Some songs relax you, some energize, some make you weep with relief that you are not alone in how you feel, some make you dance uncontrollably, and then there are those songs that the minute you hear them you are somewhere else.  The British band Alt-J recently won The Mercury Prize for their album An Awesome Wave, which puts them in some pretty prestigious company and listening to their song "Something Good" I can understand why.  This song transports me to my car as I drive down a long open road.  The sun is shinning from a brilliant blue sky dusted with wisps of cotton clouds, my windows are rolled down and my hand is held out in the wind, riding the waves of the car created current.  Though I have only listened to the song indoors, on my crappy computer speakers I can imagine the feeling of that moment perfectly, it's a feeling akin to flying and it is called, Bliss.  

On a slightly different note the voice of the singer, Joe Newman, is unique and appealing in its unusual tone and the band draws on a wide variety of styles to create something just as unique as Newman's vocal style.

 



p.s. don't let the opening drum beat confuse you in to thinking you are listening to a cover of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday"! 

(Sorry the video isn't a proper video!)

This past week has been full of crisp blue skies, flowers blossoming, heat in a glowing sun... I fall asleep to the constant undulating chorus of frogs and wake up to crisp misty mornings as the sun is rising.  The other day I sat down by the ocean upon a rocky point and listened to the water lapping gently against the water's edge.  A seal popped in and out of the water as seabirds bobbed on the surface.  The sun warmed my body as I felt tension flow off of my shoulders.  Mountains and evergreen forests, illuminated by the sun in a multitude of shades and colours, encircled me and all I could think of while I sat there was "how can I live somewhere so beautiful and want to leave so badly..."  But then I hear a song like Hold Back The Night by the band I Am Kloot.  They are a British band and there is something in their sound, as there is in so many other British artist, that inspires me, stirs my soul.  So take a listen, perhaps it will stir something within your soul as well, maybe you'll simply think it is a good song or maybe you won't like it at all.  Either way it is 5 minutes of your life spent experiencing something new! 

Neko Case.  She is a poet.  She is an artist.  She is amazing. 

Her work would be beautiful as poems but she takes it to this completely "other" place when she blends her vocals with her words.  Her work with The New Pornographers had an alternative punk style which, while I can appreciate, I never truly got in to.  Looking at it now I find it strange that I am a fan of A.C. Newman's solo work and Neko Case's solo work, both of who are members of The New Pornographers!  Her last two albums Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and Middle Cyclone are what made me a fan of her work, they are full of stories hauntingly told and while they are not always conventionally beautiful, the lyrics are exquisitely rich, real and natural.  But, don't take my word for it, let her convince you herself!       

"I'm tired this game, I'm tired of this race, I'm tired of these chains that bind me.  I wanna be free, free to let go, let all that is good inspire me. And I... I keep running on empty, thinking maybe i'll see a sign..."

It never ceases to amaze me how a song can say all that is in your heart, as if the song writer has a stethoscope to it and is listening in, translating its every beat in to a completely different kind of magic.  But then we are all human and though it feels like we are alone in the way we are feeling we never truly are... you just have to find those songs that say what you feel and hold them close!  Those lyrics are from the song "Amen" by Sarah Slean, a rather incredible Canadian talent (she is also married to Royal Wood who I posted a song by a month or so ago).  She has an air of theatrics about her but it is well balanced out by a powerful, beautiful voice and poetic, song writing ability that leaves me a little envious!    

The past few weeks I have been regularly in a place where I must listen to a country radio station and country has never been my favourite genre...  Some songs I do enjoy, some I actually really like but when the radio constantly plays the same songs over and over again, drilling them in to my mind and my subconscious I can't stand it!  So it is incredibly refreshing to turn on the radio and hear a song like "Free" by Graffiti6, a duo out of London.  Honestly, "Free" is all I know by them, as of yet, but I love it and it sounds reminiscent of Annie Lennox. Every time I hear it I can't help but sing (even when I don't know all the lyrics and can't hit the notes!)  It came on the radio when I was making dinner tonight and I couldn't help but dance around the kitchen as I cooked.  Using a phrase straight out of one of the country songs drilled in to my head, 'I double dog dare ya' to try not moving when you hear this song!

You know when you watch a musician preform and there's that moment when they close their eyes? 

A shift comes over their face and you just know that they have given themselves over to the music, that they are not simply singing, they are feeling the music in their core, in their very bones.  I wonder sometimes if they have gone beyond their body, if perhaps they are connecting with their muse and they have completely forgotten that there is an audience watching them.  Those are the musicians that create true music, the ones that create art because they have to, not because they want fame or fortune.  Music is who they are.  When I am witness to moments such as that there is a feeling these artists project that draws me in, when they lose themselves I lose myself as well.  There are two songs that come off the top of my head but there are numerous artists that have this effect on me.  Paolo Nutini does a live cover version of the song, "I'd Rather Go Blind" made famous by Etta James.  I can only imagine what it would be like to see him preform this song live because watching it on youtube is spectacular, he puts everything in to the song and for me the results are something else.  The second song, "Sailing to Philadelphia" by Mark Knopfler with James Taylor.  Every time I hear it, it soothes me, carries me away somewhere where I feel weightless.  Some might find that weird but if that's the case you simply haven't found the right song for you or you just haven't truly listened! 

 

 

Perhaps I could take that string of musicians further but I've been feeling British of late so instead I am going to share two songs, that I never get tired of hearing, by the British band The Waterboys.  There isn't much that needs to be said about these guys, their music says it all...