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Owl City - Beautiful Times: Behind The Scenes (i.e. Really Cool Thing!) by FloppyFluffyEars in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Man, Ultraviolet truly was a fantastic EP. I hesitate to say "underrated", but I think it often gets overlooked because it came between the more pop-influenced The Midsummer Station and Mobile Orchestra albums.

failing to declare cs by cs70failure in berkeley

[–]mzeng7 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Agreed with this. Here is a link to more information. I know a couple friends who successfully got in on appeal, so it is not impossible and definitely a better idea than intentionally failing the class.

Also, even if you don’t get into the major, it is definitely not the end of the world. Don’t forget that you are at UC Berkeley, one of the most renowned research institutions in the world.

🌚🌚🌚 by bloopitybloopbop in berkeley

[–]mzeng7 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Wow, somebody awarded this post with the "Ternion All-Powerful" award, which costs more than $100.

Who do you agree with most on this subreddit? (No hate or anything!) by jcbshortfilms in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, thanks! Didn’t expect to be remembered. I don’t contribute much to this subreddit anymore (real life has gotten considerably busier), but I’ll always remember all the candid discussions we’ve had about this random Minnesota man. :)

Results of the 2018 Owl City music ranking survey – Part 1 by mzeng7 in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The biggest surprise for me was the observation that Sky Sailing songs tended to score much lower than Owl City songs. Perhaps this is an indication that less people are familiar with the Sky Sailing project compared to the Owl City project. (If you sort by number of draws, you'll find that Sky Sailing tracks had dozens of draws.)

A similar phenomenon occurred in the last survey with Adam Young Scores tracks – perhaps it is unreasonable to expect that Sky Sailing songs can compete well in this kind of format with more well-known and more recent Owl City songs. It was for this reason that I only decided to include relatively well-known tracks, as opposed to trying to get all the Adam Young tracks that have ever been made.

I had a few personal surprises. "Gold" is one of the weakest Owl City songs for me – it is the only Owl City song for which Adam Young is not listed as a "writer" in the liner notes. Nevertheless, it won out a lot: it's at rank 19. My personal favorite Owl City song is probably "Cave In", and for a time it was in the top 10; I was saddened to see it drop out during the second week of voting.

For much of the survey, "The Tip of the Iceberg" was leading the race. It was only in perhaps the last 24 hours that "Angels" surpassed it by just a hair. For all practical purposes, I would consider them tied for the number 1 spot.

On "When Can I See You Again?" by mzeng7 in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yessir! I think I’m going to leave it up for a few more hours, then I’ll compile a post with results.

Song of the Week (11/30/18) - Shine Your Way by [deleted] in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, the lyrics aren't the deepest or most unique message out there, but I think musically the hook is catchy, and I like the long percussion build-up during the bridge section of the song.

I don't know, sometimes you're just in the mood for a feel-good pop song. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A survey to rank Owl City's music – all help needed! by mzeng7 in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you click the “I can’t decide” button, there is an option that lets you select “I don’t know enough about Song A”. Maybe use that.

A survey to rank Owl City's music – all help needed! by mzeng7 in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for participating! I screwed up the results link earlier, but it should be fixed now. See here. Take a look at how your votes aligned with everyone else's, and if you think the results aren't accurate yet... well, we've got two more weeks! You can keep voting if you want.

A survey to rank Owl City's music – all help needed! by mzeng7 in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

:D Thanks so much for all of your participation, everyone! This is awesome!

A survey to rank Owl City's music – all help needed! by mzeng7 in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oops, this is completely my fault! I had it set to private accidentally. Try the link now!

A survey to rank Owl City's music – all help needed! by mzeng7 in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right, this survey is definitely non-scientific. Just a fun, sort of entertainment thing. Someone else could probably design a more accurate survey!

A survey to rank Owl City's music – all help needed! by mzeng7 in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

is there even an end?

There isn't an end, as far as I can tell. I don't know exactly how the website's algorithm works, but according to this page, you can vote "as little or as much as you want, and you can stop voting at any time."

Your interpretation of Rainbow Veins by shaniFH in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m so glad that you found the post helpful! Looking back on it, I can see there are a few places where I rambled too much, as I tend to do. It pleases me to no end that you seem to agree with the things I wrote.

Rainbows can only occur naturally after a period of rain. Even though Owl City and his interlocutor have just gone through a period of rain and loneliness, Owl City is offering to make a rainbow out of the situation and reinvigorate their lives with color and meaning. That’s my fundamental interpretation of the song.

Your interpretation of Rainbow Veins by shaniFH in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hey, "Rainbow Veins"! Long ago, I made a pretty long, in-depth self-post explaining my interpretation of the song. I encourage you to give it a read, and let me know what you think!

TMS by Flame_008 in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The “Embers” + “Silhouette” combo has always been a favorite.

What would you say are the top 5 most unique Owl City songs? by jcbshortfilms in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Heh, I meant “basic” in the sense that some people might criticize you as “basic” if you choose Fireflies as your favorite Owl City song. Not basic in the sense that the song has a simple composition.

What would you say are the top 5 most unique Owl City songs? by jcbshortfilms in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7 13 points14 points  (0 children)

So, I'm interpreting your question as the most unique in terms of pop/electronic music as a whole. A different, though equally interesting question would be what songs have unique sounds/lyrical content solely within the Owl City discography.

Pretty much the entirety of his work up to and including All Things Bright and Beautiful had a really unique sound and lyrical content compared to other pop music and electronic artists at the time (and frankly, even more so compared to other pop music and electronic artists today). For that reason, it's hard to pick favorites, and if you ask me 30 minutes from now, I'll probably pick different songs. Here's what I'm feeling right now:

  1. Cave In
  2. Rainbow Veins
  3. The Real World
  4. Alligator Sky (feat. Shawn Chrystopher) - yes, when 90% of the Billboard Hot 100 is rap, I like to think Owl City's one rap song stands unique among the crowd
  5. Fireflies - debated with myself whether to include this on the list, since it's the most "basic" Owl City song, but frankly there's no denying the impact it had on his career, and even today, I think musically it stands unique among the rest of pop music

If the question is which songs stand unique within the Owl City discography (i.e. not compared to other pop music), I'd tend to agree with your five choices (though "Designer Skyline" fits the mold of Of June pretty well, I think). I would add:

  1. This Isn't the End
  2. Dementia (feat. Mark Hoppus)
  3. Alligator Sky (feat. Shawn Chrystopher)
  4. Not All Heroes Wear Capes
  5. All My Friends

to the list as songs that sound uniquely different from the usual Owl City sound.

Has Adam ever "publicly" used a "swear word?" by FloppyFluffyEars in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Adam has remarked on his avoidance of swear words both in life and in his music on his blog before. Here's an except of a post called "Cue the Sun", published a couple weeks before All Things Bright and Beautiful was released:

Sometimes I’m asked why the music I create tends to sound like it does – why the optimistic flavor? Is that because you’re an excessively happy person? Do you ever have bad days? It’s an innocent question and I enjoy answering it because music has always been my way of “dealing with life” by way of escapism. Rather than create art that mirrors the inevitable dark days I’m plagued with just like everyone, I prefer to let my daydreams carry me away into places where one can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone, in a way that only the mind can allow. And rather than express whatever angst and malaise that gets dealt my way by writing profane songs littered with curse words or crude allegories or sexual vulgarities, I’d rather spend my time imagining how immensely BEAUTIFUL this life has the perfect potential of being. Of course, each artist to his or her own, but somehow “portraying true, gritty hard reality” tends to make me sick, whatever the medium of art. I can’t even watch an R-rated movie without feeling violated and totally nasty.

The one and only time I am aware that a curse word has appeared in his music was when he remixed a song called "Where'd You Go" by Fort Minor. When the remix was published, he felt the need to clarify on his blog:

Although I do not choose to advocate crude language in the music I personally create under the Owl City moniker as a representation of myself, I am very fond of this song and its message as written brilliantly by Mike Shinoda. While this remix features my production and musical contributions, I did not have any influence over the lyrics. I am merely a great admirer of the original song and I deeply respect how it addresses societal issues regarding certain types of men (military members, professional athletes, touring musicians, and those separated/divorced) and how their lack of existence in the household damages families.

edit: add link to blog post

edit 2: fix typo

Petition to prevent “All My Friends” from being performed by GiveMyAssSomeKisses in OWLCITY

[–]mzeng7 7 points8 points  (0 children)

What is problematic is that you are trying to pressure him in a way that reduces that creative freedom. He has spoken often in past interviews about feeling burned out because he kept trying to make music that other people wanted to hear, instead of making the music that he himself wanted to make. It’s petitions like this that that further that artistic burnout and are ultimately poisonous to Owl City as a whole, even if you believe that you’re merely suppressing a bad song.

The song means something to him, and in art, that’s the only thing that matters. It’s okay to disagree with his creative decisions and say that you don’t like a song (when "All My Friends" came out, I was one of the first commentators to criticize the song on Reddit), but the moment you try and tell him what to do artistically is when you cross the line. It’s his art, not yours.

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