Recent Music Obsessions

i dont typically listen to music in the car...i should say when i am in the car alone...i prefer talk radio and have since high school...but i was recently turned on to this video and had to share - it has helped spark some interesting conversations...hoping you enjoy it too!




then that video sparked a girl crush on Kimbra...had to share this video too and i dare you not to fall in love with her a little bit :)

the clapping song

"the line broke the monkey got choked and they all went to heaven in a little rowboat" these are the words that came out of bryson's mouth in the bath last night...what? i laughed...i asked him what he was singing...he told me the clapping song...so i found it...here it is...3-6-9 the goose drank wine, the monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line...they play it on the kids station on XM that we like to listen to - Kid's Place Live - its pretty much the best song ever...hope you like it!

i heart shel silverstein

one of my favorite books of poetry as a kid...okay who is kidding...as an adult as well...was Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein...but that dern picture on the back cover of the book is haunting...not sure if his picture is actually on that book or on Giving Tree or both? but at any rate - he is one freaky dude! i have been following the blog We Love You So as i mentioned before and they highlighted him...apparently he did cartoons for playboy? he also wrote the Johnny Cash song "My Name is Sue". never knew. my ringtone for my brother is "My Name is Sue" - he loves that song...taught it to his kids. my nephew recites it...but this little clip is a little freaky...he sings part of the song with Johnny Cash and by sings i mean SCREAMS!




enjoy!

Pseudo Sneak Peak

so...you are going to have to wait a bit longer to see the "album" and the "music videos" but they put out this little remix to whet your appetite - they have been working hard!

leonard cohen

we saw the great leonard cohen perform at the nokia theater a couple fridays ago...i am just getting down to journal it. i was first introduced to him during college by our friend joel and quickly leonard cohen became a part of the background music of my college life. he was played during many a studying session...among other sessions...basically his greatest hits were the soundtrack of my college summed up. along the way i somehow turned my dad onto him and we had many a great discussions about his music/lyrics/poems. my dad gave me his book of psalms and a couple of his poetry books and my love for leonard grew and grew. he announced his first tour in 15 years and i wanted more than anything to see him live, but the pricey tickets almost deterred me...thankfully i had turned my father onto his music and generously he and Julie bought tickets for bryan and i.

we had an amazing dinner at Boa's steakhouse (thank you josh for the rec) and then waited in a STUPID long will-call line for the tickets, but once inside and in the presence of him i was immediately in awe. his voice can only get better with age, which is a nice surprise when seeing an artist who had their hey-day 40 years ago. part of what is so sustainable about him is his lyrics/poems - his songs are poems sung. at one point he spoke the lyrics "there is a crack in everything, that is how the light gets in" also he sang: hallelujah, suzanne, bird on a wire, i'm your man, tower of song, who by fire, take this waltz, everybody knows, chelsea hotel...

leonard was amazing. not just in his performance, but also his fashion (he had a bolo tie, which i typically loathe, but must forgive him because he has such genuine fashion sense) and presence. in many of the songs he knelt and sang into the mic like it was his last. he poured love into the mic truly. not just his performance, but his entire band was an amazing collection of artists. click here for the bios on the band - a true honor to watch! you could sense his respect for all the artists as well. at one point he had his back-up singers hum "ah doo dum dum dum ah doo dum dum" about 50 times because it was so angelic - and even though he probably did it every concert, it seemed like they were truly surprised as well that he kept them going.

he was on my list of people/bands i want to see before i die and trust me, it is a short list. i feel honored to be able to have seen him perform. i was inspired to pick up his book, Beautiful Losers, and i am enjoying it and can't help but hear his voice through it all. one of my favorite parts of the night is when he said that the last time he toured (15 years ago) he was a young man of 60 years old - "just a kid at the time with a crazy dream" thankfully someone captured the commentary here.

if he already passed your town hopefully you can somehow hear/see some of the crappy videos taken that i linked...if he has yet to come please do yourself a favor and fork out the money for tickets!

The Pseudo Rebels Breakthrough Performance

i could also say the pseudo rebels only performance but so not as impressive. on saturday night at the mai tai bar in long beach, B Nyce and DPIII hit the stage and spit mad grooves. okay i think that is about as hip hop as i get, but needless to say i was pretty darn proud of them. it took a lot of guts to get up there with the crowd that was there and if you ask me my opinion - they killed it! donny...i mean DPIII pleasantly surprised me with his energy and i knew B Nyce would bring it, but he really pulled it off without seeming nervous at all. If you want to here more psuedo rebels lovin - join the party here

Famous Blue Raincoat

today was invoicing day. never fun. i had my dh's itunes blindly playing and there was some irritating rock band on...don't ask me who...all i know is that i started getting all riled up and knew i needed to change the song and i found leonard cohen's albums and turned them on. a good friend by the name of joel gunderson first played him for me and he became a regular presence during study sessions in college so his music immediately makes me feel a little drunk. famous blue raincoat came on - if you haven't heard it - please take a couple minutes and listen to it here.
its funny because i always felt he was writing that letter to a woman, despite the quote "And what can I tell you my brother, my killer" maybe because he referred to the rose in the person's teeth, or maybe i just pictured another woman in a blue raincoat, i am not sure, but i realized it was about another man and about an affair (i had known it was about an affair, but thought it was some sort of lesbian thing). i had to add all new images now with the song and i think i liked it better when it was a woman. sorry leonard. at any rate i absolutely adore that song. the line in the song "one more thin gypsy thief" i think is able to capture the type of person he is writing to so well. the song is achingly written - with sadness, a little forgiveness/reconciliation and that bit of hindsight that seems to make things so much clearer.
"thanks for the trouble you took from her eyes. i thought it was there for good so i never tried"