Well, despite my intentions to keep up with writing and sharing here I have fallen far behind!  Life has caused me to put music aside for the past few weeks and that has played a major part in leaving me feeling unsettled and not at all myself.  Both writing and music keep me somewhat centred and so, spending the last hour or two sharing and listening to music as been wonderful and I had to share some of that feeling with you.  Because I have been so remiss you get two versions of a song, both great...  The original is by Prefab Sprout and the song is "Bonny". 

The cover, however, is the one I most wanted to share with you and it is by Tom Smith of The Editors.  As it is late I will simply say, god I love this man's voice and the emotion he brings to a song!  Hope you do as well...

I woke up this morning in a funk.  Yes a funk.  That is the only way to describe it and it can be near impossible to get out of one, particularly if you wake up already completely immersed in it!  So after plodding about feeling horrible and getting mad at myself for wasting my day off, indulging my mood, I turned on the radio to CBC Radio1 and Q and encountered something powerful and passionately different.  A friend had told me about Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers a year or so ago and I did not fully catch on to him.  This morning, however, him and this live performance was exactly what I needed to hear.  Caplan's voice crept out of the speakers growing with its intensity, backed by rich layers of drum, violin, cello and acoustic guitar, drawing the ill humours from my body.  This man's voice rises up from the pit of his stomach, he sings from the depth of his soul.  He is not by any means a pretty singer, his voice and face contort simultaneously as he pours his passion into the microphone and he also has wild and crazy hair which suits his voice to a tee!  But he is clearly a talented performer and musician.  So here is the song I turned the radio on "Down to the River".  And if you want to experience and even wilder more theatrical side of this artist check out the other song that he preformed on Q "Strangers". 

In the age of youtube, iTunes, mp3 files and shuffle the experience of listening to an album from start to finish is fading into the distance and to my mind it is an incredible shame.  Albums are a thing of beauty, they are art and the order in which songs are put on the album takes thought and planning, they are not simply thrown in to a bag and chosen at random.  Some artists know when they are recording songs which one will be the first on an album or the last.  Noel Gallagher said he always knew his song "Stop the Clocks" would be the final song on an album before he had even finished thinking up the rest of his album Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.  Listening to a full album in the right order, like reading liner notes, gives you a broader connection to the artist, maybe even a deeper understanding of them and what they are trying to convey in their creations.  One album that I never get tired of listening to, playing from start to finish and singing loudly along to is Draw the Line by David Gray.  Gray is one of those artists that seems to have been rather underrated in North America and he has not received the acclaim that I believe is due... I have never understood quite why.  His ability to craft a rich, layered and powerful song is staggering!  People seem to know a few of his songs like Babylon, White Ladder, Sail Away and Be Mine but when it comes down to it, the bulk of his brilliant song writing and artistry has passed people by unnoticed and underrated.  The album Draw the Line.  was released in 2009, his 8th studio album and, as is to be expected from him, is full of powerful, intelligent lyrics and both haunting and soaring melodies.  I saw him in concert a few years back and the experience was breathtaking and inspiring, you can tell that he feels the music in his entire body and puts his heart and soul in to the creation and delivery.  It was probably one of the better concerts I have been to!  So if you can, listen to the entire album, explore his other music as well try songs from the album Life in Slow Motion another breathtakingly beautiful album in my opinion.  This song, "Breathe" is an incredible song which is shows his depth of thought and true skill! 

The less important things in life have a way of sneaking in and taking over.  They stop you from doing what you love and they focus your mind on stress, deadlines, anxiety and aggravation.  This is one reason why I love music in the way I do, it provides us with a chance to stop and a reason to look at the little things, the simple moments that we overlook or push aside thinking we will have time to experience them later.  Taking the time to listen, and I mean really listen not just with your ears but with your brain, your heart and your soul as well, should not be considered a luxury.  Don't wait.  Stop and give yourself permission to let yourself go, just for a few minutes.  Stop and listen and while you're going down that path, stop and look at the sunset, watch a bird fly, roll down your car window and let the wind make a mess of your hair, lay down in the grass and watch the sky, smile at strangers.  Each thing on its own may seem insignificant but like pennies they add up and your life will be richer for them.

The song that I have chosen is most definitely worthy of your time, it is a little bit of sunshine wrapped up in a voice that is reminiscent of Xavier Rudd and Cat Stevens.  The song is called "Let Her Go" by Passenger (yet another British artist and I have a friend to thank for turning me on to this guy!).  Mike Rossenberg, the real name of Passenger, has a unique voice that might at first make you wonder if you like it or not but it doesn't take long for the obvious passion he puts in to his creations to take hold of you and draw you in.