Category: MUSIC

Thoughts on The Likes of Us

mari anjeli3 Comments

The sweet musical cartel that is The Likes of Us began as a long distance collaboration between Oklahoma native Benj Heard and Colorado songbird Katrina Stone. As the story goes, the pair stumbled upon an affinity for writing 1940’s inspired duets through the process of sending tracks back and forth over the course of a year. Without truly recognizing the depth of the sonic landscape they had created, The Likes of Us was formed as charmingly as the harmonies and lyrics that waltz through the valleys of their debut album.

via http://noisetrade.com/thelikesofus/the-likes-of-us

The Likes of Us‘ self-titled album has been murdering my playlist this past week. The album features 10 jazzy tracks, each of which makes me feel like I’m walking through an open field framed by floating vintage coloured balloons. It’s perfect chill-out music, the one you listen to when you’ve had a long day and you just want to daydream the night away.

Source: http://noisetrade.com/thelikesofus/the-likes-of-us
Source: http://noisetrade.com/thelikesofus/the-likes-of-us

I can’t seem to find the lyrics to their songs anywhere in the web — perhaps my Googling powers have dwindled. No matter. I’d probably memorize all the songs by the time this month is over. I’ll put up the lyrics somewhere, if I’m diligent enough.

A word of warning: the songs in this album will make you want to fall in love. The tracks include the following titles: No Cure for Love; Astronomy; More than Friends; Dream a Little Dream of Me; Love Like This; Smooth Movin’; Charity; You Found Me; Lovesick; and My Oh My. The titles speak loudly enough — if you decide to fall in love, you’ll find that there’s no cure for it and, at the end, you’ll be telling your heart, “My Oh My.”

But falling in love is a beautiful, beautiful thing, is it not? My favourite tracks are More than Friends and Love Like This. *Sigh*

Well, here’s a YT vid for you all to enjoy. And they do have those balloons I’ve been conjuring up in my imagination!

Enjoy!

Thoughts on Elenowen

mari anjeli1 Comment

It’s called ‘chemistry’, an elusive quality that can be part history, part mystery and all intangible until the moment that you feel it. It’s a meant-to-be melding of the emotional and creative that can happen between songwriters, performers, best friends or life partners. For Josh and Nicole Johnson – the duo Elenowen – that connection is all of the above and much more. And on their self-titled EP, the chemistry they share is as rare – and real – as it gets.

via http://noisetrade.com/elenowen/elenowen

And we are back with our weekly “Thoughts on…” segment. This week, we shall be featuring Elenowen, a husband-and-wife musical duo from Nashville, Tennessee.

Image from http://noisetrade.com/elenowen/elenowen
Source: http://noisetrade.com/elenowen/elenowen

Listening to the couple’s self-titled EP is like soaring high above mountaintops. It’s like flying through lush green forests; like going on an enchanting journey filled with ethereal harmonies. Though composed of just five songs (five songs do not seem enough!) the Elenowen EP something that I can listen to over and over and over again.

Some snippets:

  1. Flying for the First Time – “I’m driftin’ / Closer toward the skyline / Lookin’ down on my life / Tryin’ to get just one thing right / The second I start second guessing / Let go like a confession / Seeing what I was born to find / Flying for the first time”
  2. Blood & Bones – “My heart, was hiding in a cage / Keep it far away from anything that would shake it / Oh fear, it was my closest friend / It would paralyze me everytime that I started tryin’ / That’s where you came in”
  3. Head to My Heart – “Bring me back / Strong and sweet / Make the dream my reality / Lead me to my heart / Lead me to the beauty that will never fade / I will long to feel its true embrace”
  4. We Were Better Off – “We were better off when we were little children / When our faith came as easy as breathing / When we dreamed we could fly / Hope was shining in our eyes / We were better off when we were little children”
  5. Bittersweet – “Your lips taste like honey / Your kiss burns like salt / Your touch feels so foreign / Your love is like home”

Blood & Bones and Head to My Heart are my personal favourites. I tried doing a cover of the former, but it just wouldn’t do without a second half of a duo. So I’ll just leave with you the couple’s official YT video (oh, the rhymes).

Oh to find, be with, and even sing with that person you can call your blood and bones. :)

You can read more information about Elenowen here.

Thoughts on Galaxies and Such

mari anjeli6 Comments

It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow. So. Let’s fill blogosphere with lots and lots of silly love songs.

Source: http://www.noisetrade.com/jillianedwards/galaxies-such
Source: http://www.noisetrade.com/jillianedwards/galaxies-such

I’m listening to Jillian Edward’s Galaxies and Such. Hihi. My kind of tweetums music once again. Miss Edwards (oops, she’s a Mrs. now, based from her Facebook Page status) sounds like a dreamier Taylor Swift — there are lots of guitar playing, but there’s less heartbreak and a smaller dose of angst. I got the free sampler from Noisetrade. The website offers a lot of good, legally free music there so you might want to check it out.

But let’s go back to Galaxies and Such. There are six songs in the sampler: Songbird; Try; Nonfiction Love Song; Gullible; Go Together; and July and June. Let me just share my fave portions once again:

  1. Songbird – “And I want to watch sunrise / With my love by my side / And I want to grow / And I want to learn / I want to fire / And I want to burn / I want to rise / And I want to fall / I want to run / And I want to crawl / I want to be a songbird”
  2. Try – “And if you were words in a story / You’d be in a book that’s overdue / That’s somewhere hidden in my closet / Looked a million times for you”
  3. Nonfiction Love Song – “So we’ve got time to kill / All the reasons we should hold back / And I wear you on a locket ’round my neck / And I haven’t opened it up yet / But I’ll look back and laugh I’ll bet / And tell you ’bout these days / Like they are stories of old / And I wish my voice would echo / Through galaxies and such / To scratch the surface of explaining to you just how much I’m glad / You don’t have to try / You don’t have to change / Baby you stay just the same ” (Haha! I think I copied the entire chorus!)
  4. Gullible – “While it’s fresh on my mind / As if it weren’t all the time / Has it changed it all / Has it changed it all”
  5. Go Together – “Window to the sky / A telescope to the eye / Like a stamp to a letter / I want to know you better / I want to be so much nearer / I want to go together with you”
  6. July and June – “Tie them in a bow / And send them your way / On the fastest train I know / To get to you / Do I really need a reason / Besides I want to / And I’ve got an unending debt / To love you”

My favourites are obviously Nonfiction Love Song and July and June. Nonfiction Love Song because it’s all about the waiting (plus the background vocals are nice, too). July and June because we don’t really need a reason to do sweet and thoughtful things. See, we can just do them because we want to and not because we’re pressured by Valentine’s Day, etc.

So I’m posting this because I want to. And I’m sharing this YT vid for the same reason, too:

Happy Valentine’s Eve!

Thoughts on Us

mari anjeli3 Comments

I am mushy, cheesy, and am a huge fan of sweet things so forgive me for this saccharine-filled post. If you’re a fan of ooey goey music, this post is for you. If not, you can come back on Friday or Saturday. By then, I’ll probably be over this very acute sugar shock.

I’m listening to the musical duo US’ debut album. Last December, a friend who knew I liked “cutie patootie” music sent me the YouTube links to two of the songs from the album —  I clicked on the links and I was instantly hooked.

I like US. US is made up of husband and wife Michael Alvarado and Carissa Rae. I’m a big fan of husband and wife musical team ups, you see. Of course the duo’s music is really good, too. I particularly like their self-titled album because it’s a good soundtrack for people who have been/are in/will be in long distance relationships.

Favourite tracks: ALL. Thus I shall just highlight my favourite lyrics from the 10 songs included in the album.

  1. Never gonna leave you – “I’m the kind of guy who wants to show you why love can conquer all / Don’t be worried don’t be scared / Just know that I’ll be there”
  2. Before we go – “Before we go far away I should say / Before we go far away I should say this / Before we go far away I should say that I’m in love…”
  3. Close to You – “I can never have enough of you / In every little thing you do I just wanna be close / I just wanna be close to you”
  4. Fall Asleep  – “I just wanna fall asleep / I just wanna fall asleep / I just wanna fall asleep inside your arms”
  5. Girl in L.A. – “The one I love’s in California / What can I say / I’m in love with a girl in LA”
  6. Missin’ You Like Crazy – “Just me and my mornin’ coffee / thinking about how you’ve got me inside your heart / Wherever you are”
  7. I Will Wait for You – “No one can choose who they fall for / Or when they fall / Or how they fall / or why / I, well I fell for you and I must wait / It’s only a matter of time”
  8. Make You Love Me – “Do I have to go away to make you love me?” 
  9. Near or Far – “I’m here you’re there but my love is with you everywhere”
  10. Take Me Home – “Home for me is where you are”

So. Much. Cheese.

But hey. Let’s all have a cheese sandwich together. Check their music out! You can purchase their album from iTunes or from their bandcamp page if their music strikes your fancy.

And now, a YT vid:

Enjoy!