Tag: music

Gift of Song: Six Songs for 2013

mari anjeliLeave a comment

If I were to choose six songs that made up my 2013 soundtrack, these would be it. I’ve either let them run a million times in my playlist; sang them out in the car, in my living room, or in my shower; or just loved them to bits. Again, you will see how diverse my taste is when it comes to music (though I do lean towards those with folk-y, acoustic-y feels). But I do hope you enjoy these tunes as well.

1. Today (Steve Moakler). Because today is a revival. So send your fear away, let it slip away and listen to this really positive, feel-good song.

2. Blood and My Bones (Elenowen). I told you I lean towards folk music.

3. Love Like This (The Likes of Us). If I could be born into another era, I’d want to be born into the age of flappers and cool, jazz sounds. But since I’m living in 2013, I’m just going to listen to The Likes of Us’ self-titled album. And I’d listen to this song. Because a love like this comes only once in a lifetime, once every thousand years.

4. Keep Hope Alive (Jason Yost Band). I listened to this song a lot when I was in Bali. You just gotta keep hope alive.

5. 10,000 Reasons (Matt Redman). Ahh, the ICPM Takeaway. Am I still singing like never before?

6. Oceans (by Hillsong United). Hillsong surprised me with their Zion album. Surprised me in a good way. I loved every song but this one has to be my favorite. It speaks so much about what I’m going through now. And so I will call upon His name. I will keep my eyes above the waves. Because I am His. And He is mine.

Those are my 2013 songs. I’m excited for the new songs I’ll be singing this 2014!

via https://mariscribbles.com/2013/12/11/gifts/

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

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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!