I dare you to listen to this song and NOT have it stuck in your head for the next couple of days. It's so catchy!
Shut In
I am in my thirties now. It's so weird. I keep discovering that this age reveals newness reminiscent of teenage transformations. Like opening something within yourself that you didn't know existed, and maybe never wanted. New pains, new ideas, new longing, new questions. A new and undefined sense of loss. It's a strange time. I'm trying to fight the strangeness with a new mission to continually seek adventure. To let the petty things go. To focus.
This incredible song expresses some of these sentiments beautifully. It's one of many phenomenal songs on Strand of Oaks' album HEAL. If you don't own it, I highly recommend purchasing it. It's so wonderful. So very, very wonderful.
Passing Ships
Oh, beautiful music - such incredible soul-lifting notes alongside simple, yet powerful words - you get me every time. You unfold and expand through my veins and my bones with a simultaneously calming and energizing tone that is somehow more than sounds - like an invitation to feel. Maybe something in me, maybe something in the composer or performer. Maybe something shared among us. Whatever may be held in this mystery that is the power of music, it's songs like Waterstrider's "Passing Ships" that pull me in and don't let go.
www.waterstridermusic.com
waterstrider.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/waterstridermusic
10 Tracks I Need to Share Now!
I could list a lot of excuses regarding my lack of updates this past month, but I won't. Instead, I'll just pour out a ton of (OK, not a ton... ten) tracks that I'm loving right now. They range from easy listening, acoustic stuff to dance-inducing poppy goodness. There's even a killer cover in there for good measure. Listen to one of them. Listen to all of them.
Mother & Father
Last week, we threw a surprise 25th anniversary party for my awesome parents. It's hard for me to believe that two and a half decades have flown by so quickly. I remember standing in the living room of our home, surrounded by grandparents, aunts, and uncles as they exchanged rings and vows. That was the day our family became whole. I was five years old. Now I have a five-year-old of my own. It's so strange to stop and realize how quickly life moves. How years and decades can slip by virtually undetected. Life moves at a speed we never ask it to. Make it a priority to live - really live - each day.
And as you're out there living each day, enjoy this great song from BROODS. This song, to me, is about home. About time. About living.
The Business of Emotion
If you're in need of a catchy song that will stick itself in your brain and play itself on repeat, well... here you go!
Kansas City
Hello, awesome song! Even if you weren't titled "Kansas City," I would probably still love you. But my heart being so full of KC pride makes it automatic that I love you so so so much.
816 for life. Go Royals. And BBQ.
Bored in the USA
Is this the part where I get all I ever wanted?
Who said that?
Can I get my money back?
It's hard to provide a description for such a beautiful and simultaneously depressing anthem such as this. Father John Misty perfected this song with no need for commentary. It's certainly worth a listen, especially if you're one of the few in this herd that is awake. Helpless, but awake and aware.
O Come O Come Emmanuel
I'm getting old. That's the only excuse. The pessimistic Christmas-music-is-played-way-too-much-of-the-year-in-an-effort-to-make-you-get-into-more-credit-card-debt Jaime is, as of this holiday season, voluntarily listening to Christmas music. Some of it, at least. Just a few select songs. Maybe three or four.
Ok, I made a playlist.
And cleared some files off my phone to be sure to have enough room for the songs.
There are 52 songs.
One of those 52 songs is this excellent rendition of a Christmas classic from the beautiful band Branches. It's is totally worth your time if you're looking for a little extra scoop of holiday cheer in the form of perfect vocal harmonies and magical sounds:
www.branchesmusic.com/songs-for-christmas
I learned of their Songs for Christmas EP through the wonderful music-sharing site Noisetrade a year or two ago. It's a great website, by the way. A wonderful way to check out and support emerging musicians, or just check them out without supporting them, if completely free music is your thang (it's my thang sometimes, too).
From the bottom of my heart to you and yours, Merry Christmas! I hope you are blessed with joyful time with the ones you love as you create memories that last a lifetime. It is, of course, the time spent together and the moments you share that really matter. So don't stress. And don't rack up more credit card debt.
Dearly Departed
Oh, my new love, Shakey Graves!
You make me want to dance and sing.
And play guitar.
Or shake a tambourine.
In the streets.
Like the happy fool that I am.
Love Ain't Enough
From the artist:
"Love Ain't Enough is the song that happens when you give up on giving up on love. Either one has some kind of epiphany, or it becomes too exhausting to fight it anymore. The title is kind of misleading, as it draws from the preceding state of mind, one in which the heart is less open, insatiable. This song is optimism."
Gold
Oh, this is a lovely tune!
Cavalier
The perfection of this song gives me chills, no matter how many times I hear it.
Fiona Coyne | Schley | Vacationer
Hints of autumn are in the air, and I am certainly thankful for that. But as I look back at the summer of 2014, I know there are some things I'll miss leaving behind. Not the excessive humidity. Not the horribly hungry mosquitos. Not the nasty sweating. Not the weird tan lines. Mainly, I'll miss a few good songs that represent the easygoing summertime fun.
Never Meant
Throwback Thursday has been all the rage once a week for that last several years. When it's no longer a trend and has become a thing of the past, when will our weekly reminiscing sessions take place?! Maybe Way-Back Wednesday will emerge from its ashes? Maybe we'll start now!
Yes, I think I'll make it a thing. And I'll kick it off (pun intended) with this American Football song that reminds me of a great group of friends who shared an unforgettable summer together in 2002. A summer of such awesomeness existed never before, and will exist never again.
A Post With No Name
It's been a long time since I shared some music on here. I blame the fact that I've shot eleven weddings so far this summer. It's been exhausting, exciting, fulfilling, and exhausting again. I spend more time on the computer than I wish I did, so when I'm done editing, I want to escape my cave of an office immediately. So I'm going to post a few great tracks that I've wanted to share for the last couple of months.
Where Are You (I am Already Gone)
A wise man once said "I would rather rock than not."
And, mostly, this wise man and I have similar preferences.
But if my soul has a stomach, it is fed through my ears. And these gentle, beautiful harmonies are a delicious and fulfilling meal.
Slow Motion
This song needs no explanation. No introduction.
Just listen.
Phox:
www.phoxband.com
www.facebook.com/phoxband
Golden Twin
So this one time, me and my girl Ashley took a superfun road trip to Omaha to see one of the most incredible shows I've ever experienced (Typhoon). I haven't yet bragged about how amazing that show was, because they were supposed to come to KC in June, and I was planning a double-brag after that show. But life happens and illness happens and bands cancel shows. And ugh. And sadness. So now I am completely bummed that I can't have twice as much of the goodness that was bestowed upon me. So I suppose I'll just single-brag about how incredible it was.
It was incredible.
Beyond the fantastic music that left my ears ringing and my heart full, the trip itself was a blast. It was filled with those random things that would normally be forgettable but become magical reminders that life is beautiful. It's lovely how you can be reminded of that at a truck stop at 3:00am as you shop for $10 ponchos.
As an added bonus, this awesome band Wild Ones opened for Typhoon. They delivered a solid performance that made my heart happy. And I want to share some of the happiness with you.
Yesterday Was Hard on All of Us
Today's Anthem is a replay of a song I posted on here a year or so ago. This anthem is in honor of two amazing young men who left this world too soon.
Today marks three years since my beloved friend Aaron lost (or won, I suppose) his battle with brain cancer. His friendship was a joy in my life for 7 or 8 seemingly brief years. But in that time, we made memories I'll always keep. And that's forever his gift to me. But beyond that, his incredible faith is still helping me build my own.
And this morning, friends and family laid to rest an amazing young man who lost his life in a tragic car accident a few days ago. I'm hurting for his wife, his two little boys, his parents and siblings, and all of his friends and family.
Words simply don't exist to even attempt to fill the void that these young men leave. No tribute is fitting. The hugs and the tears we share and shed don't ease the hurt or soothe the loss. Both so young and full of life. Both with so much left to give and to experience. Both deeply loved and strongly needed by so many people. It hurts knowing that four people were robbed of the joy of growing old with their spouse. That two little boys will grow up without their incredibly proud and devoted daddy. That two mothers had to bury their babies. That these two men didn't receive the years and decades they most certainly deserved. It hurts knowing that the empathy I feel for their loved ones can't take away even a tiny bit of the pain they will live with for the rest of their lives.
But what I love and treasure is the fact that they both blessed so many people with their love and their existence. And that I was able to witness some of their greatest moments on days when our lives intersected.