But keeping with the theme, today's Musical Monday comes from an artist who's taken two years since his last song and has never given the clamoring masses what we've wanted, a full-length album, in the eight years since being a finalist in Australian Idol. I've talked about Matt Corby here before and this certainly won't be the last time, considering he'll be bringing us more songs this year (YAY!).
Musically, his sound has matured and progressed. He spent time trying to learn proficiency in all the instruments he plays on this album, which should be easy on this first song as all it is, is some snaps and stomps and his vocals.
Well, it may be a bit more complicated than that, and what he accomplishes is beautiful but the lyrics are about losing his faith and, while he's never been an artist to shy away from deep stuff, this song makes me sad for Matt Corby the person.
This song is filled with such beauty and melancholy intermixed with almost apathetic introspection. When it ends, it leaves you bereft and with an itchy pointer-finger over the replay icon.
So unfortunately this past Monday I was unable to post because I spent most of Sunday & Monday comforting my mom who had to put her dog down =(
But I do have some music to share.
I tried to make a playlist for someone on spotify and sharing seemed impossible cause whatever avenue I attempted seemed to fail. So I'm gonna try to embed the player here w/ the html embed code and my frustration is your luck because now everyone will get a chance to hear the awesome playlist:
Skip the Ramona Falls track (the first one), for some reason it wont stream
The purpose was to share music we didn't think the other person had heard, so frequent blog visitors might see some of my frequent favorites, Matt Corby, HAIM, Bombay Bicycle Club but even then, I hope you discovered something new =)
More SNOW!?! This is cause for celebration, both because Work got cancelled but also because this will likely be the last snow of the year. I like a good break from work, but I definitely get a bit claustrophobic feeling cooped up at home. So I decided to share a jam that makes me wanna get up and groove, cause if nothing else, at least I'll get some good cardio done today.
Matt Corby: Trick of the Light (Live on the Resolution Tour)
Matt Corby has made us wait sooooo long for his full length album, and in the meantime puts out a few singles to whet our appetites, like this gem. He also tours around Australia, which is all well and good, but for those of us on the other side of the world, we only have youtube videos of the performances to keep us going until that glorious day when he finally finishes an album.
We JUST had Christmas and New Years and right now is a magical time before all the optimism fades and you realize that it's the middle of winter, you don't see the sun anymore, and the S.A.D. sets in causing all sorts of melancholic ennui. Right now, the Triple J Hottest 100 happens.
Now what it this magnificent musical moment, you may ask?
How can I join this delightfully democratic delineation of the years best music, you want to know?
What's so special about this popular perennial poll to cause such annoyingly awesome alliterations?
Short Answer: Check out my past posts on 2012 (votes and recap) and 2011
Long Answer: Every year the Australian radio station Triple J hosts a worldwide poll of the greatest music released (in Australia) that year. This means you not only can make sure artists you love get recognition, but you can also find great music that also puts you ahead of the pop culture curve. The top songs of years past have all gone on to be huge hits in the US the following year, yes that's right, our own musical culture is influenced by this vote and the Aussies who run it (wait, the US isn't the center of the cultural universe?!?!... well, it's still pretty close as last year Thrift Shop by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis was one of the first #1 songs to be big in the U.S. when the poll was happening, and those Haim sisters seem to be picking up momentum in Australia at the same time (but maybe slightly faster) as in the U.S.), example: Gotye, Kings of Leon, and Mumford & Sons had the #1 songs in the Triple J Countdown the years before they exploded across the US.
I want my vote to make a difference so rather than write-in a few favorites I stuck with songs I thought had a chance to get into the top 100, but not necessarily what I think will make top 10
My own arbitrary selection process
Unfortunately Triple J is no longer on Pinterest which means no cool icon/graphic for each song this year =(
Tune in online on January 26, 2014 to hear the whole countdown (it takes literally the whole day). Actually, scratch that, if you're in the US tune in January 25 since they're ahead of us on the whole time thing. If you're someone like me who needs sleep at night, never fear, they break it down into internet streamable chunks afterwards so you can listen to the beginning, sleep, and then wake up to finish the top 10 and then later fill yourself in with songs 80-11.
And don't worry, I'll be recapping it here after it all goes down.
So the arbitrary standard for "Best of" is that I craved listening to a song, and it came out in 2013. There are plenty of earworms this year that happened to come out near the tail end of last year or even earlier. And there are plenty of other songs that were fantastic this year and are on everyone's "Best of" list (i.e. Vampire Weekend) That I just didn't connect to in the same way as these.
I divided them into categories as best as I could with maybe a tiny bit of fudging, just so every song had a category.
If you just want to hear the music, without my explanations you can catch the Youtube Playlist of (almost) all the songs HERE
Upbeat Dance Jams
I am all about music that makes you jump up, bob your head, or dance with your shoulders (I do that a lot when driving and grooving) and these songs all got me moving, even if in completely different ways to the different genres.
Avicii: Wake Me Up
Memory Tapes: Sheila
Fall Out Boy: My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark
Zedd: Clarity (feat. Foxes)
Pharrell Williams: Happy
MS/MR: Fantasy
Love is Complicated
Really I could include almost any song on here, love is the songwriter's ultimate muse. However, from the aggressive entreat of Fey Moth to be "conquered," Phosphorescent waxing a slow regret, the ladies of Haim venomously pleading to be let go, Gungor's take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and Oh Land's metaphor of love as passport, these songs all show how something so universal can be such a unique experience, as experienced through song. Fey Moth: Alexander
There is no video for this song and the embedding code isn't working so head here to a past post highlighting this song
Phosphorescent: Song for Zula
Haim: Let Me Go
Gungor: Beat of her Heart
Oh Land: Green Card
Hits from Down Under
I love me some Australia. In fact, I;ll be posting on my favorite global music survey next week (as well as posting my votes) The Triple J Hottest 100. Two of my favorite Aussie artsts with new tracks this year make the cut, Matt Corby and Gossling both taking their sounds in a new direction in 2013. New Zeland gets a shout out too this year with the world's new favorite teen Ella Yenich-O'conner, AKA Lorde. New band FAIRCHILD also joins with a song that I almost put in the "Dance" section with Dancer. Their video inspired a lot of pretending I knew ballet. Matt Corby: Resolution
Gossling: Never Expire
Lorde: Team
FAIRCHILD: Dancer
UK Beats
From the other side of the world The 1975, CHVRCHES, and Bastille show that HRH Baby George wasn't the only awesome thing to come from the Kingdom this year. The 1975: Chocolate
CHVRCHES: The Mother We Share
Bastille: Sweet Pompeii
Close Your Eyes and Sway
Sometimes, you just need a slow jam. Whether it's about making it out of this world and into the presence of the Creator or needing your girl, music has a way of expressing longing, hope, expectation, loneliness, and "all of the feels" in a way that no other medium can. Also, inexplicably after the slow build through the bridge, the banjo and subtle beat drop at 3:36 was my favorite moment in a song all year. Gungor: Finally
The National: I Need My Girl
What were your favorite songs on 2013? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter: @itzbizr
After a fun weekend, sometimes the thing you need most on a Monday is another weekend! However, since that normally is not the case, the next best thing is Musical Monday, and in this case a Yoga-themed Musical Monday. This week I'm posting songs you can use for a yoga session to bring you peace, or as we yogis like to say: Shanti.
The following are songs that are incredibly popular on my yoga playlists, for my own practice, back when I used to teach, or that I've discovered from attending other instructors' classes. I've created a playlist below that can get you through about a 30 minute practice with an additional bit of time for savasana at the end.
If you're not a yogi or even sure what yoga is, these songs can be great songs to listen to when you want to mellow out or have some nice ambient noise for work. Just be sure not to listen to it once you're already tired, because some of these songs just might put you to sleep!
Serifs: Calligraphy
Music: I downloaded their EP for free back in 2011 and the gentle ambient rock is perfect for some ordered background noise to begin your practice. Yoga: Starting either seated or lying down take a few deep breaths from deep in your belly, thinking about the feeling of your breath moving through your body. After a few minutes of that, hug your knees into your chest, make a small circle with them, and rock forward to transition onto your hands and knees. Jonsi and Alex: Stokkseyri
Music: I've used the album Riceboy Sleeps as the entire soundtrack to numerous classes, and if you like this type of music I recommend you buy it, and just hit play your next session of yoga/relaxing/meditation. If you like ambient rock (as I do) it can be a great background but I have had people in the past let me know it wasn't their cup of tea. I like the surprising ways they incorporate certain sounds (like horses or rice being poured into a cup) with other musical sounds (like wind chimes and a piano) with a soft undertone to create their music (and apparently you Friday Night Lights fans might recognize some of this album from the shows soundtrack). Yoga: Here, with every inhale come to Cow pose (bring your chest forward, dropping your belly & arching your back), and on the exhale Cat pose (press through your shoulders, hunching your back and pretending someone is pulling your belly button up to the sky one a string). You can also do some twists, or a vinyasa through Hero's pose or Child's pose, just make sure to warm up your core & back.
Angus and Julia Stone: Paper Aeroplane
Music: Gotta say "mmmmm, mmhhhmmm" as you vinyasa along to this fun and mellow tale of an meandering paper airplane carrying a love note. Yoga: Transition through down dog, rocking your hips back & forth or making a pedaling motion through your feel. Walk your feel up to a forward fold, slowly roll up and from a standing Mountain pose we'll do some sun salutations. Inhale reach up; exhale Forward Fold; inhale right foot back into a lunge; hold your breath into Plank; exhale lower down knees, chest, chin; inhale Upward Facing Dog; exhale Downward Facing Dog; inhale right foot forward into a lunge; exhale Forward Fold; inhale slow roll up to stand.
Repeat with the left leg leading
Temper Trap: Sweet Disposition
Music: A great song for when you start getting into poses that become a little more taxing, heighten your heart rate, or a vinyasa that involves constant movement. I find the driving beat helps me stay up and focused on moving forward. Plus I can always flash to the montage from 500 Days of Summer in my head, to take me to a happy place. Yoga: Here, you can start a vinyasa between Warrior 1, Head-to-Knee pose, Warrior 3, and Toppling Tree on each side. If you have some extra time you can also do a balance in Tree pose.
Phoenix: Rome (Neighbours Mix)
Music: Neighbours takes this rocking french band's song and slows it down, cutting some lyrics to turn what was an upbeat nostalgic love-song to past youth, into a melancholic reflection that "I never loved you. And if I loved you, I wouldn't say it. I'm sorry." The melody and beat are calm enough not to pull you out of whatever you're doing but interesting enough to give you something to focus on if you need a distraction from the poses. Yoga: Here we can get into plank pose, then rotating first to your right arm on the ground, left side & arm extended up; then switch sides. Next lie on your back and lift your legs up as high as possible, supporting your back in Shoulder Stand. Hold here for a minute, then you can bend your legs slightly, bring them over your head and get into Plow pose, if you want (make sure to protect your back here). Slowly roll down and then do either bridge or wheel for a back bend.
Matt Corby: Coloured Stones and Walls
Music: I've posted on this song before but it's just such a wonderful song to with either start your practice or listen to as you get into some of the deeper, less taxing stretches, like pigeon or supine twist (lying on your back, arms spread, bringing your knees to one side then the other) bringing your heart-rate back down and preparing for savasana. Yoga: Here I like a nice sequence staring in pigeon, then sitting up and rolling down onto your front hip, bending the back leg into a quad stretch (you can do bound pigeon here if you want instead). Release the back leg, swing it around to the bent front knee for a hamstring stretch. Then bend the straight leg bringing that foot to the outside of the front knee for a hip stretch. Hug the knee in & twist the opposite way for a back stretch., Transition through hands and knees to the other side. After that, lie on your back and try some supine twists to prepare for savasana.
Yogini: Bliss
Music: This has been my favorite music for savasana after a good workout, and at around 11:00 minutes you can go through the full 10 minute savasana without having a change of music jolt you out of your thoughts (however, at $9.99 for the single track on iTunes, I will continue to use YouTube to listen to this one). Yoga: As you return to your deep belly-breathing, focus on what worked for you in the last bit of time spent practicing yoga, did you feel especially flexible, strong, balanced, or centered? Think about how you can apply that to the rest of your week. You can also use this time to inhale a positive value into your heart center through the crown of your head, maybe Patience, Determination, Kindness, Empathy. Once you're so full of this value you might burst, exhale it to the world around you, or wherever you need it most, or to a person you want to share it with.
After a little less than 10 minutes, wiggle your toes and fingers, come back into wakefulness and slowly transition to a seated position. Take a moment of gratitude for the fact you were just able to physically do something not everyone can, and bring your hands into your heart center.
Hopefully you now feel fantastic and ready for whatever the next moment brings! Namaste, Bitzy
So the Blog Every Day in May challenge is complete. I'm not sure what to do with my blogging self anymore but I will definitely continue reading my newly discovered blogs to follow like Poke the Rock or To the Sea, and will continue to visit the archives of Story of My Life, to read more of my fellow bloggers responses to the various prompts.
But onward to return to routine, today is Monday which means a new Musical Monday post. This week's theme
Matt Corby: Resolution
If you can't tell with my new widget on the side, I really like the song (and may or may not be officially obsessed with Matt Corby the musician himself). There is just so much happening throughout the song that each time I hear it, I discover another layer. It also makes for great pretend-open-mic-night-belting when driving.
Radical Face: All is Well (Goodbye, Goodbye)
A recent find, but the song is actually from back in 2011. The subject of the song is so sad but as the song progresses the lyrics straddle the line between grief and moving on (although one truly doubts if "All Is Well")
F y f e: Conversations
I've blogged about this musician (Paul Dixon and his previous work under the name "David's Lyre") multiple times here. His latest song Conversations continues to ask introspective and philosophical questions in his new f y f e musical styling.
Laura Marling: Where Can I Go?
I first fell into a girl-crush with Laura Marling after listening to her track Ghosts (fun fact, the gents of Mumford and Sons got together when performing/touring as Laura Marling's band & you can pick them out in the Ghosts music video & then both acts toured India together (where they shout The Cave music video)). While she hasn't had the level of commercial success of her friends and former band-mates, she has released three albums in the past three years and has definitely evolved and grown musically and found success of other kinds, critically she has often been compared to Joni Mitchell. This song was released as a single previously this year and can now be found on the album Once I Was An Eagle, released just days ago (May 28, 2013).
So if you've followed my blog at all in the past year, you know how excited I get for the Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown. It's happening NOW!
If this is your first time reading my blog, and you're all "Triple wha?" here's the lowdown:
It's one of the world's largest public music polls started in 1989. Each person is limited to 10 votes & on Australia Day, they spend the whole day counting down the top 100 songs as voted by the people. Most of the top 10 songs on the poll subsequently become huge in the US the next year. I'm sure you've heard of a little known track called Somebody That I Used To Know by this guy Gotye? Yeah, #1 in the 2011 Hottest 100 (you can see my recap of that here).
Votes are also determined by songs that have come out in Australia, so a song I might LOVE just might not be eligible. Like the Husky song History's Door took so long to cross the oceans between Australia and the US, that even though I just discovered it, it actually came out there last year. Or one of my favorite bands Ramona Falls isn't well enough known in Australia to get on the voting list.
Voting factors I took into account was wanting exposure for particularly lesser-known artists and recognition for plain old good tracks regardless of artist infamy, I also wanted my vote to make a difference so rather than write-in a few favorites I stuck with songs I thought had a chance to get at least at the top 100.
alt-J
Taro
Angus Stone
Monsters
Gossling
Wild Love
Grimes
Genesis
Japandroids
The House That Heaven Built
Julia Stone
Let's Forget All The Things That We Say
Kimbra
Warrior {ft. Mark Foster & A-Trak}
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Can't Hold Us {ft. Ray Dalton}
Matt Corby
Lonely Boy {Like A Version}
Miike Snow
Devil's Work
Alt-J: Taro
My favorite song of theirs, although it really was hard to single it out over the rest, something about this one just gets me, i think it's the Bollywood beat that drops with each chorus. It's also really epic if you open two windows on YouTube to the same songs of their and start it 5 seconds apart. Done right, it will blow your mind.
Angus Stone: Monsters
The banjo and trumpet inevitably won this song a spot in my top 10. If you doubt my love of banjos, just go here, I judge people based on their banjo appreciation level. PLus the wonderful imagery of the lyrics gets me: "In the dark, there's monsters that cry alone"
Gossling: Wild Love
A track I think is US-Radio friendly that evokes frontiers and wide-open spaces with a unique voice that balances out what could be just another country/pop song. Hopefully I'll hear it on the US-airwaves soon!
Grimes: Genesis
Between her lisp, whispy-high voice, and atmospheric vocal loops, Grimes is the Canadian poptastic alternative punky girl version of Bon Iver. It was really tough choosing between Oblivion and Genesis but in the end the vocal layering and range of the smooth Genesis won out over the more danceable Oblivion (and Oblivion was the first of her songs I heard but that was back in 2011, so it's more fitting to vote for the song I first heard in 2012)
Japandroids: The House That Heaven Built
Oh.oh.oh.Oh.oh.oh.oh.oh.... 'Nuff Said
Julia Stone: Let's Forget All The Things That We Say
The Stone Siblings are one of my most favorite duos in current music, alas they spent 2011 nad 2012 pursuing solo-projects. Julia pursued a more ballady-pop sound while Angus stayed with his guitar-strumming indie sound. While the Frenglish version is my favorite, this original deserves recognition
Kimbra feat. Mark Foster and A-Trak: Warrior
A gross oversight in my top songs of 2012, this track is FANTASTIC and helped me with Bar prep this summer (I've blocked so much of the summer out no wonder I couldn't remember it.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: Can't Hold Us
As much as I think Thrift Shop will beat this one out in just about any music poll, THIS is my favorite Macklemore & Ryan Lewis song. I spent 2 weeks driving to and from work learning this whole rap. It helped get me through my last semester of law school.
Matt Corby:Lonely Boy (Like A Version)
Such a different, deeper, heart-wrenching version compared with the original. I don't think I'll ever get over this song.
Miike Snow: Devil's Work
This one snuck in just over Sigur Ros and Metric, really just because I heard it a lot sooner and it had enough time to really get stuck in my brain. Plus Miike Snow is always fantastic.
Honorable Mentions:
Icona Pop: I Love It
Metric: Breathing Underwater
Mumford And Sons: Below My Feet
Sigur Ros: Varou
I REALLY hope these songs make the Top 100, and if I had 14 votes, they'd for sure be included. Alas I had to pick only 10 or none at all. It was a tough decision
So I find a lot of my covers on Like a Version, a feature on the Australian radio station Triple J where the musicians come and play one of their own songs and then add a twist to a song by someone else. Last week I highlighted Josh Pyke's cover of the Jezebel's Endless Summer. I felt inspired to create a list of some of my favorite covers. Here's what I came up with:
Matt Corby: Lonely Boy (the Black Keys cover)
This performance is so heart-achingly raw and wonderful. The slowed down tempo, stripped to acoustic guitar allows Matt to create such a dynamic vocal performance that gives a new twist to the song.
Missy Higgins: Heart's a Mess (Gotye cover)
This is already one of my favorite songs so it's safe to say not only will I love any version, but I will also never think any comes close to the original. This cover is one of my favorites because Missy has such an emotive voice and stripping it down to just her and the piano adds more than it takes away. It's also interesting to hear the lyrics and imagine the original scenario flipped on its head to a woman's perspective. Another cool thing is that I saw Missy Higgins tour with Gotye in September so it's cool to see her play his stuff before the whole tour happened.
Jimmy Eat World: Last Christmas
Now I love T. Swift as much as the next guitar playing gal, but Jimmy Eat World has my heart when it comes to covering the song "Last Christmas." Something about this version captures the more hopeful side of the song, while still conveying the original hurt behind the lyrics.
Angus and Julia Stone: You're the One that I Want (Grease cover)
For some reason it seems most of the covers I like are slowed down, moody versions of songs, maybe I'm more emo than I'll admit but I do really like this cover sung by Julia Stone of the Grease hit. Also, one of my favorits SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance) contestants did one of her 30 second solos to this song so I always see that in my head when I hear "I got chiiiiiillls".
The Rocket Summer: Hey Ya (Outkast cover)
I can't yet find a good quality video that shows Bryce looping all the instruments and the full song but I'll update this post as soon as I do. What makes this cover cool is that I saw it performed live in the His Instruments Your Voices tour. The Rocket Summer is basically this really talented musician/composer/singer/performer named Bryce Avary who plays basically any instrument. It was really neat to see the whole song slowly built piece by piece, and finally figure out what it was.
There are other cover's out there that I like, for example Anya Marina's Whatever You Like (T.I. cover), or any Karmin Music cover but I needed to cut off the list at some point or else this post would never end.
Do you have any favorite covers? I'd love to hear about them in the comments section! I LOVE sharing music and I'd love to hear what you'd recommend!
