Music
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“Power and Glory” – Phil Ochs
American music I love ❤️🤍💙
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“American Music” – Violent Femmes
And yes, I do like American music… happy 4th! 💥
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“Love Plus One” – Haircut 100
Released in 1982, “Love Plus One” was a single from the album Pelican West from Haircut One Hundred. The band was formed in Beckingham, London in 1980 by singer-songwriter and guitarist Nick Heyward and bassist Les Nemes. The song “Love Plus One” is known for being one of the great one hit wonders of the 80s, even landing at 90 in VH1’s 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 1980s. I haven’t done an inventory of my favorite one hit wonders of the 80s, but I have a feeling it would be much higher on my list, because “Love Plus One” is such an 80s gem, and to me, this song and…
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“On Your Mind” by FKA twigs (feat. Lil Yachty)
FKA twigs just released a video for “On Your Mind” featuring a rooftop dance battle complete with a full cast of dancers. The video was directed by Jordan Hemingway with choreography by Ebony Williams. “It never ceases to amaze me how pain can manifest into the hardest and most euphoric sonics,” twigs writes about the song. “I think making songs like this keeps me on my toes and reminds me that I am not in control.”
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Music to Create To: Nicolas Jaar’s BBC Essential Mix 2012
As I spend more time practicing with oil pastels, I’ve been looking for good music to create to, typically going for something moody or something with a good flow. But this week I’ve been going back to something that has both, one of my favorite Nicolas Jaar mixes, the BBC Essential Mix from 2012. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone mix music as masterfully as Nicolas Jaar does, it’s done so well and the music is so good that it just sounds close to perfection. Hear the mix below or on SoundCloud here.
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“Morning Has Broken” by Cat Stevens and Eleanor Farjeon
The song “Morning Has Broken” was based on a traditional Scottish Gaelic tune called “Bunessan,” a song named for the village of Bunessan on the Isle of Mull. It was then set to lyrics by author Eleanor Farjeon, who was known for writing children’s stories, poetry, plays, and more. This version, with Farjeon’s lyrics, was first published as a hymn in 1931 in the second edition of the hymnal Songs of Praise. However, it was this cover by Cat Stevens, recorded in 1971, that brought much wider recognition to the song.
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‘OUÏ’ by Camille
Parisian singer-songwriter Camille’s 2017 release OUÏ blends vocals with instrumentation seamlessly, often experimentally as heard in the striking vocal arrangements in “Fontaine de lait,” and sometimes hauntingly, as in the song “Nuit debout,” with lyrics flowing with colorful language as she shifts between French and English. OUÏ is her fifth studio album, released by Because Music. Here is the fourth track on the album, “Seeds.”
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‘I Need to Start a Garden’ by Haley Heynderickx
As we round out the spring, I don’t want it to end without mentioning what has been my spring anthem for the past two years, I Need to Start a Garden by Haley Heynderickx. Lively and playful like the season, I Need to Start a Garden also touches on many themes relating to this time of reawakening, like the song about the personalities of insects and moving them out of a house to please someone, “The Bug Collector,” and the title itself, as heard in the song “Oom Sha La La.” I Need to Start a Garden was Haley Heynderickx’s debut full-length album, released in 2018 by Mama Bird Recording Company.…
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‘city life’ by Birb
I love falling down rabbit holes of obscure piano music and city life is one of the best finds yet as far as obscure piano rabbit holes go. The four-song EP was released on August 31, 2021 by Birb and features short, simple but pensive instrumental piano songs. You know with titles like “falling in love with a new york pigeon,” “a cat gets stuck in traffic,” “the same cat gets stuck in the infinite time loop of life,” and “small fish drowns in the big city,” it’s got to be good. Other singles, albums, and EPs by Birb include 2025’s the cat collection, daydreaming in an empty parking lot…
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‘The Lonesome Crowded West’ by Modest Mouse
This week finds me going back to one of my favorite times in music, 1997, an absolutely incredibly good year for music which saw releases like Björk’s Homogenic, Elliott Smith’s Either/Or, Built to Spill’s Perfect from Now On, Daft Punk’s Homework, Ween’s The Mollusk, Pavement’s Brighten the Corners, Buena Vista Social Club’s self-titled album, and one of my personal favorite album’s of all time, The Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse. I’ve heard the songs on Lonesome described as ‘hypnotic’ and I can definitely relate to that. The Lonesome Crowded West is the second album from Modest Mouse, following This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think…
