music | balmorhea

Music, for me, is the key that unlocks the door to my subconscious.  There is nothing more influential to my mood, my creativity, my sanity than music.  Here lately, I've been extremely drawn to the beautiful arrangements composed by a group based out of Austin, Texas : Balmorhea.  I first learned about them after watching this Kinfolk video and immediately fell in love.  What I enjoy most about their music is the texture of their sound.  Multi layers of classical instruments such as the cello and violin, interwoven with that of the electric bass and guitar, create such a masterpiece that shows the quality and brilliance of its creators.  So for those of you who join me now, to add a little more mood to the ambience, simply listen below.  

a musical note | sea of bees

I have to admit, I rarely RARELY ever listen to the radio.  Most of the time I am listening to music I already have and love that I don't feel the "need" to listen to the radio.  Weird?  I don't care for most of what's out in the mainstream music scene, so if you were to ask me if I've heard the latest Lady Gaga song, I'll have to disappoint you and say no.  My sister thought I was joking when I told her I didn't know who Nikki Minaj was, and honestly, I still don't.  So, when I do happen to stumble across some new music, GOOD music, my heart does a happy little dance.  Such an occurrence happened this evening and although I have yet to truly delve into the music created by the talented Julie Ann Baenziger of the Sea of Bees, I already know that I'm in for a wonderful time! 

.if you love sigur ros. . .

amiina play Hilli, video by Vincent Moon from amiina on Vimeo.

 . . . you will love Amiina too.  The musical talents that come from Iceland make me think that perhaps I need to reconsider our possible vacation plans to warmer locations to this beautiful island just below the Arctic Circle instead!  And speaking of music and beautiful landscape, a clip from the documentary film Heima. 

.le mois de l'amour::entrée n˚1.

Bonjour mes amis!  No, don't worry, I don't plan to start posting en français. . . but. . . what I am doing is posting every day this month with a hint of amour.  So to start off the month, I wanted to share a video I found featuring a musical duo named Pomplamoose (a play on the french word pamplemousse, which means "grapefruit").  If they seem somewhat familiar, perhaps you may have recognized them from the Hyundai commercials that aired during the holidays.  Here, they are singing my new favorite rendition of the classic Édith Piaf melody, La Vie en Rose.  

.norah jones::fall.

I want this album when it comes out.
Also, I want that RUG!!

View Norah Jones' new single, Chasing Pirates, here.

.music::anna ternheim.

I am loving, LOVING the latest album by Swedish musician, Anna Ternheim. The above clip features the acoustic version of one of my favorite tracks on Leaving on a Mayday. The album was originally released in Europe at the end of 2008, and finally reached the States last August. For those of you who may not have heard of Anna, I would say she is "Lisa Hannigan meets Dido." Beautiful, wispy vocals and dramatic melodies. Totally diggin' it! ;o)

.struggle of the heart.

Words cannot truly describe what goes on in your heart when you find yourself struggling between emotions of love, compassion, hope, sadness, fear, and shame. Even now, I don't even know where to begin. How far back do I go to tell you that I've always wanted to help, to be part of something more than myself. I fight for the right words. Bare with me.

I'll take you to yesterday. It's all still fresh in my mind. The emotions still reverberating in my heart. We spent most of the day downtown, child in tow, attempting to capture images of Nashville. But really, my main reason for going downtown was to go to the Public Library. In the courtyard across the street from the library, it is there that many of the homeless gather. As we walked pass them, I couldn't help but be reminded of a video my husband shared with me just a few days ago. Images of those rummaging through trash, those who sleep upon the hard, cold ground, those who have nearly forgotten the feeling of warmth, of peace. Part of me wanted to stop walking, to look up from the sidewalk, but fear stood in front of me as new images flashed across my mind. Images of my camera and purse being snatched, my child being ripped out of our hands, of us getting cornered, mugged. These images slowly lost their strength, fading away as we crossed over and entered into the building. In my relief, I found myself feeling ashamed. Ignorance is not bliss. It is simply ignorance.

Be the change you want to see in the world. ~ Gandhi. I misunderstood that for believing that it meant you had to be overseas, in the midst of a land and culture far from your own. But this is not the case. The world is wherever we are. Whether that be far away in India, or the Rez (reservation), or downtown, or even closer still, our own home.

There will be changes in my world. I am changing. I am seeing. I am feeling. I am loving. I am opening up so that I can bring warmth to you, wherever you are.

.caught up in a fine frenzy.

The latest addition to my ever expanding iTunes collection is the newest album by A Fine Frenzy, Bomb in a Birdcage. I have absolutely fallen in LOVE with it! Alison Sudol's gift for poetic lyrics and kick ass tunes can only mean that when this fiery red head merges these two together, you are left with nothing less than fabulous music! Below is a clip of her song, Blow Away. Yes, the video leans a little more towards "cheesy", but the song is just too much fun not to listen to!

.music music everywhere.

Hello everyone!  It's been a busy week and a half!  We've had family from out of town come in and, well, life hasn't been quite the same since.  Ha!  Finally getting back into the swing of things here at home.  I had no intentions of being away from this cozy corner for as long as I have so, my apologies.  Hope you all have been doing wonderful! 

As most of you know, I live in Nashville, Tennessee, "Home of the Grand Ole Opry."  There are benefits to living in Nashville.  The most obvious would be that this place truly lives up to its name MUSIC CITY, USA, especially in the month of June.  Specifically, this week!  I was reminded of some of the cool things that make this town unique when I received a copy of Anthropologie's June catalog.  The theme was "music" and to help them set the mood, they asked the folks over at Nashville's very own, Hatch Show Print, the country's longest running print shop, to help design the cover.  Loving the nostalgic, this place is too cool not to share with you all.  Here's an excerpt from Anthro's "In Our Own Words" about their experience:

"Established in 1879 by brothers Charles and Herbert Hatch, Hatch Show Print is thought to be the oldest continuously operating letterpress print shop in the country. Hatch is best known for their collaborations with musicians; they've worked with everyone, from Elvis Presley to Elvis Costello and anyone in between. Their motto is “preservation through production”—meaning, they pull from the same staggering collection of wooden typefaces and hand-carved images to create today's posters as they did to make minstrel show flyers at the turn of the 20th century. 

We teamed with Hatch in the hopes that they'd lend a bit of their rock poster prowess to the cover of our catalog. Chris, our production manager, and e, our catalog designer, helped develop the cover concept. To say that they enjoyed their time spent among the Hatch staff would be putting it mildly. 

“It was really clear that they all were just in love with their work,” Chris said of the Hatch staff. “They were all very excited about each project they were developing, and they clearly loved to create.” . . .

[Our] kinship revealed an unexpectedly common ethos between our two companies. We share the belief that every customer should walk out of our doors having had an experience—a tangible, sensory-delighting encounter between themselves and our craft, between the real and the imagined, the present and the past. 

As for us, we walked out of Hatch's doors with our heads still full of the rhythmic click-clacking of centuries-old presses. The tangy, metallic scent of ink still filled our noses, and we could still picture it smudged across the busy hands of the staff, themselves youthful practitioners of an age-old craft. Though their clients are modern—from up-and-coming bands to newlyweds and corporations—their product bears a human touch that the convenience of the electronic age often leaves behind. . . "

An enormous gig taking place as we speak, sits on a 700-acre farm right outside Nashville, actually more like 60 miles southeast, in Manchester, TN.  Bonnaroo, America's new Woodstock, can be likened to UK's Glastonbury Festival.  This event is truly rockin' & rollin' with names like Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Nine Inch Nails, Snoop Dogg, Neko Case, Wilco. . . and the list just keeps going!  If you don't mind sitting in traffic for hours, love live music. . . and camping. . . this art and music fest is a can't-miss.  Fingers crossed and stars aligned, our family plans to make it out there next year.  Rock. . . on.

What Bonnaroo is to the rocker, the CMA Music Fest is to the honky tonk.  Taking your attention back to Nashville, another music festival attracts crowds of Country music fans from all over the world.  People come here to listen to up-and-coming musicians but especially to hear, and hopefully meet, some of their favorite musicians.  What was once known as "Fan Fair" had its name changed to CMA Music Festival when its location moved from the Tennessee State Fairgrounds to what is now known as LP Field, the coliseum where Tennessee's favorite football team, the Titans, play their home games.  The streets of downtown Nashville are swarming with visitors, some donning the stereotypical cowboy hat, torn blue jeans, with a t-shirt sporting the face of their favorite country music star.  On a mad dash to pay my water bill on the north side of town, I had to plow straight through the center of downtown during the start of rush hour traffic.  What was I thinking?!  Waiting for the traffic light to turn green in order to cross Broadway, your ears were filled with a young lady's cracking voice as she sang her heart out to a southern gospel tune, blaring over a loud speaker.  The police are everywhere, directing the traffic of folks carrying Hard Rock Cafe bags and Nashville's own impatient motorists.  After driving through an obstacle course, which involved at one point driving around a man who had decided to just stand in the middle of 3 sets of traffic lights, I finally made it, with less than one minute to spare, to the Metro Water Services office.  Water bill is paid.  And now. . . the trip home.  

I wonder, if we sat on a satellite over looking middle Tennessee, would we see musical notes floating up into the stratosphere?  Probably not.  But wouldn't that be cool?!  Hope your weekend is full of wonderful tunes and delightfully loud singing in the shower!  

.reveling in his dreamy vocals.

It is Wednesday. It's almost summer. I say it's a grand time to revel in the dreamy vocals of one talented William Fitzsimmons. . . sigh. . .

.music to my ears.

I love, Love, LOVE music!  If you were to ask me what is my favorite, I really couldn't answer that.  My music selections are so diverse that to pick one out and call it my all-time fave, well, it just wouldn't be fair.  It would be much easier to ask me what kinds of music do I NOT like.  Rap, Hardcore Heavy Metal, and modern Country.  I know, I live in Nashville.  So forgive me.  Hey!  But I'll take Bluegrass any day!  Yesterday, a gentleman that I work with (who is by far the most knowlegeable person I know when it comes to World music, which is probably why he has his own radio show) told me about a website that he frequents called Mondomix.com.  EVERY country you can possibly think of is on this site!  Very much like iTunes when it comes to the cost of the downloads.  Of course I was thrilled with this new find and so I had to share it with all of you!  During my search for Romanian music, I came upon a video of a little girl named Cleopatra Stratan, the daughter of a Moldovan-Romanian singer.  I had never heard of her before, but apparently, this little cutie with a voice has broken many world records, one of them being the "youngest artist to score a #1 hit in a country."  That very song can be heard, and viewed, below.  She also did an English version you can see here.  Although I have no idea what she's singing, you can't help but love her outfit and adorable voice.  The tune's kinda catchy too.    

For those of you reading this post, let me know what musicians and types of music YOU like to listen to.  Here are some of mine:

• Hem
• Butterfly Boucher
• Katie Herzig
• Yann Tiersen  (the composer for the soundtrack to Amelie)
• Patty Griffin
• Mac Powell (lead singer for Third Day)
• U2
• Just about anything 80s!  
• Sarah McLachlan
• Loreena McKennitt
• Tchaikovsky
• Soundtracks  (some of my faves here are Amelie, Last of the Mohicans, Chocolat, Sense and Sensibility, Dances with Wolves, Emma, and the list goes on. . . )
• Alison Krauss
• Priscilla Ahn
• Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau
• World Music  (just about anything!)
• New Age 
• Indie 
• Celtic

Yeah, I think I better stop there.  That's seriously the tip of the iceberg!  What about you?  

.driving with my eyes closed.

Have you ever wanted to fly?  Not by means of an airplane or glider.  Just you, flesh and blood.  I have.  If I believed in reincarnation, I'd hope to come back as a bird.  Perhaps an eagle or hawk, with enormous wings that can carry me upon the wind, soaring between earth and sky.  On my way home today, I popped Sigur Ros's album Takk into the CD player.  Something about the first two songs makes you want to stand on the edge of reason and leap out into the open air, knowing that you are about to see the world, life, in a whole new and exciting way.  The rush of wind accompanied by the current of music filled my truck and for just a moment, surged with a feeling of elation, I closed my eyes.  Now before you run off to call a shrink and the suicide hotline, know that is NOT where this is going.  Ha!  Meditation.  I miss it.  I've been so far removed from my spiritual self that I don't even know where to even tap into it again.  While reading Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way during my lunch break, she touched on the subject of spirituality and the artist.  Spiritual electricity.  I'm still reading more about it so I can't elaborate on it much, but what I have read is quite interesting and valid.  Maybe the reason why I have struggled with my creativity is because I have made myself so distant from the Creator.  There was just something about what happened in the truck today that made me feel more alive, more in-tune.  I think it's about time that I stopped fighting with the spiritual me and allowed her to communicate more.  Only this time, not in a vehicle, eyes shut, going down the interstate right before rush hour traffic.  

P.S.  If you'd like to see a phenomenal music video featuring the song Glósóli by Sigur Ros (the song I was listening to) you can watch it here.

.you are my little bird.

I love music.  You've probably figured that out by now.  My little girl also loves music.  And I mean LOVES music!  There's nothing more delightful to watch than your two year old child dance her little heart out to a song being played on the radio or the television, or a book for that matter.  So what if her dance moves resemble a really whacked out version of Richard Simmon's "Sweating to the Oldies" workout videos?  (She gets that from her Daddy.  Let's pray she grows out of it.)  She also loves to sing.  Although most of the words to her songs are still gibberish, except for the occasional "Daddy," "Momma," "Keoki" (our dog) and names of other family members and favorite characters, it is still sweet to listen to.  You can't help but laugh at the sheer cuteness of it all.  I know, I'm the gushing Mom.  Yesterday, I came across a CD with a cover that caught my eye.  We all know that they say you should never judge a book, or in this case an album, by its cover.  True.  But I was pleased to find that this one was a keeper.  Elizabeth Mitchell's You are My Little Bird is a wonderful album to add to your child's music collection.  Opening with Little Liza Jane, this catchy tune gets you hooked and reels you, and your little one, in for a beautiful ride!  The variety of carefully handpicked songs ranging from classic folk to the Velvet Underground, has been delicately woven together into a colorful tapestry of music fit for younger and older audiences alike.  Accompanied by her daughter Storey and husband Daniel on some of the songs, Mitchell brings the familiarity and joy of singing together as a family on this album, something that I treasure as a parent.  A collection of beautifully sung tunes and terrific arrangements, this album is sure to become a family favorite!  So, to check out more on Elizabeth Mitchell and her music, visit her here.  If you like the sound of this album, you should also check out Mitchell's collaboration with Lisa Loeb on Catch a Moon.  One of my faves!  

.what a voice.

So there has been a lot of buzz on the internet about a woman named Susan Boyle of Scotland.  She appeared on the British talent show, Britain's Got Talent, where she blew the world away with her magnificent voice.  Listening to Opera does not usually bring me to tears, but I must admit, this one did.  Watch the clip here.  If you don't tear up just a little, you have no heart.  ;o)

.music::lenka.

The last couple of days, I've been feeling rather moody and a little melancholy.  Can't really put my finger on why, but needless to say, I've been trying to pull myself out of it.  With Spring officially only one day away, I have been on the search for some "happy-go-lucky" music and I think I have found it in a tune or two by Australian artist, Lenka Kripac.  You can't help the fact that your feet are tapping, and your head is bouncing from side to side, rolling a cheerful tune within it!  You can check out her cutesie website here and hear some of her music here.  I've plopped in a video for you too!  Just enjoy the show!

The Show - Lenka

.the hotel cafe tour.

It is WAY passed my bed time!  It seems that the Red Bull that I had while at Exit/In has not completely worn off yet.  That's okay.  I just wanted to share what an awesome night I had, with my kid sis, experiencing the Hotel Cafe Tour.  By far, one of the best shows I've ever had the pleasure of going to.  It featured some of the most talented women in music today, in my opinion.  Two of my faves were there:  Priscilla Ahn and Ingrid Michaelson.  Prior to hearing those two lovelies, a wonderful new voice opened the act.  Meiko.  Well, new to me anyways.  A sweet voice and a witty sense of humor, I truly enjoyed her song "Real Real Sweet" which was written to spite a gal who was under the impression her boyfriend had a fling with the singer.  Ha!  Next, another wonderful voice came from Katie Herzig.  Her song, "Forevermore" has won my heart, with its sweet childlike lyrics and jolly melody!   Unfortunately, due to an illness, singer Brooke Fraser was not able to attend tonight's gig.  Garrison Starr filled in for her, and what a treat!   Her last album, The Girl that Killed September, when mentioned, got a shout out from a man in the crowd, who soon became referred to as "Colt 45 Guy" throughout the evening. Another singer I almost forgot (it's 2 in the morning!) Erin McCarley  added to the show a more edgier rock sound, compared to the more folk, acoustics, played by the likes of Priscilla Ahn and Meiko.  And speaking of Priscilla Ahn, she is sweet, just as her voice, and ditsy funny.  Like when she brought out the kazoo and didn't know why the crowd chuckled.  Gotta love her!  And finally, Ingrid Michaelson.  Her entrance was introduced with 70s jive grooves off the electric guitar and bass.  And she played it off well with a walk to accompany the music.  The crowd was putty in her hands as she got us to sing, clap, and laugh with her.  All performers, including host Jason Kanakis, gave the eager listeners, fans, and some dude just there to check out the chicks, a good laugh and some awesome music!  So for those of you who may be living in any of the towns that these guys and gals shall be playing, I say mark your calendars because you're in for a wonderful time!  (I apologize if this isn't quite the most eloquent blog post.  It is seriously too early in the morning for me to think eloquently.  Just be glad I spelled most words correctly.  Ha!)