Cave Trolls and Other Fascinating Creatures

Why am i obsessed with The Lord of the Rings?  I turned the t.v. on tonight after work, fully intending to leave it as background noise while I waxed poetic on the music that I listened to during my commute today.  When the picture came up, The Fellowship of the Ring was on, and I was immediately hooked.  I want to be perfectly clear with you:  I have seen these movies (extended versions) over a dozen times, I have the soundtracks (Howard Shore wrote AMAZING scores for these films.), I am listenting to the complete series on audio book including the Hobbit and the Silmarillion, unabridged.  So, here I am, obsessed again.  Luckily it was almost over because I would have been up way too late if it weren't.  There is something about these stories that haunt me.  I want to be a part of them.  I wish J.R.R Tolkien would rise from his eternal slumber and write me into these books.

The mythology alone is mind boggling to me.  I have always written, ever since I learned how to write.  What he has done though goes beyond writing.  He has created entire worlds with languages, customs and it's own histories.  I have a hard time fathoming the sheer scope of imagination that goes into this process.

I think that Galadriel is my favorite character.  She is so mysterious, so old, so wise, so beautiful.  If we could all be so lovely....

So what else did I hear, see and smell today?

Well, I listened to The Duke Spirit's album: Neptune.  I have been accused many a time of being an anglophile.  To put it crudely.  Anyway, much great art has come from Britain and The Duke Spirit is a genuinely good band.  Leila Moss, the lead singer, sounds really HOT when she sings.  You totally will want to make out with her just after listening to the first song, I Do Believe, and this is before you've seen what she looks like.  Her voice is raspy, a little gravelly and she is not afraid to experiment with it all over the album.  Lets add that to the rest of the band.  They put together a solid alternative rock sound, executed much more cleanly than many of their peers.  They sound very bluesy in parts of the album with the definitive rock and roll vibe rolling alongside the rest.  If you like a good rock album much along the veins of Florence and the Machine (which deserves it's own review... soon!) then please check out The Duke Spirit.  They deserve our attention with all of that talent!

Sample anyone?

This clip came out kind of small but listen anyway, I don't think you will be disappointed.  That rasp in Leila's voice is great, and it makes their sound one of a kind.

OH. ORC FIGHT!  GOTTA GO!

A Day with the Dogs...

Today was a day for soft, easy melodies and intricate harmonies.  Where else would you turn when you want those things but to country/bluegrass?  I have had the Court Yard Hounds album since it came out.  I recall listening to it one time when i first purchased it and then, somehow it fell to the wayside.  I don't know how I let that happen, since it is great.  I have always been a fan of the Dixie Chicks, but have to admit that I am not always in the mood for the vocal stylings of Natalie Maines.

So... this... must be the best alternative.

These women know their craft and that is what I have always loved.  Their instruments are always in unison.  Their melodies are always so wonderfully intertwined.  Vocally, they are perfect as well.  Perfect pitch, perfect harmonies, perfect.  

If you like the kind of perfection in your music that comes from raw talent and patient, hard work... then come sit out in the yard with these pups.  I don't think that you will be sorry.

I started reading the most intriguing book today.  Check out Savage Grace.  This is a true crime novel which portrays the Baekeland family and the twisted details surrounding their matriarch's murder in the 1970's.  Barbara Baekeland was murdered by her son and from the first page I was hooked (I started reading it today and no doubt will finish it in the next couple of days).  Not only is it well written, but captivating too since much of it is actual content from interviews of friends and family.  Even if fiction is your normal genre of choice, this is still a non-fiction book that is, well, fascinating.

Now, here is a tune to leave you humming...

I know this is a cover, but it is lovely, haunting and provocative.  We don't hear enough from Jakob Dylan anymore, but he is on the Court Yard Hounds album.  This song should be in everyone's music library.

Hello Mr. West...

Dear Kanye,

I don't care if you're a jerk.  I don't care if you are an arrogant ass.  Your new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is beating in my blood.  I hear what you're trying to say, but more importantly, I feel it too.    There are definite highlights:  Power, All of the Lights, Monster and Runaway.  Power has got to be my favorite because the lyrics get inside me, the bass gets inside me.  The dichotomy makes me smile... this man flirting with disaster and ruin, addicted to this life that worships him and turns him sour simultaneously.  So, Mr. West, please keep on keeping up the game.  It works for the music and since artists must suffer for their art, I guess you are just stuck.  Poor you.

Love always,
Me

The words are brilliant if any of you stand in doubt after listening:

"I’m livin’ in the 21st century
Doin’ something mean to it
Do it better than anybody you ever seen do it
Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero need his theme music"


So maybe hip hop isn't your favorite, it's definitely not my favorite, but this album is not just hip hop. It's art as well.  Give it one chance, it will make you mad, it will make you laugh and you will listen again.


Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye...

It's a Dylan kind of day...

Today I woke up and just KNEW it was a  Bob Dylan day.  For those of you who don't know me yet, you need to know that I truly love all types of music.  I listen to them all, sing them all, breathe them all.  My musical moods swing like a massive pendulum and teeter on the verge of neurosis.  Some days you wake up and the map is charted out for you though.  Today I had to listen to Dylan, like I had to suck in air and expel it again.

So I drove to work and as I did, Bob sang to me about The Watchtower, and he sang to me about Rainy Day's.  Lay Lady Lay, Maggie's Farm, Masters of War were all lovers of mine for the time it took me to drive to work.  As he sang to me, I felt my heart rise up and embrace the day so as I pulled into work I felt fat and full... as though I had just eaten a humongous and satisfying meal.  I probably had several mini orgasms as well as a meal, come to think of it.  Yes, a lot can happen in an hour.  Yikes!

On the way home from work, we switched tactics a bit.  It went something like this:

"WHOOOOOOOOOA, whoooooooa whoooooa whoooooooo!!!!  You've left me Speechless, so Speechless..."

Yes, I am talking MAJOR Lady Gaga time.  Stereo turned up too loud to think, cruising along and so by the time I got home, I was hungry rather than sated.  I didn't get to finish the album which I am neurotic and obsessive about.  I have to finish albums.  I hate stopping in the middle of an album even if I know it by heart.  I feel like I'm not doing it justice and when I get back to it, I have to start over.  O.  C.  D... you are the one for me...

I have been dancing around the fact that this is my very first blog.  I guess I just wanted to dive right in and write about these melodies that have been swirling around in my head all day long.  Tomorrow I am going for a run on the beach so there will probably be some... aggressive... yes that's the right word, music to talk about.

Here are my recommendations for you if you need something new that perhaps you haven't tried yet:

Bob and Janis singing one of my fav Dylan songs of all time...

It Ain't Me Babe

The lyrics to this song blow me away...

"Go lightly from the ledge love, go lightly to the ground..."

Best Lady Gaga song ever.

So Happy I Could Die

A control freak's kindred spirit...

"And when something falls out of place, I take my time, I put it back, I touch myself 'til I'm on track..."

Goodnight Moon...