mp3: “Cecilia/Amanda” – Elliott Smith
Unreleased, but provided recently by Kill Rock Stars in anticipation/celebration of their reissuing of Elliott Smith’s 1994 debut album Roman Candle and 2004 posthumous LP From a Basement on the Hill on April 6th, 2010.
Starr twisted my arm today and talked me into renting movies for tonight. But first we had to find her a journal. Not just any journal, but the perfect journal. The one and only journal that she will be pouring her thoughts out to for the whole year! It’s a big deal! Quite the commitment. We spent quite a bit of time at the bookstore…trying not to get distracted by our surroundings and failing! We had fun. We also found what she was looking for!!
Back to the movies. We ended up renting a couple of indie-ish movies, none of the “big” movies looked very interesting.
We both really enjoyed Adam, it was sweet. We also watched Paper Heart before Skye called and made a “better” offer of a late movie at the theater! “See ya, mom!”
Oh well.
The song at the end of the trailer? I know it’s just me, but I recognize the Fruit Bats, who I recently posted about. I really do like them!
I started going through my posted music of 2009 this week in order to pull my favorites. There are so many songs that I just love so I’ve decided to keep it as simple as possible and highlight just few songs/bands/artists that moved me this year. I have included some links to the original posts. There you can find more music and links to the artists websites. In no particular order–here goes:
Ben Sollee: I just love what he does with a cello. Unexpected and fun.
“How to See The Sunrise” – Ben Sollee (in Dodge’s living room).
Previously posted: Ben Sollee
Balmorhea: As I said originally “I was captured by this song. Was it the piano? The strings? The sparse, almost not there, vocals? Was it the changes throughout the song, a little like tubing down the river and the changing experiences; the calm moments, the beauty, the rapids, the melancholy, the joy? Or could it be the rather unexpected hand claps that won me over? Who knows? I do know that I played it over and over again..”
mp3: “San Solomon” – Balmorhea
Hold out for the hand claps. In my opinion the whole experience is worth it!
Previously posted: Balmorhea
Local Natives: Local Natives were such a huge part of our year, I am surprised to find that I only posted about them once. Starr just brought up this song in conversation last night. We are both big fans!
I can’t post about Local Natives without including this cover of Cecilia:
“Cecilia-Acoustic Simon and Garfunkel cover” — Local Natives…in the back yard
Fanfarlo: *sigh* Fanfarlo has been on repeat for me for months. I’ve said it before, but I JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THEM!! I hear that they were just signed by a major label so these mp3s (and the ones previously posted) could disappear, but it also means that they might get better exposure…I think they deserve it.
I bought and downloaded the album when they had it on sale for $1. I have listened to it over and over again. I would definitely pay full price for it. I love the whole thing.
Fruit Bats: Ignore the name. They have been on my playlist for several years. This is one of their latest. Starr and I were Christmas shopping for her siblings a couple weeks ago and this song was playing at American Eagle. I pointed at the ceiling (speakers) and Starr said “yeah, mom, I know…you are cooler than the rest of us mortals!” Not really. In reality, she frowned and said “what?!”
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions as a rule. Setting myself up for failure is something that I try to avoid. I believe that life is about learning and growing, fixing, changing, laughing, and loving…all the time. I try to make it a constant effort and avoid tying it to a specific day.
However, this year, today…not tomorrow…I am going to make a more conscious effort to allow myself to breathe, to live, to accept that I can’t fix this. To stop taking on everyone’s pain as my own. I have enough. It serves no purpose, it really doesn’t relieve them of any of their grief or suffering, it only adds to mine.
And to smile more and mean it!
Yes, Sunny is still on my mind each and every day. I miss her. I think about and send love to her family daily as well, as they still and will always carry the loss of their beautiful daughter. There are days that it catches up with me more than others, but I do think that I have moved forward in positive ways.
I do smile and laugh more and I definitely mean it!!
So, for 2010, I plan to continue…learning, growing, living, laughing, being silly, loving and healing. And I want to make more art.
My list seems a little light this year so I want to point you in the direction of a couple additional sources of awesome holiday music:
*Alan Williamson over at Sixeyes music blog has posted (as of today) seven (seven!) holiday mixes. They include selections from Burl Ives, Queen, Stevie Wonder, James Brown and many more. I love the variety that he shared with us this year!
I may or may not be posting over the next few days, so just in case….I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday, however you chose to celebrate it! Much love to all!!
mp3: “Hellhole Ratrace” – Girls
This song is way better than it’s name indicates. I have almost learned to look past song names and band names…almost…because you never know what’s behind the curtain. You might just love it! Album Girls-MySpace
I never consider it. I don’t really like to shop in the first place. I hate crowds. I really hate standing in line. I didn’t bother looking at the sale flyers. I assumed that, just as in years past, I would sleep in, have a lazy morning followed by some leftovers for lunch, followed by a lazy afternoon.
Starr had other plans.
I told her that if it was important to her and if she woke herself up, to come wake me up and I would go with her. 3:30 in the morning she knocked on my door ready to get going. Damn. She had a small specific list for Kohl’s and for Target. We did NOT stand in line outside the stores, but arrived just in time to follow the last of the lines in the door. We did our business and were done before 6 am.
Back in bed by 6:30 where the rest of my day could proceed as originally planned!!
Whew!
Here is one of my favorite holiday songs from last year, I hope to find a few more this year:
Name? Kelly. Mysterious? Not really. Passionate? Yes. Lazy? Sometimes. Outgoing? Not a bit. Trusting? Mmhmm. Artistic? On good days. Crazy? Could be. Trustworthy? Absolutely. Graceful? I wish. Sarcastic? Often. Deserving? You bet. Forgiving? Yes. Religious? No. Spiritual? Yes. Uncertain? At times. Confused? Sure. Distracted? Daily. Silly? Yeah. Talkative? Not. Punctual? To a fault. Breakable? Quite.
This is not a music blog. While it is my desire to share free and legal music here (music is a part of me), it is not my goal to critique this music.
If I have posted music, it is because I like it, and it moves me at the moment. It might match my mood, it could be on repeat, or mirror the sentiment of my post. It might be quite random, and just what I wish to share.
*Older links may not always work, as promotional MP3s, in particular, are known to disappear without warning.
Artists and labels: if I have erred and posted a song inappropriately, let me know, and I will remove it.
To download a song: on a PC, right click the link and choose "save link as"
