Nerina Pallot - This Will Be Our Year

Hope your New Year's celebration is off to a great start!  I think 2013 will be our year, fiscal cliff not withstanding!  Nerina Pallot's song captures the optimism perfectly.

Happy New Year to everyone!!!! I hope that 2013 is a blessed year for you!!!

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.



If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!

Dido - Mary's in India

Born Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong, she grew up being called Dido by her family.  In The Guardian, when she was interviewed in 2001, she says this about her name:

To be called one thing and christened another is actually very confusing and annoying.  It's one of the most irritating things that my parents did to me. I'm still irritated by it. Florian is a German man's name. That's just mean. To give your child a whole lot of odd names. They were all so embarrassing.  I thought it was cruel to call me Dido and then expect me to just deal with it.

 You can read the rest of the interview by clicking here.

Mary's in India is a pretty interesting song.  I guess the object lesson from this song is that , if you go on a long trip, don't ask your friend to look after your boyfriend.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.




If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!

 

Ke$ha - C'Mon

A song from Ke$ha's new album, Warrior.  It's a good album, though not quite as good as the first.  I miss the liberal use of Auto-tune that made the first one so memorable.  However, she does not disappoint with great lyrics that are light-hearted and filled with double entendres.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.



If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!

Keith Urban - Making Memories of Us

I like country music because the genre emphasizes lyrics over the accompanying music.  Each song is a story and Keith Urban's music certainly fits that criteria.  His songs are well-written and sung in a manner that allows for the song, rather than the personality, to play center stage.

He has had so many hit songs that it makes it difficult to just pick one.  I think Making Memories of Us is my favorite.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the song, please support the artist and buy his music!!!

Tanita Tikaram - Light Up My World

Tanita Tikaram is one of those artists who have a cult following but never made it big for some reason or another.  She's had eight studio albums and one compilation album of her greatest hits as well.  I've never heard her on US radio but love her music and hope you do as well.

The Cappuccino Songs is an album from 1998 and arguably her best work.  Light Up My World is from that album and one of my favorites.  She's released a new album this year titled Can't Go Back.  I'll report back on what I think of the new songs!

In the mean time, the video below contains music and lyrics.


If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!

Phil Collins - Do You Remember?

I think it is easy to forget that Phil Collins was a serious artist with a string of hit songs and albums when all one ever hears is his Disney music.  I cannot get the Tarzan soundtrack out of my head when I see a picture of Phil Collins!!

Anyway, this song is just one of my favorites.  While I love his group, Genesis, I like the different style of the songs he performs as a solo artist as well.  Sometimes you want rock and other times you want pop music, with the horn section and other embellishments that he adds in his own music.  This one is a little quieter than most of his solo work but the simple arrangement goes well with mood.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.



If you like the song, please support the artist and buy his music!!!

Lights - Pretend

Lights is a Canadian singer-songwriter.  According to Wikipedia, she was born Valerie Anne Poxleitner but legally changed her name to Lights when she turned eighteen.

Regardless of name choices, I think she's exceptionally talented.  I've not heard her once on a US radio station which is insane!!!  In any case, she has three albums, all of which are very listenable and have some great songs.  It was hard to pick just one but this is one of my favorites.  Hope you like it!

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.



If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!

Imogen Heap - Hide & Seek

Interesting song from Imogen Heap, not that she does anything but interesting songs.  Hide & Seek's music drew me in but it's the lyrics that are most interesting.  Though I've not been able to confirm it anywhere, a blogger on Inspire The Grind stated that Imogen Heap told her that the "song was about her father getting a new wife and how she felt estranged from him because of that relationship."

Some of the lines are classic like "the dust has only just begun to form crop circles in the carpet" or "oily marks appear on walls where pleasure moments hung before."  But I wish I knew what she's referencing when she mentions "trains and sewing machines."

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.



If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!

Feist - Graveyard

Canadian sing-songwriter Feist has had a lot of albums and great songs over the last 13 years or so.  If you've not heard of Feist, you may have heard her most popular song, 1234, from The Reminder (2007).  I think it was featured on an Apple commercial which definitely means it was a great song!!

Graveyard is from her most recent album, Metals (2011).  It is a little dark and I'm not sure what it means but that's never stopped me from enjoying a song.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.



If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!

Vanbot - Lost Without You

I love this song from Vanbot (what a really cool name!!). I think she has some of the best synth pop music out there. Very catchy and easy on the ears.  She only has one album and is currently working on her next - cannot wait!

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!