like it was written for a movie, which of course gets me excited, being a classical music and movie score buff. Woodkid, indubitably (always wanted to use that word), directs the music video and it’s just as cool. It’s pretty simple, really, but I think it fits perfectly with the song’s raw, gothic feel. As a bonus, it features supermodel Agyness Deyn who looks especially freaking awesome. I love how everyone presents themselves and then charges off to war, all the while looking like they’re aware they’re coming to their inevitable ends. The music video is rife with symbolism, I’m sure, but I’ve never been a good analyzer (just take a look at all my literary analysis papers); knowing that it’s there, however, intrigues me, and perhaps that’s why I have no problem watching this music video a couple times over. It speaks to my subconscious, we’ll say. Hah.

Iron was also notably featured as the music for the trailer of the video game Assassin’s Creed Revelations (gotta throw in any reference I can get to a video game :D ). The trailer is equally as awesome as the music video. In fact, I’d probably call it one of the best video game trailers of all time, and also easily trumps some movie trailers I’ve seen. Soooo that means ya’ll should go watch it. Rait nao. I would post it here, but two videos in one post is probably a bit too much. However, feel ever so free to follow the link to it here.

Before I can ramble any longer, I better go ahead and post the video, which is what you all came here for anyway. While I know I said I struggled with classifying this song earlier, there is one word that I think adequately describes it: epic.

Woodkid’s Facebook
Purchase Iron EP on iTunes
Purchase Iron EP on Amazon

BABYMETAL – いいね！

April 1, 2012 — 1 Comment

Dr. cheerlubber here.

For our very first music post here at Raging Contagion, we wanted to give you a little taste of what you can expect from us. It might be a bit of a hard pill to swallow the first go-around but we’re sure you’ll come to love it as we have after a few good listens.

Coming to us from the Land of the Rising Sun is a special little group unlike any other. Known as BABYMETAL,  this group was formed in 2010 on the theme of “Kawaii Metal” (according to their company, this is a mix of Japanese Pop Idol music and Heavy Metal; “Kawaii” in Japanese means “cute”). Comprised of members SU-METAL (13), MOAMETAL (12), and YUIMETAL (12), these three youngsters are certainly a force to be reckoned with, as you battle with conflicting emotions of adoration and terror as you watch.

This particular song 「いいね！」 (pronounced “ee-nay,” as you can hear in the chorus), translates into something along the lines of “Good, yeah?” although it’s also titled “line!” for whatever reason.

I have to say my favorite bit is from 1:30-2:00 because they’re just so stinkin’ adorable. Because I wanted to challenge myself, after much trial and tribulation, I was able to translate most of the rap, which goes something like this:

“Makes me toss my head, makes me take off my shades,
Makes me turn my head, makes me take off my shades,
Makes me toss my head, makes me take off my shades,
Makes me immediately drop my bulging, jam-packed backpack”

And then of course before the song descends back into screamo, the girls cutely ask, “Are you ready to mosh?”

Well if you truly are ready to join the so-called “mosh pit of chaos” and want to help support these three girls achieve world domination with smiles and screams, you can check out their pages here:

Official site
Facebook page
Buy on iTunes!