Song of the Week

THIS WEEK:

Oh my goodness this page is the bane of my existence. Yes, I did just go there. I was trying to make a new post talking about how the last post got screwed up and then that post got deleted. It's like this page is trying to frustrate me. One last time Blogger! Third time's a charm am I right? Okay here we go!

I was thinking about how to summarize some good music for you guys to listen to in the remaining weeks of your summer when I realized, I can just check what I've been listening to so far! Well, not so far I think that's over a hundred songs. But I'll list you at least a few earworms that you can sing along to wherever you go!

New Additions to my....

"You Are So Loverly" playlist...

• "Any Other Way" by Daniela Andrade
• Hello, how you doin?
  Glad I crossed your path today
  no I'm nothing really special
  but I got a lot to say
  
  man that smile how it holds me
  and catches me off guard
  and that voice how it molds me
  and shapes my broken heart...

I like this song because even though it's a bit bittersweet it has a lovely melody that anyone who's had a crush can just reminisce about.

"Gotta Jam Sesh This" playlist...

• "5 Years Time" by Noah And The Whale
• "Oh well in five years time we could be walking round a zoo
  With the sun shining down over me and you
  And there'll be love in the bodies of the elephants too
  And I'll put my hands over your eyes, but you'll peep through
  
  And there'll be sun sun sun all over our bodies
  And sun sun sun all down our necks
  And sun sun sun all over our faces
  And sun sun sun -so what the heck!"

Kind of like "Any Other Way", this song is about an adorable relationship but with the ukulele and wonderful places for harmonies, I'm going to have fun with this one once I have my uke!

"Pure Seduction" playlist...

 

• "Off To The Races" by Lana Del Rey
• "And I'm off to the races, cases of Bacardi chasers
  Chasing me all over town
  Cause he knows I'm wasted, facing
  Time again at Riker's Island and I won't get out
  Because I'm crazy, baby I need you to come here and save me
  I'm your little scarlet, starlet singing in the garden
  Kiss me on my open mouth
  Ready for you
  
  My old man is a tough man but
  He's got a soul as sweet as blood red jam
  And he shows me, he knows me
  Every inch of my tar black soul
  He doesn't mind I have a flat broke down life
  In fact he says he thinks it's why he might like about me
  Admires me, the way I roll like a Rolling Stone"

Oh Lana Del Rey, she's like the alternative rock version of Beyoncé that you can listen to and instantly feel a bit more risqué and adventurous in one song. This song is no different.

 

 

Now if you want to know what song has been on my mind 24/7, well, that song is freaking incredible. I described in one of my recent blog posts about how I've been listening to a lot of Slam Poetry, but Watsky is more than just a spoken word poet, he's a pure performer.

 

 

I'll leave you with my favorite song of his at the moment...

 

 

 

Keep on livin' on friends, I'll see you next week!



THIS WEEK:

Recently I started listening to Spotify instead of Pandora. I know, I know, that's like secretly marrying from the other house that hates you so much that basically everyone is dead by the end of the show *cough cough Romeo and Juliet reference*. I feel like there is a blood battle between the two, either you like one or you like the other. No gray area.

In Verona where we lay our fair scene...
Courtesy of theraquette

So as I began my transition towards the splendiferous kingdom of Spotify, I admit, I was freaking confused. Like how does this marvelous monarchy function? Do I press a special button so that the frequencies will emit from my phone or do I say "Expelliarmus" and my phone will just embrace me with music? To keep it short, it's pretty different than Pandora. 

Now, this may just be the rookie within my veins, but I happen to like the "Browse" section of Spotify. This is the area where they put different playlists according to the time, day, and or feelings of those using Spotify at the moment. I think it's swell.

Just a few examples 

Thanks to "Browse" I have found some perty cool musica if I do say so myself. There are some obvious things that I've always wanted to listen to like some more Lana and Drowsy Chaperone, but have you ever heard of...

San Cisco 

Haim

Jagwar Ma

St. Vincent

The Acorn

Phosphorescent 

How do you not like a band that's album is named "Muchacho"?

or Maria Mena? 

If you have, a large round of applause for you!

Courtesy of abovetopsecret

So if you've read this week's post, you're probably wondering where my review of Jagwar Ma's song "Come Save Me" is. To preface my mini-rant about why I kind of love this song, I must admit that I have been... feeling recently. So if the next few songs of the week are love songs, you must bear with me during this troubling time in the kingdom. The Grace's Spotify kingdom that is.

Basically me minus the snow
Courtesy of crushable

I really do like this song because it is everything you think it isn't. Before I explain, I want you to check out the lyrics to this okay?

Thank you SongLyrics.com for saving me about half an hour of typing

So from reading the lyrics (because I trust that you don't just scroll through these) what do you assume it sounds like? A Taylor Swift balad? An indie-rock mashup of eras? A death metal jam out session? Nope, nope, and very much nope. Trusting that you pressed the little Grooveshark button at the top of this post, you know exactly what this sounds like. Heaven. Or "electronic dance music" as it is properly named. 

Jimmy Pesto Jr. understands me
Courtesy of gifirific

Well, it's not truly "EDM" as the pretentious say, it is a little indie too. So I lied a little bit. Who cares though? The best part about the song is in the music rather than the lyrics. The lyrics are basic and well, prosaic as my dear English teacher would say. The music though makes you forget about that person you are completely head over heels for and makes you want to dance. Not many love songs make you feel that way, especially when they are about unrequited love. It's a hard knox life guys. 

The best part about Spotify though, is the fact that I have made a radio for this song. So I can get even more songs like this one without the stupid tangents that occur in Pandora. Basically, I've been jamming out 24/7. 

LAST WEEK:

If don't know the definition of neglect, you can use this page as your definition. Yeah, I'm sorry guys but this was a good idea but I'm going to need someone yelling at me every week in order to get this up and running like I want it to be. I am quite sorry for your angst and sadness with this page. But... I've got a song for you!

I'd like to say I've been listening to some awesome indie-rock band or a soulful French jazz artist, but I haven't. In all honesty, I've been listening to this:

It's called "Cheesecake" and as my friends know quite well by now, it's the most hilarious song to come out of Belarus... ever. The song is a part of the Eurovision competition in Europe where countries send in their best singer with their most proclaimed song, and they compete to become the best singer in Europe. This song though, blows all the rest away.

My friend Julia and I were watching this video earlier this week and these were our reactions:

"Once, I gave you one more chance. You showed me dance..."

"But I'm not Patrick Swayze, you're not Jennifer Grey!"

Courtesy of Splatter

"I'm not going to be your boy toy today!"

Courtesy of For The Young Dude

"I don't wanna be your boyfriend, it's too late!"

Courtesy of xclusivetouch

"I look over Google Maps trying to escape."

"Cause I'm tired of being your sweet cheesecake!"

Courtesy of Total Sports Pros

And if you didn't think we danced like that, you have highly underestimated us. Till next time, this is your song of the week!

TWO WEEKS AGO:

I don't really know why you come to this page, honestly, I keep better track of my shaved cat than I do of this page. At the moment he is sitting on my lap, this page, who knows man. I felt pity, for both my cat and this page so I've decided to spend a little time with both. Feel the love. 

So, since you have been so diligent and loyal to this page I have decided to be a kind soul and give you a few of the funniest songs on this freaking Earth. They are from Broadway musicals, oh shut up, Broadway is good man. Now, I warn you, some of the humor is vulgar and satirical? No, no, no, don't look at me like that, I'm just giving you a hint about the music you're going to hear. Don't kill me. Please, I have to show you these songs first. 

"It Sucks to Be Me" from Avenue Q

"Hello!" from the Book of Mormon

"I Believe!" from the Book of Mormon

THREE WEEKS AGO:

I really don't know when I posted the last "Song of the Week" so I'm just going to assume that it was a week ago. If you're really that dedicated and know when, don't burst my bubble because I have a great song to share! Now, I'm not saying that this week's song is getting revenge on a certain couple of friends who got a certain annoying classic jazz song stuck in my head... wait where was I going with this. Oh yes, revenge.

If someone ever tells you that they have an incredibly annoying song stuck in their head DO NOT, for the love of God ask what song it is. You will regret it forever, like moi. 

Thanks to a specific band kid, this lovely song called "Mambo Italiano" was malevolently injected into the mind of my amiga, Savannah. If any of you have ever heard this song, which many of my band oriented friends have, you would know that it is extremely catchy. And offensive. It's offensively catchy.

Being Italian I enjoy listening to this song even though it mainly refers to the Italian culture as mozzarella sticks and pasta. That may be true, (I did have pasta twice this week if you'd like to know) but we aren't all hand-gesturing, fast speaking, carb eating people. Some of us don't want to rumba in the middle of class because Dean Martin's famous song is stuck in our heads.

I'm looking at one kid in particular when I say, how could you? I was having a great pre-finals and finals week before I heard this song. You know what happened after that? I wanted to shimmy and rumba through the halls, during tests, in the locker room, the torture never ended! Thanks Bryan, you are a malicious rapscallion with awesome musical powers that even I couldn't predict. I will get you back for this one, some day, some day...

FOUR WEEKS AGO: 

You thought you were off the hook didn't you? No musical theatre songs? Ha ha ha! You were wrong, oh so very wrong. This week's song comes from one of my new favorite soundtracks: First Date. If you've never seen First Date, I highly recommend it. It's what you would assume from the name but oh so much more! Not to mention, Zachary Levi plays one of the main leads and trust me he is good.

This song gets stuck in my head so often, you don't even know how bad it gets. There may be a few expletives in this song, well in the show in general, but it's not that horrendous! This song is actually hi-lar-i-ous, or we may have different humor but that's okay I don't judge. 

If you've ever been on a first date, had an ex, overly protective parents, interesting waiters, you'd love this show! I love this show so much, it's hard to think that it closed only a few months ago!

FIVE WEEKS AGO: 

An adorable cartoon of a sad message.
Courtesy of Direct Lyrics

I've had a lot of songs stuck in my head this week and they've all been total pains in the butt. My issue is, when I get a song stuck in my head I must sing. Not humming normally in a semi-decent  and non-annoying way but belting the tune to the choir in the sky. Sometimes though, there are songs that aren't like "Timber" but are slower like "La Vie En Rose" that can't be sung that way unless one wishes to be thought as dark and mysterious. That didn't stop me.

I love this song because I first heard it sung by two incredibly talented female singers. They sang this on the night of the party several times, it was beautiful. I adored their rendition, but I guess Christina Aguilera is close enough ;). It's emotion is raw and pure, and as my mother states it, "we've all felt this way about a relationship at some time or another".

WEEK OF FEBRUARY BREAK:

This week was full of fun, I loved it. It was a chance to finally relax from all the drama and stress that's been going on lately. All together, I think the week can be wrapped up with these three songs. Partying, relaxing, and getting stuff done, talk about a good break.

Songs: "Lucky Suit & Tie", "La Vie En Rose", and "I'll Make A Man Out of You"

MORE WEEKS AGO:

Shh... I've totally been updating this page, what are you talking about? I've been busy as most of us are around this time, but adding to this page has been my final task that I've never accomplished. I'll stop giving laborious lectures about bands like before, but that doesn't mean I'm closing this page down! I'm working hard to turn this into an easier space to just find music and enjoy it rather than read and read and read.

Ah Vienna in the winter... Beautiful
Image courtesy of Streetview Wien

Why Vienna? Why not Vienna is the better question! I was born and raised on the music of my favorite New Yorker, Billy Joel. This song is one of his most incredible in my book. Listening to this song just makes me realize how young I am... it may be cliché but it perfectly described the past few weeks in the life of Grace. Enjoy my new style, or not, tell me how you feel in the comments about my ways. No sassy remarks, you know who you are. ;)

EVEN MORE WEEKS AGO

Carbon Leaf 

Get it? Carbon leaf, like this week's band? Ha ha, puns.

Well actually, Carbon Leaf looks a bit more like this...

Courtesy of Jam Band News

Lil' History Lesson:

Carbon Leaf a five-man band is from Richmond, Virginia, the band started back in 1992 when the original members were in college at Randolph-Macon College. Since the 90s, the band has released thirteen albums, eight singles, won five awards, and have lost (and added) several members to the band. 

Genre: Folk, Indie-Rock, Bluegrass, Folk-Rock

Members:

• Barry  
• Jon Markel
• Jason Neal
• Carter Gravatt
• Terry Clark

Tempo: Mellow-Moderately Rapid

Listen When... relaxing, waking up, before going to sleep, getting ready for the day, after work, or whenever you need something subtle and calm to listen to.

So why did I choose this band for review this week? Well for one, I've been staring at my list of songs, bands, artists, etc and realizing how behind I am. It's sad. Second, I thought that I might as well start this page off with a band, an unknown band that is. Third, I haven't done a folk music review yet so this is a first for moi!

Folk was a genre I hadn't had the pleasure to explore through until this week came around. I've always been a fan of jazz, the truly American genre, but I've kind of been avoiding jazz and country's offspring: bluegrass. I've discovered it's pretty popular in my homestate of Utah, the farther you drive to central Utah that's all you'll hear. Well, folk, country, and gospel music. 

I don't know what I was expecting when I started to review this band, but Carbon Leaf is not what I expected them to be, but in a good way. Listening to the first of many of their songs I recognized a few elements that are relevant in all of their songs. Since it is folk music, a country feel is definitely there. A banjo, fiddle, bass, and acoustic guitar are the basic elements to a Carbon Leaf song. There are many different instruments that add flavor to each song like the bagpipes, electric mandolin, violin, penny whistle, etc. 

Picking music, specifically one song, is really hard. Since I love music, it's difficult to just pick one and get rid of the rest. Personally, I picked "What About Everything" because it was upbeat and closer to a rock feel. The lyrics spoke to me personally and made me feel less anxious about the future. Asking myself "what about..." or "what if" is one of those things that I get way too caught up in sometimes. We don't recognize all the beautiful things or what could be in our lives when we're stressed out. I've made a playlist (that you can find on Grooveshark) full of all the songs I enjoyed while reviewing this band if you would like to continue listening to Carbon Leaf.

Playlist:

1. "What About Everything?"
2. "Unknown Bride"
3. "The Friendship Song"
4. "The Donnybrook Affair"
5. "She's Gone [For Good This Time]"
6. "Native America"
7. "Midwestern Girl"
8. "Mary Mac"
9. "Love Rain Down"
10. "If I Were A Cowboy"
11. "For The First Time"
12. "Crossroads"
13. "1 Wolf, 2 Wolf, 3 Wolf, 4"