EMA 2015: The Winners

Minor awards:

Cool Kids Award [For the album with the edgiest sound]:
CAPRI SUNTAN

Hipster Llama Award [For the album with the rarest tracks]:
CAPRI SUNTAN

Pure Tone Award: Sound [For the album with the most cohesive sound]:
SHADE IN THE SHADOW

Snellen Award: Verse [For the album with the most cohesive lyrics]:
SHADE IN THE SHADOW

Celestina Warbeck Award [For the album with the best theme and story]:
SHADE IN THE SHADOW

Alpha Award [For the best album introduction]:
SHADE IN THE SHADOW

Omega Award [For the best album ending]:
CAPRI SUNTAN

Selfie Award [For the best album art and cover]:
SHADE IN THE SHADOW



The following are the nominees for individual songs and artists:

BEST NEW ARTIST 

[For the most successful artist which released a new album or gained prominence this year]

Sufjan Stevens
[Shade in the Shadow]

The Wombats
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]

Twenty One Pilots 
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]
WINNER

Nick D' & The Believers
[Capri Suntan]

Jenny Broke the Window
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]

VIDEO OF THE YEAR 

The Map Room - "Pilot"
[Shade in the Shadow]

The Wombats - "Greek Tragedy"
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]

Phoenix - "Trying To Be Cool"
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]

Spoon - "Do You"
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]

Bad Suns - "Salt"
[Capri Suntan]
WINNER

BEST LIVE PERFORMANCE

Josh Pyke - "Leeward Side"
[Shade in the Shadow]

Sufjan Stevens - "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross"
[Shade in the Shadow]

Nick D' & the Believers - "Wanted"
[Capri Suntan]

Phoenix - "Trying To Be Cool"
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]

Twenty One Pilots - "Tear In My Heart"
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]
WINNER

RECORD OF THE YEAR

Sensual Harassment - "Capri Suntan"
[Capri Suntan]

Last Lynx - "Brother"
[Capri Suntan]
WINNER

Broncho - "Class Historian"
[Capri Suntan]

The Wombats - "Greek Tragedy"
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]

Phoenix - "Trying To Be Cool"
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]

SONG OF THE YEAR

Dustin Tebbutt - "The Breach"
[Shade in the Shadow]

Autoheart - "Agoraphobia"
[Shade in the Shadow]
WINNER

Nick D' & The Believers - "Wanted"
[Capri Suntan]

The Royal Concept - "Radio"
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]

Spoon - "Do You"
[I Don't Know Why But It's Fun]

And finally, the major award:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

CAPRI SUNTAN

Final Scores of the 2015 Albums:

1. CAPRI SUNTAN (78.9)

2. I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT IT'S FUN (76.1)

3. SHADE IN THE SHADOW (72.5)

Note:

All the 2015 albums garnered higher scores than all the 2014 albums. "Saviour," the past year's winner had a final score of 71.2. What an awesome year for Electrique Music! 

Sunday Sounday: Big Data (feat. White Sea) - The Business of Emotion

Another song I discovered from playing The Sims 4. This was one of the songs I shortlisted for "I Don't Know Why But It's Fun" but I removed it from the lineup mere hours before I finalized the album. Although the song is catchy and the lyrics were a perfect match for the theme that I wanted for the album, I realized that it was more electronica than alt-rock and would definitely be an outlier if I mixed it with the rest. Big Data's song "Dangerous" also almost made it to "Evil I" but it ended up being scrapped and I regret that decision because the song eventually went big in the US weeks after the release of my album. Oh well, I'm still keeping an eye on Big Data in case one of their songs fit in my future mixtapes.



My Rating: 1.5

Announcement: EMA 2015

The Weeklist: Dec 26

THE WEEKLIST

December 26, 2015

1. Ellie Goulding - ON MY MIND
2. Alessia Cara - HERE
3. One Direction - PERFECT ▲1
4. Elle King - EX'S & OH'S ▼1
5. Adele - HELLO
6. Gwen Stefani - USED TO LOVE YOU ▲1
7. Carly Rae Jepsen - YOUR TYPE ▼1
8. Demi Lovato - CONFIDENT 
9. Ariana Grande - FOCUS 
10. Selena Gomez - SAME OLD LOVE ▲3
11. Jess Glynne - DON'T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF 
12. Daya - HIDE AWAY [NEW]
13. Tame Impala - THE LESS I KNOW THE BETTER ▼1
14. Taylor Swift - WILDEST DREAMS ▲1
15. Tove Lo - MOMENTS ▼5

Album 39 "I Don't Know Why But It's Fun" Is Here!

Hey everyone! Happy Holidays!

I know, it took a while for me to get around to releasing my 39th album. And it had been tough for me to do any promotion for it at all since this is the first album I'm releasing exclusively through my new website. I do hope though that after listening to it, the long wait will be worth it.

As I've said in a Facebook note some weeks ago, this album will be much more fun than my previous two efforts. One of the reasons for my delay in releasing this is because lately, I have discovered some really catchy songs and because I loved them so much, I was playing back and forth between including these new songs or not. In the end though, I had to stay focused and keep to the theme. I did not want any shred of unnecessary sentimentality whatsoever in this album, so those new songs had to go. It was a really tough decision, and it tears my heart to have to keep those awesome songs from you but I cannot sacrifice the album's cohesion just for a few extra catchy tracks.

I have no qualms that this album is going to sound great but my only concern is that of all my albums, this one has the most number of slightly popular bands listed. In fact, a number of these songs were actually released and have real music videos so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that despite this, the majority of the songs that you'll hear will still be new to you. This album sounds current, and it exudes this youthful and reckless vibe which has been notably missing in my recent efforts.

Needless to say, my social isolation had been quite tough on me, but it also enabled me to further hone my album-making skills. It was a tough balancing act to maintain but despite the overall fun theme of the album, it isn't exactly meaningless. This was inspired by the recent terrible events in my love life but instead of giving in to the gloom, this time, I was able to turn things around and place those wrongdoers back in their proper places. When you get to the track which explains the album's title I hope that you'll be able to better understand what I'm talking about.

Revenge can be quite fun.

Anyway, here's the tracklist, and the download link is below! For best results, play this album loudly. Have fun!

Electrique Music 

Album #39

I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT IT'S FUN

01. City I Love

02. Rollercoaster

03. Greek Tragedy

04. Radio

05. Teenage Miracle

06. Trying To Be Cool

07. Creatures of Habit

08. Tear In My Heart

09. Do You

10. The Beat Comes

11. Black Skeleton

12. Me And Myself

Download Link:

I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT IT'S FUN

Electrique Archives: Gwen Stefani - 4 In The Morning

From the Electrique album: LIGHT

Album #7, Track 11

Released: March 2007



Oh my gawd, this song is probably my favorite pop tune ever. It never gets old for me and I still find myself humming it at the oddest of times. This was my instant favorite from her second album, and I even got my UP housemates to love it since I kept playing it on repeat. I released it through my album first before Gwen officially released it as her 3rd single so it was a mini-celebration for me and my students when this video came out.



Thematically, this track is the most offbeat from my album, "Light," since it was supposed to be a happy and content love album (it was dedicated to my boyfriend at the time) but I just loved it so much I had to share it. I can relate to this song super much though, because often, I felt like I was the one giving more into the relationship than my boyfriend but I don't want to think about that at this time because you know, that was years ago and that love has died, but my love for this song hasn't.



My Rating: 1.0

Sunday Sounday: The Knocks feat. Powers - Classic

This week, I want to feature a more upbeat vibe so I'm choosing this Sims 4 Pop Radio classic. It's more than a year old but what the heck, it still hasn't gone stale for me. If I were to make a female-vocalist mixtape in the future, it will probably have this vibe since I have other songs in reserve like it. Strangely, I slightly prefer the Simlish version. Veena fredishay, nubu!



My Rating: 1.5

The Weeklist: Dec 19

THE WEEKLIST

December 19, 2015

1. Ellie Goulding - ON MY MIND
2. Alessia Cara - HERE
3. Elle King - EX'S & OH'S
4. One Direction - PERFECT
5. Adele - HELLO ▲1
6. Carly Rae Jepsen - YOUR TYPE ▼1
7. Gwen Stefani - USED TO LOVE YOU ▲2
8. Demi Lovato - CONFIDENT ▲2
9. Ariana Grande - FOCUS ▼2
10. Tove Lo - MOMENTS ▼2
11. Jess Glynne - DON'T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF [RE]
12. Tame Impala - THE LESS I KNOW THE BETTER
13. Selena Gomez - SAME OLD LOVE ▲1
14. Sensual Harassment - CAPRI SUNTAN ▼3
15. Taylor Swift - WILDEST DREAMS ▼2

Sunday Sounday: Twenty One Pilots - Doubt

This song isn't exactly the freshest one this week, since I've known about it for a while now but man, I just think it's so good! I know, for some reason, it gives off this somewhat unsophisticated vibe and it reminds me of Linkin Park but that "eh-eh" ending just kills it for me. I can listen to this on loop for hours. Definitely one of the best songs I've heard this year.



My Rating: 1.25

The Weeklist: Dec 12

THE WEEKLIST

December 12, 2015

1. Ellie Goulding - ON MY MIND ▲1
2. Alessia Cara - HERE ▼1
3. Elle King - EX'S & OH'S ▲2
4. One Direction - PERFECT ▼1
5. Carly Rae Jepsen - YOUR TYPE ▼1
6. Adele - HELLO ▲2
7. Ariana Grande - FOCUS ▲2
8. Tove Lo - MOMENTS ▼1
9. Gwen Stefani - USED TO LOVE YOU ▲1
10. Demi Lovato - CONFIDENT ▲1
11. Sensual Harassment - CAPRI SUNTAN ▼5
12. Tame Impala - THE LESS I KNOW THE BETTER [NEW]
13. Taylor Swift - WILDEST DREAMS ▼1
14. Selena Gomez - SAME OLD LOVE [NEW]
15. Kelly Clarkson - PIECE BY PIECE ▼2

Sunday Sounday: Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better

I have heard of Tame Impala since the pre-Icarus years but this is their only song, so far, which grabbed me immediately. It's probably because this song is, I think, their most pop sounding effort to date. The hook is clearly there, but it's not so in your face that it gets cloying after a while. And the video is simply perfect.



My Rating: 1.25

The Weeklist: Dec 5

THE WEEKLIST

December 5, 2015

1. Alessia Cara - "HERE" ▲1
2. Ellie Goulding - "ON MY MIND" ▼1
3. One Direction - "PERFECT" ▲1
4. Carly Rae Jepsen - "YOUR TYPE" ▲3
5. Elle King - "EX'S & OH'S" ▼2
6. Sensual Harassment - "CAPRI SUNTAN" ▼1
7. Tove Lo - "MOMENTS" ▲4
8. Adele - "HELLO" ▲5
9. Ariana Grande - "FOCUS" ▼1
10. Gwen Stefani - "USED TO LOVE YOU" ▲4
11. Demi Lovato - "CONFIDENT" ▲1
12. Taylor Swift - "WILDEST DREAMS" ▼3
13. Kelly Clarkson - "PIECE BY PIECE" ▲2
14. TV Girl - "EASIER TO CRY" ▼8
15. Jess Glynne - "DON'T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF" [NEW] 

Cover Story: Shade in the Shadow

When: Late afternoon. This picture was taken last year around February when I went on this 4-day impulsive escape trip to Bicol. I was in one of those dark moods, I remember.

Where: On the rooftop of the pension house I was staying in at Legazpi City, Albay.

What: I wanted to take a video of Mt. Mayon, which is what I'm looking at in this picture. I was using my laptop camera, since I did not have a phone at the time. Smoke was coming out of its peak, but unfortunately, clouds kept hiding it from view. So I just placed my laptop on a table and sat in front of it. The video was still running and it caught me still looking at the volcano.

Why: Other than I think it's a nice and kinda iconic picture, I chose this as the cover because here, I was in the middle of one of my more intense depressive episodes which was exactly what I wanted to tackle in this album. I edited my silhouette to be darker since it gives the illusion that I'm drawing my listeners into exploring the shadows in my mind. I love this cover. It's definitely one of the best and most meaningful ones I've made.