Syrup & Honey

The Diner from sopleasedonteverchange on 8tracks.

Every time it rains, I listen to the Rainy Days and Diner Dates mix I have in my iPod. While the tracklist is absolutely flawless, listening every time it rains during the monsoon season can get quite repetitive. So, I'm really glad I found another one just like it. It's this mix from 8tracks and I just love it. In my mind, I am immediately transported to shiny linoleum floors, jukeboxes that play the oldies for a quarter, servers on roller skates, thick strawberry milkshakes, greasy fries and maybe some grilled cheese hot on my plate. Maybe I even feel a little like I am in a group with Archie and the gang, hanging out at Pop's Diner. Maybe. Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. It usually means I have a life, the kind where you're actually busy doing stuff instead of writing about wanting to do stuff. And since the prospect of actually having a life happens only once, maybe twice a year in my sad life, I really don't (didn't? I'm not sure, I think I'm slowly inching my way into having no life again) mind having less "me" time. Here, listen to a diner mix. Have a grilled cheese sandwich while you're at it. 

Read so hard, libraries want to fine me.

How can you not love a rap song with a line like, "You use a Kindle? I carry spines..."

"He said Shay let's get married at the Strand, his Friday Reads so bad, he can't have my hand."
"Nerdy boy, he's so slow. Tuesday, we start with Foucault. He's still stuck on the intro? He's a no goooo."
"That shit cray. Explainy, ain't it, A? What you readin'? (de Montaigne)"
"You ball so hard? Okay, you're bowling but I read so hard, I'm J.K. Rowling." 
"War and Peace? Piece of cake. Read Tolstoy in three days, straight through, no delays, didn't miss a word, not one phrase"


And my personal favorite, "Burroughs, Golding, Shakespeare--all dead". Hahaha. Tangina this. 


This print's rare,
R

Here we come, in praise of the sun

In the summer of 2010, my good friend K put up an "Endless Summer, Endless Youth" mix and let me tell you, what a gem of a mix it is. It has, among many things, a fun Major Lazer track, Foster the People's Pumped Up Kicks (Yes, y'all are two years too late), Let's Go Surfing from The Drums  and  my personal favorite--the "I wish I had a boyfriend, I wish I had a loving man in my life..." intro to Girls' Lust for Life. I'm not going to post a mix but I figured I'd do a little list of the old and the not-so-old songs I've been listening to because a.) it's summer and b.) I kind of miss the beach. Not just any beach though, this.

• Swimsuits - The Cool Kids ft. Mayer Hawthorne
• Beautiful - Pharell & Snoop Dogg
• Lust for Life - Girls
• Call It What You Want - Foster The People
• My Sun - The Temper Trap
• Honey Bunny - Girls
• Georgia - Yuck
• Learnalilgivinanlovin - Gotye

What will you be up to this summer? Traveling elsewhere, I hope.

The type of kisses where teeth collide

"I've been trying to figure out exactly what I need, call up to listen to the voice of reason, and got the answering machine."

Looks more and more like Bob Dylan everyday, this one. Alex Turner's acoustic performance of Reckless Serenade by the Arctic Monkeys. 

My heart is wrapped up in clover

Before Adele Adkins, there was Jamesetta Hawkins and both are singers I love. My heart sank a little when I logged on Twitter and found out that Jamesetta (Etta James to everyone) died at 73, from complications of leukemia and dementia. She's one of my favorite singers and it's a little sad whenever great pioneers pass away. It always feels like the end of an era. A few months back, I posted a video of Adele singing Etta James' I Just Want To Make Love To You. It's still one of my favorite covers and I get a kick out of singing along whenever it plays on my iPod.

Tonight, though, will be a short tribute to Etta James. She is and will always be the matriarch of rhythm and blues. My God, that voice! She can easily and perfectly transition from R&B to rock-and-roll, jazz and soul without changing that sultry and emotionally-charged singing voice. I think this kind of raw singing, this passionate, powerful vocal assertion is the reason why I love both Etta and Adele.

Etta James is most famous for her song "At Last", which is commonly played as a first dance in weddings. Most recently, the song was a source of a juicy celebrity catfight when the Obama power couple picked Beyonce over Etta James to sing it at their first Neighborhood Ball. I love how fearless and feisty Etta was, insisting she would've sung it better than Bey. I believe her. Never doubt, never doubt.

Here are two of my favorite Etta James songs, Something's Got A Hold On Me sung during her younger years and the equally beautiful Etta singing At Last many years later. God bless you and keep you, Miss Peaches. Thank you for the music. 

PS: One of my favorite mixes, Rainy Days & Diner Dates by DJ Euric, has At Last as its first track. I'm posting the download link just for kicks (you should really go ahead and get it though because it's awesome and fun to listen to on any given work day). It also has Duffy's Syrup & Honey, a song that's been swimming in my head in and out for a whole week now. 

Don't you be wasting your money, on syrup and honey... 

I've loved and I've lost

This cover combines two of my favorites: the great singing from Florence and the Machine and Drake's Take Care. This is just so awesome. I find it fitting because Ceremonials (Florence and the Machine) and Take Care (Drake's) are the two albums I have on repeat right now. Isn't Florence so precious? :)

I know you've been hurt by someone else
I can tell by the way you carry yourself
If you let me, here's what i'll do
I'll take care of you
I've loved and lost

HAPPY FRIDAY! ♥

Here comes the sun, little darling

Ten things that make me happy (We're celebrating despite this week being an extremely crappy week because the fact that I can tell that it's a crappy week means I've already had happier, better ones. Things like that are celebratory enough):

1. Reading good books

2. My own personal spirit team. In this age of listlessness and general uncertainty, it's so easy to give up on everything you once wanted or thought you needed. It's easy to convince yourself that you are not good at it, that the journey is long and hard, and that all signs point to the exit door. But while it's so easy to give up on yourself,  it's not so easy to let friends and family down especially when they believe in you, when they see something in you that you don't see yourself. With that, you try harder even if you don't want to anymore. You begin to become more resilient. And the fruits of resilience, as we all know, is just magnificent.
3. Tequila Rose margaritas and/or Strawberry flavored Grand Margaritas
4. Grey's Anatomy and Happy Endings, but mostly Derek Shepherd and all that hair. (A close runner-up would be Teddy Altman and her chiseled cheekbones accentuated by her big, goddess of a hair)
5. Stamps on my passport because there is nothing more spectacular than the pleasure of leaving
6. Movies that remind me of my childhood like Matilda and Little Rascals
7. Long conversations over coffee
8. Humility and generosity from accomplished people because there is a certain, almost Nirvana-like sense of security that only success (or an extremely well-rounded and healthy personality) can bring. There is nothing more humbling or inspiring than seeing someone so successful rise above it all, while other people scramble around for whatever it is they're looking for. Speaking of accomplished people, I love this Foreign Policy article on Condoleezza Rice and this foreign policy heavy transcript of Madame Secretary's interview with TIME (not that they fit what I just wrote but I multi-task, so.)
9. Fun (fictional) stories like New York's 20 Under 10 from Thought Catalog 
10.  The chance to feel and the chance to start all over again. Down days are temporary. Emotions are temporary. Voluminous amounts of sadness, anger, and depression come and go so it's okay to fight them and it's perfectly alright to feel them. It's okay to be sad, broken, and moody because these feelings are not permanent. We don't have to be happy all the time and when we feel less than stellar, that only means that after the dark and twisty days, we're going to run into happiness once again.

I think happiness is hard work. It is impossible to be happy all the time and to feel that everything is fine and dandy, especially in a world where disappointment management is routine. Life can sometimes feel like a confusing cycle of all things shitty and wonderful, of good luck and impeccably bad timing, of love and loss and the good can sometimes feel incommensurate with the bad. That doesn't mean that we have to stop working for what makes us happy, though. And to work for your happiness means feeling both sadness and glee to a fault, to push yourself into finding something hopeful amidst the bad: when you fail a test you wanted to ace, when friends say something that sting, when friends suddenly turn into strangers, when there is just too much going on yet you feel like it's all going nowhere, when you are sick, when you don't see eye to eye with your parents, when the general feeling of listlessness suddenly overwhelms you, when life isn't just as peachy as you planned it to be three years ago, when you don't feel like you will ever be enough, when you feel like you're being left behind, when you feel stuck, when you miss the people who are far away or those who are gone forever, when you feel like your whole world is held up by a thread that will snap one day soon, so that you can discern for yourself what is the real balance of happy and sad and how you gain something for anything and everything that you lack.

And when you do, when the dust settles back into the ground and you finally go back to all that is good and fantastic, tell the whole world about it. Truth be told, we could all use a little jolt of something bright. We all love a promise to a happy ending. Smile. The dog days are over or at least they will be, very soon. All will be well.

Let me leave you with a short list of songs that I listen to whenever I feel less than stellar:

1. The Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine

Happiness hit her like a train on a track, coming towards her stuck, still no turning back 

2. The Ills - Mayer Hawthorne / Mr. Blue Sky - Mayer Hawthorne

You know the ills of this world they can get you down but then you get back up

3. Dust Me Off - Tilly and the Wall

Got to remember to fight off the darkness that comes in, sometimes 

Turn that sorrow into something that feels right

4. White Nights - Oh Land

There's a restlessness in me, keeps me up until the dawn

There is no silence, I will keep following the sirens

5. Roll With The Punches - Lenka

When life tries to knock all the wind out of you, you've got to roll, roll, roll with the punches

If all life offers is black and blue, you've got to roll, roll, roll with the punches

6. Clockwatching - Jason Mraz

Let's get backwards, and forget our restless destination

Let's live in the moment just in time, could we? 

7. Something Good Can Work - Two Door Cinema Club

Something good can work and it can work for you, and you know that it will

Let's get this started girl, we're moving up, we're moving up

It's been a lot to change but you will always get what you want

and my personal favorite...

8. Let's Dance to Joy Division - The Wombats

Let's dance to joy division, and celebrate the irony

Everything is going wrong, but we're so happy

Let's dance to joy division, and raise our glass to the ceiling

 Cos this could all go so wrong, but we're so happy

It's Choose Day! Choose Mayer Hawthorne.

The wonder that is Mayer Hawthorne just released How Do You Do (I think the vinyl version comes out today!). I fan girl over him a lot in Twitter and I think I do that for good reason. If you listen to his songs and watch him perform, you would soon find out that this guy is a rockstar but not just any rockstar, he's a class act. 

For one, his songs are perfectly arranged so you can just listen to his album all day. Two, he looks and acts like he belongs in a George Clooney-Ryan Gosling movie, like he knows exactly how to charm you and leave you craving for his approval. (Filed in: Untoward prejudicial statements on people I have never even met. May also be filed in: Disturbing illusions that I hope the world will not shatter. Ever.) He's so guapo in a "Well, hell-o. I am a throwback soul singer who looks like a cross between Don Draper, a young Sinatra and a hipster" kind of way. What. A. Fox. Third, damn, there is no third. Are you kidding me? It's been a year since I got my hands on his Strange Arrangement album and listening to "Make Her Mine" still makes me fall in love (when you do get Strange Arrangement for yourself, listen to "Your Easy Lovin' Aint Pleasin' Nothin'", "No Strings", "Let Me Know", "The Ills" and "Green Eyed Love" as well. Killer songs, I tell you!) He also released an EP called "Impressions" earlier this year but except for the fantastic crooning in the beauty that is "You've Got The Makings of a Lover", I can't say I liked it that much. 
Echoing Keishia, who runs this music blog, I also think Mr. Hawthorne's new album is nice but it's no Strange Arrangement. That first one was perfect. To romantacize it a bit, I could say it transcended ages. There's something so sexy about soul. There's always something sexy about soul. Anyway, we're not here to wax philosophical about the wonderful album that is Strange Arrangment. We're here to welcome new things! (Mostly, new tracks from the new album!)
Here's a quick rundown of my favorite tracks from his new album, "How Do You Do."  My favorite is, of course, the sexy track "No Strings".  I first heard this in January of 2011 and I think it's great that he included a more upbeat version in the album. It sounds a lot more live than the old track I used to listen to. I also like "Finally Falling", "Get to Know You", "The Walk", and "Hooked". I was so excited to hear "Can't Stop", a track he worked on with Snoop Dogg, but I have to say that their collaboration on "Gangsta Luv" is so much better.  The album is still wonderful though. It's a lot of fun to listen to. Also, I really liked reading "And to all the beautiful women in the world: thanks for the inspiration. - Mayer Hawthorne" at the bottom of his new album's thank you message (what do you call this part of the album?) for no reason other than I am a girl, he is sexy, and messages like that excite me. 
I love this live performance of No Strings. He also covers Beautiful for a bit at the end (you know, that Pharell x Snoop Dogg song of the olden days) but the real winner is the first few minutes of the video. At 0:54, he looks directly at the camera, points at it and sings the line "I saw you looking at me girl..."
Mein Gott. Sinful thoughts, be gone. 
PS. Thank you, Detroit. Love, All the women in the world.

It's a Choose Day! Choose Florence + The Machine

You are my daily meal

This week's favorite song: Florence And The Machine's You've Got the Love. Roar, I'm a bear.

Song of the week: Lust for Life by Girls

I really like this song but of course, my life is nowhere near the music video. I've never been a bright and sunny cool girl. I've always been the dark and twisty kind. But it's San Francisco, so hey. Happy Friday! Have a great weekend, cool boys and girls. ;)

Ladies and gentlemen, my swan song.

We're just under the upperhand

And they say

She's in the Class A Team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since eighteen
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries

A Team is an original song by Ed Sheeran. He reminds me of Jason Mraz. I'm sure he's got a long way to go before he can even be called the next Mr. A-Z but there's something about him that reminds me of Mr. A-Z and his younger years. It must be the rapping. It may also be the allure of youth and good looks. I must say that I really like his songs, my favorites being Wayfaring Stranger, You Need Me, I Don't Need You and A Team. The last one is getting a lot of airplay nowadays (6,000,000+ strong on YouTube) and rightfully so, because it is such a nice song.

You can watch A Team's original version here but for today, here's a cover by Birdy. I really think Birdy is so talented. I just love her voice. Sometimes, when I think of the songs she sings and the age group that she's really in, I can't help but feel a little bit off. She gives so much feeling to the song that it's hard to look at her as a child so young, braces and all. In any case, I'm glad she's doing what she loves at such a young age. Not everyone has that luxury.

This is a beautiful rendition. Enjoy.

We only said goodbye with words, I died a hundred times

Amy Winehouse is dead. She was an incredible lyricist and an astounding singer. Who could forget Tears Dry On Their Own, Just Friends and everybody's anthem, You Know I'm No Good? Let's face it, when Rehab hit the airwaves years ago, we also sang along, singing "No, no, no" with such conviction that many of us raised suspicion from our parents. I know we all danced to upbeat versions of Valerie, only to wonder later on, "Who the f is Valerie?"

When Amy wrote most of Back to Black to reflect on her failed marriage, we wept not just for her failures in love but for the long-existing big demons that lingered in her life, those that she could not fight. She was in deep trouble but even then, her act was still so phenomenal. Amy now belongs to the Forever 27 Club with other musical greats like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Kurt Cobain. It was only a few weeks ago when she made headlines for her horrible performance in Serbia, singing live under the influence. She subsequently cancelled her other tour dates, a rather sad end to what would've been her planned comeback.

I really wanted Amy to overcome her personal demons because she just gave so much of herself into her art and everything she created was so brilliant. I enjoyed her songs immensely. They were so incredible that it was easy to forget these were fueled by her personal tragedies and bad habits that became all-consuming.

Here are some of my favorite Winehouse performances. Back to Black has an excellent music video set in Noir but I thought everyone should remember that once, a long time ago, Amy Winehouse performed live and she did sing with such raw talent. My God, she sang so well.

And in 2008, Amy shared the stage with Mark Ronson to perform "Valerie". She looked so alive here. I love how she went right after Adele, who's now so big all over the world.

I cheated myself,
Like I knew I would,
I told you I was trouble,
You know that I'm no good

Sleep well, princess. Your energy will be missed.

Somebody said you have a new friend

"Does she love you better than I can?"

It took me quite a while to be okay with this song but hey, I am now and I adore it completely. Here, have some Robyn. Please dance on a Sunday evening, it's only fitting.

"I'm in the corner, watching you kiss her,
I'm right over here, why can't you see me?
I'm giving it my all, but I'm not the girl you're taking home
I keep dancing on my own"

Skinny Love, what happened here?

"Who will love you?
Who will fight?
Who will fall far behind"

Yup, that kind of Friday. Birdy is an incredibly talented English singer. I don't have a taste for Bon Iver (sadly) but I do love Birdy's take on Skinny Love. It is wonderful. She also sampled Shelter by The xx, check it. England, you make the best singers. God save you.

Blame It On The Girls

Hello. A simple reminder on a prevalent human condition. Cheers to this week!

Life could be simple but you never fail
To complicate it every single time

It's a Choose Day and I choose to see people as people, and nothing else. It's a Choose Day and I choose to move forward and be blissfully happy.

Paper dreams, honey

Happy Tuesday from The Kooks!

You don't pull my strings because I'm a better man
Moving on to better things
♥

I'm a lady, I'm a lady.

It's a Thursday and I want you to bask in the awesomeness that is Santigold.

Because I'm a lady. Usually.

I hope everyone ends today on a high note. ♥ Cheerio!

Won't you let me knock, knock, knock on wood?

I love old songs so it's imperative for me to really like The Knocks. They have covered Eddie Floyd's Knock on Wood, The Supreme's You Can't Hurry Love, The Temptations' Ain't Too Proud to Beg and Marvin Gaye's Ain't No Mountain High Enough--just to name a few. I think they're awesome (although they are yet to cover Otis Redding's Try a Little Tenderness*, and I'm just going to go nuts when they do because I love that song!). I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think the late 50's to the late 70's is a golden time in music.

Anyhoo, Keish blogged about The Knocks in her very cool music blog, check it:

Now available for your enjoyment is The Knocks' latest gem, The Same Old Songs. The 6-song mini-album is a collection of some of the boys' favorite classic motown, soul and pop records remixed and covered for a generation. Enjoy!

Track List:
1. Knock On Wood (Cover)
2. Same Old Song (Remix)
3. Can't Hurry Love ft. Alex Winston (Cover)
4. Keep Me Hangin' On (Remix)
5. Ain't Too Proud To Beg (Cover)
6. Ain't No Mountain ft. Julia (Cover)

DOWNLOAD HERE