Archive for category Playlists
Changes / Indiewho?
My Brightest Diamond
Okay, what just happened there in 2009? It went by like a blur. All snide comments aside about my utter lack of indie juice for that year, I could say that my personal evolution has tremendously affected the course of this website’s content. As I review all my entries it’s been so issue-oriented and later on, I tried to experiment on describing sensations evoked by music and vice-versa. The latter is a somewhat out-of-body experience, if you will, which might require a slight intoxication on my part (again, real or imagined).
But enough of my self-indulgent musings. This year, I wish to introduce a new dimension to this blog which is to feature guest writers. That’s right. Other voices writing on this blog aside from moi. I’m sure by now you’re tired of this highly cynical and weird eccentric behind the keyboard. Fine. We’ll drag in another highly cynical and weird eccentric behind the keyboard! Hah.
So yes, expect some guy named Francis to pop into this scene once in a while. By the way, Francis is a guy I can easily monitor. By that, I don’t mean in the Foucauldian sense of the word nor at a predatory sense whereby I am the stalker and he is the stalkee. No. It is like the kind of monitor where I can see him sitting in front of class and slap his back startling enough that will remind him to write some more. Take not that Francis is in no way being remunerated for his efforts yet (at least as far as cash is concerned because I will probably be subject to some ‘homework collaboration’ in the future should he ask for assistance in the event that I will be guilt-tripped to oblige). But you know! You get the point. He is also a ‘prolific’ indie artist. By that I mean he has his own myspace! (Okay, up to you if you get my sick and twisted humor). Kidding. Again, let’s get that out of the way and just anticipate his words because you can probably pick up a thing or two from this extremely tenacious music geek.
I am also dragging some of my other friends into this salad of music geekery. When they are no longer pretending to be busy – like I used to do. Of course, in case they are telling me matter-of-factly that they have work this blah blah blah, I’m sure I’ll find a way to squeeze out a little piece of their wonderful minds once I’ve found their bargain weakness. So there. That’s what you’ll be expecting this 2010 in Southisms. Shove Kim to the sides with her boring commentaries at late and in with the new fabulous music critics who’ve got some fresh insights in to the musical esse.
Now, time for a playlist. Maestro! Music!
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My Brightest Diamond - Something of an end [Download]
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Moby - Shot in the back of the head [Download]
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The Books and Jose Gonzales - Cello Song [Download]
Nokia E71 White and my current phone playlist
I was able to do a phone trial for WOMWorld for the new Nokia E71. I wrote an extensive review on my other blog which I hope you guys should check out. Here’s an excerpt:
Their E71 model inspires enthusiasm among Nokia consumers especially among the growing number of people who have jumped in to the Wireless LAN bandwagon. Personally, it’s about time that mobile phones began to fully embrace the internet and enhance its flexibility and capability to surf it.
It also has its own built-in music player which comes in handy if you don’t have your own mp3 player like in my situation. I use the phone to listen to the Music I’m in to at the moment so I’ll let you in on some of the songs on my current list.
- Ellen Allien & Apparat - Do not break
- Sigur Ros- Gobbledigook
- Trentemoller – Miss you
- De la Mancha – Lotus seven
By the way, the song from Sigur Ros on my playlist from their newest album entitled in a long Icelandic name I can hardly pronounce. The album is a bit happier than the more epic tunes we’re so used to hear from the band like from the original soundtrack of the movie Vanilla Sky. Speaking of movies, the movie The Fountain which is a personal favorite features the song from Trentemoller, a pensive new age tune. Check ‘em out.
Y’all have a nice weekend!
Rainy days and Mondays
The Carpenters is by far the most articulate pop band of their time when it comes to love melancholy. People who grow up to their songs will not wonder why the story of these two siblings is as tragic as, say, their song Aurora.
Yesterday, I felt rain on my head. Walking through a crowded place, everyone is bustling, running for cover, scrounging for a ride home.
Yet I moved through the noisy crowd like the film and music was slow and sad. Like Karen Carpenter cooed at my ear with her cold voice. I have always wondered why the rain was such a sad occasion on most literary references.
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Scarlett Johansson – Falling Down [Download] [Lyrics]
Oh, and by the way Scarlett Johansson can sing.
Going back to Rock music
I’m currently under Rock Rehab – kind of my made up term for this period of time I’ve decided to lock myself away from all other types of music except of course, Rock. This involves hours worth of listening to Rock-only playlists with artists like Radiohead, The New Pornographers, The Decemberists, Wolfmother, Deftones, The Metric, Frank Zappa and the inescapable 70’s jangle rock of Steely Dan (mind you, this is just to name a few). I’ve come up with a pretty eclectic array of artist to be listened to probably up until the end of this month.
I guess at this point, you might be asking why?
House, House and the Homeless.
The past few weeks have been eventful thus far, and just as I was about to create a post plugging my friend’s new coffee shop, “Yellow hauz” (quaintly spelled that way, reflective of the playful personality of the owner), I do however feel that Ria of http://mydavaocity.com has more than adequately put what I wanted to say. So check out that link if you want an objective perspective of what a real connoisseur thinks about the place. If it came from me, I’d wax poetic about the place. I practically live there (here – because, hey! See what I mean?) these days.
So moving on, since this blog is mainly a Music blog, let’s get to the second chunk of this post which is to discuss my love-hate thing going on with “House” music. Read the rest of this entry »
Beach music?
Having been reminded of my “contract” which Andrew (of http://www.alleba.com/blog) and Ria (of http://politics.alleba.com) is well aware of, I am about to make a post even without really giving it much thought. But let’s see, I asked around and my misheard my muse saying “Beach” when she actually meant “Bleach” for possible keywords that’ll spark the content of this post. Not such a bad idea. It is after all summertime.
Let’s see.
Read the rest of this entry »
I don’t want to come off a music snob (Best of 2006)
What I meant by a best of 2006 list has a lot to do with the best of what I ended up listening to over the year, not necessarily albums that were released in ’06. I must say, I’ve been trying to come up with this list since last week and I realized it’s a pretty tough list to make especially since I have been ridiculously hooked to a lot of artists over the year thanks very much to my lovely music fiend friends Khayriyyah Mod Hanafiah, Naly Phong, Nathaniel James Salisipan, Jeremy Lu and the Internet.
[photopress:B00000DFRU_01__AA90_SCTHUMBZZZ_V35679563_.jpg,full,alignleft]Afghan Whigs, The – Now I have to make reference to my dear friend J. Lu, who calls them, aptly, “White guys who sing like they’re black soul”. Whatever that’s supposed to means, it makes a lot of sense hearing it. But the stranger part about The Afghan Whigs is that they manage to be that and sound sorta 90’s. Yeah, sorta. A load of whatever to something that sounds pleasant.
[photopress:B000E11568_01__AA90_SCTHUMBZZZ_.jpg,full,alignleft]Belle and Sebastian – These kids never fail me. They released a few EPs – which I can’t wait to get my hands on – before letting out their 2006 happity-dabbity album release, The Life Pursuit. I’m falling in love with the 60’s again thanks to them. Go folk revival/jangle!
[photopress:B000GFLAI0_01__AA90_SCTHUMBZZZ_V36943362_.jpg,full,alignleft]Bob Dylan – Modern Times is so apropos and Dylan shows pro form. Period. There are some things new artists have got to pick up from ol’ Bob. He’s getting raspier these days but – dude, Old School is Cool!
[photopress:B0001KL5NA_01__AA90_SCTHUMBZZZ_.jpg,full,alignleft]Broken Social Scenee – One of my mom’s Christmas gifts happen to be a copy of their album, Beehives and I guess she knows me well enough. I’ve been waiting for these guys since the 2005 album came out and I’m dying for some new material. No… hungry. Jesus, I can’t adequately put how much I love BSS since I found out about them.
[photopress:B000AOJHZA_01__AA90_SCTHUMBZZZ_.jpg,full,alignleft]Clap your hands and say yeah! – Correct me if I’m wrong, but they’re white noise. Or not. Or maybe. Beats me. But they sound so good, good and so fucking good, who cares?
[photopress:B000HKDEEW_01__AA90_SCTHUMBZZZ_V59841508_.jpg,full,alignleft]Decemberists, The – Picaresque was quite a treat at 2005 but 2006 with The Crane Wife out tipped the balance letting The Decemberists achieve musical supercoolness. I love the actual reference to that old Japanese tale about the wife of a man plucking her own feathers so that she could weave silk clothes. You must know the story. Man gets too greedy so the crane wife is driven away, never to return. I hope the “never to return” part won’t happen with these guys.
[photopress:B000EZ902A_01__AA90_SCTHUMBZZZ_V56234497_.jpg,full,alignleft]Feist – What is it with Leslie Feist and all those Canada-only releases?! (Refers to the album Open Season) I need my copies, okay? Feist has the most Enchanting voice. Hint of folk and soul. You will fall in love with her and not just because you’re dyke.
[photopress:B00006BTCA_01__SCTHUMBZZZ_.jpg,full,alignleft]Interpol - And since no one thought they could get any better, they took the initiative. Kye, you are indeed a good friend. I was listening to this album over the summer and it was so goddamn perfect at that time. Haha, figures I’m too hooked up with the epic Obstacle 1 & 2. And the fact that post punk bands actually have something to write about!
[photopress:B0000029DD_01__SCTHUMBZZZ_V38736151_.jpg,full,alignleft]Jeff Buckley – He is definitely missed. I’m really a sucker for skinny, sweaty guys playing the guitar. Especially if these skinny, sweaty guys can really sing.
[photopress:B000FWHVKA_01__AA90_SCTHUMBZZZ_V65003357_.jpg,full,alignleft]Knife, The – I kid you not, The Knife is so fucking awesome. It’s my current obssession and for starters you might want to listen to Heartbeats which is yet another creative way of singing about sex. We’re talking about an indie electro-pop and GOD-knows-what music. And by the way, did I mention that I am a music snob and that I didn’t just like them just because they were no. 1 at Pitchfork media but because I took the labor of actually listening through the whole goddamn album. Goes to show that Silent Shout is getting the attention it deserves.
[photopress:B000B66H64_01__AA90_SCTHUMBZZZ_.jpg,full,alignleft]Metric, The – You know I had to listen to The Metric after listening to BSS because not only does Emily Haines have rocking vocals in their BSS song Swimmers but as it turns out, their kind of music is almost exactly what I had in mind for effective songwriting. Although a lot of people might argue that structure is no fun but I’d like to say that structure is structure just so you can remember what you’re singing to easier. And what I can sing or would love to sing, I probably like.
[photopress:B0000DFZZA_01__SCTHUMBZZZ_.jpg,full,alignleft]Nelly Furtado – Surprised? I’m talking about her album Folklore of course, the second more modest release (definitely underestimated next to the first and the most recent third release). You’ll be surprised at how Nelly is capable of a sensinble kind of pop, although, I suppose this is a trait people overlook when you get to see how gorgeous she is on video while she’s grinding mindlessly. Point is, if she can manage to be some music schizo, then she may have a lot more racked up in her. Oh yeah, and kudos to her single, All good things come to an end, that showed up in her third album. Although I like the unreleased version more with Chris Martin whining in the background, just because, heh.
[photopress:B000HIP4I8_01__SCTHUMBZZZ_V41133725_.jpg,full,alignleft]Sean Lennon - He looks so much like his dad! Come on people, is that all you ever see of Sean Lennon? The dude has worked up enough musical charisma to deserve his own platform without having to mention his parents The John and The Yoko. Friendly fire does have a touch of Lennon sensibility that we can also see in his father. This album is made up of what songwriting used to stand for before people got too cryptic or too simplistic. Good record.
[photopress:B0009R1T7M_01__AA90_SCTHUMBZZZ_.jpg,full,alignleft]Sufjan Stevens – I have a love-hate thing going on with this guy because when I check him out in YouTube he seems so gay. But Damn, I’m like hands down with Illinois. For me, it is definitely the best album of 2006, no questions asked.
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[photopress:B000ESSTMO_01__AA90_SCTHUMBZZZ_V55663618_.jpg,full,alignleft]By the way, Jewel is out with a new album. Goodbye, Alice and Wonderland revives what Jewel is best at – a lot of folk, a lot of melody and no more tacky-sounding RnB. This is the same Jewel I knew covering the Rolling Stone’s Wild Horses and can I just say…finally you she came in to her senses! Here’s to maturity. Goodbye, Alice and Wonderland welcomes Jewel back home.
Mood music
Posted by Kim in Mainstream, Music, Playlists on September 6th, 2006
I’m really in the mood for thinking of someone. Yes, this blogger has a “heart” after all.
Reviewing:
1.) Coldplay – Sparks
2.) Damien Rice – The Blower’s daughter
3.) Blur – Out of time
4.) Julie Delpy – Ocean apart
5.) Broken Social Scene – Lover’s spit
***
If you’re ready for this, kids, my music reflects a lot about my “emotional ressonances”. A friend of mine argues that emoting over music is redundant because music is already feeling. The way I see it, it’s hard to deliniate the two, but we ought to realize that a song cannot be a song without the meaning or sentiments that a person can attach to it. So this entails that a person is separate from the song and whatever was meant by either is something that’s unique from each other. In the end, the meanings might converge. Feelings are never redundant, they’re more often than not, refreshed in us through songs. It makes more sense that way.
Does it?
Currently reading Germain Greer’s Sex and Destiny. Western context though, but Greer pulls it off with her wit and superb analysis.
www.kim.southisms.com
Best music software for parties
Posted by Kim in Events, Music, Playlists, Social Comment on June 23rd, 2008
Just last week, was the Bloggers Party at Casa Leticia and I volunteered to come up with the music for the night. Yes, I still have those pangs from good ol’ memories of disk jockeying days, so every opportunity to decide a playlist is such a BIG deal for me. Now, part of the BIG deal of it all is to make sure that the music fit the crowd but at the same time, you wouldn’t want something that distracted them from socializing with each other. Aside from the obvious factor of making sure that each song didn’t segue to each other awkwardly, I wanted to use a Music software that’d employ a really smooth crossfade between each song. Then Ria texted and told me to just burn a couple of CDs, heh, I ended up doing that, yes. But it doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about the more software-oriented approach of playing your party tunes.
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bloggers, casa leticia, iTunes, Ots DJ, OtsLabs, Real Rhapsody, Virtual DJ, Windows Media Player
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