See you in January!

Hi everyone,
Things have been pretty slow around here lately, and it's time I called a spade a spade -- I don't have enough time. Right now, I need to focus my energies elsewhere (like my website and web radio station at djponytail.com), and give myself time to get my energy back. For that reason, I've decided to take the rest of December off. I've been running and writing for Stuck In My Skull pretty much continuously for over three years -- my first post was waaaay back on July 16, 2011. I've been able to slow down some now and then while having other people write on the blog, and I've taken a week off once or twice, but I've never really a decent chunk of time off to catch my breath. With that being said, I want to assure everyone that Stuck In My Skull is not 'going on indefinite hiatus,' being abandoned, or any nonsense like that. No, I'm just taking the rest of December off, nothing more. So with that, I'll see you wonderful people in 2015! Have a great holiday season, and keep rocking out!

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Stuck In My Skull 566 -- "Telephone Banking"

Song: "Telephone Banking" || Artist: Clean Bandit feat. Nikki B || http://youtu.be/GeynVBZjls8 ||

Comments: Hello, everyone! For today I've got an incredibly catchy song by Clean Bandit. This song was stuck in my head when I woke up this morning, and it's unlikely to be going anywhere. I can't get enough of the main synth line, and the rest of the song is just the perfect accompaniment for that beat. As usual for a Clean Bandit song, this track makes really great use of strings to bring the rest of the song together. Definitely give this song a listen if you haven't heard it, and be sure to like us on Facebook! Enjoy the day!

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Stuck In My Skull 565 -- "Miami Showdown"

Song: "Miami Showdown" || Artist: Digitalism || http://youtu.be/jfMdV-SE2bs ||

Comments: Hello and happy Monday, everyone! After a lovely week off, Stuck In My Skull is back and at it again! Today's song comes from German duo Digitalism, and may be familiar if you follow the American TV show Person of Interest. It's got all the hallmarks of a down-tempo chill track except the feel, in which it's much harder than I usually associate with chill tracks. It's got a really excellent synth bass line driving the song that's incredibly catchy, and the rest of the song hits all the right notes to play off that bass. The song is short and sweet and excellent. Give it a listen, and don't forget to like us on Facebook!

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Stuck In My Skull 564 -- "Whatsername"

Song: "Whatsername" || Artist: Green Day || http://youtu.be/Z2LC1xrdOaM ||

Comments: Hello everyone, and happy Friday! Honestly, I couldn't begin to tell you why I have this song stuck in my head right now -- it's been ages since I listened to it, or for that matter anything on the album. Regardless, it's stuck in my head, and I want to share it. This song is the final track of Green Day's rock opera album American Idiot, and takes a different tone than most of the songs preceding it. It's a slower, more mellow tune that almost seems to be the 'years later' coda to the upbeat insanity that comes before it. It's a really good song, and you should give it a listen. Don't forget to like us on Facebook!

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Stuck In My Skull 563 -- "Adagio for Strings"

Song: "Adagio for Strings" || Artist: Tiesto || http://youtu.be/8tIgN7eICn4 ||

Comments: Hello, everyone! To all of you who, like me, had trouble getting out of bed this morning, this track is for you. It's a fast-paced, pulse-pounding, day-starting nine seven-and-a-half minutes of awesome. This song is on of my favourites from what I think of as 'old' Tiesto, the tracks that I listened to when I was first getting into electronic music, and the songs that really made me fall in love with trance in general and Tiesto and particular. It also was one of the first songs I heard that showed me how much fun you can have remixing classical music -- Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" in this case. All these years later, I still think it holds up. Apparently I'm not the only one -- in early 2013, readers of Mixmag voted this track the second-best dance song of all time. Give this song a listen, and you'll know why.

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Stuck In My Skull 562 -- "Path to Decay"

Song: "Path to Decay" || Artist: Sirenia || http://youtu.be/ouZQ7rgAq-I ||

Comments: Hello everyone! Today I quite honestly have "Rainbow Road" stuck in head, as it was the last song I heard from my workout playlist this morning. When I jumped on YouTube to see what else I'd been listening to lately, this song was sitting under that 'Watch it Again' section, and I was surprised to realize I'd never blogged about it. This track has been kicking around my head for at least a few years now, and I had looked at it several times previously without realizing I hadn't written about it. Thankfully, I can finally rectify that unfortunate situation. Sirenia is a gothic/symphonic metal bound with a sound that strikes me as being somewhere between Sonata Arctica and Evanescence, and that's a pretty good endorsement in my book. This track in particular fits almost perfectly into my conceptions of the prototypical female-vocals pseudo-gothic metal track. It's got some solid vocals backed by chugging riffs and the easy pace of a band who knows they rock. Apparently the band has had some lineup changes since this song came out, and I confess that I'm not terribly familiar with their more recent work. As best I can tell from Wikipedia however, the band's vocalist and at least one of the guitarists hasn't changed since this song came out, so I have no doubt that Sirenia's sound will still remain excellent in more recent tracks. Give this song a listen, and don't forget to like us on Facebook!

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Stuck In My Skull 561 -- "Break Free"

Song: "Break Free" || Artist: Ariana Grande feat. Zedd || http://youtu.be/L8eRzOYhLuw ||

Comments: Hello and happy Monday, everyone! Today's song has been stuck in my head for far too long, so it's time to pass it on to you all. To be fair, you've almost certainly heard this song if you've turned on the radio lately -- this thing is everywhere, and it's not hard to see why. The combination of Zedd's excellent production and Ariana Grande's vocals makes for a truly infectious ear-worm. It's got a beat that pounds and a chorus that gets stuck in your head, and I can't get enough of it. Check this song out, and don't forget to like us on Facebook!

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Stuck In My Skull 560 -- "The Longest Road" With Remix!

Song: "The Longest Road" || Artist: Morgan Paige feat. Lissie || Remix: Deadmau5 || Original: http://youtu.be/M4pugDVEBxY || Remix: http://youtu.be/shBKTA3QIok ||

 Original Track

Deadmau5 Remix

Comments: Hello and happy Friday, everyone! If you ask anyone who knows me, they can tell you that my memory isn't always the greatest thing. My short term memory just plain sucks sometimes. So when I hear a good song, I write it down. I've got a running document saved in my phone of all the neat songs I've heard, and when I'm struggling to find a song to write about or have a song stuck in my head that I've already written about, I break out the song list. That's exactly what happened today, and this particular song has been sitting on my list for way too long. 

I originally ran into this song listening to Deadmau5's set from Ultra 2014, where everyone's favourite Mau5 mixes the accapella version of this track with "My Pet Coelacanth" (starting at about 18:00). I recognized the name of the producer of the song, Morgan Paige. He's appeared on this blog before, back in Entry 512 where I was talking about his song "Body Work" with Tegan and Sara. Lissie, however, was unfamiliar to me, so I looked her up. It turns out that she's a fairly talented singer-songwriter from Illinois, with a thing for that country/folk/rock triad that's all the rage these days. Her vocals really make the track move. For that matter, they'd make any track move. I love all three versions of this song that I've heard -- the original, the remix, and the accapella version thrown against "My Pet Coelacanth." The original version sounds about 60/40 house/folk, and the Deadmau5 remix neatly steps up the beat and makes the song into a bit better of a dance groove while keeping all of the original energy intact. Give this track a listen, and you won't be disappointed. Have a fantastic weekend, and don't forget to like us on Facebook!

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Stuck In My Skull 559 -- "Final Masquerade"

Song: "Final Masquerade" || Artist: Linkin Park || http://youtu.be/i8q8fFs3kTM ||

Comments: Hello, everyone! Not too long ago I was surprised to hear this song on the radio, especially on the station that I think of as the local 'soft rock' station. This song is definitely rock, but I would hardly consider it to be 'soft rock,' though I don't think I necessarily agree with Wikipedia's characterization of the song as 'alternative rock' either. Setting aside labels, this is one of the better tracks I've heard from the newest Linkin Park album The Hunting Party, from which this song is the third single. It's got really compelling vocals from lead vocalist Chester Bennington, but I noticed it seems very light on backing vocalist and rapper Mike Shinoda. I noticed the same thing when I reviewed the previous single from the album, "Until It's Gone." That's not to say that Shinoda doesn't make an appearance on the album -- quite the opposite! -- but that this track really revolves around Bennington. Let me tell you, he makes the most of it. The vocals on this track really shine, and drive the entire song. It's also pretty catchy, and I won't be surprised at all if it gets stuck in my head after listening to it to write this entry. Check it out! Enjoy, and don't forget to like us on Facebook!

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Stuck In My Skull 558 -- "Begin Again"

Song: "Begin Again" || Artist: Knife Party || http://youtu.be/MQPK4q488c0 ||

Comments: (This entry is going up early, as I missed Wednesday and I will be exceptionally busy tomorrow. I think this track is worth it, though.) Hello, everyone, and happy Halloween for those of you who celebrate it! Holiday or no, strap yourselves in, because today's song is amazing. Seriously, it's been a very, very long time since I've been dancing in my chair at a song. I'm hoping just as hard as I can that this song ends up getting radio play, because it deserves to be sitting at the top of the charts. I can't say enough good things about this track. It's got a fantastic beat that's closer to house than dubstep, It's got just enough vocals to weave the song together. It's got a bridge that blows me away. Knife Party has not just scored, but knocked this one out of the park. Give this song a listen, and you won't be sorry. Don't forget to like us on Facebook!

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