The Best of 2011…Twenty Days Late

21 Jan

Everybody loves to finish up the year with some sort of “Best Of” list. So I decided to create my own list, which I discovered was easier in concept than in reality. This is only part of the reason why this post is so belated. My first challenge; should I limit my list to music that came out in 2011 or should I comprise my list of music that I just discovered and started listening to in 2011. And then I pondered whether it should be the top tracks or top albums? Clearly, my type A personality was getting the better of me and I was stalling before I even began! So without getting to hung up on the specifics, I started going through my iTunes library as well as the playlists that we created in 2011 and came up with the following lists:

Top 10 Albums:
10. The Beautiful Girls – Learn Yourself
9. Lissie – Catching A Tiger
8. Joshua Radin – Simple Times
7. Andrew Belle – The Ladder
6. The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
5. This Is Reggae Music 1 Train To Skaville (1960-1968)
4. The Avett Brothers – I And Love and You
3. Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside – Dirty Radio
2. Adele – 21
1. The Muppet Show Soundtrack

Albums 6-10 were ones that I listened to more than others in my family. I’m pretty sure that I’ve written about each of these artists in posts this past year, so feel free to go back and check them out if you are interested.

Album #5, the reggae compilation cd, seems to have a permanent home in our cd changer and gets played often, especially when the iPod has been left in my car or is low on juice. I highly recommend this whole box set if you are a reggae fan: This Is Reggae Music: Golden Era 1960 – 1975.

Albums 1-4 were family favorites (the girls and I probably like Sallie Ford a bit more than Rob) and got lots of playtime this past year. The Muppet Show Soundtrack made a strong showing at the end of the year and is pretty much all we have been listening to the last month and half. Sasha’s wish is that the soundtrack had the whole movie (speaking parts and all) so she could replay every funny moment in her head. Hee hee!

And due to the fact that I am bit of a playlist junkie, there were lots of singles that we loved and listened to all year long. Here is a list of the top 36 in alphabetic order. I am sure that I missed quite a few, but oh well. I love the variety of music that we listen to. Just the other day Ilana told me that her new favorite songs were “Yes, Maria, Yes” by David Wax Museum and “Hot & Cold” by Katy Perry (discovered in the Wii “Just Dance” game). If you don’t already know these two songs, take a listen on iTunes and you will hear just how different they are from one another.

Singles:
1. 5 Years Time – Noah & The Whale
2. All Summer – Kid Cudi, Best Coast & Rostam
3. Call It What You Want – Foster The People
4. Comeback Kid – Brett Dennen
5. Do You Believe In Magic – Lovin’ Spoonful
6. Dog Days Are Over – Florence & The Machine
7. Down in the Valley – The Head & The Heart
8. Electric Feel – MGMT
9. Far and Away – Ingrid Michaelson
10. Forget You – Cee Lo Green
11. Hey, Hey, Hey – Michael Franti And Spearhead
12. Honeypot – Bob Schneider
13. I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
14. I Want You Back (Z-Trip Remix) – Jackson 5
15. Ice, Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice
16. I’m Yours & Lucky – Jason Mraz
17. Let’s Go Fly A Kite – Mary Poppins Soundtrack
18. Lost in My Mind – The Head & The Heart
19. Love Lockdown – Kanye West
20. Maculele – Nazare Pereira
21. Montego Bay – Amazulu
22. People Say – Portugal. The Man
23. Pretty Please – Estelle
24. Pumped Up Kicks – Foster The People
25. Put Your Hands Up – Nerina Pallot
26. Rain – Anjulie
27. Raise Your Glass – P!nk
28. Shut Up and Let Me Go – The Ting Tings
29. So What – P!nk
30. Something, Somewhere, Sometime – Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore
31. Sydney (I’ll Come Running) – Brett Dennen
32. The Sound Of Sunshine – Michael Franti And Spearhead
33. Tragedy – Peter Wolf (With Shelby Lynne)
34. What The World Needs Now – Jackie DeShannon
35. You and I – Ingrid Michaelson
36. You’ve Got The Love – Florence & The Machine

So long 2011. It was a wonderful year of music. I’m looking forward to hearing what 2012 holds in store for us. I’ve already discovered some new tunes that I’m excited to write about. Stay tuned….

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Happy Birthday Joni!

8 Nov

I’d like to thank my brother-in-law for pointing out (on facebook) that today is Joni Mitchell’s birthday. In honor of Joni, I thought I’d post a very early recording of her song “The Circle Game”.



I’ve listened to Joni Mitchell for longer than I can remember. Although, I have no distinct first memories of discovering her music, nor do I recall having one favorite song. It just feels like her music has always been a part of my life. And what amazing music she has made. I’m sure we must have listened to her when I was growing up in the 70s, but like I said, no particular song sticks out for me. Despite this fact, her music has made quite an impression on me over the years.

In 1980, the songs “Both Sides Now” and “The Circle Game” were fused indelibly into my mind as we sang them at the weekly campfire at my overnight camp. To this day, I can still recall sitting around the warm fire with our dark blue Wingate sweatshirts and jeans, singing Joni’s beautiful lyrics.

Flash forward to 1995, when I first met my husband. I was overjoyed to have found a guy that not only knew Joni Mitchell, but liked her as much as I did. Together, we listened to the album Blue over and over again. Amazing.

And then believe it or not, Joni’s voice and music have been forever linked to the births of my two daughters. “The Circle Game” was playing when my first daughter was born and “Morning Morgantown” started playing moments after my second daughter was born. Kinda cool if you ask me. So Joni, on this day I wish you a most wonderful birthday. Thanks for the amazing music and memories you’ve given to me over the years.

Tags: , , , ,

The Civil Wars Introduces Milo Greene

29 Oct

Hello and good-bye (almost) to October. I’m not sure how a month+ has passed since my last post, but I’m thrilled to have a quiet moment to write about a great performance that I saw last night at the Berklee Performance Center. Two friends of mine and I went to see The Civil Wars. I wrote about one of their songs back in a June post. And I also mentioned them in July; specifically about how sad I was to be missing them at the Newport Folk Festival. An acquaintance caught their Newport performance and raved about how fantastic they were. So, when I got the email about the upcoming show at Berklee, I was determined to get myself there. And I must say that last night’s performance was brilliant and they most certainly did not disappoint. Their voices were breathtaking, their stage presence was captivating and their banter was both witty and endearing. Most of the songs were accompanied by just Jean Paul White’s guitar (there were a few that also had Joy Williams at the piano) and their harmonies filled the theater with magnificence and an intensity that was palpabale. Sigh. Each musician has a voice that he/she uses like an instrument and the most awe-inspring piece is how their voices work so well together; creating enchanting harmonies that are woven together flawlessly. You may think that I am gushing a bit too much, but it was truly magical.

I couldn’t pick just one video to share, so here are two for you to enjoy. The first is “My Father’s Father” and the second is “20 Years”.

My Father’s Father:

20 Years:

In addition to the super performance by The Civil Wars, we also got to hear a new band that we had never heard of; Milo Greene. I liked their sound and was pleasantly surprised to enjoy an opening act as much as I did. One of my companions agreed and gave them two thumbs up, while my other friend was only luke warm. They don’t have many songs recorded yet (I think the only place you can purchase their music is on their website), but you can check out their song “1957” here:

Thanks Jean Paul & Joy for an entertaining night as well as for sharing Milo Greene with us. A most wonderful night of music.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Fabulous Fellas

25 Sep

The other day I asked a new blog subscriber what type of mixed CD she’d like me to make for her (as a token of my appreciation for her signing up) and she let me know that in lieu of a CD, she would really like some recommendations on “beautiful male vocals”. Currently she is enjoying listening to Breathe Owl Breathe, One Eskimo, Alexi Murdoch, Joshua Radin, Josh Rouse and Kings of Convenience. I have music by One Eskimo and Josh Rouse and I’ve heard Alexi Murdoch’s music on the WMVY, but am not yet familiar with the others. I’m very excited to explore some new music and have already added them to my “Music I Might Buy” list in eMusic.

I thought take this opportunity to write about some of the male vocalists that I’ve been listening to recently. The first is Andrew Belle. I discovered him back in June on eMusic and I absolutely love his album. It is the first time in quite awhile that an artist has grabbed me in a way that I long to listen to their album over and over again. He sings one of the songs with Katie Herzig, who I mentioned in a post back in June. Together they are magic. Below are two songs from his album called The Ladder. Try not to get to distracted by the videos (especially the second one) and just listen to the music. Unfortunately, there is no way for me to post audio files, so this is the only way to get the music to you.

The first song is the title track called The Ladder:

The second song, with Katie Herzig, is called Static Waves:

Another male artist that I think has a beautiful sound is Josh Ritter. A friend of mine turned me onto him when she posted his video for The Curse on Facebook. A haunting song and skillfully produced video. Impressive to say the least. Check it out here:


My parting thought is to direct you to a playlist that I put up on 8tracks back in March. It includes 14 tracks by some pretty fabulous fellas. I’m sure there were many others I could have included, but this is what was moving me at the time.

The tracks are as follows:
1. Black River Killer – Blitzen Trapper
2. Incomplete & Insecure – The Avett Brothers
3. On Judgement Day – The Beautiful Girls
4. On Up The Mountain – Jakob Dylan
5. Librarian – My Morning Jacket
6. How Come – Ray LaMontagne
7. What’cha Know About – Donavan Frankenreiter
8. Wild Wood – Paul Weller
9. 40 Day Dream – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes
10. Holiday – Fran Healy
11. Tell Her What I Said – The Sadies
12. In The Middle – Joshua James
13. Romulus – Sufjan Stevens
14. Harvest – Neil Young

Click on the link below to take a listen. By the way…the photo on 8tracks for this playlist is a picture of Jakob Dylan (taken by my dad) playing at the Newport Folk Festival in 2008. He was fantastic!

http://8tracks.com/mixes/259426/player_v3

If you’d like to have a CD with this playlist, subscribe to my blog. If you’re already subscribed, encourage a friend to subscribe.

Oh and I’d love to hear about some of the fellas that you are enjoying listening to. As you know, I am always looking for new music.

Tags: , , , , ,

Sun. Fun. Love.

18 Aug

You can’t help but and tap your toes and nod your head when you hear this song. I’m talking about Noah & The Whale’s “Five Years Time”. I first heard the song a couple of months ago on an 8tracks mix and liked it instantly. It has gotten some prime play-time this summer…in our house, the car, the beach, wherever. Although, parents be warned that they say the “s” word a couple of times. My girls block their ears (sort of), pretend to be shocked and then scream with delight “he said ‘stupid'”. Oh well, what are you going to do? Especially when the song makes us smile, laugh and feel good.

Take a listen here:

Today I saw the video for the first time and for any of you Wes Anderson fans, you can’t help but see the “Life Aquatic” inspiration for their video. Quirky for sure! Unfortunately, I could not embed the video in my post, so you will have to go here if you want to take a look: 5 Years Time Video.

Well, I’m keeping it short tonight. I’m up way too late and I must get some seriously needed sleep so that I can enjoy lots more Sun, Fun and Love in the days to come!

Tags: ,

The 27 Club

26 Jul

I know it is old news by now, but this is the first free moment that I’ve had to sit down and write since finding out that Amy Winehouse died. It was not a huge shocker when I heard the news. I mean c’mon…when you write a song with the lyrics “they tried to make me go to rehab and I said ‘No, no, no'”, you’ve sort of sealed your fate, don’t ya think? Despite the circumstances of her death, it is still so tragic to hear about a young talented artist’s life (27 years old) ending so suddenly. A friend of mine posted to her facebook page “What an amazing talent she was. But all that extraordinary talent and amazing soul couldn’t overcome the power of the pain and power of the addiction.”

And it seems that 27 years old has been a tragic age for a number of other musicians. Most notably, Brian Jones (a founder of the Rolling Stones.), Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain all died when they were 27. For a list of many others whose fate was sealed at age 27, you can check out the 27 Club on Wikepdia. Kind of crazy.

I thought I’d share Winehouse’s cover of Carole King’s “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”. This song was actually first recorded by the Shirelles in 1960 (written by Carole King & Gerry Goffin) and since then has been recorded by a number of other artists. But I grew up listening to Carole King’s version and will always think of it as her song. Winehouse recorded a cover for the 2004 film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. I always liked Winehouse’s unique combo of jazz, soul and R&B. It is really too bad that we won’t get to hear more from her in the future.

Tags: , ,

Check out Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside

18 Jul

Over the last couple of months I’ve had a little bit of buyer’s remorse over selecting the Saturday line-up for the Newport Folk Festival. Other than Gillian Welch, there is no performer that I am truly excited to see. Don’t get me wrong…I’m confident that there will be LOTS of good music. But it is always a bit more exciting when there are at least a few bands that you are just thrilled to get to see. That is how I would be feeling if we were going on Sunday and getting to see The Civil Wars and The Head & The Heart. I’ve listened to these two bands over the last few months and really enjoy their music. Sigh.

However, just the other day I heard a very cool song by a portland-based band on WMVY during their “what’s new for lunch” segment. It turns out that they will be at the Folk Festival and just my luck…they will be there on Saturday. Wahoo!!! I immediately went to emusic.com and purchased their album. The band is Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside and their album is called Dirty Radio. Their website describes their music as “intertwining elements of swinging roots rock, country, jazz, and blues with a contemporary lyrical stance and Ford’s instantly recognizable voice.” Both my daughter and my friend Anne-Marie commented that Sallie’s voice has a similar sound to Adele. My husband thought she was an old time blues singer. Whatever you think, you can’t help but be sucked in by their infectious beat and quirky style. It is a good thing that I checked the line-up as they are scheduled to go on first thing (11:35 am). I will be sure to get my whole family there nice and early as this is one performance I don’t want to miss.

For those who won’t get to see her in Newport…here are videos for two of their songs. I had to post both of these videos as the second one was filmed just minutes from where my sister and brother-in-law live in Portland. In fact, I think that my kids may have played in that park!

As always…enjoy the tunes and let me know what you think.




Tags: , ,

Sitting In A Tree…

29 Jun

The upcoming nuptials of my cousin and his wife-to-be inspired me to put together a comprehensive list of love songs/songs about love. I’ve been working on a playlist entitled “songs for your honey” over the past few months and it seemed like an appropriate time to get my act together and publish it to 8tracks. I decided not to limit myself to a single CD’s worth of songs and instead included tracks from a variety of genres and time periods. I came up with 64 songs that make me think about my sweetie. The initial thought was to include “When I’m Sixty Four” in the mix, but 8tracks limits you to two songs per artist and I chose two different Beatles songs. Finding so many songs about love was not a challenging task, as musicians seem to really love writing about L-O-V-E. And how wonderful to listen to all of these songs that ooze so much emotion. Some of it gushy and mushy, some sweet and tender, some simple and to the point, and some just plain raw. I’m sure that there are many, many other songs that I failed to include. I encourage you to share some of your favorite love songs. Perhaps I can publish volume 2 sometime in the future.

For now, enjoy the love…

http://8tracks.com/mixes/339593/player_v3

1. Come Into My Life – Jimmy Cliff
2. You Are The Best Thing – Ray Lamontagne
3. My Love Is – Willie John
4. I Found My Everything – Mary J Blige
5. You’re All I Need To Get By – Aretha Franklin
6. Lucky (feat. Colbie Caillat) – Jason Mraz
7. Romeo’s Tune – Steve Forbert
8. You’re My Home – Billy Joel
9. Sea Of Love – Cat Power
10. You Mean Everything To Me – Shawn Mullins
11. Lean On Me – Beth Orton
12. I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
13. Let’s Never Stop Falling in Love – Pink Martini
14. Nothing I Can Do – Ben Taylor
15. Make You Feel My Love – Adele
16. All You Need Is Love – The Beatles
17. Not Fade Away -The Rolling Stones
18. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) – James Taylor
19. We Walk The Same Line – Everything But The Girl
20. Ice Cream – Sarah McLachlan
21. I Was Brought To My Senses – Sting
22. As – Stevie Wonder
23. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing – Leo Sayer
24. Your Smiling Face – James Taylor
25. Summer In The Sandbox – Domestic Problems
26. We Are In Love – Harry Connick, Jr.
27. Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles
28. Shine On – Entrain
29. Crazy Love – Van Morrison
30. Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye
31. That’s How Strong My Love Is – Otis Redding
32. True Companion – Marc Cohn
33. She’s Got A Way [live] – Billy Joel
34. Since I Met You Baby – Ivory Joe Hunter
35. The Things We Do For Love – 10cc
36. Tell Me ‘Bout It – Joss Stone
37. What Am I Gonna Do With You – Barry White
38. Thank You – Bonnie Raitt
39. Beyond The Blue – Joan Armatrading
40. All Around Us – Donavon Frankenreiter
41. Be My Honeypie – The Weepies
42. Better Together – Jack Johnson
43. Can’t Help Falling In Love (Live At Daytrotter) – Ingrid Michaelson
44. Come Away With Me – Norah Jones
45. Dance Me to the End of Love (Bonus) – The Civil Wars
46. Dream A Little Dream Of Me – The Mamas & The Papas
47. Fallin’ For You – Colbie Caillat
48. Hold You In My Arms – Ray LaMontagne
49. Home – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
50. Honey – Erykah Badu
51. I Love You – Sarah McLachlan
52. If The Stars Were Mine – Melody Gardot
53. Loving You – Paolo Nutini
54. Need Your Love So Bad – Fleetwood Mac
55. Say Hey (I Love You) – Michael Franti & Spearhead
56. Sweet Pea – Amos Lee
57. Warm Ways – Fleetwood Mac
58. You and I – Ingrid Michaelson
59. Dancing in The Moonlight – Toploader
60. January Wedding – The Avett Brothers
61. The One Who Love You The Most – Brett Dennen
62. From the Clouds – Jack Johnson
63. What the World Needs Now Is Love – Jackie DeShannon
64. (Just Like) Starting Over – The Flaming Lips

Tags: , , , , , ,

Songs for my dear mom

13 Jun

In honor and in memory of my mom, here are two songs that have a very special place in my heart and make me think of her each time I hear them.

The first, is a most beautiful cover of the Leonard Cohen song “Dance Me to the End of Love”. My mom was a huge Leonard Cohen fan and she also really, really loved Jennifer Warnes’ album entitled Famous Blue Raincoat. Let me just say that we listened to this album a lot! If you have not ever heard it before, it is worth checking out. A wonderful collection of Leonard Cohen covers. And of course, a collection that I hold dear to my heart since each song reminds me so much of my mom. Well, flash forward a number of years and I am most certain that we should have truly loved this sweet and sultry version of “Dance Me to the End of Love” performed by The Civil Wars. They are a duo comprised of California-to-Nashville transplant Joy Williams and her Alabaman partner, John Paul White. I also highly recommend checking out their album entitled Barton Hollow. You won’t be disappointed.

Here is a live version of “Dance Me to the End of Love”


Amazing, right?!! Leonard Cohen is a poetic genius and the combination of their two voices together just takes my breath away.

The second song that makes me think of my mom is a sad, but beautiful song entitled “Wish You Well” by Katie Herzig. This is a song that I first heard on WMVY awhile back and I instantly fell for Katie’s rich, melodic voice. I downloaded it from iTunes and it was not until after a couple of months of listening to it that the lyrics grabbed me with such an intensity that I can’t quite describe. The flood gates opened and the tears just started to pour out. It is both unbelievably sad and very uplifting at the same time. My mom was truly an amazing woman who really did show me how to find my way. I thank her for so many gifts that she left me and am grateful to have had such a strong and confident woman for a mom.

Here is “Wish You Well” by Katie Herzig:

Lucky Number 7

10 Jun

Wow! That is about all I can say right now. I’ve experienced it first hand and I’m pretty amazed. I recently published a playlist to 8tracks entitled “Summer Time Fun” (http://8tracks.com/mixes/319131/player_v3). This is the 7th playlist that I’ve posted and I guess that 7 is my lucky number. Apparently you just need a few re-posts to Facebook or Stumbled Upon, or even a single “tweet” and the word really gets out. And I mean really gets out. My last 6 playlists received anywhere from 10-25 plays and each of them had a handful of “likes”.

[For those of you who have not checked out 8tracks yet…it is a site that streams people’s handmade mixes. You can search by genre or artist or peruse the “new today”, “hot this week” or “popular this month” lists. As an 8tracks “DJ”, I can see how many times my mix was listened to as well as how many people “liked” it and any comments that may have been left.]

Well, that single tweet and the reposts to Facebook and Stumbled Upon have landed my “Summer Time Fun” playlist on page 3 of the “hot this week” list. I’m not sure how 8tracks orders the mixes, but certainly being on page three helps since there are many, many pages. I published the playlist about a week and half ago and already almost 800 people have listened to it and 80+ people like it. And the numbers just keep going up. Pretty cool!

This new experience with social media got me thinking about the power of the internet and each of our individual voices. It is amazing how easy it has become to spread the “word”. My graduate degree is in Mass Communications and it is truly fascinating to see how drastically things have changed with the introduction of social networking applications like Facebook, Stumbled Upon and Twitter. Once even just a few people jump on your “bandwagon” the “message” (whether it be a playlist, a video on youtube, a product on a consumer site, a political speech, etc.) can spread so quickly– aka “go viral”. Quite a powerful tool for the masses.

Although, I must admit that I am a relative dinosaur when it comes to social networking. I had never heard of Stumbled Upon, I don’t tweet, nor am I a twitter follower. Facebook and blogging are as far as I’ve gotten. I took a quick look at Stumbled Upon and I don’t quite get how to use it. Wait, should I not be admitting that? Quite honestly, I don’t think I need another time-sucking site to gobble up more of my precious moments. So I’ll skip that one for now. Although, I am a wee bit curious to hear from anyone who uses Stumbled Upon and the ways you find it useful. I guess I don’t want to be too much of a dinosaur.

Oh and another topic….thanks to all those that recently subscribed to the blog. I really appreciate your support. And perhaps someday this too will take of like my “Summer Time Fun” playlist and lots of people will be following my blog. One can dream, right?

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →