Countdown Friday! Best Instrumentals

In respect to the start of 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremonies in Vancouver tonight, I thought I would make this entry Winter Games related. I am pretty sure that the music that accompanies figure skaters must be instrumental. For this reason I am going to do a countdown of my favorite wordless pieces of music.

1.“Life in Technicolor” by Coldplay off of Viva la Vida. It is gorgeous, it is simple. I love how it slowly builds up. I love how long it takes for the drums to come in. I love how by the end of it I can’t help smiling. (it does have four seconds of chanting so it’s not entirely instrumental, but it’s close).

2. “Rhapsody in Blue”. I think the first time I ever heard this was watching Fantasia as a little kid, but I am obsessed with it. No idea who composed it, but I know it has been played by the best of the best. Everyone from Duke Ellington to the Philharmonic Symphony plays this song.

3. The Dexter Theme Song – I can’t actually watch the opening credits because the close ups of blenders and frying bacon and squeezing juice freak me out, but I do love the music. You can almost hear the knives he uses in it. But the same way the humor in the show keeps it from being too dark, the “pings” in the theme song keep it from being too eerie.

4. “Fur Elise” – Beethoven. I used to put this on a loop and write papers while listening to it. Just the piano, it is heaven. It’s also a lot of fun to put your own words to it when you’re in the mood…

5. The Mission Impossible Theme Song – The 1996 version before they made it too techno-y. You mission if you choose to except it is to go youtube this song and remember why it’s so much fun.

6. “Classical Gas” – Mason Williams – I love guitar instrumentals and this has to be one of the best.

7. “Tubular Bells” – Mike Oldfield. I had no idea this song existed until I read Richard Branson’s autobiography. I guess it’s also the theme song to the Excorsist, but I hate scary movies so I avoided that one.

8. “Hoedown” from Rodeo. This is the song that was on those “Beef it’s what’s for dinner” commercials in the 90s. I don’t know why I love it, but I do. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones do a very speedy version of it.

9.. The Pink Panther Song – Slightly jazzy and seductive.

10. The Mad Men Song – I think I have a problem with television theme songs