carrie fisher = music muse?

That's it. I'm moving to Africa. 

I thought that maybe I wanted to give New York or London a try but no, I can hear the other half of my heart calling me to Kenya.

...Or at least that's how I feel as I'm driving south on the 405 at 9am while Paul Simon's "Crazy Love, Vol. II" blasts from my car speakers.

Now, even as a wee 2 year old I loved "You Can Call Me Al" (I remember watching that video along with my personal 2 year old fav, Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"). But now, as a 23 year old, as I listen to Simon's Graceland album, it has new meaning. Being relatively fresh to the "real world" I find companionship in Simon as I musically travel through these 11 tracks from 1986. It's an album about rebirth, about new beginnings, about starting over. And it's all done through a flowery filter.

Like I mentioned before, I can't stop listening to Crazy Love, Vol. II. After having pried into Simon's background (something my older readers probably wouldn't have had to have done seeing as though in this song Paul sings "it's all over the evening news, all about the fire in your life") I found that much of Graceland was written while he was going through his second divorce, his divorce from Carrie Fisher. 

It's strange though. Considering the subject, I would have either guessed it to be overtly sad and filled with sorrow or dark and angry oozing with hate. While the lyrics are about the end of a once lovely relationship the melody seems to suggest something else. It is light and airy, hopeful and sunny and I can't resist it.

Crazy Love, Vol. II - Paul Simon

The title track also has crept into my veins and has inspired this somewhat buried side - my adventurous side. As Simon declares "I'm going to Graceland, Graceland, Memphis Tennessee" I immediately am heading east as the whole United States races past me (oh how I wish). Plus who doesn't love his little Lou Reed moment as he recites "whoah so this is what you mean".

Graceland - Paul Simon

Short people are so awesome ;)

And if you still aren't convinced, there is just something to be said about those bass lines from the 80's. That, and the use of the flute. But more on that later.

perfect media player where are you?

So I'm here at work waiting for a freaking hour and a half video to stream over from Washington DC.... what better time to research how to embed audio into my blog.

I have been researching for the past hour and a half while the "Confess" episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County blares in the background. Sadly I'm not as far along as I would have hoped. I'm trying a new method but am going to be constantly on the hunt for better, prettier methods to give you all a chance to listen to all the songs and artists I write about here at the clear spot.

So bare with me.

ps I hate Vicki!

Oh, and here is something for you to snack on:

Virgin Mountain - Loch Lomond

simply pop

So check it. I have two wonderfully smooth and punchy tracks sung by two wonderfully smooth and punchy female vocalist. The first being "Somebody's Baby" by El Perro del Mar. 

At first glance it may look like some latin band's cover of the fairly dated Jackson Browne tune. Instead it's a Swede's fresh take on good old fashioned bubblegum pop. How did I stumble upon this toe-taping, head swaying song you may ask? Well, you may or may not be familiar with La Blogotheque's Take Away Shows series (if you haven't seen any of these you MUST go there immediately), but as I was perusing the videos I came across this one featuring El Perro del Mar and Lykke Li. 

You see my friend Richard had sent me a link to Lykke Li's music video for "Little Bit" and I was on my usual internet rampage to get more info about this girl with the beautifully layered video so when I saw this I was intrigued to get a "live" taste of what this artist had to offer. Instead, I was tipped off to El Perro del Mar - the music project of Sarah Assbring.  So take a listen to both her live version - here - and her studio rendition.  

Now for lady #2. 

Okay, so technically the next song comes from a duo (one part female, one part male) but the vocalist is a woman so I think it still counts. Inara George has one of my top ten favorite voices of any modern day female vocalists (Leslie Feist being number one, of course) and Greg Kurstin's cool and quiet ways make him a man of mystery and intrigue - not to mention the fact that I find it so cool that one of his major musical influences is Burt Bacharach. I first fell in love with this band when I saw them at the troubadour for the release of their self-titled debut, "The Bird and The Bee". Since then they have put out a number of EPs. However, last month they came out with their second LP entitled "Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future". The track I can't seem to get enough of is "My Love".

Somebody's Baby - El Perro del Mar

My Love - The Bird and The Bee

As a side note: The Bird and The Bee get extra points for being so kind to me. You see, two years ago, when I was trying to figure out who I wanted to record for my junior project I thought I would just shoot for the stars and ask them to come in to my class so I could record them. So I sent them a message through myspace and to my complete surprise a few days later Inara responded with the sweetest message. She was so appreciative that I had thought of them for this project but was sorry to turn it down seeing as though they were traveling around the country on tour. Now whether or not this is completely true is not the point (I doubt they would have come in even if they were in LA) but the fact that she even responded will forever insure that The Bird and The Bee will always hold a special place in my heart.