music and song of the week 7:12 pm
The first Song of the Week of 2012 is Jason Mraz’s new single, “I Won’t Give Up,” which I love!
I love Mraz’s music — his last album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, was especially great — so I’m looking forward to his new album, which is set for release sometime this year. In the meantime, this song is a beautiful one!
music and song of the week 10:51 am
I heard Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” in the car recently and immediately fell in love with it:
Gotye was born in Belgium but grew up in Australia. After listening to this song a few times, I tried out some of the other tracks on Gotye’s new album, Making Mirrors, which is great, and so I bought it. It’s now one of my favorite albums of 2011. Gotye has been compared to Sting, especially in his interest in drawing on various forms of world music, which seems an apt comparison.
Part of what makes this song great, of course, is that he inserts the woman’s point of view, underlining the male perspective, who ultimately comes across as kind of whiny. I think this is bloody brilliant! It’s also risky. I love it.
I also found a great live version of “Somebody I Used to Know”:
music and song of the week 10:42 pm
Last week I bought Matt Alber’s new album, Constant Crows. I haven’t had a chance to really listen to it carefully yet, but so far I really like its quiet, acoustic sound. Alber is most known, at least in gay circles, for his wonderful “End of the World,” a beautiful, romantic love song that had a great, Mad Men type video. I’ve been waiting for his follow-up all year.
One of the highlights that immediately stand out is his cover of Madonna’s “Take a Bow.” Here’s a live version I found on YouTube:
I’ve uploaded the album to my iPod so that I can listen to it more. “The River,” “Velvet Goldmine,” and “Tightrope” also stand out as potential favorites. I hope he puts out a video or two too — “End of the World” demonstrates that he has the video aesthetic to be a great video artist.
museums and song of the week 7:17 pm
Unlike PJ, I’m not a big She and Him fan. I love M. Ward, but Zooey Deschanel is a little too much for me. So, I was surprised when I heard a bit of their new Christmas album and immediately loved it. I ordered a copy of the CD ostensibly for PJ, but I probably love it even more than he does.
I love the album’s quiet simplicity, which really works on a song like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” the old Judy Garland classic:
The album also features “The Christmas Waltz,” “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” and “Blue Christmas,” all of which are great! I highly recommend it.
music and song of the week 8:08 pm
I am now officially obsessed with Florence + the Machine. I started listening to their new album, Ceremonials, on iTunes the other day and then I purchased it. It’s definitely a great album. So far, my favorite track if “What the Water Gave Me“:
I love the video for this song too. I’m fascinated by how different Florence Welch looks from different angles and in different clothes. Sometimes she looks like a teenager; sometimes she looks like a middle-aged Joan Crawford. She’s actually 25. I love the way she plays with her image in this way — sometimes seeming to be an innocent girl and sometimes being an amazonian woman. Her visual sense is even more impressive to me than Lady Gaga’s (who I also love).
While “What the Water Gave Me” is my favorite track, I also love several others: “Only if for a Night,” “Shake It Out,” and “Spectrum.”
Here’s the video for “Shake It Out”:
And here is a live performance of the song on The X Factor, just to show her visual aesthetic:
music and song of the week 2:23 pm
I recently came across The Civil Wars, a due made up of singer-songwriters Joy Williams and John Paul White, while browsing iTunes. I was immediately attracted to their music and downloaded their first album, Barton Hollow, which was released in February.
It’s a great album, and I’m enjoying listening to it, but one of my instant favorite songs on the album is a bonus track, a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me to the End of Love.” Here’s a live version of The Civil Wars singing it:
I love this version of the song. It’s romantic, beautiful, and haunting — I’ve been singing it and playing it in my head all week! I also love one of the comments on this video: “these two need to get a room.” I love the playful sexiness going on in this performance. Having watched a few other YouTube clips of them singing live, I can say that it’s not always this incendiary, but it’s always great! (Note: since Williams is married, I assume this sexiness is part of the act rather than a reflection of them having an off-stage relationship.) I’ll have to keep an eye on their concert schedule — I’d love to see them live sometime.
The Leonard Cohen version is quite different:
PJ loves Cohen’s music and really likes his version of this song, but I think The Civil Wars’ version is wonderful. To his each own, I guess!
music and song of the week 10:46 am
PJ recently recommended that I listen to Jenny & Johnny’s “Animal,” which he thought that I would like. He was right!
It’s a great song, one that we jokingly have deemed our older, female cat’s theme song. Now I can’t get it out of my head!
music and song of the week 7:20 pm
Jason Mraz is one of my favorite singer songwriters. He has a new album coming out in 2012, and clips of him performing new songs have hit YouTube.
One of these has become one of my recent favorites: “The World as I See It.” Here’s a clip of Mraz singing it live:
I like its positive message, and Mraz is always dreamy. He’s one of my favorite straight men — and like so many gays, I agree that, if there was any justice in the world, he, Brandon Flowers, and Adam Levine would all be gay. Such a shame that they’re not! Regardless, I can’t wait for his new album to come out.
music and song of the week 6:39 pm
I heard this song on Alt-Nation recently. It’s been in my head ever since, so I’ve adopted it as my get-your-book-done inspirational song!
Now when I’m deciding what to do with my time, I’ll just play this song in my head (or on my iPod) and I’ll know what to do: stop and take some time to think, ’cause I’ve got to make a serious decision about whether I’m really going to commit to getting the book done!
Here are the lyrics:
music and song of the week 7:51 pm
I’ve never been a big Beastie Boys fan, but Alt-Nation has been playing this song, and I can’t get it out of my head:
The video is very creative and fun, but that’s not why I love this track. When I first started choosing songs of the week they were meant to be inspirational to me in some way. Some reminded me of my yearly goals; others just reminded me of how much I love PJ.
“Don’t Play No Game that I Can’t Win” isn’t exactly inspiration, but it has gotten me thinking about my job a lot. There are a lot of ways that institutionally things are stacked against me being able to do the things I want and should be doing — like not having a development officer. As I enter the hump year of appointment, I need to decide if this is a game that I can’t win. And, if so, do I want to play it beyond my initial five-year appointment?
As I decide, I’ll sing along with Santigold!
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