Tuesday, January 8, 2013

# January Joy 8: Listen to new music


Do you remember the old days? When MTV would actually show music videos all day long?
Sure, they had some shows, for instance there was Daria  (oh how I loved the sarcasm), but Music Television was mostly about the Music (and not about mean girls bitching at the set of a fashion magazine). That was the place where you'd listen to that new song, then  wait until the end of it to see who it was and later rush to the record shop (Mix-up in Mexico, City Disc in Switzerland) where they would actually lend you the CD of your choice along with a big set of headphones. There, you could listen to the songs over and over again and then decide that yes, you'd be getting the album. It was an important decision, asserting if a certain CD would be part of your collection. I remember the City Disc at the train station in Geneva and the one by the lake, on the island. My best friend and I would go and spend hours there. Even further back in time, you would be listening to the radio, catch a tune you liked, and then sit hours and hours waiting for your song to come so you could record it on a tape and figure out who it was. When you'd finally set your hands on the album you would listen to each song, savour it, get to know it at a slow pace. At first the songs would sound weird cause you did not know them too well. But after listening to them over and over again you started liking some tracks more than others and you'd find out your favorites.

These days there is so much going on at the same time that it is difficult to keep track of it all. You listen to a song, you make sure to remember a line or two, you google the lyrics, you find the artist, you download the full album. And then you proceed to only listen to the song that caught your attention (and not to the whole thing, as you used to). Music is so easily obtained nowadays that I get a feeling that we don't appreciate it as we used to.


Anyhow, here are some songs that have caught my attention recently. This first one I listened to on the radio the other day and I loved it. Turns out it's an old song, from 1997, but at least it was new to me. It's Brimful of Asha by Cornerstone, such a groovy, happy theme, makes me want to jump and dance. Here's what the wiki has to say about it:

<< "Brimful of Asha" is a 1997 single by the British alternative rock band Cornershop, which originally reached number 60 in the UK Singles Chart in 1997. After a remixed version of the song by Fatboy Slim, originally released only as a limited edition 12 inch single in the UK, became both a radio and critical success, the song was re-released and reached #1 in the UK chart in February 1998 and number #16 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The lyrics are a tribute to Asha Bhosle, one of the most famous pop singers/film-score vocalists of India. 
This song is based upon the history of film culture in India. Since their introduction, Indian films have relied heavily on song-and-dance numbers. Almost always, the singing was performed by background singers while the actors and actresses lip-sync. Asha Bhosle is one of these playback singers who has sung over 12,000 songs. Playback singers Lata Mangeshkar (her older sibling) and Mohammad Rafi (one of the top male playback singers of the mid-century) are also mentioned in the song. The lyrics of the song's bridge contain a number of references to non-Indian music, including Georges Brassens' song "Bancs Publics", Jacques Dutronc, Marc Bolan, Argo Records and Trojan Records.>>
 

This other song is "Shake it up", by The Parlotones. I found it just yesterday as a feautured track (commercial) while I was watching some other video. At first I thought oh, silly ads. But then I found myself quite liking the song, it reminds me of the big dance hits from the 90's (I feel so old as I write this). I will keep an eye on their forthcoming album, to be released on the 12th February this year. 


I asked the boy to make me listen to some new music (otherwise I would inevitably be talking here about music I do know) and he told me to listen to Tim McGraw's , "Red Rag Top". Such a happy country song.


And finally, this song is also kind of not new, but I thought I would share it to you. It is a beautiful song about being away from home, about the time not waiting for you back home, sung live by two of my favorite female Mexican singers: Natalia Lafourcade and Julieta Venegas. The track is called "Si tu no estás". BTW, while researching for this post I found out that Natalia just released a new album: Mujer bonita, an homage to Agustín Lara. Now I need a volunteer to get it for me and send it over to us.

What are your favorite new music finds? Do you have a favorite artist, that you always come back to? Are you a fan? (In my case that would be Mika, Lily Allen and we recently saw The Dandy Warhols in concert and I loved it)

16 comments:

  1. Ooh the days when MTV actually had music!!
    I usually find new songs through the radio now.

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    1. Yes, the radio is still a great place to find new music. I love how an "old" media (one of the first ones at least) is still going strong.

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  2. My friend lived opposite a tennis court when we were growing up and when the boys we fancied were playing she would call me, I would run over, we would put MTV on and then the two of us would sit in her window seat half watching cute boys playing tennis, half TV and listening to the music together. We are still best friends to this day.

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    1. Oh that is such a sweet story, it makes me think of junior high school, having crushes on boys and just watching them. Just a smile from any of them would make my day.

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  3. Aww brimful of asha, that was a good tune!!

    Your right we don't appreciate music so much anymore, we always have the radio on so hear new songs on their but it can all get quite samey samey very quickly. xox

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    1. It is a super nice song, I don't know how I missed it back in the day.
      And yes, the radio is still a source for new music, so glad it's still there.
      But yes, there are a lot of songs that sound like something else, all the time.

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  4. Ik kende ze allemaal nog niet, maar ik vind vooral de laatste erg leuk! Ik vind het altijd erg leuk om nieuwe muziek te ontdekken.

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    1. Ja zeker, het is altijd leuk om nieuwe muziek te vinden. En de laatste nummer is echt super mooi.

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    1. I was super obsessed with that show, that's how much I loved it. Now that I think about it I should download or get the whole thing... its wisdom is priceless.

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  6. Brimful of Asha sends me back to some GOOD memories! I can't believe you never heard it back in the day, but very glad you've discovered it now... I might have to get involved in this #JanuaryJoy, it seems like everyone's enjoying it so much!

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    1. Yeah I can't believe I missed it but its never too late. And yes I am loving every second of it, I was saying to Rebecca that having this "schedule", the prompts, the deadlines is making me productive (and happy), which is a lesson learned already. Maybe I am a lot more organized than I thought. (Back in school I would remember all of our homework and assignments by heart, I prided myself in NOT having an agenda/ organizer, in always knowing what I had to do or where to be at any given time, but I think it might be a good habit to keep).

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  7. En Argentina no esperabamos para comprar el CD, sino para grabar la canción en cassettes TDK en blanco, eramos más pobres jajaja.
    Las radios tenian una sección los domingos llamada "los 40 mas escuchados" y yo me acuerdo que esperabamos con la doble cassetera lista, TDK adentro y los dedos apretados en PLAY y RECORD a que llegara nuestra cancion favorita para grabarla, y así armabamos nuestras "colecciones". Comprar CDs era carisimo, y no todo el mundo tenía CD player (ni hablar de diskman, eso eran cosas de ricos, de películas americanas!)asi que los cassettes y la radio eran nuestra fuente de inspiración y descubrimiento.
    MTV sólo estaba en cable, que era para gente con dinero...nosotros teníamos una budinera en la antena y con eso captabamos algunos canales pero se veían "llovido"...me acuerdo y me río, qué epocas!
    Artistas favoritos, para mí son los clasicos franceses y americanos: Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennet, Edith Piaff, Dalida, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, y claro, los rolling stones y los beatles (aunque reconozco que los stones me gustan mas), John Lennon en su trabajo de solista. Me gustan muchisimo tambien Chavela Vargas (todo! qué voz!) y los fados portugueses de Dulce Pontes. Y ultimamente con mi marido hemos estado escuchando bastante Lana del Rey...o sea lo nuestro es bien retro.

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    1. Sí, sí lo de los cassettes TDK y las famosas radio-grabadoras eran un clásico, tenemos la misma experiencia y fue así durante muchos años, básicamente hasta el final de bachillerato,lo traté de mencionar aquí:

      "Even further back in time, you would be listening to the radio, catch a tune you liked, and then sit hours and hours waiting for your song to come so you could record it on a tape and figure out who it was."

      Para los cumpleaños / fiestas / chico de tus sueños era un clásico hacer compilaciones directas del radio, que tomaban tiempo y paciencia en esos mismos cassettes.

      Lo de las tiendas de discos fue más bien en tiempos universitarios o durante la preparatoria, pero muchas veces era más la excusa de ir a las tiendas a escuchar música y pasar horas y horas ahí.

      Yo sólo tuve un Discman hasta el 1999, y fue uno de los regalos de despedida cuando me fui a Suiza. Eso sí, desde que me acuerdo teníamos "walkman", Sony tenía unos amarillo canario que eran preciosos.

      En México era muy común "robar" señal directamente de Estados Unidos. Sólo había que conseguir una antena parabólica grandotota (que no sé que tan caras eran), y venían a casa una especie de hackers que configuraban el receptor y listo, a recibir todos los canales de USA sin tener que suscribirse. : Disney Channel, MTV, Nickelodeon, National Geographic, Travel Channel, History Channel, Animal Planet, People & Arts.

      Que buena onda lo de la budinera.

      Los Stones a mí también me encantan los conozco más de música de fondo porque mí papá era hardcore fan. Edith Piaff y Billie Holiday tambien me gustan. Escucharé a Dulce Pontes. Y Lana del Rey también me gusta.

      Aquí escuchamos música muy muy variada, desde el pop más cursi (incluyendo el coreano, al que Mark me introdujo, con decirte que el Gangnam Style lo conocí muchos meses antes de que se volviera viral), hasta el rock alternativo, pasando por el hip-hop, el reggae, el dance, algo de electrónica.... Pero tengo que decir que la música de los 90s (claro es cuando me tocó la adolescencia) es la que más me pega: The Cranberries, REM, Semisonic, Green Day, The Dandy Warhols, Marcy Playground, The Breeders, The pixies, Eels, Sugar Ray, Everclear, No Doubt, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Hole, Blink 182, Gorillaz...
      Eso y el rock setentero de mi papá a lo que suena mi infancia: Janis Joplin, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, y sí, también Los Beatles y Abba (que era más del gusto de mi mamá).

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  8. Brimful of Asher - well that certainly brings back some memories!
    I just bought two new albums - one by Birdy and one by Lisa Hannigan. Both are so good!
    (p.s. I'm loving this series :)

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    1. Haha yeah I know, the old music I stumble upon, I really don't know how I missed it though after listenint to it over and over again now it sounds familiar.

      I will check out those abums.

      And yeah, I love having promps to follow, deadlines, activities to do. It gets me going in this joy awareness :) thing.

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