Songs in My Head

Sometimes there is a song that comes along and hits you.

The kind of song you want to listen to again.

I found one of those songs last week while perusing the internet.

In fact. I like the whole album now, and listened to it no less then 5 times last week. If you dare, take a listen.

 

Shannon

Real Love Songs

I am a romantic. I love love, and that isn’t something that just started because I got married. But I'm also a realist. That being said the media rarely provides romantic examples I love. Were Romeo and Juliet in Love? Doubtful. Was killing themselves the right thing to do? Probably not.

Give me an Olaf and Inga love story anytime. One filled with real love growing through real life experiences—the fun ones, hard ones and boring ones.

Music also seems to be portraying the wrong type of love (yes society is doomed if top 40 reveals anything about it). Sorry Ke$ha, “your love is my drug” isn’t a real, meaningful emotion—it’s just hormones.

Anyways. One of my new favorite love songs comes from one of my new favorite bands The Head and the Heart (fitting because such complicated emotions as love need to involve both things).

And if you are like “Shannon? Love songs? How cheesy”. Then don’t be silly, just listen to this song and add some emotion to your friday night.

Shannon

The Mood: Spring Music

With spring popping up, and a recent glorious sunny weekend, I couldn’t help but find the perfect spring-type album to listen to while I worked on spring-type activities.

The choice is one that Mr. Wood and I both love and that we both agree is a bit inexplicable. We could put this artist into a genre…but that would be both difficult and unnecessary, for when you hear them you know that this is their sound alone.

The band? Dirty Projectors. The album? Bitte Orca.

The songs you should hear before summer creeps in on you like a fresh sunburn?

Obviously all. Together as a whole.

But Maybe listen to this as a sample

Now if that doesn’t sound like spring you must live in Arizona. Or some place with very little seasonal change….

Now listen to this song “Useful Chamber” to understand why you should listen to the whole album

Want to keep going? Maybe it is the kind of music you have to listen to multiple times to truly love, but I promise you the complexity of the songs never gets boring. Listen to the whole album.

And if you think you can handle this go watch their official music video for one of our favorite songs (which Mr. Wood does a particularly good interpretation of), and try to put that into a box.

Enjoy the rest of this Lovely Fierce Spring.

Shannon

Hear the Music: americana

Some of you may consider me an “old soul”. My soul is just as old as everyone else's, but today I did recognize the soul and beauty in the music of Elizabeth Cotten.

Nothing traps me like simple Americana acoustic folk songs. I stumbled across Elizabeth Cotten while listening to npr the other day..

Why Americana acoustic folk? It brings such realness into your life. The feelings are raw, humble and sincere. These folksters aren’t trying to sell you anything, they are singing what they feel. Can I get on a soap box and say that maybe we need more real music in our lives? Not all this electro-synth pop (this goes to hipsters and mainstreamers alike) so may I introduce Elizabeth Cotten if you aren’t already aquainted, and if you feel like your playlist is being less then sincere lately.

Elizabeth Cotten is a champion at pure soul acoustic.

listen to her album Shake Sugaree here 

Now while you’re listening, here is something's you should know about her:

She was born in North Carolina in 1895. She started playing banjo at age 7. Buy the time she was 11 she earned enough money as a house servant to buy her first guitar. She taught herself at this early age. When she was married at 15 she stopped playing guitar much until she was divorced in her late life. When she was 60 she was a housekeeper for the Seegers (folk family musicians). They discovered her talent and helped her record music. Her first album (in the link above) she recorded with her grandchildren. She continued touring and releasing records till her 80s.

A video of one of her first appearances

Forget the  fact that she has an amazing life story, and is one of those people you just want to sit and listen to till they tell you everything they know—but her guitar is amazing.

Which brings me to one other wonderful thing about Elizabeth Cotten: She plays guitar left-handed (self-taught you know?). And not only left handed, but upside down (a lot of left-handers re-tune or re-string the guitar). Which is how she gets the unique style of picking and sound that has influenced tons of people “cotten picking” 

If you want to hear some personal stories from Elizabeth herself go listen to this WGBH interview with her in 1973, 17 years before she died.

Enjoy

....Shannon wood

info learned from wikipedia

Happy Birthday David Bowie

You have probably influenced millions. And you have influenced me. I don’t even know why I was drawn to you so strongly as a teenager (probably because My father was listened to you in my preteen years? thanks dad, sorry mom.)
Thank you for your style.
I too have always wanted to die my hair orange, but never had because of a fear of permanency.
Metallic teal eye shadow never worked with my complexion, but don’t believe I haven’t dreamed of it. I will always pass on pale pink lipstick though…did that one—the wrong way.
Thank you for daring to be different, although sometimes you were scary, I’m glad you shared it.
Oh, how can I forget? Thank you for doing labyrinth. That’s when I first came to love you I suppose, like many other children. Yes you were a bad guy, but I still felt sorry for you.
As a final memory for the night, remember the time I was at a military themed youth dance in Monmouth Oregon (sorry friends for dragging you) and I requested “lets dance” to liven up the sorry crowd—surely an 80s classic like that would do some sort of magic on the awkward evening. But, it had the exact opposite effect. Instead, as the first notes came too loudly through the speakers and I ran excitedly to the middle of the gym with my best friend’s hand in tow. It was only a few lyrics sung at the top of my lungs that I realized the whole crowd had cleared to the dark edges of the gym. No one was dancing, but my friend and I. In a social panic that only a 16 year old can experience,  I shifted my gaze through the recessed crowds looking for an ally. I rushed to a boy one year younger and pulled him to the middle while begging him to dance. With a pained expression and bright red face he joined in as we three awkwardly danced those 4 minutes and 10 seconds in tribute to you.
Happy Birthday
P.S. No one joined. It is still a great song.