I first heard Jubilant Sykes sing this song in a Louisville Orchestra concert with my Mom. I don’t usually listen to this genre of music, and I was amazed by how beautiful the song was. His voice is phenomenal, and the harmonies on the piano are dark and interesting.
If you want another great Jubilant Sykes song, I recommend “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”
One of my good friends introduced me to Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas, and I was an instant fan. I listened to their album Fire and Grace first. I started listening to In the Moment a couple of weeks ago, and I love it just as much.
The thing that I like most about their music is the intricacy. The cello and the fiddle are each complementary, but still somewhat independent. Their song “Between” is a good example. This song is minor and edgy. Each instrument plays the melody some of the time, and a unique accompanying part another time. The two parts form a beautiful union of rich tones. (Warning: the cello line will get stuck in your head.)
Another great example of their lovely combination is the song “Josefin’s Waltz.” This is my favorite song by Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas. The two instruments work together beautifully, and it feels like walking on air (or waltzing on air, rather).
Their music is both interesting and pleasant to hear. It has more cohesiveness than an “experiment in sound” song like some modern jazz, but isn’t cliche. After I listen to a song like their version of St. Kilda wedding, I feel as if it’s fogged around me for the rest of the day. It fills my mind with interesting musical ideas, and I love it.
I recently started listening to Kate Rusby, and this is my favorite song of hers that I’ve heard so far. I like this song for several reasons:
First, it tells a beautiful story. I like a good romance story. In song? Even better.
Second, the music is addicting. The guitar makes you feel like you’re soaring. It also varies from verse to verse, which makes it interesting. The other instruments add to the swinging feel of the music. I love the chords, and her accent is beautiful. All of this combined makes for one of my favorite songs I’ve found this year.
I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I do!
Tracy Chapman’s voice is ridiculously cool. The lyrics of this song tell a good story, and I love listening to it.
This version of the song is from The Voice. Christian’s voice has so much passion in it, it makes me want to cry every time I hear this song.
This is another great cover from The Voice. Ali Caldwell’s voice is stunning.
This song was originally performed by Tori Kelly, but I listen to a duet version by Caleb + Kelsey (Caleb is one of the members of Anthem Lights).
I like this song because the piano sounds amazing.
What are your favorite breakup songs? I’d love to hear about them in the comments sections.
Bonus Song: Here’s my favorite cover of “Fast Car.” I found this last week, and it is amazing.
This is beautiful duet, and I like listening to it. I especially love the harmony.
This song was originally performed by Al Green, but I mostly listen to the Annie Moses band version. I love this song because it talks about a lasting love, rather than a temporary emotional high. It promotes commitment even through hard times.
I listened to Love Story even before I started listening to music on my own. I like this song because in the end, the main characters find a way to work through their struggles, instead of run away from them.
My voice teacher introduced me to Kate Rusby, and I’m quickly becoming addicted to her way of making simple songs excellent and interesting. This song is fascinating, and it has a happy ending.
I’ve talked about Ella and Louis in a different Earworm, so I’ll just say that I love romance that lasts for longer than a few days, or months, or years. It’s easy to get caught up in emotion of “falling in love” with someone else, but without commitment, relationships crumble. I love songs that accent long-term relationships, rather passionate feelings that will eventually fade.
I started listening to the group Anthem Lights a few years ago, and they quickly became one of my favorite bands. I didn’t want to write about just one album, so I decided to pick my favorite songs that they’ve covered. So here are my top six Anthem Lights songs:
Their version of Pompeii has an amazing blend of a full harmony sound and a big band sound.
I love this mashup because they take diverse songs and use them to tell a story. Also, they make the songs clean, which is nice because I avoid listening to trashy music.
I love this song because the orchestra sounds amazing. I like to listen to it when I’m sad or lonely.
I love to jam to this song. It’s upbeat, and their harmony in the final chorus is phenomenal.
Good, Good Father is another song where their harmony makes the song. It makes the song full and textured.
This song was my first Anthem Lights songs, and one of the first mashups I’d heard. This was a transforming moment for me. Since I heard this song, I started listening to other mashups, and writing some of my own. This is still one of my favorite mashups of all time.
If you’re interested in listening to Anthem Lights on Amazon, click here.
Encore: Movie Actors Sing Broadway is one of the first albums that I counted down the days until it was released. I’ve been a Barbra Streisand fan since I saw Hello, Dolly! a few years ago. When I saw that she was still producing music (at age 74), I was ecstatic. I talked about the album to every friend I had. I talked about the songs that they released before the album. I talked about the videos in which they talked about the songs.
The biggest appeal of Barbra’s music is her voice. Even though she’s been singing for years (She started recording music at age 13), her voice is stunning. She sounds consistent from the bottom of her range to the top of it, instead of being throaty and breathy depending on how high she’s singing. Encore is an album of duets and one trio.
My favorite song from this album is “Loving You,” a duet with Patrick Wilson. Patrick is a former broadway singer, so he also has a soaring, classical voice. Their voices blend beautifully, and the song soars.
Another great song is “At the Ballet.” This is the trio from the album, with Daisy Ridley and Anne Hathaway. This was the first song I heard from the album, and it hooked me for the rest of the album. I loved Anne Hathaway’s singing in Les Misérables, and I was excited to learn about Daisy Ridley. The song tells several exciting stories, and the harmony is amazing.
The only song I wouldn’t recommend from the album is The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened to Me, because of some foul language.
Encore was a huge inspiration for me as I started singing more, and it’s one of my favorite albums.
If you’re interested in hearing Encore on Amazon, click here.
This song was originally a Bangles song, but I love the Relient K version. Even though Mondays are awesome, I like listening to this song because it’s fun and catchy.
This song helps me to have the right attitude about my work, and in some characteristics that I’m trying to build.
Since I’m playing in two orchestras this semester, of course I have to listen to some movie soundtracks. This has been one of my favorites for a while.
This is my current piano piece, so I’m listening to it a lot. I love how it’s minor, but still has a lot energy.
This is a great cover, and is awesome for riding in the car.
I’ve been listening to Yo-Yo Ma’s Unaccompanied Cello for a while, but I’m new to his collaborations. This has been my favorite so far.
I haven’t listened to this song since last year, but I would love to listen to it more this semester. It helps me to remember how wondrous God is, and promotes thankfulness.
My voice teacher recommended this song to me while ago, but I forgot to look it up until this week. It’s a lovely rainy day song.
Ella and Louis never get old.
I like this song because it’s cute, and it has a happy ending.
I’ve been listening to this song as long as I can remember. I enjoy it because it’s clever and fun.
So there you go, my Spring Semester Playlist. What songs are you enjoying right now?
I put the full playlist on YouTube here.
ive is Jordan Taylor’s debut album, released in 2015. Even though I was already a Blimey Cow fan (Jordan is part of the Blimey Cow crew), I didn’t listen to the album until last fall. At first, I wasn’t sure whether I liked the album or not. It’s not my usual choice for music, but the more I listened to the album, the more I loved it.When I was listening to Long Drive this week, trying to decide whether to make it into an Earworm, I realized how young it is. For a long time, I’ve always tried to be older. I started taking college classes at 14, and I expected myself to act like a normal college student. When I hang around adults, I try to be an adult. Long Drive gave me a fresh reminder that being young can be good. I don’t need to try to be older.
Not only does Long Drive help me be young, it helps me be positive. When I listen to the song “This Moment,” I simply feel happy to be alive. This is a feeling that I sometimes forget about. I tend to be a melancholy person, but sometimes I confuse melancholy with depressed. Long Drive is calm and thoughtful, and some of the songs are sad, but it’s not a “let-me-cry-a-river-before-this-next-song” kind of album. It helps me to remember that being thoughtful is not always the same as being sad.
This album helps me embrace who I am. I believe that God designed each person with a different personality, and that we should use how we are built to glorify Him. We should be fighting sin, not personality. I should be fighting grouchiness and unfriendliness, not introversion. I should be fighting depression and being self-centered, not melancholy. Long Drive helps me to remember that.
I was just starting to listen to more jazz/swing music. I was already an Ella Fitzgerald fan,
and I heard about the song “Our Love is Here to Stay.” I looked it up, and found Ella’s duet with Louis Armstrong. Ella’s voice has that warm quality that makes you want to follow her around listening to her sing, and yet it’s pure. Her voice sounds polished and flawless, and contrasts beautifully with Louis’s rough voice. When I heard their harmony for the first time “Our Love is Here to Stay,” I practically swooned. I promptly sent it to my music buddies, and then listened to it many more times. After that, I downloaded their album Tenderly.
One of the attractive parts of the album is their energy together. Ella and Louis don’t sound like they are forcing chemistry or are bored; they sound like old friends enjoying jazz together. Even the song “Can’t We Be Friends,” which is about two people stuck in the friend-zone, has so much energy that I wanted to hear it repeatedly.
They have energy, and the songs are groovy. I love sitting and listening to this album, but it was made for moving. As I’m writing at our kitchen table, I can’t stop myself from dancing a bit.
Before I heard Tenderly, I thought of jazz as either too hard for me to play (like some of Fred Astaire’s brilliant pieces), or cluttered and obnoxious (like some modern “jazz” artists). I found in Tenderly music that is both playable and pleasant, and I was inspired. I’m sill not a jazz pianist, but Ella and Louis gave me the inspiration to try it.
If you’re interested in hearing Tenderly on Amazon, go here.
