en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal The Last.fm journal for trialbyfire108. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2008/03/02/4coz_last_night_i_dreamt_of_mississippi_-_nicolai_dunger_-_late_nights_with_turin_brakes Sun, 2 Mar 2008 17:58:53 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2008/03/02/4coz_last_night_i_dreamt_of_mississippi_-_nicolai_dunger_-_late_nights_with_turin_brakes I came across Last Night I Dreamt Of Mississippi by Nicolai Dunger on the compilation Late Nights with Turin Brakes. A pleasantly careworn song, sung with a nonchalant, sleepy attitude, it quickly ended up on my list of compulsively repeated songs. It starts off with a generally incomprehensible voice-over of an air hostess speaking right before takeoff, which actually has nothing to do with the rest of the song, it seems. The whole tone of the piece quickly changes with bluesy guitar chords and a catchy rhythm, which sound slightly hazy and drunk. Some unexpected notes here and there keep your attention until the fiddle starts up, with some lazy slides. The whole ensemble, even after the vocals start, has an almost trancelike cohesiveness, with very little countermelody or counterpoint. All the instrumentals follow almost the same trajectory, with Dunger's cigarette-and-Jack-Daniels-filled voice joining right in, making the whole thing sound smooth and round. Pictures of moonless nights in the rocking chair on the porch almost fill my head but then some vague sense of desperation kicks in. It could be a much more run-of-the-mill song but somehow manages to amaze with its transparency. I haven't heard anything else by Dunger, but I bet there's incredible stuff out there.

http://eternalanthems.blogspot.com/]]> http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2007/05/23/4coy_the_eerily_appropriate_soundtrack_to_my_life Wed, 23 May 2007 13:41:05 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2007/05/23/4coy_the_eerily_appropriate_soundtrack_to_my_life should be studying...

So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button

and go:

OPENING CREDITS: Smile Like You Mean It - The Killers

WAKING UP: Three - Massive Attack

1ST DAY AT SCHOOL: Things We Said Today - The Beatles

FALLING IN LOVE: I'll Be Back- The Beatles

BREAKING UP: Somebody Said Goodbye - Enya

PROM: Que se puede hacer con el amor - Silvio Rodriguez

LIFE'S OKAY: I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane - Chantal Kreviazuk

MENTAL BREAKDOWN: Crazy Life - Toad The Wet Sprocket

DRIVING: Wonderwall

FLASHBACK: Butterfly

GETTING BACK: Narrow Escape

BIRTH OF CHILD: A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But for Very Good Reasons - Sufjan Stevens

WEDDING SCENE: Tree of Life - Clint Mansell

WHEN NATURE CALLS: Northenden - Doves

DEATH SCENE: Old Age - Nirvana

FUNERAL SONG: Shooting Star - Elliott Smith

END CREDITS: Red Dust - Zero 7

some of these were almost strangely fitting...
perhaps i'll do another one next time i need to procrastinate.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2007/05/22/4cox_thinking_philosophically_as_exams_approach Tue, 22 May 2007 12:45:44 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2007/05/22/4cox_thinking_philosophically_as_exams_approach Perhaps it is a result of my utter distaste for studying in the unbearable heat, or perhaps it's just that it's time for a break, but I have found myself philosophizing a great deal more lately than usual - which is a remarkable amount of thinking.

I haven't been watching any movies or reading any books lately, just studying my horrid basic sciences so I can be well on my way to that medical degree. So I came to the conclusion that it must be my music that has been making me think so much in the recent past.

I realized that that probably is the case when i looked back on who my highest played artists have been in the past week or two.

Right now Nick Drake is right up there at the top, with his quiet, brooding lyrics and misleadingly gentle chords. At first listen, his music seems simple and kind, sweetly contented, but if you listen carefully, his music will turn you inside out - i guarantee it. Honestly, can you listen to Man In A Shed without your heart hurting? just a little bit?

Ane Brun's A Temporary Dive has grabbed me by the collar over the past week, and i cannot stop listening to it. Laid In Earth has an eerie quality to it, almost as if a disembodied voice is calling back, already beyond the grave. My Lover Will Go and Where Friend Rhymes With End serve to remind that whatever we might think, our connections with people are temporary, fleeting even. Who knows where I will be in a year? Who knows who will be with me? Will I be alone?

And that's when Damien Rice comes into the picture... with his soulful, mournful songs, which almost make me resign myself to the inevitable sorrows of life. 9 contains several songs which make me think i really have no choice but to curl up and give up. Accidental Babies is so beautifully hollow that it makes me cringe. In such a soft voice, with such soft words, Rice stabs into some deeper self of mine, which I don't even know how to shield from the wounds that beautiful music can inflict.

Both Karyshma and the soundtrack for The Namesake have done something similar to me, by reaching a conflicted part of me that I think I generally do my best to avoid. The beauty of the Indian raagas blends in such a lovely way with Western sounds and energy in tracks like eastbound and Monster. Listening to them makes me want to search deeper within myself and find that harmony in myself, in the reconciliation between the indian mysticism and the western rationalism, to be overly simplistic.

And of course, any talk of harmony and melody is not complete without mentioniing the one artist who can make me smile one instant and in a split second, wring anguish out of my soul. Yes, of course, Jeff Buckley.
I've always loved Jeff, and the standard tracks that everyone who loves Jeff loves and can't live without, like Lover, You Should've Come Over and Hallelujah, but i've started to listen even more closely to other tracks that might tend to take more of a backseat. Jeff's cover (Strange Fruit (Live)) of Bille Holliday's Strange Fruit is haunting, listen carefully to the words.
You and I, Morning Theft, and Opened Once have all captured my attention a little bit more recently, and how can Jeff's lyrics not make you think?

So there you have it, folks.
What music can do to you.

I'll provide you with another installment soon.
Trust me, I'm not even close to being done.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2007/04/23/4cow_an_interesting_little_music_survey Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:31:08 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2007/04/23/4cow_an_interesting_little_music_survey name your top 10 most played bands on last.fm:

1. Jeff Buckley
2. Nick Drake
3. Pink Martini
4. The Beatles
5. Iron And Wine
6. Jorge Drexler
7. Jack Johnson
8. Yann Tiersen
9. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
10. The Shins


what was the first song you ever heard by 6?
Al Otro Lado del Rio from The Motorcycle Diaries

what is your favorite album of 2?
Pink Moon, of course

what is your favorite lyric that 5 has sung?
oh but there are so many good ones...
maybe "the earth is warmer when you laugh" from Lion's Mane, The Creek Drank the Cradle

how many times have you seen 4 live?
oh hah i wish... i'm too young, i missed that generation entirely.

what is your favorite song by 7?
hmm Banana Pancakes or Better Together i think

what is a good memory you have involving the music of 10?
sitting with pri, in carmichael, drinking tea under dimmed lights, watching the snow outside and listening to The Past and Pending

is there a song of 3 that makes you sad?
haha that's the only happy band on there...Song Of The Black Swan makes something deep inside me move

what is your favorite lyric that 2 has sung?
it's NICK DRAKE!!! it's all about the lyrics... i can't choose... yeesh.

what is your favorite song by 9?
oh wow... um well i definitely love Allah Hu, but probably also Hamdand Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai

how did you get in to 3?
they came to somerville and i didn't get to hear them... so i decided to hear them on my own anyway:)

what was the first song you heard by 1?
Dream Brother, my sophomore year of college, at 2 AM on a cold winter night.

what is your favorite song by 4?
um they have like 100 albums... but hmm... ACross The Universe?

how many times have you seen 9 live?
hah i wish.

what is a good memory you have involving 2?
lounging at 209 College Ave, after a night at the Oxfam Cafe, staring at the ceiling with sriram and letting nick drake wash over me.

is there a song of 8 that makes you sad?
somehow his whole oeuvre is a bit sad... in a deep-seated kind of way.

what is your favorite album of 5?
this is kinda hard but i think i'll have to stick with the first... The Creek Drank the Cradle

what is your favorite lyric that 3 has sung?
uhh... "je veux seulement oublier et puis je fume" from Sympathique

what is your favorite song of 1?
Hallelujah and Lover You Should Have Come Over

what is your favorite song of 10?
Those to Come and The Past and Pending

how many times have you seen 8 live?
HAHAHA. god, if only.

what is your favorite album of 1?
Grace

what is a great memory you have considering 9?
listening to Falusing [track artist=Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan]Sano Ek Pal Chain Na Ave at Club Passim

what was the first song you heard by 8?
La Valse D'Amelie

what is your favorite cover by 2?
i'm not sure...]]> http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2007/02/18/4cov_facing_the_music Sun, 18 Feb 2007 09:55:10 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2007/02/18/4cov_facing_the_music being in india and being in medical school changes your life immensely, i've found. and i think the one thing that's helping me progress, to form new memories so i can let go of the old, to grow into a new self so i can internalize the old without losing it, is my music. as always, my very dear Jeff Buckley is helping me through the transition. just as i've had for two years, i still have those nights where i turn out the lights, sit back, and play Lover, You Should've Come Over on full volume. i don't think i've ever come across anything more cathartic than jeff's bone-chilling wails. and for those times when i need to cry and i need to be understood, Adagio builds in sorrow with me. and at the end i feel like i've released some demons that were embedded somewhere deep inside me. of course there are those times when it's enough to hear some balm for the soul, and those are the times that i reach for my trusty Pink Martini. and then Pink Moon puts me to bed, and i wake up ready to face my life and face my day. having a soundtrack to my life takes care of me, provides me with continuity and comfort. life goes on, and the music keeps playing, and i live.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2006/03/07/4cou_sunsets_and_still_lifes Tue, 7 Mar 2006 23:00:24 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/trialbyfire108/journal/2006/03/07/4cou_sunsets_and_still_lifes the sun is setting, and blues are melting into oranges and reds, turning the sky into streaks of imagination. Ether Song is playing. the notes are flowing into the colors, the colors melting into my thoughts. I thought it might be a Jeff Buckley kind of evening, but there's enough angst and turmoil in my mind without my needing to sublimate it in Jeff's croons and wails. The lights are dimmed and I am writing, hoping that somewhere my words and my thoughts and the music will join, maybe where the sky is melting.]]>