caught

I thought I was home alone, so I got out my old boombox (remember those things??) to blast some music while I showered. I used to have to use my computer, which isn't nearly as capable as producing the epic loudness as this thing can. Between the stereo and the shower, I couldn't really even hear myself singing, so of course I sang/yelled louder. What other option is there really?

My repeat shower song choice of the day? "I like you so much better when you're naked" by Ida Maria--a Norwegian rocker, so you know how they can be... Nevertheless, I thought it was a fitting song naturally, and it's just so catchy!

So here I am finally getting out of the shower singing/screaming, "I LIKE YOU SO MUCH BETTER WHEN YOU'RE--"(open the door)--"oh hi, Mom..." She was coming to put an end to my 9 minute encore because by then I was just wasting water.

Cue: Walk of Shame to my room.

But if I learned anything from high school English, the naked thing is really just a metaphor...

love love love

The Trapeze Swinger--Iron & Wine

This is one of the greatest songs ever written. I'm serious. It's so beautiful and nostalgic and bittersweet and sincere.

Samuel Beam, you have my heart.

dreariness is so last week

Then the sun starts coming out.

Then I talk with real people about real things and make up summer adventure lists and drink slurpees when it's freezing and spend the whole night laughing.

Then I listen to Priscilla Ahn's "Good Day" song the next morning.

And I start to feel optimistic again.

I feel it all

"I don't know what I knew before."

Love me some Feist.

But seriously...

these cucumber eyes

"And all of my clothes feel like somebody's old throwaways. I don't like it."

At least I kept it together for the time necessary.

"It's good to be in love. It really does suit you."*

*(You can look up the song by Frou Frou. The acoustic version in particular is sublimely perfect.)

15 albums

I got this idea from Annie when it showed up on my facebook news feed. I just want to give credit where credit is due, and I wanted to note that we have similar taste in music because I don't want to be creepy copycat.

Basically the deal is that you write down 15 albums that have stuck with you....

1.) Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
2.) (500) Days of Summer soundtrack
3.) Pink Floyd--any album (music of my childhood)
4.) Moody Blues-Greatest Hits (also music of my childhood)
5.) Journey--Greatest Hits (again, music of my childhood)
6.) CD #1 & #2--Mixes made by Lauren Hancock (music of my adolescence)
7.) The Reminder--Feist (or Let it Die)
8.) crazysexycool--TLC (don't judge...)
9.) Grand National or April Uprising--John Butler Trio
10.) Patsy Cline-Greatest Hits
11.) Third Eye Blind-Third Eye Blind
12.) Siamese Dream-Smashing Pumpkins
13.) Crash-Dave Matthews Band
14.) This Desert Life-Counting Crows (mostly for the song Colorblind)
15.) O-Damien Rice

This was a little hard since I am more of a song person than a whole album person. 1-11, I've probably listened to and become familiar with the whole album. After that, it's more about individual songs I think. This does not make them less favorable by any means, (because Crash is my ABSOLUTE favorite song in the world), it just means that I haven't been as thorough in my interest yet.

Plus, I feel like I am leaving out so many other artists that I've come across and really like...

Crazy

Thanks for understanding Patsy Cline.

If music be the fruit of love...

I really love music. But I guess everyone does too. Sometimes I feel unworthy to be a music enthusiast because I can't play any instrument or sing that well. I don't know all about scales and keys and pitches and whatnot. I just know I like when I connect with something, and that's all that matters. I've had two new music interests lately: Matisyahu and She & Him.

Matisyahu: After my chemistry final on Thursday, my friend texted me about going to a Matisyahu concert. Most people have heard of him, and I had heard one song before (which I liked), but other than that, I didn't know a lot about him. Sometimes that's more fun to just go to a concert and discover something you've never heard before. I loved the concert. I realized I couldn't sing along to the songs like everyone else, but I just liked letting it all sink in. All in all, it was a really good time. Free concerts in Salt Lake are the best. It's basically a calling to all hipsters in the area to gather to the mothership. I felt a little out of place with the high schoolers and their interesting trends, but it's supposed to be about the music, right?

She & Him: This is a recent duo band with Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward (I don't know who that is). On the way to Matisyahu, this band came up, and I had heard a couple of songs before, and it was hit and miss for me. But this conversation made me want to look them up again. Zooey Deschanel is my girl crush, so I really like anything she does. My verdict of this band is that their sound is very retro-indie-pop, so it's not conducive to all situations, but it's better than the pop that's on the radio now. It's not lyrically groundbreaking or anything, but that's not really their goal. I think they are just trying to create a fun light-hearted band, and it works for that purpose. Zooey has a lot of soul and sincerity in her voice. I'm a fan.

ocean

My friend Matt introduced me to this band called John Butler Trio. I always knew he loved them, and I just never checked them out. Last night we all drove up to the hot pots, so we had plenty of driving, and I got a good dose of this band. They are classified as an "ecelctic/jam band" according to wikipedia. That's a pretty good term for them because their music has a lot of different influences, which adds to their versatility. John Butler is pretty much one of the most amazing musicians I have heard. I'm sad it took me this long to realize this.



There is an instrumental piece that John Butler plays called Ocean. Basically he started writing a song about how everyone is connected, but words eluded him, and this is what came out. It's brilliant; it's epic; it's moving; there really is no adjective to describe how impactful this song is. It's about life and love and birth and death and people and connections and relationships and empathy... It makes me realize how big life is beyond my small scope that I see through. It makes me want to change something, create something, be something. It makes me realize that my small part in the world is enough. There is a greater force in this world (which would be God for me) that takes our small actions and magnifies them to affect so many people. We are in a beautiful entangelment of interdependence with one another.



And life is just so beautiful.



Great band. Great song. Great message.



Thank you, Matthew Gress for opening my ears.



New Love:

Check it out.

you wear nothing, but you wear it so well

So as I have mentioned a little while ago, I love to sing in the shower. Yes, we all use that cliche, but how many of us actually do it? Well, I do. I play my music really loud, and just sing along. It's actually one of my favorite activities of the day, and I will take an extra shower just to be able to sing if I wasn't able to earlier. It's a great stress-reliever.

Sometimes my music is more condusive to listening rather than singing--like when it's Dave Matthews Band. They're my favorite to listen to in the shower because there is something about Dave's voice that is just so soothing and, dare I say, sensual...

It's just always a good time with Dave.

see the luck... feels like lighting...wrapped around your finger

There is so much I want to write, but probably shouldn't at the moment due to the not-so-private setting of this blog.

Suffice it to say, The Smiths, David Gray, and The Cranberries all have something in common...

I feel like I'm so obvious.