.005//abra moore; the blow.

"How do we begin to repair this family affair"

Oh yes, it's that time again...I mean, not really since I can't bring myself to schedule these. Maybe that's endearing. Although I doubt it haha.

P.S. I think I enjoy writing next to the picture instead of above and below.

Okay so, I: Abra Moore.

This woman made me shed a tear. And I haven't done that since, well, forever. But, no, it was only a tear because I was touched. Not like full on crybaby. I'll explain that song towards the end of my Abra writing.

I've known of Abra's music since the days of Dawson's Creek.
And since then she's been a quiet calming, chill voice for me when things are so loud in life.

I'll explain, late sophomore year (2003), when I sort of was still in my "I so hate VA and miss TX and but it's growing on me phase", I sort of got detention...(I know, you're like, who gets detention anymore? It was 5 years ago so stfu though.) but yeah, so I'm like this is going to blow, none of my friends have detention and I'm not going to have anything to do but it just so happens one of the security guys (he was really cool) didn't mind if I made a mix to listen to in detention. I was told the day before I had detention that I had time to make the mix the night before. So I download some songs I'd found and among those...shizzam, was Abra Moore's "Taking Chances". I so didn't listen to much the mix other than this song on repeat. Yeah, I liked it that much. It wound up serving as an anthem of sorts because most of the time before this, I guess you could say I was so a goody-good, haha.

Following this, there was a huge piece of time where she fell off my radar (silly fucking me, what was I thinking?). Well, earlier this year, during the fall ('07), I was watching Women's Murder Club (shut the fuck up.) on ABC and I hear "Family Affair". They had it in an amazingly emotional scene between characters Lindsay Boxer and her ex-husband, Tom, speaking about her miscarriage while they were married because since they were married, they were really family, ya know?

Well, this song speaks to me in a different way. If you seriously sit and listen to her lyrics, it's so deeply about some of the love-hate relationships you have with your friends as well as family and even spouses. I love the lines "How do we begin to say 'I still love you', how do we repair this family affair...". It made me shed a tear because it sang so true for the relationship I have with my family. Definitely give it a listen (It should be on the playlist to your right following the publishing off this entry.), see if it rings true for you on anything.

Also listen to a few of my other favorites: "Big Sky" and "Four Leaf Clover".
And if you really like her awesome self: www.abramoore.com
On MySpace: www.myspace.com/abramoore

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Now, next up: The Blow.

Tell me, do you ever have like those bands or groups that you just have serious fun listening to? Like, they're intriguingly good at making you think about the smallest little things in a different light but being so witty it makes you giggle? Yeah, that's The Blow.

I'll tell you the song that seriously served as my introduction to them (or now, just Khaela Maricich. Jona Bechtolt is working with YACHT now. Another amazing group.) was definitely through the song "True Affection".

A little into spring of '07, I was riding in the car with a friend and she'd told me her mother borrowed her car while hers was in the shop and left one of her CDs in there. She decided we should listen to it, expecting to laugh at the oldies that were probably on there. To our surprise, we proceed to hear some pretty sweet tunes and we're like "whaaaaat, tell me why you're mom is hip to our kind of genre? haha". From the start, "True Affection" was catchy and so much fun with it's little snaps and it's true-to-life lyrics (at least in a few of our situations).

A lot of friends in the area caught onto how fun the song is, I put it on a mix and another friend had it on theirs. During a few drunken evenings, we played it numerous times (yeah, I don't deny my friends are pretty awesome haha). That summer following I got into a few other songs from them:

"Parentheses" (which is honestly, if i could sound any more like a pansy, adorable.),
"Come On Petunia" (there's a girl this song reminds me of, even though I'm not crushing on anyone but, this song is her incarnate...honestly though have you ever met someone that just, everything they do is like...amazing, maybe because you're crushing, but because it just is, they're that sensual? This explains it to a tee: "everything little thing she does is magic, everything she do just turns me on")
"Knowing The Things That I Know" (oh this song. It's too smart for it's own good. And although I honestly couldn't tell you what the singer herself means, it's a best kept secret for anyone that equates it to their own situation, it's secretly wise in the most perfect way. It makes you want to wink at your friends that know the feeling of this song too ;-). Something you know that they just, well...don't.)

For knowing the things that I know about The Blow: click this.
On MySpace: www.myspace.com/theblowus.

Oh and, two videos for: "Parentheses" (as adorable as the song. Sorry, I had to say it again) and "Knowing The Things That I Know":

.004//vampire weekend; opus III & orbital.

"Why'd you have to go and pick me when you knew that we were different...completely?"

It has been a while. I'm aware. I need to have a schedule for posting.

So it's going to be three times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Mostly.

I'm also down with adding little catchphrases that indicate my whole mood...(see beginning above.)

Here's an idea of what've I've been listening to lately:

About a month ago, I finally (took me long enough since they've been out a while) discovered and became addicted to Vampire Weekend and , become fond of a little song called "It's A Fine Day" and felt like I was on some kind of acid trip due to another old song I had always adored, that turns out to be "It's A Fine Day" in reverse: "Halcyon+On+On".


First up: Vampire Weekend.

This little affair we're having started when I was sitting around moping and going like "Fuck. I need to stop moping and just chill...and find some sweet music I haven't heard before or something."

I go to a friend's page on that notorious networking site, MySpace, and it was like angels singing hallelujah...okay, maybe not that dramatic but whatever. "APunk" was playing. I got up, turned up my laptop and started dancing. Yeah, wow.

So of course, I'm like I must have more. I then proceed to listen to three other songs off of their 2007/2008 release. I was not disappointed. "Oxford Comma" and "Mansard Roof" delivered the most with a notable nod to "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa". I have a favorite line from "Oxford Comma"...so standard but it's the first line with the song's title in it: "Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?". I know, go figure. And "why would you lie about somethin' dumb like that?". It's such good music for chill with your friends on the beach to or have a hang/smoke sesh to. Sweetness.

Funny, the video for "APunk" made me want to dance even more:



I also managed to find a few other awesome tunes from them to be more than worth a listen: "M79", "The Kids Don't Stand A Chance", "Ladies of Cambridge", "Bryn", "One" and "Walcott".

For more check out: www.vampireweekend.com
On MySpace: www.myspace.com/vampireweekend


Next up: Opus III, Orbital. (my discovery of the connection.)

*pictured here is Kirsty Hawkshaw of the former Opus III.

Let's say circa late 1998, I'm being a silly child possibly watching*cough*mortalkombatannihilation*cough* and towards the end I hear "Halcyon+On+On" by Orbital. Of course, I didn't know this at all then.

Again, I hear at the end of...a movie I refuse to admit to watching...the same song again. So I'm like what the hell is this song right? I go searching and turn up with the wrong song like 32553564363 times.

Finally, in the spring of 2007, I hear my old roommate (who happened to be a deejay), trying to mix that same song and I dart to his room and I'm like "what's the name of that song, tell me, like, now." Haha, well he tells me the title finally. And you know that feeling when you find a song and you couldn't figure out what it is? You totally feel a little validated. Anyway, so it's a 9 minute, 28 second song. Crazyness but it's so calming and I have it on a mix I sometimes play before bed.

This is the song put to a "Space Odyssey 2001" YouTube video, seen here:



But it doesn't end yet. (I promise, I'm almost done.)
So as a last tidbit, I found out that the above samples their song from "It's A Fine Day" by Opus III, who is no longer a band, in reverse. They released the track in 1992 and then Orbital a few years later mixed it and made it "Halcyon", about one of the guys mother's who was addicted to Halcyon. Weird, right? I thought to too. But the result is a nice sound. From there, Halcyon, on Orbital 2, another CD from them was mixed again which gave it the "+On+On" add.

I'm totally exhausted though so that's it for today but I'll be back on Wednesday?
Peace til lthen.

.003//zero 7, sia.

So apologies for the little break. Back to business.

Tonight [or today, whichever you'd like to consider it], we're gonna get down with some Sia [my favorite UK import], along with how I discovered her [in synth-band, Zero 7].

First up: Zero 7.



I first discovered this band in 1999 [Would you believe I was in 7th grade? haha] while I was watching an amazing little show you might remember called ROSWELL. I identify this show along with Dawson's Creek, the definitive arrival of what has grown into my musical tastes today (Thank you WB). Zero 7's "Destiny" played on the radio in the room during the characters of Max and Liz's makeout sesh. Which is funny because it really is perfect makeout music in my opinion. Funny though, some weirdos would consider "System of a Down" to be makeout music? Preposterous, in my opinion but to each his own. Enough with my random tangent though. Once my favorite hour of television was over, I searched for Zero 7's "Destiny" online, downloaded it and listened. It first caught my ear, not only for the smooth sound but, for one of the lyrics. Which might be considered slightly racy to the parents of a 7th grader: "I'm watching porn in my hotel dressing gown" sung by none other than, Sia Furler along with bandmates: Sam Hardaker, Henry Binns and Tina Dico. Of course, at the time I wasn't aware of her name, just the group as a whole.

A few years later [meaning circa 2004-2005], I became a little obsessive over the movie Garden State (but oh wait, didn't like half the population? Well...half the intelligent, alternative-thinking population anyway? I didn't just say that. Shh.). I bought the movie on DVD, shared deeply intellectual conversations with friends about the movie) and partook in the Soundtrack craze as well (shame. shame on me). Once purchasing the soundtrack, I went through and, to my delight, I find "In The Waiting Line" by Zero 7. Which is also featured on "Sex & The City", at the end of the season 6 episode "The Domino Effect" as Carrie wakes up to find Big gone after spending the night together.

Around that very same time, I'd become engrossed in The OC and especially had taken a deep liking to the music featured on the show [I own The OC Mixes 1-6, minus mix 3.]. On the first episode of Season 2, after the credits, we find Marissa and Summer sunbathing by Marissa's pool and the song accompanying this scene just so happens to be "Somersault" by Zero 7.

Much more recently, I've become a fan of the songs "Dreaming", "Home", "Distractions" and a song featuring Jose` Gonzalez called "Futures". For more, check out: www.zero7.co.uk

Below I've posted a live performance for the song "Somersault" done on Jimmy Kimmel:

If there were any artist who could create a song that would [with the risk of overdramatizing the feeling this song gives me] reach into the pit of my stomach and just touch every emotion or nerve ending deeply...it would be Sia.

"Breathe Me" was indeed the first solo song from Miss Furler that I'd had the pleasure of hearing. Of course, I had and still am experiencing a great love affair with this song. I quickly went on to find that her song was used on two very distinctive projects: A video homage to PostSecret and not only used in the promo video for the final season of HBO's Six Feet Under but also used in the final 6-minute scene for the show. It's strange because I'd never gotten into it but after seeing the last 6 minutes on YouTube with Sia's song played, I suddenly gained interest.

The video for "Breathe Me" is equally moving and very artistic. Take a look an you'll see what I mean:

Apparently, it was made with 2,500 polaroids. Insane, right?

Moving on though. I then proceeded to take a liking to another song she collaborated with Zero 7 on called "You're My Flame". Honestly, it just has that feel of someone being a complete infatuation for you no matter what their faults are. The video, however very well-done, doesn't seem to have much to do with the actual song to me. I could be wrong and just not thinking deeply enough. Sia's album Lady Crossaint, parts of it once featured on her MySpace page, showcased a song called "Pictures" that I liked a lot. It deals with the subject of not quite moving on; or rather being with someone who hasn't quite moved on. It's open to interpretation in any case. It has a soulful, r&b vibe yet retains the alternative-indie edge as Sia often manages to pull-off [it must be her sheer amazingness...okay so I love Sia, shh.]

A few other favorites from her: "Sunday", "Paranoid Android" (a Radiohead cover); and from her new album "some people have REAL problems" (released on 01.08.08.): "Buttons" [headbopper, the video is pretty wicked...a little zaney, and not at all standard but definitely wicked, showcases her perfection of a voice too.], "Academia", "Little Black Sandals" and "Day Too Soon".

For more on the Sia, check out her website: www.siamusic.net.

That's all for now, I'll be back a later with our next artist.

Peace&love.

.002//more meiko.

So the only video I know of on YouTube with my favorite Georgia-native, Meiko singing is this one. And this, I should say, should be if you really, really take to her, so a treat. If you will.

P.S. I heard alittle rumor that she's partially asian? I think that's really cool especially because it just adds to her beauty :-).

...okay, I have Asian friends and find them attractive. So what? haha.

P.S.S. I'm a newb to the blogspot so make sure to check back once I figure out how to upload some mp3's of her music here.

In the meantime, check it out, Meiko:

Keeping reading; next post I'll showcase 3 more favorites. Promise.

[Although, that may be in an hour or so if I'm feeling into it. If not, check back tomorrow.]

Peace&love.

.001//meiko [introductory post]

[Foreword: Okay, so...I just realized that I posted a first blog in here. But don't read that. This is the one you should read. Trust me.

This is cross-posted to my LiveJournal because this is going to become the musical spin-off from my LiveJournal. Here I'll discuss music. What I like and what I just don't like. Mostly what I like though]:

I'm feeling compelled to share music and sometimes I'm not down with MySpace for everything. I'm not down with doing the "blogging" thing via MySpace because as previously proven, so many times, MySpace is just so impersonal. There's this sense of massive people you know reading and, like, judging everything you write and post...

Now for the music discussions...

Over the years, I can't even tell you how much my taste in music has matured but yeah, it's just surreal I guess...myself now. And myself then.

The things I even wrote about and the way I wrote about them...seem so distant and different...

But yeah, this year in music for me equals amazing so if you've not heard of or checked out some of these people, you should.

Check it. I: Meiko.

This girl is from a small town in Georgia so I know you're thinking...oh... really? Country music? No, no, and extreme no. She has this voice that somehow manages to be haunting and comforting dually. How? I don't know, it comes from such a genuine place though. You can hear it in her voice. I first heard her on the 4th season premiere of Grey's Anatomy this fall [if you're a Grey's fan, the scene at the end where George shows up @ Izzie's door to finally tell her he loves her back, song called: "Reasons To Love You" ] while I still resided in Virginia. But I didn't actually begin to delve into her (that sounds wrong in all sorts of ways...) Anyway, she resonated for me when I was talking with a good friend of mine and heard "Piano Song" on her MySpace page. For some reason, I was taken in. Meiko had won me over. On a later following episode of Grey's (the scene during episode 4.04, when Callie bitches Izzie out about sleeping with her husband, George.), I then heard a song that I absolutely fell in love with, "Hawaii". It became so infectious that I put it on 4-5 different playlists and listened to it daily. I then went to her site: www.meikomusic.com , and listened to the entire album.

Which is exactly what you should do. Get to it.

[Other favorites from Meiko: "How Lucky We Are", "Sleep", "Hiding", and "Fever".]

Look out in my next blog, I'll be giving you some more brief rundowns, this time featuring [instead of just one] three, different artists to check out.

Sweet.

Peace&love.