ahaha i love this mood icon

[unamaga]

Last night mikhale asked me if I had any Fiona Apple reccomendations. Poor thing didn't know what he was getting in to, and, needless to say, I went a little overboard. I had to post in two comments to beat lj's annoying character limit. And, well, y'all know I'm good for a little music spam, when it comes down to it all, so,

Fiona Apple

-Never Is a Promise (Tidal)
A lot of Fiona's songs are so emotional provocative because of the way she strings her words together: pure poetry. This song is such a gorgeous example of that. I can't even imagine how one person's thoughts can be so eloquent and fantastically beautiful.

-Pale September (Tidal)
I've made a lot of people listen to this song over the years, and it's the one that never fails to get them listening. From the first note to the last, sweet chord fading out at the end, it's gripping and moving and you can practically taste autumn on your lips.

-Carrion (Tidal)
Another thing that I love about Fiona is that she can be so many different things all rolled together in one. Here, she's jazzy and slow. Even the way she sings just sends a shiver through you, makes you want to lay back and listen.

-Sullen Girl (Tidal)
This song is just. I can't even go into anything about this song because it gets to me so much. The piano is just perfectly brooding, and every time I close my eyes while I'm listening to this song, I think of bright blue waters and loneliness.

-Love Ridden (When the Pawn...)
I've listened to this song so many times I'm surprised there isn't a permanent groove in the disc. Every strike of the piano here is significant, every change in tone tells a story. There's something about the way Fiona's voice catches over the syllables of her words, husky and so heartbreakingly passionate that it's just incredible.

-Fast as You Can (When the Pawn...)
This one is fun, man. It's frenetic and fast and funky, so different than what you normally hear that it doesn't let go of you for hours after you've listened to it. I honestly dare you to listen to this more than once and not at least bob your head.

-The Way Things Are (When the Pawn...)
One of the reasons that I relate so deeply to Fiona's music is the way she can make such inexplicable things concrete. This is the kind of song you listen to after you've hit a bad patch and you sit in your seat, knuckles white from the way you're clenching your fists, and you say to yourself, "Yeah. That's it. That's exactly it."

-I Know (When the Pawn...)
So quietly sad and hopeful that it hurts the backs of your knees, right behind your ribs, and all the quiet places in your heart that you'd never realized were there before. I think almost everyone has felt like this song before, and the way Fiona makes even this sort of hurt beautiful is just. Yes.

-O' Sailor (Extraordinary Machine)
This song is strong; there's really no other way to describe it. From Fiona's full-voiced delivery to the darkly gorgeous piano backbone, everything about this is heavy and incredible without being overbearing.

-Waltz (Better Than Fine) (Extraordinary Machine)
Everytime I listen to this song, I'm knocked on my ass. It's fabulous, it's flawless, it's beautiful, but underneath all of the musical stylings, there's a core of meaning that hits close to home. Also, I wish I was half as good with a clarinet as this.

-Not About Love (Extraordinary Machine)
I read a review of Extraordinary Machine once in a magazine that had Fiona as the feature article. For some reason, the description of the album really stuck with me, and I remember them saying that the entire album coalesces in this one song, a long spiral of increasingly powerful songs until you hit this. The climax of this song in particular just floors me.

-Parting Gift (Extraordinary Machine)
Melodic and heavily piano-driven, this song is what I've always wanted to say and then some. There isn't a single moment in this entire piece that drags and Fiona's use of repetition works almost too well.

-Extraordinary Machine (Duh)
What can I say about this song;I really don't know. When I bought Extraordinary Machine, brought it home and put it into my CD player, it was like those first few awkward minutes of a second date. You had so much fun the first time around, and you want everything to go well, but you're worried that your expectations are too high and everything will just suck. As soon as the first few bars of this song played out, I was sold. The lyrics here are so yes it's almost impossible to describe.

And some extra songs that I've just recently re-found or fallen in love with, for your listening pleasure:

-Hellogoodbye - Oh, It is Love
The first time I listened to this song, I was a little dubious, I'll admit it. It sounds a little too sappy and cheesy going in, but really, it's so sweet and perfect it's sort of become my schmoopy j-squared anthem.

-Radiohead - Talkshow Host
THIS IS ME FREAKING OUT OVER THIS SONG. For the longest time, I would watch the first scene in Romeo + Juliet with Leo in it and swoon over the music - it's just gorgeously heavy and slow. And then, I downloaded the mix to go with hansbekhart's fic, "Beach Blanket Poltergeist" and there it was! Praise god.

-Mirah - Engine Heart
Everything Mirah does is sweetly gorgeous, and this song is absolutely no exception. I don't know what kind of guitar she uses here - or even if it's a guitar, it might be a ukulele - but it gives the entire song a very calm, tropical sound.

-Mama Cass Elliot - California Earthquake
I love her voice, I love her voice, I love her voice. And, also, this entire song just makes me want to watch Scooby Doo for days. Is that SO WRONG?

-Imogen Heap - Whatever
Why had I never heard of Imogen Heap before two months ago? That's ridiculous, is what it is, and I need more, because everything about this song is so fabulous and groovy I keep skipping back on my shuffle to listen to it over and over again.

-The Flys - Got You (Where I Want You)
For some reason, this song just conjures up in my mind the Breakfast Club. I know it definitely wasn't in that movie, duh, but the whole feel of it, the way the guitar line and the bass line move together - it's very movie soundtrack.

-Bjork - Pagan Poetry
Just like anything else Bjork does, this is very ethereal, and beautiful in a way that kind of sneaks up on you. Her voice is so delicate, too, which really makes the mood of this song.

-The Toadies - I Come From the Water
I love the guitars here, holy crap. I have such a ridiculously huge thing about guitars that sound menacing or growly - and, boy, does this song deliver on the growly side of things. Can guitars really be growly? I don't care, these are.

-Queen - You're My Best Friend
It's Queen. Do I actually have to explain myself here? Plus, eee, Crowley playing this while Aziraphale is in the car! It makes my heart warm.

-The Zutons - Dirty Dancehall
The sax in this just makes my toes curl, omg. Everytime I hear it, I squeal and start babbling at Debbie about how fantastic it is, and I'm sure she's getting tired of it. But it's just so fun and moody and danceable! I can't help it!

-The Donnie Darko Sountrack - Time Travel
Ok, so this is actually entirely instrumental, but don't let that stop you! It's evocative, and, um, actually, this is the song that was playing when I started writing Sleight of Hand. I blame it entirely.

Now, this post is certainly long enough, but I also had a thought and now it won't leave me alone, so. I know I have a couple fandom crushes - both not-so-secret and very-secret - but what about you all? Is there someone in fandom that you're starry-eyed over?