Rach's Musical Brain - w/c 5th April

A very mixed bunch this week. But a couple of incredible throwbacks all the same. Most of these are proof that I don’t just listen to soundtracks all day, all month and all year round. Although that is usually safe to assume.

And all these tracks are ones I quite literally play a lot of the time, and not just because its been in my Top 10s in Waiting playlist. I genuinely love these songs through and through. All these songs have been a part of my growing up process, from kid to adult (who are we kidding I’m still a big kid) and it’s just proof we do hang on to those songs from our childhoods.

There isn’t much of a description this week, but please know that every single one of these ones has a story behind it, and I do love songs with stories.

Playlist is here, and please... enjoy!

NUMBER 10.

Amnesia - 5 Seconds of Summer

This song is great for learning harmonies, and one for just singing full volume in your car when you’re alone. This album came out the year I finished uni, when I was looking for jobs, and when I was sitting in our new house waiting for furniture to be delivered. I remember sitting in my room at Rayleigh Road, leaning against the wall, sitting on the floor because we didn’t have an furniture yet and just sitting and singing to the entire album on repeat. This album got me through a whole few weeks of putting up IKEA furniture, which wasn’t actually as bad as people seem to think it is because it does actually go quickly if you follow the instructions. So thank you 5 Seconds to Summer. To be honest, I just love how teenage they are. I think I was still trying to hold on to the fact I wasn’t quite a grown-up yet, and these guys helped me out a lot with that.

NUMBER 9.

What I Go To School For - Busted

Well everyone who is my age will know who these guys are. Busted were that band that saved my early teen years and made them full of boy band magic. What I Go To School For was released with the Busted album in 2002, when I was 11, and they have remained my number one boy band since. Sure, I liked McFly... but I LOVED Busted. Still do in fact. When they had a reunion tour a few years ago, my friend Charlotte and I were amongst those who were first in line to get tickets to The O2 and had an emotional time remembering our childhoods. I remember seeing Busted live for the first time at Party in the Park, sitting on top of my dad’s shoulders - even though I was way too heavy - and it was the best. A few years ago, I remember the arena full of Busted fans, all shining their phone torches as James sung Sleeping With The Light On, tears in my eyes. I’d give anything to be able to go back to that. Busted Forever!

NUMBER 8.

Blah Blah Blah - Armin van Buren

This one is a new one, and it popped up on my Daily Mix a few months ago, but I love Armin van Buren, so it’s stuck with me. The reason? The beat. It’s one of the reasons why I love my car so much. It’s called a Jazz, and it’s called a Jazz for a reason because it has a really great stereo which pumps out Bass like you wouldn’t believe. If you listen to this in my car, high volume, it’s incredible. I love any song that has a beat like this that I can drum my fingers along to, and when the beat builds here, I can lose myself for a couple of minutes. The best song on my speakers is definitely Dizzee Rascal’s Bonkers though. Hands down.

NUMBER 7.

Choosing Dauntless - Junkie XL, Ellie Goulding

Divergent was the first Dystopian film, after Hunger Games, that truly grabbed my attention. Set in a dystopian world where society has been split into faction dependent on your personality, a girl breaks past the barriers and embraces all five personality factions. I suppose it was designed to ask the question of what faction did you belong to, only to find out you had traits from each (or at least that's how I saw it anyway!). I loved this film, because I absolutely loved the books. I read them at uni, and I think I read all 3 in the space of a week - which is very fast for me, given I'm a slow reader - and I've re-read them again and again since. The first film was amazing. It got the story right, it included the best parts of the books, and Shai Woodley and Theo James embody Tris and Four perfectly in my opinion. And the soundtrack is one of the best, with every song having it's own thing going for it. But the one I love the most is Choosing Dauntless. Using the electrical acoustics of Junkie XL, paired with Ellie Goulding's breathy style, the two marry up perfectly with drums of the Dauntless. Listening to it now gives me goosebumps. It's just such a shame that the second two movies were so far away from what the books were telling. Insurgent strayed completely... but then Allegiant was so far away from what the book had originally told, it was actually quite hard to understand. I always say, if you haven't read the books, the films are amazing. If you have, the second two are a massive disappointment.

NUMBER 6.

Deer in the Headlights - Owl City

I love Owl City. He's weird and his lyrics make absolutely no sense, but that's what I love about them. And this one is very weird to be honest. The video is just him driving around in the De Lorean... which to be honest is just cool in itself... but apart from meeting a deer in a petrol station shop, the video is just him driving around. Every year Spotify gives you a list of what Artists are in your most listened, and he always is. I don't even listen to him on repeat, I just have all his songs in my main playlist and never skip through them!

NUMBER 5.

Infinity 2008 - Guru Josh Project

This is another one I love for the beat. Whenever we go on a car ride with Dad, this one features because he loves it so much. I don't know why - even he doesn't know why - but it's just always one that features. If you have a car with great speakers, this one's got to be up there.

NUMBER 4.

Heart of Courage - Two Steps From Hell, Thomas Bergensen

Two Steps From Hell were a group I was introduced to when I was singing with the London Film Music Orchestra, and it's been a love all the way from there. Used in quite a lot of film trailers - guaranteed you have all listened to a Two Steps From Hell song without realising. There are words to this, and each time I listen to it, I try to remember it and never can... Maybe it's time to look at my sheet music again!

NUMBER 3.

Kings and Queens - 30 Seconds to Mars

So you know Jared Leto? You know, the one who was The Joker in Suicide Squad... was Dallas Buyers Club and most recently Morbius... well, yep, he can sing. They've got quite a few albums, but this album - This Is War - is my favourite. It came out in 2010, the summer we were all getting ready to head off to uni, and quite a few of these were our anthems. I lost touch with them for a while, but then I heard this song again when it was used for the trailer to How To Train Your Dragon 2. I then started listening to them again, but this song is never too far away from the top ones for me, because it's a damn good song. The video is cool too.

NUMBER 2.

Adagio for Strings - Tiesto

Before this became an anthem from Tiesto, Adagio for Strings has been one of my favourite classical pieces for a long time. Again, it was on an album Mum and Dad had in the car when we were little, which I loved, so when I heard Tiesto's version of it, it struck a chord. It's a bit weird to hear it so sped up and different, but if you close your eyes and listen, you can hear the soft string melodies in amongst the powerful beat, which is really refreshing.

NUMBER 1.

Clarity - Zedd feat. Foxes

This one is that track that I always heard in a TV show or a film, and I had no idea what it was called or how to find it. I have an app called SoundHound, and every time I tried to grab it from there, there wasn't enough of the song played or it just wasn't featured in the credits. It eluded me. Until now! This time I got it. I was watching a very good show on iPlayer called The Teacher - you should watch it if you can - and it features in one of the scenes where they're in a bar. I really like the connection between the trance side of it, same as Tiesto, but also the voice. It's a great dance tune, and it just reminds me of summer, of being young, of dancing with your friends, enjoying yourselves, and being fun, free and enjoying life to its fullest!

***

So there we have it, a random top 10 this week, but each with a personal side to it. Behind every song you listen to, there's a story, and I think these stories are ones we need to share more often. Sometimes people assume that film music is all I listen to, but even if my music taste is 90% film stuff, there's that 10% that can really surprise you.

As ever, the playlist link is here and I hope you a trip through my teenage years and beyond!