I hope this blog introduces you to new songs, books and movies. If they aren't all already part of the popular culture, they should be. Or hopefully will be!
There will always be a new post of the day drawn from the new as well as old familiars that haven't been seen or heard in a while. The songs will always be personal favorites of mine so apologies in advance!
I was listening to Cat Stevens the other day and was amazed at how well his music still sounds. He has so many good songs and they truly are timeless. It's all the more impressive when one considers all the songs that are playing currently on the radio - I wonder just how many will still be relevant twenty years from now.
Don't Be Shy is a song from the early 1970's, originally part of the movie soundtrack for Harold and Maude. If you have not seen the movie, it may be well worth the time.
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy his music!!!
Great song by Massive Attack. I think the song is about giving into one's desires regardless of the consequences and just saying, "Oh well, the devil makes us sin but we like it when we're spinning in his grip."
What a scary album cover!! If you don't have clown phobias, the picture will definitely help you in developing an aversion to clowns.
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!
Interesting song - background vocals remind me of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song. Days Are Forgotten is from their fourth album, Velociraptor! It was a good album that charted well in Europe but for some reason seemed to fizzle on the US charts.
Please see video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!
This is a really simple and beautiful song by Milo Greene, a rock group from California. None of the members of the group are named Milo Greene. Instead, it sounds like Milo Greene was a fictitious character that the group created to promote their music. Read more about that here at jambase.com.
I think the cover for their self-titled album is pretty cool - the stuff of nightmares!!
The video below contains music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!
Biffy Clyro is a Scottish band that's been around since the mid-nineties. Many of Horror is from their fifth album, Only Revolutions. It's quite good with intelligent songs that are dark in nature.
I think Many of Horror speaks of an abusive relationship evidenced by the line "cause when my back is turned, my bruises shine." At first, it sounded like a parent/child relationship but I think it's about man who is abused by his partner. In any case, I'm not sure what "Gilligan's eyes" means - if there is any relationship to the old television show, Gilligan's Island, I cannot see it.
The video below contains the music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!
This song held my attention from the moment I first heard it - definitely interesting but I'm not sure that I have all the lyrics down correctly. Jónsi's vocalizations make it difficult to identify some of the words. Searching on the Internet didn't help a lot either. One line especially puzzles me: Nigh misfortune...unlively like a glue. It's what almost every website that specializes in song lyrics state are the words but I'm not convinced.
I think the song is about the impermanence of friendships (not much deep thing required there when considering the song title). More importantly, in his line, "Our sinking friendships...We drown them all," I think he's singing that relationships end through our own actions/inactions that drive people away. It's sad but true - how many lifelong friendships ever exist or is it really just an oxymoron? Maybe friendship is a transient thing that changes over a period of time and "we should wear two lifesaving layers...since no one knows you till it's over...you know no one true till it's over." I'd like to think that's not the case!
I don't know much about Jónsi except that he is from Iceland. I must have a soft spot for music coming out of there, given that I love Of Monsters and Men and The Sugarcubes so much!
Below is the video containing music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy his music!!!
Two Against One is a song from Rome, an album collaboration from Danger Mouse and Danielle Luppi. The song features Jack White on vocals. It's a great song, definitely one of the better ones on the album. There are some great lines on there like "I keep my enemies closer than my mirror ever gets to me." One can feel the complete self-hatred the person has for himself - it's rough when you lose arguments to yourself!
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!
I like this song by the group, Little Dragon, though I'm not completely sure what it means. My best guess is that singer has fallen in love twice based on the line where she sings that she "thought [she] had an answer once but your random ways swept me along" and is now confused by the turn of events.
I found the official video to be clever and entertaining but not all that useful in providing more clarity about the lyrics. While it tells a story, I'm not convinced it's the story that the lyrics convey. You can find that video here.
The video below contains the music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!
It's hard to choose just one of Jason Walker's songs as a favorite. I don't think there is a single song of his that I don't like. He's only had two albums but both are excellent and I highly recommend them.
Midnight Starlight is representative of his music. All the songs are filled with intelligent lyrics and great accompanying music - he's truly gifted!!
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy his music!!
Life of Piby Yann Martel was an interesting read. I started reading it before I knew that a movie based on the novel was coming. If I had known, I would have read it much earlier, since everyone knows that only really good books get made into movies (sarcasm intended).
The author’s introduction raises the reader’s expectations, at least indirectly, by having one of the characters state that this is “a story that will make you believe in God.” I’m not sure that this story convinced me one way or the other but it kept my attention. I tried hard to keep spoilers from being part of the summary – there are flashbacks and interludes to the present that make the story non-linear. Even so, I will be sparing with the details. The book is separated into three parts.
Part One was the most enjoyable section for me and takes place in India, mostly in the territory of Pondicherry (or now called Puducherry).This was a former French territory that is now part of India and still retains some vestiges of French colonization.The reader is introduced to Piscine (Pi) Patel and the narrative runs through zoo-keeping, religions, Indian history, regional cuisines and many other fascinating topics.It was engaging and connects the unlikely dots through which Pi becomes a practicing Hindu, Christian and Muslim. And, yes, we do get an explanation for why the main character is named Piscine.
Part Two was a study in survival techniques onboard a raft in the Pacific and can be quite gruesome in some parts.The monotony of being a castaway adrift on the Pacific and surviving for seven months or so with one other companion (Richard Parker) is an unbelievable tale that is made possible through the vivid detail given by Martel.While the monotony and repetition bled into the reading experience, it was a necessary device to ensure that the reader shared in the pain.
Part Three was the section least interesting to me.The eventual landfall and investigation seemed like a bolt-on to allow Martel to envelop the story in symbolism and make this larger than itself - a choice of stories that gives the atheist and the religious something to grasp and leaves the agnostic purposely without answers, as the author believes is deserved.As Pi says, “It is not the atheists who get stuck in my craw but agnostics…to choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.” However, I think the conclusion falls flat and is not as powerful as it should have been, for two reasons:
The criticism against agnostics is harsh. Ask any woman who has been trapped with a man who will not stop to ask for directions when lost and she will tell you that movement for the sake of moving is worthless - far better to stop and get more information. The agnostic may simply be waiting for more information.
Martel's allegory has Pi providing two separate stories which means one is patently false. It's a poor representation of searching for truth from multiple sources, all of which may contain some part of the truth.
While I was drawn to the religious discourse through the book, I found the possibility of a Hindu who also became a practicing Christian and Muslim more difficult to believe than some of the other parts of this tale. I do not believe that one can pick and choose parts of a religion and still be an adherent. If idolatry is proscribed by both Christianity and Islam, how can one still be either of those and also be Hindu? I once met an Indian physicist who claimed to be both Christian and Hindu - I walked away from the conversation thinking that he drew spiritual insights from both religions but could not honestly be called a follower of one or both. I think adding in a third religion in the mix is beyond my ability to suspend disbelief.
In any case, I truly enjoyed reading the Life of Pi. I learned a lot from it and hope that I have it with me if I ever find myself floating on the Pacific in a raft or need to train a tiger for a circus. I would strongly recommend the book. It's very entertaining; however, I don't believe this is a book that will change your life, regardless of the hype you may hear based on the movie. If you liked the review, please support the author and buy the book!!!
Nanna Øland Fabricius is a Danish songwriter who goes by the stage name "Oh Land." The song reminds me of dream-filled nights that seem so active that you hardly feel like you've slept when you awake in the morning.
In an interview on buzzine.com (click here to view), Oh Land says that the song is "specifically about New York, and that song is about those nights where you just don’t want to go to sleep because there’s just too much to take in, too much inspiration, and the police car sirens and the noise and the traffic almost get like a mythological meaning and a call, like the sailor and the sea."
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!
I'm not familiar with Guster's entire body of work and have only heard the latest, Easy Wonderful, which was released in 2010. They have been around since the mid-90's and have six studio albums. This is one of my favorites from Easy Wonderful, though there are several other very good songs on it as well. Interesting lyrics on this one include "Opportunity, the Americany Dream...Its superstars are the arteries and veins that feed your heart." It doesn't appear to make the statement that "this could all be yours" a positive one.
The video below contains the music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!
I love this song but it's addictive. I cannot listen to it just once. The song stays in my head for days, weeks and months on end. I guess it literally gets into your bloodstream!
I think the disjointed music goes well with the lyrics, showing the singer is off balance as a result of this person who has ensorceled him.
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy their music!!!
I like this song from Charlene Soraia. It's quite funny until one considers the fact that there are some for whom this is the truth. Then it's quite sad. For some strange reason, the song reminds me of Madonna's Papa Don't Preach - maybe it's the "keeping my baby" chorus?
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!
Stardust is from Mika's latest album titled The Origin of Love. The album has something for everyone who likes pop music. It blends the serious with the comic and does a good job of entertaining the listener. Stardust is representative of the music on the album though Love You When I'm Drunk is an unlikely standout as well.
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy his music!!
I love this song - it always makes me smile! Maybe that's the reason for the title!!
I was disappointed to hear that the song was part of a Holiday Inn advertisement but even commercials need good music. And artists need to eat, I guess. He also has had his songs used in Doritos and Dell commercials, too. Maybe marketers have caught on to his universal appeal?
Please see the video below for music and lyrics!!
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy his music!!!
Tori Amos has had a lot of albums over the last twenty years but she's never quite been able to do better than her debut album. Little Earthquakes was a masterpiece and every song is hard hitting and emotional.
I like Tear in Your Hand - it has some great lines throughout the song. One of my favorites is "I don't believe you're leaving 'cause me and Charles Manson like the same ice cream..." And any song that references Neil Gaiman, writer for The Sandman comic book series has to be cool by definition as well!!
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!
Havoc is another excellent song from Alanis Morissette's latest album, havoc and bright lights. I like this album more and more every time I hear it! If you haven't bought it yet, get it!!
You can hear Spiral in an earlier post by clicking here.
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!
I thought that LL Cool J had given up rapping for acting since he's been on the TV show, NCIS: Los Angeles, for so long and hasn't had a new studio album in four years. Apparently, he has an album coming out next year titled Authentic Hip-Hop. Who Do You Love is one of my favorites and features Total on background vocals. I love the lyrics, especially "Man made the money, money never made the man." It was a remix of Loungin' off the Mr. Smith album and released for radio at the time.
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy his music!!!
For me, Jason Mraz is hit or miss - I either love the song or feel like like changing the radio station. While he has quite a few extraordinary songs, I didn't love his new album Love is a Four Letter Word, but it does contain 93 Million Miles which I loved. I'm always amazed by the fact that the light and warmth that I feel from the sun has traveled so far. It's a good metaphor for the message that no matter how far you go, home is still within reach.
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy his music!!!
Lessons in Love is such a great collaboration between Neon Trees and Kaskade. It's one of my favorites on Kaskade's Fire & Ice album. And you can find it on Neon Trees' Picture Show as well. Both are good albums!!
The video below contains the music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!
One of my favorite Chicago songs, Hard Habit to Break features Bill Champlin and Peter Cetera on vocals. I think Peter Cetera's tenor is the most recognizable part of the Chicago sound, though there have been many front men over the group's 45 year history.
The group started as the Chicago Transit Authority but shortened the band name to Chicago when the transit authority threatened to sue. I like the Chicago name better anyway!
The video below contains the music and lyrics.
If you like song, please support the artist and buy their music!!!
Swell Window by Malaysian song writer, Zee Avi, is from her second album, Ghostbird. I love the mellow music and words. From the artist's homepage, she says that the song is about "seizing the moment." I guess that explains the title of the song, since a swell window is the location that a storm will produce the best waves for a particular area. I guess if you are a surfer, you could ask for nothing more!
Please see the video below for music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!
One would think that the
remake of a popular old TV show like 21 Jump Street into a movie would just not
work. Surprisingly, it does work! It was an enjoyable time – don’t look for
deep meaning but there were definitely laugh out loud moments through the movie
with standout performances by Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum (For some reason, I
cannot write that name without thinking of Stockard Channing and Tatum O’Neal). The movie is about two rookie policemen, Morton Schmidt (Hill) and Greg Jenko (Tatum). Though they knew each other in high school, they belonged to separate cliques and were not friends. Both joined the police academy and realized that they needed each other to get through – Jenko needed Schmidt’s brains for the academics and Schmidt needed Jenko’s help in passing the physical portion of the curriculum, starting a symbiotic relationship and friendship. Basic plot summary is as follows:
After successfully graduating from the Academy, both friends patrol together. Unfortunately for them, it is the decidedly not glamorous bike patrol at the local park, not exactly their dream job.
They find a gang of drug dealers and make a big arrest, doing everything wrong in the process. Unfortunately, the arrest doesn’t stick and the drug dealer is released.
Schmidt and Jenko are reassigned to 21 Jump Street, an initiative that leverages new officers’ youthful looks to get into high schools, apparently to battle gang and drug related issues that run rampant there.
Captain Dickson (played brilliantly by Ice Cube) assigns them to infiltrate their old high school and find the source of a new designer drug that originated there. Schmidt will play a nerd, playing to his strengths while Jenko naturally plays the jock. At least that’s the plan…until the identities are accidentally reversed and each has to play the other.
Against all odds, Jonah Hill successfully plays the cool kid with Channing Tatum as the loser brother. Naturally, this leads to all sorts of fun!
This is was an excellent movie! Hill and Tatum have a natural chemistry and it worked on the screen to create a lot of funny moments. The movie does everything it can to keep the element of surprise going and always doing the unexpected. There are a lot of cameos by the stars of the original TV series, the most famous of whom is Johnny Depp. Just wait for Depp’s appearance – it is well worth it!
Life lesson learned from the movie: No one looks cool on bike patrol. They should pay cops extra for that duty.
I give the movie four stars out of five.
More movie information can be found on IMDBand you can always buy the movie on Amazon!!!
Hesher is a unique movie - definitely different from most others. It has an independent movie feel but features Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the title role and includes Natalie Portman and Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute in the US version of The Office). I've never seen Rainn Wilson in a serious movie role before but was pleasantly surprised by his very credible performance – I kept expecting Dwight to pop out!
The movie is about a teenage boy dealing with his mother's sudden death. His life, already in shambles, abruptly takes a turn for the worse when a head banging anarchist named Hesher explodes (literally) into his life. Basic plot summary is as follows:
Paul (Rainn Wilson) and his son, TJ, live with Paul's mother. They are struggling to recover from TJ's mom's death. Paul is sleepwalking through life and TJ is understandably angry with the world.
TJ goes to a new housing development that seems to be stalled mid-construction (there can be no shortage of these in the US at this point) and starts breaking windows to take out some frustration.
Hesher (Gordon-Levitt) is squatting in the house that is the target of TJ's ire.
Unfortunately for Hesher and TJ, the ruckus brings a security guard. His serenity broken, Hesher promises payback to TJ and throws some dynamite out of the broken window near the security guard's truck.
In the disarray that follows, TJ escapes and Hesher gets in his van and heads off into the sunset.
After school, TJ is beaten up in a parking lot by a bully. To be fair, the bully is somewhat upset by the artwork on his car - apparently he believes that TJ used his car as a canvas for his art. Grocery store clerk, Nicole (Natalie Portman), intervenes and saves TJ from serious injury, starting an unlikely relationship between the two.
When TJ gets home, Hesher is inexplicably waiting and makes himself at home. He feels TJ owes him lodging. TJ's father apparently hasn't the energy to toss Hesher out and Hesher becomes a permanent houseguest.
Thus begins the journey to healing, sort of...
This is not a traditional movie. If you wait for Hesher to evolve as a human being, you will be sorely disappointed. The sheer improbability of the story aside, it is an interesting dark comedy of sorts. The intertwining of odd characters allows for interesting conversations and situations. Another big plus is the accompanying soundtrack – lots of songs from Metallica to set the mood. I enjoyed it.
Life lesson learned from the movie: When you get a ride from an anarchist, always make alternate plans for the ride home. Anarchists are definitely not reliable.
I give the movie three stars out of five.
More movie information can be found on IMDB and you can always buy the movie on Amazon!!!
Evocative song by Chan Marshall - Cat Power is the name she uses for her musical projects. I like the song a lot but I don't think I've truly figured out the song's meaning. The music and accompanying lyrics give a sense of Manhattan's bustle and the anonymity gained from being one of millions.
When she sings "You'll never be never be never be Manhattan," I wonder if she's talking about all of the people who come to Manhattan to chase success and how so very few ever achieve their dreams. As much as we love the city, we can visit it, work in it and live in it...but we will never be Manhattan. Just outsiders visiting, no matter how long we stay.
The video below contains the music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!
The Decembrists are a group with music that spans rock to folk and everything in between. Colin Meloy, the lead singer has a voice that reminds me of Michael Stipe from REM. Not sure if that's a positive for everyone but I do like the group's sound a lot. And the music is always filled with meaning. If you are wondering about the group's name, they named themselves after the Decemberist Revolution in 1825 Russia, a military revolt against Czar Nicholas.
With six studio albums, they have quite a few songs from which to choose. One of my favorites is This is Why We Fight from theirlatest album, The King is Dead.
I think the song tries to show that the root cause of all fights and arguments, whether they be between nations or individuals, is avarice and the constant wear through attrition. Though greed may be at the root of all conflict, I would like to think that there are times that we fight to protect something or someone, not for reward but because it's the right thing to do. I like the line:
When we die, we will die with our arms unbound.
Maybe it means that all of these things that drive us to fight become unimportant when we near death and we are freed?
In any case, the video below contains music and lyrics.
If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!
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Stardust is from Mika's latest album titled The Origin of Love. The album has something for everyone who likes pop music. It blends the serious with the comic and does a good job of entertaining the listener. Stardust is representative of the music on the album though Love You When I'm Drunk is an unlikely standout as well.
Hesher is a unique movie - definitely different from most others. It has an independent movie feel but features Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the title role and includes Natalie Portman and Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute in the US version of The Office). I've never seen Rainn Wilson in a serious movie role before but was pleasantly surprised by his very credible performance – I kept expecting Dwight to pop out!
The Decembrists are a group with music that spans rock to folk and everything in between. Colin Meloy, the lead singer has a voice that reminds me of Michael Stipe from REM. Not sure if that's a positive for everyone but I do like the group's sound a lot. And the music is always filled with meaning. If you are wondering about the group's name, they named themselves after the Decemberist Revolution in 1825 Russia, a military revolt against Czar Nicholas. 