Category Archives: Music

My zombie-fighting soundtrack

Posted on by
Reply

Zombie Awareness Month Tip: You can’t fight zombies without a kickass soundtrack. You just can’t. It is physically impossible to defeat the undead without some fist-pumping tunes going in the background…so here are some Vibeke-approved songs for you to put on next time zombies break into your apartment.

END OF ALL HOPE by Nightwish – if this song doesn’t make you take out a dozen zombies in one go, you probably aren’t actually alive anymore.

EPIC LYRIC: “Angels, they fell first but I’m still here / Alone as they are drawing near … ”

 


SMOKING SNAKES by Sabaton – this song is actually about some badass Brazilians that fought Nazis in World War II, but it is also proven to make you faster, stronger, and more prone to striking epic poses during a zombie battle.

EPIC LYRIC: “Rise from the blood of your heroes / You were the ones who refused to surrender.”

HARD ROCK HALLELUJAH by Lordi – Yes, you can fight the undead to this…or maybe they’ll be so inspired by your killer dance moves that they’ll just make you their leader. This song makes for an excellent zombie-fighting montage. Fun fact: It came out in 2006 and yes, I wrote the earliest version of GNW with it playing in the background.

EPIC LYRIC: “On the day of Rockening, it’s who dares wins! / You will see the jokers soon will be the new kings.”

I was going to stop at three, but to celebrate figuring out how to embed videos in this thing, let’s go to five!

STAND UP AND FIGHT by Turisas. This is the sort of song you put on when the apocalypse has been going on for a while, and you’re tired of wearing leather and weird face paint all the time, but dammit, you’re gonna keep fightin’ the good fight.

EPIC LYRIC: “But would I run today just to die another day? / Give up now and every fight has been in vain.”

FULL MOON by Sonata Arctica – 90% sure this is actually about a werewolf who eats his lover, but really, this song has great advice for anyone dealing with supernatural danger – including running the heck away.

EPIC LYRIC: “Full moon is oversky and he’s not a man anymore!”

And there you have it. Five ass-kicking songs to crank up next time you’ve got a duel with the undead.

(Extra bonus: They can also be used to terrify family members into silence during long road trips.)

Stay breathing, gang!

Music Rec: Cloud Atlas Soundtrack

Posted on by
Reply

There is only one thing more important than the next jolt of caffeine. I speak, of course, of the next jolt of inspiration. The NaNoWriMo describes music as being “the most potent writing stimulant available without a prescription.” I tend to agree with this statement, and have amassed quite a collection of writing music over the years.

I haven’t seen Cloud Atlas (or read the book), but the movie trailer did briefly feature “The Cloud Atlas Sextet,” a beautiful piano piece. I only heard a few bars of it, but it hooked me immediately. The soundtrack arrived on Amazon this morning, and I immediately purchased the MP3 version. It’s by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil, and Gene Pritsker, none of whom I have ever heard of…but then, they haven’t heard of me, either.

Writers, grab this one ASAP. The main theme is beautiful, both melancholy and hopeful; the score itself has some very nice cues, including what I assume are action scenes, but it’s not bombastic. It’s definitely wonderful writing music.

(By “bombastic,” I mean you won’t find any John Williams-style flourishes here. Overall, it’s a very quiet score.)

I’ll be adding several pieces of the score to my NaNo playlist. For the time being, it’s just playing on repeat while I get my work done for the day. Definite home run here…and I can’t wait to go see the movie.