I'm thrilled to find out today that Marian McPartland is still alive. In recent weeks I've realized what I really enjoyed about her show on NPR: she and her guests kind of play off of each other in a way that makes me think neither of them expect the gloriousness of the sound that they produce. Since Marian can bounce off any style she hears, and her guests represent so many diverse jazz styles, there really is no telling what you're going to hear every show, except that it's probably going to be talking and excellent jazz.
Now I don't think I would ever get to play with Marian: a) I'm not a jazz pianist and I don't think I ever will be, and b) I don't think she'll be alive long enough to wait for me to make it big. But that's not going to be a problem for her; her immortality is almost more than ensured.
Thanks for reading.
Song in my head: Black Eyed Peas, "Boom Boom Pow".
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Liberation
What were you doing on Liberation Day? This is what I did.
Song in my head: Tchaikovsky, "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy". If you're going to YouTube, don't miss the trip-hop, dance, and electronic covers of this song. ^_^
Song in my head: Tchaikovsky, "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy". If you're going to YouTube, don't miss the trip-hop, dance, and electronic covers of this song. ^_^
Friday, June 26, 2009
"Carry me to the river Jordan"
You know, since he died at a relatively early age, it would've been appropriate here to say that "the youth is wasted on the young". But that was obviously not true of him. He drank up his youth all the way to the last drop.
Rest in peace, Michael Jackson. You know this now, that I always believed in your music, and I'll still be waiting on your comeback. ^_^
Song in my head: Jackson Five, "I Want You Back". My favorite song that has him on it.
Rest in peace, Michael Jackson. You know this now, that I always believed in your music, and I'll still be waiting on your comeback. ^_^
Song in my head: Jackson Five, "I Want You Back". My favorite song that has him on it.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Why I like this song, No. 2
Today on "Why I like this song" I thought I'd write about a song that to my knowledge wasn't released as a single (and therefore probably never made it to radio anywhere). This kind of song is fascinating because most of the time record executives have a big say on what becomes a single from an album. The fact that this song was not a single meant that either the composer or the executives or both decided that it would not be fit for radio. Let's do Jason Mraz, "Beautiful Mess".
At least on Guam, the only singles I heard from We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things were an updated "I'm Yours" (which I already discussed earlier, though not on Why I like this song) and "Lucky" with Colbie Caillat. So when I heard "Beautiful Mess" I was pleasantly surprised.
Jason Mraz has a (late 90's style) rap- or hip-hop-like cadence to his written lyrics; this is characterized by the meter or rhythm of his words varying almost every line. This song is no different, demonstrating a meter that fits the words, instead of words fitting a meter:
If you tried fitting these words in the second verse to the actual cadence he sings, it would probably look something like this:
It's a proper--if highly irregular--meter, because the stresses are in the right places.
But what really makes this song for me is the first part of the chorus:
He repeats the word "kind" three times as the beginning of the middle three lines, all with a stabbing quality to them, singing them in high G-sharps and an F-sharp for the last one, harmonizing with the E, G#m, and F#m in the guitar. It's like he is reacting to being stabbed repeatedly with a sharp knife slowly going into him. Whenever I hear this part of the song it makes my eyes well up, because the words, melody, and chords work together towards an effect that translates to the listener as "puti korason," Chamorro for heartache. And who said sound-pictures are dead? ^_^
The whole song itself is actually very easy to play; four-chorders out there would be delighted in its basic progression: E G#m F#m A -> B, and repeat. The "beautiful mess" chords are just "A / B /" then repeat. Incidentally, it felt as if a quarter to a third of the songs in the rest of the album used the same chord progression (albeit in different keys). The creativity is injected in how the song shapes itself around the words he wants to say.
Is it imo? Every time I hear it I become more convinced that it is. The "relationship" being staged is far from perfect, but for the speaker, the fact that he is still hurt by her verbal blades proves to him that there is still something beautiful and worth continuing:
Thanks for reading.
At least on Guam, the only singles I heard from We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things were an updated "I'm Yours" (which I already discussed earlier, though not on Why I like this song) and "Lucky" with Colbie Caillat. So when I heard "Beautiful Mess" I was pleasantly surprised.
Jason Mraz has a (late 90's style) rap- or hip-hop-like cadence to his written lyrics; this is characterized by the meter or rhythm of his words varying almost every line. This song is no different, demonstrating a meter that fits the words, instead of words fitting a meter:
Although you're biased, I love your advice
Your comebacks are quick and probably have to do with your insecurities
There's no shame in being crazy depending on how you take these
Words they're paraphrasing, this relationship we're staging
If you tried fitting these words in the second verse to the actual cadence he sings, it would probably look something like this:
Al - though you're biased, I love your advice
Your comebacks are quick and probably have to do with your insecurities
There's no shame in be - ing crazy depending on how you take these
Words they're paraphrasing, this relationship we're staging
It's a proper--if highly irregular--meter, because the stresses are in the right places.
But what really makes this song for me is the first part of the chorus:
Well, it
kind of hurts when the
kind of words you write
kind of turn them-
selves into knives
He repeats the word "kind" three times as the beginning of the middle three lines, all with a stabbing quality to them, singing them in high G-sharps and an F-sharp for the last one, harmonizing with the E, G#m, and F#m in the guitar. It's like he is reacting to being stabbed repeatedly with a sharp knife slowly going into him. Whenever I hear this part of the song it makes my eyes well up, because the words, melody, and chords work together towards an effect that translates to the listener as "puti korason," Chamorro for heartache. And who said sound-pictures are dead? ^_^
The whole song itself is actually very easy to play; four-chorders out there would be delighted in its basic progression: E G#m F#m A -> B, and repeat. The "beautiful mess" chords are just "A / B /" then repeat. Incidentally, it felt as if a quarter to a third of the songs in the rest of the album used the same chord progression (albeit in different keys). The creativity is injected in how the song shapes itself around the words he wants to say.
Is it imo? Every time I hear it I become more convinced that it is. The "relationship" being staged is far from perfect, but for the speaker, the fact that he is still hurt by her verbal blades proves to him that there is still something beautiful and worth continuing:
And through
timeless words and
priceless pictures we'll
fly like birds
not of this Earth.
And
tides they turn and
hearts disfigure but
that's no concern when we're
wounded together.
Thanks for reading.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Why I like this song, No. 1
I don't know whether this is going to be a regular feature of my blog (let alone whether it will ever be repeated ^_^) but tonight after hearing the recording of Cueshe, "Back to Me", I suddenly stumbled upon the reason I liked this song. (Incidentally, I did post a comment on the video that is an outline of what I am going to say here, but I found that "the margin could not contain the proof", as it were.)
There is a certain feeling I get whenever I listen to it or play it. I cannot think of a single word to describe it, but it's somewhere between loneliness and an almost insane hopefulness and yearning.
Most of the drama between these two emotions is illustrated in the contrast between the song's lyrics and the type of music accompanying it. It begins with a four-note motif that alternates between Esus2 and E, which appears to be setting up the song to be a love song--in effect, a love that is ongoing. This creates tension with the words first sung over it:
(Chords are solely my interpretation.) Oh, so the love was lost. Well, this is weird, because we have already been cued in to thinking about ongoing, current love by the opening motif.
Also, the verse chords resolve to E major (as can be seen in the fragment above) but are mainly the minor chords (C#m and F#m being the main chords in this section). But when we get to the chorus, this happens:
We get an explosive E major, coupled with the almost screamed words "Can you FEEL me? See me falling away!" The effect is jarring because we finally realize what kind of a song this is--she isn't coming back, but she still "need[s] to come home / Back to me." Then the intro comes back in, washing it all away with that hopeful strain of E's and Esus2's.
So the story that unfolds for me is this: The speaker here is at the brink of despair of ever seeing his loved one again, having just realized that he does love her after all. But kind of figuring they'll never be together again, his yearning to see her again inexplicably increases. Maybe, as in fiction, the improbable should happen and they will end up together again. But as time passes, that hope not only becomes more distant, but also more fantastic, insisting that the speaker keep dreaming against reality.
I began to really like this song when I realized that the feeling portrayed to me in it is very similar to what it felt like a few weeks after my first breakup.
Is it imo? Yes, because the despair is real but the unreal (and even unrealistic) hope is even stronger.
Thanks for reading. Maybe for these posts I can hold off on "Song in my head". What do you think? ^_^
There is a certain feeling I get whenever I listen to it or play it. I cannot think of a single word to describe it, but it's somewhere between loneliness and an almost insane hopefulness and yearning.
Most of the drama between these two emotions is illustrated in the contrast between the song's lyrics and the type of music accompanying it. It begins with a four-note motif that alternates between Esus2 and E, which appears to be setting up the song to be a love song--in effect, a love that is ongoing. This creates tension with the words first sung over it:
C#m A E
Sometimes I feel like I'm all alone
Wondering of what have I done wrong.
C#m A F#m B
Maybe I'm just missing you all along
F#m B
When will you be coming home
N.C. E
back to me?
(Chords are solely my interpretation.) Oh, so the love was lost. Well, this is weird, because we have already been cued in to thinking about ongoing, current love by the opening motif.
Also, the verse chords resolve to E major (as can be seen in the fragment above) but are mainly the minor chords (C#m and F#m being the main chords in this section). But when we get to the chorus, this happens:
E C#m F#m B
Can you feel me, see me falling away?
Did you hear me? I'm calling out your name.
F#m B
'Cause I'm barely hanging on
F#m B
Baby, you need to come home
N.C. [Intro]
back to me.
We get an explosive E major, coupled with the almost screamed words "Can you FEEL me? See me falling away!" The effect is jarring because we finally realize what kind of a song this is--she isn't coming back, but she still "need[s] to come home / Back to me." Then the intro comes back in, washing it all away with that hopeful strain of E's and Esus2's.
So the story that unfolds for me is this: The speaker here is at the brink of despair of ever seeing his loved one again, having just realized that he does love her after all. But kind of figuring they'll never be together again, his yearning to see her again inexplicably increases. Maybe, as in fiction, the improbable should happen and they will end up together again. But as time passes, that hope not only becomes more distant, but also more fantastic, insisting that the speaker keep dreaming against reality.
I began to really like this song when I realized that the feeling portrayed to me in it is very similar to what it felt like a few weeks after my first breakup.
Is it imo? Yes, because the despair is real but the unreal (and even unrealistic) hope is even stronger.
Thanks for reading. Maybe for these posts I can hold off on "Song in my head". What do you think? ^_^
Monday, May 4, 2009
They don't write music like this anymore
Lately I have been doing a lot of cruising on YouTube in order to listen to songs that I may want to cover with the Imaginary Friends. Almost invariably, when I get to a video that features music from more than twenty years ago (mostly 70s classic rock or 80s R&B or something similar), and I read the comments, I read the same line over and over again:
"They don't write music like this anymore."
Now, I've seen this line hundreds of times, both online and in the real world, and I may have even said this a couple of times in different occasions, but tonight, as I read it being said about Champaign, "Try Again", I felt a small but insistent irritation in the back of my head.
For some reason, the fact that I had the most excellent jam session with my bandmates just this past Saturday night where we played and sang the music of our decades (the nineties and this side of the millennium) kind of gave me a different skew on the above line when I read it tonight. When that particular poster said in the text comments, "...they don't write music like this anymore," (correct grammar and punctuation mine), he or she is implying that the music that was conceived of after that time frame intrinsically has less literary or otherwise musical merit.
Now, I know that's not true, because had it been true, we would not have sung any of those songs we sang on our hang-out. Why would we enjoy singing a musically inferior song?
Second, upon more reflection, I realized that the statement is patently true. Of course they don't write music like this anymore. There are now many more artists than there ever were when "Try Again" came out, thanks to the Web, mostly. Now, that makes the probability of hearing a "bad" song much larger than it was decades ago, but it also increases the probability of you hearing a song (or artist) that is much closer to your tastes. That's because older bands and artists couldn't burrow into a niche; they had to appeal to more people in order to succeed as musical acts.
Anyway, in the end, the annoyance passed, because I pictured a time thirty years from now, and we check out YouTube (or a future descendant program thereof) of, say, Usher, "Love in This Club", and I pictured myself leaving a comment, "They don't write music like this anymore." ^_^
Thanks for reading.
Song in my head: John Mayer, "Sucker".
"They don't write music like this anymore."
Now, I've seen this line hundreds of times, both online and in the real world, and I may have even said this a couple of times in different occasions, but tonight, as I read it being said about Champaign, "Try Again", I felt a small but insistent irritation in the back of my head.
For some reason, the fact that I had the most excellent jam session with my bandmates just this past Saturday night where we played and sang the music of our decades (the nineties and this side of the millennium) kind of gave me a different skew on the above line when I read it tonight. When that particular poster said in the text comments, "...they don't write music like this anymore," (correct grammar and punctuation mine), he or she is implying that the music that was conceived of after that time frame intrinsically has less literary or otherwise musical merit.
Now, I know that's not true, because had it been true, we would not have sung any of those songs we sang on our hang-out. Why would we enjoy singing a musically inferior song?
Second, upon more reflection, I realized that the statement is patently true. Of course they don't write music like this anymore. There are now many more artists than there ever were when "Try Again" came out, thanks to the Web, mostly. Now, that makes the probability of hearing a "bad" song much larger than it was decades ago, but it also increases the probability of you hearing a song (or artist) that is much closer to your tastes. That's because older bands and artists couldn't burrow into a niche; they had to appeal to more people in order to succeed as musical acts.
Anyway, in the end, the annoyance passed, because I pictured a time thirty years from now, and we check out YouTube (or a future descendant program thereof) of, say, Usher, "Love in This Club", and I pictured myself leaving a comment, "They don't write music like this anymore." ^_^
Thanks for reading.
Song in my head: John Mayer, "Sucker".
Saturday, December 20, 2008
A selfish streak
I don't know why I thought this was the time to buy myself a Nintendo DS. Perhaps I've waited long enough, you know? I mean, the DSi is already selling here on Guam, so I thought I'd pounce.
When I prophesy that my Christmas season was going to be busy, even I did not realize just how busy I was going to get. People left and right were having parties, performances, and the like. A big disadvantage for this year is that the beginning of the Christmas season cut into Final Exams week. So I don't know just how poorly I did, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see the damage. This time around I know I am at fault, though, because I was supposed to have already learned the lessons last semester. And here I am, once again singing the alma mater song for a class I am not graduating with.
At the same time, though, I have a feeling that this time something will be different. It's not really a "good" feeling per se; I guess I'm just feeling a bit... expectant. I haven't felt that in a long time.
Hopefully I could get cracking on those Christmas cards.
Thanks for reading.
Song in my head: The Darkness, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love". I apologize if I already had put out this song, but I find it apropos in two levels. One is that it's one of the songs on the game Guitar Hero: On Tour for the DS that I bought.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Random variable
Has anyone ever thought of just how poetic a name the "Jaws of Life" is? I mean, it's a device with a pair of jaws which seeks to prolong the life of victims trapped in twisted cars and whatnot.
Song in my head: Jack White and Alicia Keys, "Another Way to Die".
Song in my head: Jack White and Alicia Keys, "Another Way to Die".
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Special character
My mother has a habit of whipping out the Magic Mic and singing karaoke on random nights. Tonight was one of them. Naturally, after I ate dinner, I joined her for some of the songs, and we noticed an oddity: a song that I know as "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg was masquerading under the title "Lonely". We clearly saw the opening lines of the song "Longer", so I decided to select it, and thereby discovered a song we thought didn't exist in our magic mic.
The revelation brought to mind my very short stay in Saipan last weekend. A couple of brothers was driving me towards the hotel, and as we were talking story I realized that Saipan was filled with green stuff and buildings. If it wasn't being taken over by vegetation, it was the site of some commercial center or hotel or store.
It wasn't until someone asked me about it when I touched back down onto Guam that I realized that I didn't see any houses when I was there. Now that I think about it, I only traveled on two of the main roads of Saipan and most likely the houses are along the minor roads. But Saipan has a grand total of three main roads, and it didn't seem possible that I didn't see any places to stay there.
That, of course, warrants greater scrutiny. Perhaps when I take another trip there, I should stay at someone's house. But there is no denying it: Saipan was picturesque. However, I didn't think that I would ever say that a place was too "green". Perhaps I just got used to how gray Guam has become.
At least now I know what Kim sees whenever she hops there every week or so.
Thanks for reading.
Song in my head: Stevie Wonder, "Overjoyed".
The revelation brought to mind my very short stay in Saipan last weekend. A couple of brothers was driving me towards the hotel, and as we were talking story I realized that Saipan was filled with green stuff and buildings. If it wasn't being taken over by vegetation, it was the site of some commercial center or hotel or store.
It wasn't until someone asked me about it when I touched back down onto Guam that I realized that I didn't see any houses when I was there. Now that I think about it, I only traveled on two of the main roads of Saipan and most likely the houses are along the minor roads. But Saipan has a grand total of three main roads, and it didn't seem possible that I didn't see any places to stay there.
That, of course, warrants greater scrutiny. Perhaps when I take another trip there, I should stay at someone's house. But there is no denying it: Saipan was picturesque. However, I didn't think that I would ever say that a place was too "green". Perhaps I just got used to how gray Guam has become.
At least now I know what Kim sees whenever she hops there every week or so.
Thanks for reading.
Song in my head: Stevie Wonder, "Overjoyed".
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Seventeen syllables, No. 68
I smell the droplets
Threatening to rain down like
The words to new songs.
Threatening to rain down like
The words to new songs.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Somewhere in the darkness
I don't know what it was about where I slept (or at least tried to sleep ^_^) yesterday. It was a velvety dark and warmly gloomy night (whatever that means...) as I sat within view of the sea. Sometimes when the wind whipped up the right way, I was even able to smell it. The white tops of the waves were small but it was due to distance. It was so peaceful, bordering on the eerie, actually.
And I was ready. I had a guitar and some paper to write on.
About two hours later, I woke up with a start. I looked up from where I sat. The night was still as dark, and the division between sea and sky remained shrouded. But now there was a completed song on a piece of paper, and another almost done. It was a moment: I haven't written anything in verse for the longest time, and for me to be able to come up with these songs kind of confirms me in a significant way this year.
Soon I'll type them out and store them somewhere safe. I hope my bandmates receive these songs warmly, at least.
Thank you very much for reading.
Song in my head: Leann Rimes, "But I Do Love You".
And I was ready. I had a guitar and some paper to write on.
About two hours later, I woke up with a start. I looked up from where I sat. The night was still as dark, and the division between sea and sky remained shrouded. But now there was a completed song on a piece of paper, and another almost done. It was a moment: I haven't written anything in verse for the longest time, and for me to be able to come up with these songs kind of confirms me in a significant way this year.
Soon I'll type them out and store them somewhere safe. I hope my bandmates receive these songs warmly, at least.
Thank you very much for reading.
Song in my head: Leann Rimes, "But I Do Love You".
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The semester I came back
It feels like coming back from a long vacation, and just like in a real vacation, it feels good. ^_^
Today I received a tiny yet momentous hope that I will be able to pass my Calculus class--after three tries. My grades haven't been the best for that class, but from the tests and homework I have been submitting, it seems that I am at least hanging by a moment at a C right now. Additionally I'm feeling really good about the final, even though I wasn't able to answer these two really easy questions there (which I chalked up to the normal test jitters)--I walked out of that testing area looking forward to the next class in the series. I really hope the third time is the charm. ^_^
Today I found out that someone has counted me among her friends. Quite a surprising discovery for me, because lately I've been feeling kind of nothing special. She spilled her guts over some fast food, so the best I could do was to comfort her, saying that I went through almost the same thing. Kind of therapeutic, I should say... for both of us.
Hope tomorrow is also good.
Thanks for reading.
Song in my head: Genesis, "Follow You Follow Me". I can't describe what this song makes me feel. There's an almost spiritual quality to it... whatever it is, it's part of imo.
Today I received a tiny yet momentous hope that I will be able to pass my Calculus class--after three tries. My grades haven't been the best for that class, but from the tests and homework I have been submitting, it seems that I am at least hanging by a moment at a C right now. Additionally I'm feeling really good about the final, even though I wasn't able to answer these two really easy questions there (which I chalked up to the normal test jitters)--I walked out of that testing area looking forward to the next class in the series. I really hope the third time is the charm. ^_^
Today I found out that someone has counted me among her friends. Quite a surprising discovery for me, because lately I've been feeling kind of nothing special. She spilled her guts over some fast food, so the best I could do was to comfort her, saying that I went through almost the same thing. Kind of therapeutic, I should say... for both of us.
Hope tomorrow is also good.
Thanks for reading.
Song in my head: Genesis, "Follow You Follow Me". I can't describe what this song makes me feel. There's an almost spiritual quality to it... whatever it is, it's part of imo.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Where is the iPhone now?
Watching the newest Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode, I saw an iPhone. ^_^ I also saw a reference to Raymond Carver, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. I read an excerpt from this book in my Linguistics class a few weeks ago. Detective Logan was handed it during a search, and he threw it to the ground. How about that, huh?
Just thought I'd mention it.
Song in my head: Jackson 5, "Give Love on Christmas Day". I remember this to be the very first song I ever recognized. I heard it while with my family at the Light Rail Transit (LRT) station and train somewhere in Manila.
What about you? What is the first song you ever heard?
Just thought I'd mention it.
Song in my head: Jackson 5, "Give Love on Christmas Day". I remember this to be the very first song I ever recognized. I heard it while with my family at the Light Rail Transit (LRT) station and train somewhere in Manila.
What about you? What is the first song you ever heard?
Friday, September 7, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Seventeen syllables, No. 23
The old radio sings
Like it sang last night. The words
Are in my mouth, too.
Like it sang last night. The words
Are in my mouth, too.
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