I will hold this post to be "Self-Evident" and appropriate for the date.
I know it's not quite in the standard song format, and well, Ani Difranco is getting much attention this week...however, there couldn't be a more necessary reflection for today.
I'm sending out all my love and hope into cyberspace today. xoxoxoxo
Ani Difranco - Self-Evident
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
SadSeptemberSongs: September 10, 2010
story time...
This is what I imagine when listening to my next post:
Set in an old run-down farmhouse in Georgia. The outside only looks put together from far away. The inside smells like potatoes and onions and chicken. The hallways are small and narrow, the stairs are steep. It feels haunted at night when everyone falls asleep.
In this story we see the cycle of generations passing within a family's history through this house. The silences that create memories, and profound emotions in the impressionable children learning to be people within it's walls. Life and death, both simultaneously and separately, the connection between them - the euphoria and the contrasts between them. The darkness of them, and the lightness and freedom in them. I could go on...this is worth posting because it's so difficult to paint a picture in someone's mind that is as vivid as an entire family history..and not just a history, but small moments within that history - small pains and happiness, small joys and sorrows and tastes and smells and lessons. This is not unlike the Sufjan Stevens song I posted earlier this month in it's sentiment and commitment to capturing moments in time that somehow we all connect to.
Sodom, South Georgia by Iron and Wine.
This is what I imagine when listening to my next post:
Set in an old run-down farmhouse in Georgia. The outside only looks put together from far away. The inside smells like potatoes and onions and chicken. The hallways are small and narrow, the stairs are steep. It feels haunted at night when everyone falls asleep.
In this story we see the cycle of generations passing within a family's history through this house. The silences that create memories, and profound emotions in the impressionable children learning to be people within it's walls. Life and death, both simultaneously and separately, the connection between them - the euphoria and the contrasts between them. The darkness of them, and the lightness and freedom in them. I could go on...this is worth posting because it's so difficult to paint a picture in someone's mind that is as vivid as an entire family history..and not just a history, but small moments within that history - small pains and happiness, small joys and sorrows and tastes and smells and lessons. This is not unlike the Sufjan Stevens song I posted earlier this month in it's sentiment and commitment to capturing moments in time that somehow we all connect to.
Sodom, South Georgia by Iron and Wine.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
SadSeptemberSongs: September 9, 2010
In a time that is saturated with people who are neurotically challenged, insecure, and unable to think an original thought of their own, or who need to prove how hip, how cool, or how uncool/hip they are...it's refreshing to find those special individuals who are not afraid of expressing things their way, even though their way hasn't been reflected back to them by a million shallow voices, or even by their families and their friends.
It takes so much strength and depth to follow through and commit to music that has had no prior basis for it's rules and theory and music that can't be compared to anything.
This is why I love all the artists that I have posted. They do not question themselves - not that they have zero fear, but the fear they have does not stop them from expressing their most sacred and intimate truths. Music of this nature makes me feel like I'm connecting to myself - I feel suddenly less misunderstood, less lonely, less melodramatic, less neurotic, less shallow...I remember that I have such strong values and morals when it comes to creativity and art and music and expression and communication.
and I respect people who have a similar passion within their connections to music.
Post for today = Antony and The Johnsons: Hope There's Someone...
Thank you Antony...seriously... for expressing yourself so intensely and so innocently...it's like your heart is literally bleeding. I'm sure this song has comforted many people.
It takes so much strength and depth to follow through and commit to music that has had no prior basis for it's rules and theory and music that can't be compared to anything.
This is why I love all the artists that I have posted. They do not question themselves - not that they have zero fear, but the fear they have does not stop them from expressing their most sacred and intimate truths. Music of this nature makes me feel like I'm connecting to myself - I feel suddenly less misunderstood, less lonely, less melodramatic, less neurotic, less shallow...I remember that I have such strong values and morals when it comes to creativity and art and music and expression and communication.
and I respect people who have a similar passion within their connections to music.
Post for today = Antony and The Johnsons: Hope There's Someone...
Thank you Antony...seriously... for expressing yourself so intensely and so innocently...it's like your heart is literally bleeding. I'm sure this song has comforted many people.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
SadSeptemberSongs: September 8, 2010
There are so many Ani Difranco songs that make me cry - or that easily invoke me to become passionate about things I didn't know I had any passion for.
There is no way to explain how much impact Ani has had on my life and my feelings. It has been a mind-opening trip and there are so many choice albums to delve into.
One of these amazing albums is called Reveling and Reckoning.
It's a double CD with everything you can imagine to offer, including for the first time in Ani's album history, some guitar ramblings (sans vocals) by Ani that don't necessarily need a song structure to express a strong emotion/sentiment/story.
some of my favs include: School Night, Grey, and Garden of Simple.
Today I'm posting a song that still puts me in a state of aw. The crafting of poetry and chords and dynamics is unmatched. Like nearly every Ani song.
Just an ode to devotion and the tough times we go through for the people we fall for. I guess that could be referred to as life for some of us...which does make it pretty big. Ani has a way of explaining the hardships of the world in the most poetic and comforting ways...so that you never feel like you're alone, even when your "little pink heart" is aching. (Ani Difranco, Grey)
There is no way to explain how much impact Ani has had on my life and my feelings. It has been a mind-opening trip and there are so many choice albums to delve into.
One of these amazing albums is called Reveling and Reckoning.
It's a double CD with everything you can imagine to offer, including for the first time in Ani's album history, some guitar ramblings (sans vocals) by Ani that don't necessarily need a song structure to express a strong emotion/sentiment/story.
some of my favs include: School Night, Grey, and Garden of Simple.
Today I'm posting a song that still puts me in a state of aw. The crafting of poetry and chords and dynamics is unmatched. Like nearly every Ani song.
Just an ode to devotion and the tough times we go through for the people we fall for. I guess that could be referred to as life for some of us...which does make it pretty big. Ani has a way of explaining the hardships of the world in the most poetic and comforting ways...so that you never feel like you're alone, even when your "little pink heart" is aching. (Ani Difranco, Grey)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
SadSeptemberSongs: September 7, 2010
Almost Blue - Elvis Costello (as performed by Chet Baker)
Rumour has it that Elvis Costello was pretty fond of Chet Baker and loved his rendition of The Thrill is Gone (another "slit your wrists" kinda song). Apparently, Almost Blue is inspired by The Thrill is Gone.
I'm not sure of the circumstances that led to Chet singing Costello's composition, but I am sure that it is one soulful, mournful rendition.
Every part is necessary in this recording -- Chet's trumpet solo, the piano - everything falls perfectly into place. I love that the intro is long...it's impossible to skip over it and get the full effect and idea of it's beauty.
And CHET - oh Chet...even though it was later on in his life, and he was obviously missing some teeth...he does such a bang-up job of telling you things without TELLING you things just from the mastered tone of his instrument...it's like another appendage. That's the magic of a real jazz musician...
Enjoy.
Rumour has it that Elvis Costello was pretty fond of Chet Baker and loved his rendition of The Thrill is Gone (another "slit your wrists" kinda song). Apparently, Almost Blue is inspired by The Thrill is Gone.
I'm not sure of the circumstances that led to Chet singing Costello's composition, but I am sure that it is one soulful, mournful rendition.
Every part is necessary in this recording -- Chet's trumpet solo, the piano - everything falls perfectly into place. I love that the intro is long...it's impossible to skip over it and get the full effect and idea of it's beauty.
And CHET - oh Chet...even though it was later on in his life, and he was obviously missing some teeth...he does such a bang-up job of telling you things without TELLING you things just from the mastered tone of his instrument...it's like another appendage. That's the magic of a real jazz musician...
Enjoy.
Monday, September 6, 2010
SadSeptemberSongs: September 6, 2010
Cinematic Orchestra, Featuring Roots Manuva: All Things To All Men (2002)
why am I posting this song today? This is something that time and time again rips my heart out of my chest.
The lyrics are so sad (might be a contender for the number one heartbreaking song out of all the songs this month) - and universal, just a moment in time when a higher power brings down some extra force into the writer and gives them a hit of unexplainable magic.
That's why.
...timeless, beautiful, inspiring, and full of empathy for the world.
That's my kind of sad.
why am I posting this song today? This is something that time and time again rips my heart out of my chest.
The lyrics are so sad (might be a contender for the number one heartbreaking song out of all the songs this month) - and universal, just a moment in time when a higher power brings down some extra force into the writer and gives them a hit of unexplainable magic.
That's why.
...timeless, beautiful, inspiring, and full of empathy for the world.
That's my kind of sad.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
SadSeptemberSongs: September 5, 2010
Bon Iver (yes, happy winter without the "h"): Frontman Justin Vernon. Well, let me say, the man expresses a unique, and warmly familiar heartbreak and yearning.
I loved the album For Emma, Forever Ago. [no doubt having an impact was Vernon's run-in with Mono, a band breakup, AND a lover breakup too (Wikipedia, 2010)]
Every tune made me feel a sense of longing, a calm after the storm of something that took a lot out of the body and soul...something like lost love haunting the subject - or at least working it's calming numbness - with bouts of pure pain and passion.
I love it in any case - this is the first Bon Iver track that I fell in love with (not true, it was one called Brackett wi, but this one stuck). It's called RE: STACKS...
If you like it, please guide your ears to: The Wolves Act I and II, and Blindsided; both equally amazing in their own special ways.
Enjoy...and don't forget to let me know how you like them - or your reactions.
Happy Labour day long weekend.
I loved the album For Emma, Forever Ago. [no doubt having an impact was Vernon's run-in with Mono, a band breakup, AND a lover breakup too (Wikipedia, 2010)]
Every tune made me feel a sense of longing, a calm after the storm of something that took a lot out of the body and soul...something like lost love haunting the subject - or at least working it's calming numbness - with bouts of pure pain and passion.
I love it in any case - this is the first Bon Iver track that I fell in love with (not true, it was one called Brackett wi, but this one stuck). It's called RE: STACKS...
If you like it, please guide your ears to: The Wolves Act I and II, and Blindsided; both equally amazing in their own special ways.
Enjoy...and don't forget to let me know how you like them - or your reactions.
Happy Labour day long weekend.
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