The song “The Age of Worry” off of the latest release from John Mayer has been on repeat on my Spotify. Musically, it is quite lovely – both the full album and some acoustic versions I have heard. In addition, the lyrics just speak to me and are great reminders as we face the worries and challenges throughout our lives.
I will admit, I never really listened to Bjork before, a sad byproduct of the apparent musical cave I live in. (I’m working on it, the whole “expanding my musical horizons thing”). However after I saw a mention of one of her songs somewhere, I fired up one of the best things I’ve ever had to feed my addiction to music, Spotify, and did a quick search. Other than a brief period where I was in a Natalie Merchant mood, I’ve pretty much been on an all-Bjork-all-the-time kick.
Luckily for me, I have quite a lot to catch up on, but already have some favorites among her songs.
What was this realization I came to this weekend? I’m a fan of her music, really dig the vibe of the tracks, and am upset that I didn’t listen to it sooner. It’s like she found a way to turn the randomness that goes on in my head and in my life into music.
Her songs are varied – some are upbeat and peppy, while others are much more low-key and almost sad. They go from very electronic to songs having orchestral elements and everything in between. They are quite random, and quirky and I enjoy it immensely (even if most of the time I have no idea what she is saying).
Even after a few days of listening, you can see how her music has grown and developed and changed, while still staying the same at its core. I’d like to think this is a reflection of the journey that any one of us goes through over time. We are constantly adapting to our life experiences and adding to taking away things that maybe just don’t fit anymore or that add value to what we are doing.
Long story short, I really am loving this musical journey I’ve been on as of late. I’ve found some great new music, added a few tracks to my Me playlist.
I may be unexpectedly counting myself as a fan of Bjork, at to a greater extent “electronic” music, just don’t expect me to start wearing some of the “outfits” she does.
And with that, I will retreat back to my comfy chair and do some more reading. I hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend and that you took some time to do something for you.
Much <3 to you all.
Cheers 🙂
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my latest and greatest adventure www.divaunleashed.com!
Last night I was sitting in my backyard, reading and listening to music while enjoying the perfect Minnesota evening. There was a bit of a chill in the air so I had to wear a hoodie and the air was full of fall smells – leaves, a bit of dampness, and bonfires. All of this in the city too.
As I tweeted last night, “I love when a song just captures my thoughts perfectly” and I must have done something to please the ipod gods, since it kept playing the most perfect songs to reflect the moment and me.
This lead me to think – what would I put on a playlist to reflect or represent me? Not necessarily about a specific moment or situation, but me. Who I am. What makes me happy. What explains a bit about what goes on in my often overactive imagination. What I think about myself and what I think others think about me.
Fast-forward to this morning and I’ve decided to have a go at creating this playlist. I’m going to use Spotify to house it for now, and at some point I may publish it for others to listen to.
I think this is going to be an interesting exercise for me. I often say that my life can be described by a series of song lyrics, so it’s about time I put together the music to do just that. Plus, it’ll make me do some thinking and reflect upon various things. As I’ve said before, if you stop thinking, challenging, reflecting or learning you’ve stopped living. Asking yourself and others difficult questions isn’t a bad thing – it’s a part of the journey we are all on.
Has anyone else tried doing this? Anyone want to play along at home?
I hope everyone (in the States at least) is enjoying this holiday weekend. Enjoy.
Confession: I’m a fan of Glee.
Ok, so maybe that isn’t much of a confession to those that know me.
One thing that Glee does – and does well in my opinion – is cover songs. I am not overly for or against people covering songs. I will even admit that sometimes I like the cover of a song better than the original. One example is “Creep” by Brandi Carlile. It rules. And is better than the original. Trust me. Other examples are the gazillion covers of “Hallelujah”.
Other covers are just awful or there are some songs that should just be left to the original artist and not remixed, resampled, or redone (I’m looking at you Black Eyed Peas for “I’ve Had the Time of My Life”).
In my opinion, if you’re going to cover a song, especially a hit, you need to bring something different to it, mix it up, make it your own. Anyone can re-do the original exactly, in fact it happens all of the time at bars across the country under the name “karaoke”. However, there is also a fine line between making a cover your own and totally ruining a song – respect must be paid (again, Black Eyed Peas, take note).
While Glee has tried to do original songs, their staples are covers of a wide vareity of songs. I’ve had the discussion/debate with folks about which versions are better or which covers they should or could have done differently. I will also be honest, for some of the songs, I hadn’t heard the original prior to hearing it on Glee (I would say which songs, but I’m sure it would cause me to be judged). What can I say, I don’t listen to the radio often so my exposure to new music is somewhat limited.
One of these songs is “Sing”. I don’t think I’ve seen the episode it was in since I have band rehearsal on Tuesdays this spring, but heard it at the concert in June, on Spotify, and in the “Glee 3D Movie Extravaganza Live Experience Concert Thing Movie!” (did they really need as many adjectives in the title as they had?)
I honestly thought this was a song from the episode where they did original songs, I had no clue it was a song by My Chemical Romance. I like the Glee version better – but am wondering what others think. I also like the lyrics from the chorus of this song. But that’s a subject for another post on another day. 🙂
So here’s your chance to weigh in on who rocked it better:
Enjoy.
Hi Everybody! I'm Emily, and as Melissa said, I'm going to post a few things on here every once in awhile. I thought I'd start out with a Top 5. As a lot of you know, M has been expanding her musical horizons for the last couple of months, and I've suggested a few songs and artists to her. I'd like to take credit and let you think that I have an inherent and awesome musical taste, but the truth is that I work for a really great radio station smack-dab in the middle of Missouri (http://www.bxr.com – click on Listen Live!), and I crib my music suggestions straight off of its airwaves. These songs are straight out of our heavy rotation, and I love them all. They're probably songs you could describe as Summer Songs, but while most are upbeat, they don't all necessarily have the positive, light themes you usually think of when you think of a Summer Song (see: The Thong Song, Summer Love, Surfin' Safari). What can I say? I'm a complicated girl with multi-layered sensibilities (and an inordinate fondness for big words :). I dare you not to get these songs stuck in your head!
1. "Pumped Up Kicks" Foster The PeopleAs I’ve mentioned recently on Twitter, I recently realized how much I enjoy mashups that include this awesome Jay-Z song. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like the song on it’s own just fine, but it just seems to make for some really sweet mashups.
I’ve decided to try to pull together a list/playlist of the various versions that are out there. Lofty goal, I know. 😉
I already have 3 versions – 99 Luftballoons, from the Grey Album, and a track with Limp Bizkit Linkin Park (thanks Meaghan for the correction)- but I’m asking for some other suggestions of the good ones that are out there.
And on that note, I’m going to try to get some sleep on this humid Minnesota night.
