music monday.

this past monday, pitchfork released their 100 best tracks of 2015--just another reason december is one of the best months of the year. i love year-end lists and was pleased to see a handful of my favorite songs of 2015 represented in the hundred:

two sufjan stevens' songs from his latest album, carrie and lowell--forth of july at #69

it's hard to imagine too many artists capable of selling the line 'we're all gonna die' and wringing out so many layers of meaning. as the line is repeated--surrounded by hushed piano and a choir of backup voices--it becomes less a nihilist warning of an admission of defeat. it's a reminder to live, to embrace, to remember, to sing (t. cole rachel). 

and should have known better at #11! woo!

also, rihanna's bitch better have my money at #13, lana del rey's high by the beach at #75, father john misty's the night josh tillman came to our apt at #71, fka twig's in time at #52, jack u (featuring justin bieber) where are u now  at #38 (a j.b. song, shocking i know), kendrick lamar's blacker the berry at # 21, tame impala's eventually at #26, adele's hello at #15 (OBVI!), and EVEN drake's hotline bling coming in at #2!!!

as usual, the list also nets a bunch of great new stuff to listen to. take a look and find something beautiful for your ears to celebrate.

i'll leave you with two spotify playlists. first, my top 10 songs of 2015 (not necessarily FROM 2015, but in 2015--this is what i liked):

second, my top 100 played songs in 2015:

happy end-of-year! many a good song to you and yours!

music monday.

love this video. desire:  under your spell, set to the art of roy lichtenstein.

music monday.

hey monday! have some music!

i'm way into jefferson airplane right now. 

woo!

music monday.

music monday is back! in list form!

ok, i saw this thing once called "25 songs, 25 days". you know those? well i decided to condense that into one day (today!) and also cut out some of the lamer choices (like "a song that reminds you of a former friend". what is a former friend anyway? a past friend, now enemy? a friend you used to see but don't anymore. i don't know.)

1. a song from your childhood

rhythm nation - janet jackson
had to pick this! rhythm nation was the first cd i ever purchased. i LOVED it. wonder what i was doing any given evening in 1994? wonder no more, i was making up dances to these beats.

2. a song that reminds you of your parents

something in the way she moves - james taylor

this song will forever remind me of my dad's love for my mom. like, i'm pretty sure i've seen my dad get weepy over it. such a tender spirit.

3. a song that calms you down

intro - the xx

ever seen it's kind of a funny story? this song always reminds me of the trip we take into craig's clinically depressed mind. it's a trip. a nice one.

4. a song that is often stuck in your head

we built this city - starship

don't as why. it's just. so. catchy.

5. a song that reminds you of your best friend

black or white - michael jackson
i have THE most vivid memories of me and lynsey chadwick (my childhood bff) watching this music video while dancing around the coffee table.

6. a song that reminds you of the past summer

i love it - icona pop

spring 2013 i attended a passion pit concert which i thought would be accompanied by icona pop. so i got all into them and turns out they didn't even play! what!? but this song stuck around and eventually became the greatest roll-the-car-windows-down-and-dance-it-out-with-ya-gurls song of the summer.

7. a song that reminds you of your first love

white daisy passing - rocky votolato

no explanation. but isn't this song the cutest!

8. a song that makes you hopeful

love will save your soul - grouplove

once i was having this really emo moment of my life. one night after a good cry, this song came on and i just felt elated and like everything was going to be ok. i felt hope!

9. a song by my favorite band 

as far as i can see - phantogram

i thought this one was a little time-sensitive. who can say what their favorite band is? well mine for right now is phantogram. probably because they are coming to salt lake in april ...

10. a song on the soundtrack of your favorite movie

peer pressure - jon brion
eternal sunshine! seen it? it's great.

11. the last song i heard

kid a - radiohead
someone once said to listen to this song twice a day for two weeks and then try to say you don't like radiohead. apparently it's impossible.

12. a song you love to sing along to

the beast - austra
while i was searching for this video i discovered that austra has great *read weird* music videos. in addition to great music.

13. a song that has made you cry

this temporary life - death cab for cutie

the lyrics to this song are just heartbreaking! "but, oh, the rising sun brings little cheer to this city with the stolen name. and you're wondering whose bright idea it was to pack your things and leave your friends and move down here".

14. a song that makes you want to dance

countdown - beyonce

always. also you can't beat this video.

15. a song that you love but rarely listen to

out here all night - damone

there was this time in college that i was really into hard rock. like this. and like tool? i don't know. but ... i still don't mind it. i kind of like it.

16. the first song alphabetically in your itunes

a/b machines - sleigh bells

what a great song to be first in my itunes. i'm proud.

17. the last song alphabetically in your itunes

zombie - the cranberries

i'm equally proud of this song.

18. your favorite song

futile devices - sufjan stevens

i recently heard sufjan described as "a weird dude with the voice of honey". i'd say that description fits. for me, he has the voice of an angel. i love his lyrics. he is truly an artist and is constantly pushing the boundaries of folk and pop musicians. i'd even submit that he is one of the greatest artists of our day.

19. a song that someone has sung to you

sweet baby james - james taylor

another from james taylor, brought to you by my dad singing it to me as a lullaby when i was a wee one. it always reminds me of him.

20. a song that you cannot stand to listen to

pompeii - bastille
this song! i can't. stand. it. it's ALWAYS on. it NEVER sleeps. and EVERYONE loves it. i don't get it. but the lead singer has great hair. and i can always appreciate that.

music monday.

hey! it's almost halloween! hey hey hey.

listen to one of my halloween playlists while you get terrified and stuff your face with candy.

.  

for a more refined playlist, click here. everyone else ^^^

music monday.

some current obsessions:

starstruck by santigold (formerly known as santOgold, good to know i'm not crazy)

demons by sleigh bells

how to be a heartbreaker by marina and the diamonds

music monday.

i recently found this phrase (which i now know comes from the hbo hit girls):

dance by yourself or with roommates, all adventurous women do.

whatever you do, do it to one of these songs. tried and tested, they work great for spur of the moment dance parties.

holdin on - flume 

get lucky - daft punk featuring pharrell williams (bridging genres all over the place)

sintra - flume

lose yourself to dance - daft punk featuring pharrell williams

music monday.

i've finally found myself in full lanadelreyship.
remember when she was a little guilty pleasure? i'm not sure why i once felt guilty, but i'm thinking clearer now and into full admittance; i love her.

music monday.

last sunday, right after i threw a temper tantrum about not being able to pass my current level on candy crush, my dad told me he had a song for me to listen to and that "this is what your future husband will say to you someday." someone like you by van morrison:

i've been searching a long time

for someone exactly like you

i've been traveling all around the world

waiting for you to come through

someone like you make it all worthwhile

someone like you keep me satisfied

someone exactly like you

i've been traveling a hard road

baby looking for someone exactly like you

i've been carrying my heavy load

waiting for the light to come shining though

someone like you make it all worth while

someone like you make me satisfied

someone exactly like you

i've been doing some soul searching

to find out where you're at

i've been up and down the highway

in all kinds of foreign lands

someone like you make it all worthwhile

someone like you keep me satisfied

someone exactly like you

i've been all around the world

marching to the beat of a different drum

but just lately i have realized

the best is yet to come

someone like you make it all worthwhile

someone like you keep me satisfied

someone exactly like you

my dad always has special songs for me. i remember him singing me lullabies when i was little; james taylor's sweet baby james and joni mitchelle's the circle game. and for paige it was joni mitchelle's a case of you and van morrison's brown eyed girl.

on the day i graduated from high school i  found a note taped to my cap and gown; all it was were the lyrics to carly simon's love of my life and a "love, dad":

i love lilacs and avocados

ukuleles and fireworks

and woody allen and walking in the snow

but you've got to know that

you're the love of my life

from the moment i first saw you

the second that you were born

i knew that you were the love of my life

quite simply the love of my life

i love lucy and pumpernickel bread

the statue of liberty and standing ovations

and falling into bed

but get it through your head that

you can drive me crazy

you can drive me anywhere

here are the keys

just do as you please

it may not always be easy

but you're the love of my life

my heart is riding on a runaway train

you are the love of my life

through all the pleasure and pain

from the moment i first saw you

i knew it right away

i knew that you were the love of my life

simply the love of my life

you are the love

the great love of my life.

he also makes like dadcourtneypaige theme songs. one to the tune of skyline's school song and another to be sung to steely dan's gaslighting abbie:

flame is the game;

the game we call gasoline alley*.

it's a luscious invention for three, 

courtney, paige, and me ...

*we sang this on trips to the gasoline alley arcade on early fridays. my dad would meet up with paige and i after school and we'd spend the afternoon with pac-man and paperboy. <<< the good life.

i attribute a lot of what i like to my dad (movies, good food, family, jokes, ice cream), but my appreciation for music MOST DEFINITELY came from him.

here are some more songs that remind me of him.

happy monday!

music monday.

i've been working on my playlists again; it's all work, no play guys.

the following had me wanting to unplug my headphones from my work computer and BLAST the sound throughout the fourth west wing of the church office building for all to enjoy. they just don't make em like this anymore:

- i just wasn't made for these times - the beach boys
did you know that the beach boys made a really sad song that masquerades as a balladie version of their normal selves? did that sentence make any sense? look at these lyrics:

i keep looking for a place to fit
where i can speak my mind
i've been trying hard to find the people
that i won't leave behind
they say i got brains
but they ain't doing me no good
i wish they could
each time things start to happen again
i think i got something good goin' for myself
but what goes wrong
sometimes i feel very sad
sometimes i feel very sad
(can't find nothin' i can put my heart and soul into)
...
i guess i just wasn't made for these times
every time i get the inspiration
to go change things around
no one wants to help me look for places
where new things might be found
where can i turn when my fair weather friends cop out
what's it all about
...
i guess i just wasn't made for these times
...

what a sad, sad time for them.

- the "in" crowd - dobie gray

i'm immediately putting the following two phrases into my daily vocabulary:

1. "if it's square, we ain't there"

2. "spendin' cash, talkin' trash"

- at the codfish ball - shirley temple

her voice! it's so cute i can't even stand it!

also, are there songs about codfish balls anymore? no! but there should be!

music monday.

i've recently started making mass amounts of playlists on spotify. i find it to be a creative process, yet still something i can do while working. also i have this false sense of responsibility, as a music connoisseur, to dutifully sort through the melodic mass of warble shoved our way.
hey, just doing my part.

for today, every 90s song you i could ever want in one place:

music monday.

can't help but love anything (new) from vampire weekend!

music monday.

pretty.

music monday.

not last saturday but the one before that, i went to the passion pit concert with a few friends. i don't know if it was the company or the band or just that my life has been really boring lately, but i had THE BEST time.

highlights :
1. the matt & kim opener, even if it came with a bunch of rowdy high schoolers.
2. having concert comrades :  complete strangers that you form an instant bond with as you bounce off each other's sweaty bodies, all to the soundtrack of your favorite band(s).
3. "bopping" to the front of the venue during the chorus of multiple songs (this was actually very well thought out and performed quite skillfully).
4. dripping ... DRIPPING! sweat.
5. this song, which i've always liked but now the memory of >>> the look ben and i gave each other when they started playing it and >>> singing/dancing my heart out during it, makes the sound SO much better. feel free to replace "sylvia" with "courtney", we did. 
6. the sev run afterwards.
7. and then of course, the hot shower.

music monday.

a couple weeks ago we bundled into amelia's car and drove to salt lake's historic tower theater to see the live action shorts that were nominated for academy awards. in the future, if you have the opportunity, you should definitely seek the shorts out and see them.

they were all so great (if you like intriguing stories about shadows, mixing eternal sunshine of the spotless mind with the notebook, dancing to 80s music in a bowling alley, sad stories about afghanistan, and wet cats). i had a hard time picking my favorite, but i think that curfew was the one i loved most. it's the tale of a suicidal uncle that is called on at the last minute, to watch his niece for the evening. look it up.

oh wait, this post is about music ...

curfew had great music:

AND

forgive the creepiness of this video and then maybe think about the symbolism. it's alex ebert (of edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros), expect nothing less from him.

music monday.

probs my fave song right now; and a shout out to a.e. for the introduction.

listen to what else my winter ears are hearing here.

music monday.

via bbc newsbeat.

is it his voice? maybe the picture? but i'm not the only one that thinks jake bugg is dylan-esque.

listen:

music monday.

saturday night i joined my family in attending the annual mormon tabernacle choir christmas concert. each year, the church invites two special guests to accompany the choir. this year was alfie boe and tom brokaw. i thought it in good taste, in acknowledgement of the recent tragedy in connecticut, that the program started with a moment of silence. during that moment, i said a silent prayer for the families of the victims, asking that our omnibenevolent father comfort them at this time. 

then on to the program we went. i forget if it was the first or maybe the second song, but at some point they sang "hark the herald angels sing". i've heard and sung this classic christmas hymn as much as the next person but on saturday night something stuck out to me in a way it never had before:

"mild he lays his glory by, born that man no more may die; born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth."

it was the answer to my prayer; a witness to me that because of that babe whose birth we celebrate each december, broken hearts and anguished souls can received peace and hope, the sting of death hath no victory.

"and if christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection. but there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory and the sting of death is swallowed up in christ. he is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death."

mosiah 16:7-9

music monday.

the child with the star on his head

once in a while, you may think you see better than the others.

scrambling around in the dark with your drum.

there is a time when young men must grow up and be brothers.

are you afraid of growing too fast?

and the child with the star on his head,

all of the world rests on his shoulders.

and the mother with the child on her breast,

blesses is she among women.

and the trust we put in things; in small ideas,

in engineering, the world of sports and second best;

in consequences we will not put to rest.

why crawl around in the snow when you know i am right here,

waiting for you to expect something more?

for i am warm, i am calling you close to my table,

where i have made us a feast.

for the year of troubles they have gone,

the winter brings a christmas song.

and the child with the star on his head,

all of the world rests on his shoulders.

and the mother with the child on her breast,

blessed is she among women.

does all the world know better than,

when christmas comes the troubles end,

the troubles end, the troubles end.

and by the time there's nothing left,

and empty tree, a winter vest,

a winter vest, a winter vest.

and all the trust we put in things;

in dictionaries, in engineering,

in calendars, and television,

and father's friends, and consequences.

sufjan stevens

music monday.

thought this might be appropriate for this week.