I'm never entirely comfortable naming a favorite album, because there are so many albums to love out there.  However, I realized recently that there are albums that are obviously Great Albums (e.g. John Coltrane's A Love Supreme), and there are albums I adore (e.g. Dar Williams's Mortal City), but you know, it might well be that Tori Amos's major ( Read more... )

I'm pretty sure I'd heard a Rilo Kiley song or two before listening to the aforementioned Liz Phair Pandora station, but hearing, in particular, "Portions for Foxes" and "Silver Lining" on that station really got me to sit up and take notice, so I'm always hoping to hear more.  (Yes, I could just create a Rilo Kiley Pandora station; I just haven't ( Read more... )

Like strangemodegirl , when it comes to listening to actual over-the-airwaves radio, I mostly only listen to NPR.  However, I do listen to Pandora radio on a fairly regular basis, and my recent genesis point of choice has been Liz Phair.  So, here's a song I've heard both on that Pandora station as well as on commercial radio (back when I was living in ( Read more... )

Okay, let's see if I can get back on track here...

So, "hate" is way too strong a word, but the song that jumped to mind for this one is Alanis Morissette's "Head Over Feet."  I totally loved that song when the album came out, when I was in high school and totally in love... more with the idea of being in love than with any one person.  These days ( Read more... )

I'm taking a bit of artistic license with this one.  One of my life lessons over the past several years has been finding my voice, and creating my own narrative of who I am and who I want to be.  Graduate school (creative writing) made a big difference in that respect: I found that I had things to say and an audience that was interested in hearing ( Read more... )

Maybe it's not quite true that no one would expect me to love this one, but still.  So, we all know Kanye's an asshole, right?  But I think he's got some of the "wise fool" thing going on--that is to say, I think sometimes he spits some truth within all the crazy.  I really dig "Can't Tell Me Nothing," from a few years ago, and it certainly suits ( Read more... )

Questions like this generally elicit from me a boilerplate disclaimer about how I try not to have "guilty pleasures."  If I take pleasure in something, why should I feel guilty about it, so long as it's not hurting anyone else?  Life's too short and all that.

That said, occasionally I'll be introduced to a song, by American Idol or So You Think You ( Read more... )

Oops, missed yesterday's entry.  I actually ended up spending very little time online over the weekend, and while I didn't get as much done as I'd been hoping, I was still fairly productive.  Crowning achievement: bathing the dogs.

( Victory is mine! )

My favoritest band in the whole wide world is Great Big Sea, a maritime folk rock group from Newfoundland, Canada.  Here are some songs they've done--one, Captain Kidd, is a traditional song, while the other two, Ordinary Day and When I'm Up, are originals (oldies but goodies).  Okay, and one more trad, because I had to put in a live track: The ( Read more... )

My mom bought Enya's album Shepherd Moons on cassette soon after it came out, and in high school it became my go-to relaxation music.  I'd play it when I was taking a relaxing bath or trying to fall asleep.  I discovered recently that I apparently did that enough that I've conditioned myself to relax and get sleepy when I hear that music, which ( Read more... )