Starting off honest again, OK Go are pretty much my favourite band, entity, thing, in the entire world. I started off loving them for their music and contrary to most, I had not once witnessed the treadmill video before listening to their discography, so I can say I genuinely loved their music, but the videos added to their genuine incredible-meter as a whole. Anyway, I was meant to see them tomorrow as well as Wednesday, but turns out I have another engagement which I’d rather not see (particularly as tomorrow was also a Flaming Lips gig). Anyway, the show. The show opened with Mike Doughty, who I thought was a welcome open act, though I did arrive late. He was spunky and acoustic and funny and overall a good opener. And then we move on to OK Go, who opened with ‘Do What You Want’, an unexpected move by me.
I’m not entirely sure the band are crowd-pleasers, because for all my love of them, for the first half, or at least until ‘Here It Goes Again’, their major hit, and ‘Get Over It’, I was very easily the only one dancing or singing along (and they showed their amusement at it too). I’m a huge fan and I love them and I really cannot express it, but they get better for me every time. I lose all sense of rationality when it comes to my boys, because they’re too wonderful for me to judge, so I guess you’d better get yourself along to one and go for yourself. The concerts are always intense, but they’re brilliant and light-hearted each time.
To be honest, I’ve been focusing more on school and writing my own music, but I’ve been listening to my vinyl a lot more as well, kind of avoiding the computer a bit. I don’t really know why. I just like the sound quality a lot better. My point is, I’ll get back on it soon. Exams finish in late June and then I’ll definitely be all over whatever new music is coming. Oh, here are things you’ll see on here.
- I’m going to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra next week - Morrissey is performing in my town in June, and I’ll be seeing him, so there will probably be a couple of album reviews, and I’ll be listening to a lot of The Smiths too - OK Go rants, because I’m seeing them twice within the space of three days (hey, diehard fan here) - Death Cab For Cutie too - I think that’s it for now, unless Radiohead and Daft Punk decide to release dates for me and I will love them forever if they do.
I just realised I hadn’t posted anything today, but I’m intimately familiar with this album due to the fact I listen to it pretty much every day, which should be a hint as to how much I love it, and how much I love this band. In case you haven’t worked it out yet, let me spell it out clearly.
I fucking love OK Go.
I love their riffs, I love their harmonies, I love their lyrics, I love their drum fills, I love their basslines, I love their members, I love EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM.
This album is probably my favourite out of the three released officially though, because it’s so excellent - it’s goddamn brilliant, there are some really catchy songs on here and it has a great range from fast to slow.
Invincible is a brilliant starter song, one they’ve used for starting concerts for a while now (hint - if you can sneakily listen to your iPod during a plane takeoff, Invincible is your takeoff track!) and it’s followed by some sick drumbeats and riffs in Do What You Want, followed by the big hit, due to a certain treadmill video, Here It Goes Again. A Million Ways, another hit sparking a viral video, is on there too.
All in all, just a fucking brilliant album. A fucking brilliant band, too.
I realise it might seem like I’ve only just heard of this, but trust me, this is my longtime favourite OK Go video and it probably always will be despite them all being incredibly creative. I will always love this one, always want to recreate it, and always know that it will be unachievable (or at least, not as hot) by anyone but these guys.
This is a brilliant song, it’s catchy, it’s got excellent lyrics (typical of Kulash, you’ll never find tired clichés in his vicinity) and it makes for a friggin’ great live performance. But the video trumps all other videos in its region. I’m still not really sure what its region IS, but it’s the best out of all of them.
I meant for that to be shorter, but I’m such an OK Go fangirl, I have to gush.
Secret Dakota Ring - Do Not Leave Baggage All The Way (2004)
Say hello to brilliance on a CD. Secret Dakota Ring is the brainchild of Andy Ross, the *cough* extremely hot *cough* guitarist of OK Go. This was his first album, which is unfortunately sold out on everything except mp3 format. I find this incredibly saddening, because I would have really loved to own that shit on vinyl, or even CD.
This is, to be put frankly, really, really good. It’s got everything; your typical poprock tracks, your dialogue songs, witty lyrics, beautiful melodies - unless you’re not really into that sort of thing at all, you’ll enjoy it. It’s just poppy enough that you can enjoy it without being ashamed of ruining your street cred, and each time you listen to the album, you uncover new layers, both of it and yourself. A lot of the album is acoustic, but you’ll scratch over the odd rockier track, which is always a refreshing change.
Favourite tracks on this one are Math Is Power and Broken Cars.
Having this album on repeat on iTunes is the real killer here, because you can have it on for hours without even breaking a sweat. I haven’t disclosed which tracks are more rock-orientated and which are less so because really, you should discover it for yourself.
Ok Go - Of The Blue Color Of The Sky, Extra Nice Edition (2010)
This is a selection of remixes and covers of the tracks on the original OTBCOTS, which was a pretty fucking fantastic album to begin with. But not only are there remixes, there’s a super special set of interviews thrown in there too which divulges a great deal that you might be interested in. It involves witty banter and Damian Kulash, so I know I’m interested!
The remixes are beautiful, the covers are brilliant, and there’s a new original track on there (Louisiana Land) which is simply a pleasure to listen to. I know that the Passion Pit remix is very hyped, and I confess to loving it.
Note: Prior to this, I should mention that I love OK Go as a band and as people; they’ve really become a part of my life, and I’m very partial to them, I refer to them as my favourite band because not only are they all fanciable, but they’re deliciously talented and not afraid to break the mold. Also, they dance. What more could you ask for?
I'm Ishani, I'm 16. I listen to a lot of music, I want to be a composer and musician (essentially, the next Jonny Greenwood, like that'll ever happen), so I'll keep up with my attempts at writing about music here. It'll probably be a mixture of old and new, and every genre I can find something I like for.
Much love! x
