Music

Late to the party?

JulieLeave a comment

Not so – you still have time before tomorrow to check out Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt asking me to go out New Year’s Eve… or maybe they’re asking you…I’m not totally sure… 

But anyway,  it’s a lovely little rendition of Frank Loesser’s song, (What are You Doing) New Year’s Eve. Check out their version on Youtube, so sweet! And if you’re still on Christmas time, check out Zooey in the movie Elf bringing some Christmas cheer. Or you can hear more of her music as part of the group She & Him  – yes the library has copies of the CDs.  Happy New Year!!

—Julie

Traffic Made Tolerable

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Once again, a traffic jam led me to a musical happy place – nothing like inching along on the highway for concentrating on new music. When we came to a standstill on I480, I put in the latest by Ian Moore and The Lossy Coils. I “listened” to it once but this time I really heard it and I really like it! Some of the lyrics that caught me were, “I’ve got a lazy eye but an activated mind” from the first track, Secondhand Store. (Unfortunately, I think most people have their eyes going but the mind, not so much.)  And from The Levees:

These days go by/ but most days we’re just barely getting by/Maybe we will be different/maybe we will be different today

I liked every song, but I especially loved the last track, Sad Affair, a little bit of Bowie, a little more of Elvis Costello, but definitely his own.   I can’t describe the album better than the writer for Jam Magazine, Tim Taylor: “(El Sonido Nuevo is) a guitar-fueled, energetic record with beautiful melodies, intelligent lyrics, and exceptional vocal harmonies.” The CD is El Sonido Nuevo, check it out!!

—Julie

Run away with him!

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I’ve meant to write about musician Josh Ritter for some time, ever since I first listened to his album, So Runs the World Away. It was really the 3rd track that made me stop and fully pay attention – no mean feat in my world. It’s such a striking, cinematic song and I loved it even more as I read the lyrics. Here’s the first verse from “The Curse”:

He opens his eyes falls in love at first sight
With the girl in the doorway
What beautiful lines and how full of life
After thousands of years what a face to wake up to
He holds back a sigh as she touches his arm
She dusts off the bed where ’til now he’s been sleeping
And under miles of stone, the dried fig of his heart
Under scarab and bone starts back to it’s beating

I think he is very good writer and certainly not afraid to take an unusual subject to turn into a song. How many songs have you heard about a mummy who wakes up, meets modern girl, falls in love? Ok, well, how about one in which the mummy goes on a book tour? Didn’t think so. 

Anyway, I just came across a novel this morning authored by Mr. Ritter. With his storytelling and writing talent, it didn’t surprise me to see he had published a book. It’ll be interesting to see how how his talents translate. Keep you posted…

—Julie

Festival de Cannes

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To all you film fans out there:

Care to spend a couple of weeks in France watching movies (oh and maybe take a dip in the Meditteranean as well)? Check out the lineup of films that are showing at the Festival de Cannes.  Here’s a look at the trailers for some of the the films as well. While sadly I can’t make the trip, there are a couple of titles I’m looking forward to seeing when they’re released here:  Pedro Almodovar’s new film La Piel Que Habito (The Skin that I Live In) and The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick. Sean Penn even shows up in glam rock regalia in This Must be the Place directed by Paolo Sorrentino – David Byrne wrote the music and the title is one of my favorite songs of all time by, of course, David Byrne’s Talking Heads. Have a listen here .

Au Revoir.

~ Dori

Hi Steve!

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For anyone who has had children in the last  twenty  years, that phrase will conjure up memories of Steve and his dog, Blue. Every week Blue would want to play “Blue’s clues” where Steve and I — I mean, the children in the audience — would look for her clues to solve the mystery.

Well, last week as I was searching for a clue of what to listen to next, I saw a CD from none other than Steve! Steve Burns, as he is known in real life, recorded an album of rock songs a few years ago called Songs for Dustmites. It was strange hearing him sing anything other than children’s music, but after the second listen I stopped thinking about that and enjoyed it. Some songs seemed a little overproduced and I questioned the addition of a trumpet line here and flute solo there, but definitely worth a listen.

— Julie

Traffic made tolerable

JulieLeave a comment

Got stuck in traffic the other morning and normally it’d be a stinky way to start the day, but the positive was I finally got to listen to the whole Matt Morris cd. I’ve been enjoying the first half and the 2nd was also good. I knew before going in that he is a former Mouseketeer and fellow alum Justin Timberlake had produced it for his own label. Was this Disney nepotism? Would it sound like Britney Spears or J.C. Chavez? If so, I wasn’t too anxious to listen, but like Mikey, I tried it and I liked it. He’s got a mix of sounds going on – at various points I thought, Radiohead, Jason Mraz, Art Garfunkel, Coldplay – so there’s an interesting mix. It’s worth some time…especially helpful to make bad commute time go faster!

— Julie