Music and memory

Remember that one artist or band that you heard when you were younger and you thought you’d never heard anyone so cool? How you spent the next few hours, few days, few weeks listening to their music and trying to memorize every single lyric? How you tried to learn as much as you could about them and wished you could just be friends? Of course, there are still the occasional musicians that come along, but I always feel like I’ll never be as starstruck by a singer as I was with Lily Allen.

I was first introduced to Lily Allen and her music when she sang on SNL in 2007. My mom had just started letting me watch SNL with her and it was the first time that I had ever “discovered” a singer that I liked that I hadn’t heard on the radio. I rushed to my room, sat down at my big desktop computer and looked her up on iTunes. And that’s the story of how I became a Lily Allen fan.

Now, whenever I listen to one of her songs–namely Smile and LDN–I’m swept back to the moments I spent sitting at my computer, singing along to her songs and scrolling through her fan sites. There are other songs that do the same, mind you, not just Lily Allen’s, like Don’t Cha by the Pussycat Dolls or What’s Luv by Fat Joe, but right now I’m just talking about Lily Allen. She may not be relevant anymore, and she may no longer be making music (at the moment, at least) but I still enjoy her music and I hope you do too!

Smile

LDN

Alfie

Not Fair

Fuck You

Knock ‘Em Out

Naive Cover (by the Kooks)

The Fear

Happy listening!

Emily

Don’t Worry, Be Happy: 15 Sunshine-filled, Feel-good Songs to Boost Your Pre-Finals Spirits

I know, I know; you’re stressed. You had four papers due this week and eleven midterms and sixty-two chemistry problem sets and then your car caught on fire and you broke your leg after you tripped over your shoelaces (even though you were wearing flip-flops), and life just sucks.

But given the option, which would you prefer: to wallow in pre-finals self pity, or to feel as happy, relaxed, and without-worry as a cat anesthetized with ketamine? I think the answer is pretty obvious.

With finals just around the corner, it can be extremely easy to get yourself caught up in the hype and forget that no matter what, you’re still going to be well and breathing in about two  weeks from now. Get those teeth away from the bloody little nubs that used to be your fingernails and just try to remember that everything will be alright!

In order to try to calm some of those poor suffering nerves of yours, here is a playlist of 15 songs meant to soothe the soul with sunshine. These tunes always boost my mood, and hopefully they can give you some relief, as well!

Spread happiness,

Allison

Don’t Worry, Be Happy: 15 Sunshine-filled, Feel-good Songs to Boost Your Pre-Finals Spirits (Opens in Spotify)

1. Givers // Noche Nada

2. Buck O Nine // My Town

3. The Beatles // Twist and Shout

4. The Clash // Revolution Rock

5. Corinne Bailey Rae // Put Your Records On

6. Givers // Up Up Up

7. Jackson 5 // I Want You Back

8. Noah And The Whale // 5 Years Time

9. Mungo Jerry // In The Summertime

10. Matt and Kim // Daylight

11. The Avett Brothers // Kick Drum Heart

12. Sugar Ray // Every Morning

13. Vampire Weekend // A-Punk

14. Talking Heads // This Must Be the Place

15. Zac Brown Band // Toes

A Spiritual Experience

Last weekend, I ventured out to the Middle East Downstairs in Central Square to see Gentlemen Hall.  Pleasant surprise: also seeing Spiritual Rez.  I would not normally say that a reggae-funk-ska band is my thing, but they absolutely blew me (us—me and bestfriendEden) away.  Visually (in spite of the fog machine blowing into my face) they were quite interesting, ranging in height from probably 4’10-6’4; they all had different hair (long dreads, short dreads, beautiful blonde straight hair that made me really jealous, brown curly mop of hair like mine), dress styles, and onstage presences.  Lead vocalist Toft Willingham (right?! Toft! Willingham!) had unparalleled energy but also a super mellowness and knew how to move like nobody I’ve ever seen, and bassist Jesse Shaternick was focused-but-grooving in a super intense way, and it made his hair wobble along with the bass strings (believe me.  It was fascinating.).  Van Gordon Martin, he of the longest dreads ever, upped the energy with some long, but very creative guitar riffs, and he and Willingham played off each other well, better than I’ve seen many lead vocal/lead guitar combos.  The horns—Kory Stanbury on sax and Bryan House on trombone—tempered the intensity of the guitars and added some much needed vibrant liveliness match the rest of the band.  Finally, Ian Miller, on drums, grounded everything along with Shaternick.  Whenever I see a live show, I always notice the individual instruments—I like being able to hear each part separately, even as they play with part of the whole.  I think it makes for a more cohesive sound, even though that seems counterintuitive.

Anyways, enough babbling.  Spiritual Rez was really great, is my point. Some things for you:

Baby’s Mama

Lioness

More Than I Am

Willingham is a bit whiny on the album version, so here’s live from the show we were at (we’re the short people next to the tall guy in the front right up against the stage, but we’re not the girl rocking out real hard)

Also, free downloads on their myspace page.

Happy Wednesday! Check back next week for the last post of the semester!