Universally Speaking

There are very few problems in life that music cannot ease the stress of dealing with. I'm sorry to say I forget how much I love music until these moments come along. Today, I'm reconnecting with an old favorite:

This has been stuck in my head for the past few weeks

The Wallflower

Ever the oldies fan, I've spent the past couple of days listening to a lot of Etta James and decided that that is my ideal music. Everything she does is perfect-- covers and all! I hate ranking things because I feel like I end up doubting my choices, overanalyzing, or changing my mind. And once I change my mind, I usually feel lame for making such bold statements and claiming a favorite to begin with. With that in mind, I still feel pretty comfortable saying Etta James has the best vocals I have ever heard.

I'm not really sure if this was blogworthy but oh well. And I haven't taken any new pictures so here are a few of Etta that I like.

Now push play and enjoy the music :)

Saturday Night Laughs

I never blog about TV, which is funny because there are certain shows I am obsessed with. I don't really follow many new shows (with the exception of Modern Family and Law & Order: SVU...if you aren't watching Modern Family, you are seeeriously missing out. I mean it, your week will be better having watched this show) but my DVR is full of episodes of old shows I've already seen dozens of times, including but not limited to The Simpsons, That 70s Show, Golden Girls, and older seasons of SVU.

Here's a scene from That 70s Show that never fails to make me laugh. It's from season 2 episode "Holy Crap". Eric and Laurie refuse to go to Church with Kitty, so she invites young, hip Pastor Dave over to bond with the kids. I'm not sure how many of you are church-going folk, but if you dread waking up and getting dressed on Sundays, maybe you'll get a little laugh out of this.

Currently On Repeat

The debut album by The XX was sent my way a few weeks ago (recommended by Best Friend, who else?) and I've had it on repeat for quite awhile now. Some of my favorite aspects of the XX: the sweet, innocent lyrics, mellow beats, and the heavy bass and dual male-female vocals (reminding me of the Pixies at times). "Islands" is my personal favorite off the album, but "VCR", "Heart Skipped A Beat" and "Crystalised" are definitely worth a listen as well. Enjoy!

Moody Blues

It's funny, I used to hate 4 Non Blondes when I was younger. Kind of random, but I really love 90s music.

Who doesn't love a Beatles montage?

Claremont

One of our favorite places. Lazy week, enjoy the soundtrack:

Freedom

Who doesn't love '90s supermodels?

For Your Enjoyment

When I was in high school, I was one of those kids that was pretty on top of it when it came to music. I listened to bands like the Rolling Stones, the Pixies and the Flaming Lips, not to say I didn't (and don't) enjoy a pop song here and there (to me, any genre of music that requires hard work and creativity is credible--which is partially why I never made it as a music snob-- but I was never really a "poptart"). Pardon the long run-on sentence...

Like I was saying, I think I've always had somewhat of a unique taste in music but needless to say, in the past couple of years I've turned into a grandma. Not just because I primarily listen to oldies--I stand firm on my opinion that music wouldn't be where it is today without influence from everything from Motown to Elvis to Disco to Classic Rock n' Roll and so on. But mostly for the fact that I'm strangely unfamiliar with the bands of today, both mainstream and underground. Best Friend is always forcing me to listen to different independent bands, which are usually good but for some reason it is so hard for me to get out of my oldies funk. So last night, he sent me this:





God Help The Girl is Stuart Murdoch's (of Belle & Sebastian) latest project and as Best Friend describes it "Mary Tyler Moore meets The Pretenders." This is the first thing that's been recommended to me that I've had on repeat since first listen. You can go here to listen to more. I don't know if it's the overwhelming nostalgia, sweet lyrics or upbeat tempo but I can't help but smile as I listen to it.

For Your Enjoyment

Because who doesn't enjoy a montage of Bob Dylan photographs?