Sailing Away With Enya

I confess- I went through a major New Age Music faze in the '80s.  It was so soothing, so mind-expanding...

And now when I go back and listen to it, most of it's so boring.

One artist that stands the test of time, though, is Enya.

"Orinoco Flow" is the first song by Enya that I ever heard, and MTV (they were still showing videos then) played the video over and over.  Still think that video is one of the most artistically creative ones ever.

She followed that with other hits, like "Carribean Blue" and "Book of Days".  Many of her songs have been featured in movies, like The Age of Innocence and The Lord of the Rings.

Enya creates her unique sound by layering her own voice over and over to create a virtual choir of herself.  This is why she doesn't perform concerts (although she does occasionally perform "semi-live" on TV).  Her lyrics are written in English, Latin, and Gaelic, with occasional forays into other languages.  Enya also performs almost all of the instruments in her recordings.

If you're looking for an artist whose music will allow your mind to drift away to imaginary lands, Enya should be at the top of the list.  Each album is a musical fairy tale.

Personal Faves:

• Orinoco Flow
• Caribbean Blue
• Angeles
• Marble Halls
• Once You Had Gold
• On My Way Home
• Wild Child
• Only Time
• May It Be

The Archandroid - Janelle Monae

A concept album in 2010!  That's a rarity in today's "I just want to download my favorite single" music marketplace.  But singer Janelle Monae not only released a concept album last year, she released a great concept album.

Prior to 2010's The Archandroid, Monae released an EP - Metropolis, Suite I (The Chase) in 2007.  While the EP didn't make much of a commercial splash, it set the stage for the story The Archandroid tells.   Set in the future, it's the tale of Cyndi Mayweather, an android who falls in love with a human and is therefore sentenced to be disassembled.  Cyndi goes on the run, and becomes something of a messianic figure to her fellow oppressed androids.

Monae does a great job of painting a picture of this futuristic world through her music.  The first single on Metropolis, "March Of The Wolfmasters", features an announcer telling the listener that android Cyndi Mayweather is "scheduled for immediate disassembly", and lists the rules for the bounty hunters chasing her.  The story continues on, telling us of Cyndi's journey and her love for Anthony Greendown, a human, and her decision in the end to keep running so she can stay free.  It's a tale of the outsider, oppressed but fighting for her rights.

As you can see in the video, this singer sure has tons of energy to go along with her wonderful voice.  She has said she intends to make a video for every song on both these albums- sure hope she does!

Personal Faves:

• Many Moons
• Smile
• Sir Greendown
• Mushrooms And Roses
• Say You'll Go

Rap Songs For People Who Don't Like Rap

Rap is one of those genres that I'm not wild about in general, but there are certain songs I like.  Here's my rap Top 10:

1. "It's Tricky"  by Run DMC.  Classic old school!
2. "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot.  Remember the furor over the video when it first came out?
3. "Funky Cold Medina" by Tone Loc.  Smooth and suave rap.
4. "Push It" by Salt N Peppa.  Push it real good!
5. "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio.  Tells the story of life in a gang.
6. "Bust A Move" by Young MC. Party fun!
7. "Let's Get It Started" by The Black-Eyed Peas. A great get up and get going song!
8. "Low" by Flo Rida. Immortalized in dance by Tom Cruise's character Les Grossman in the movie   Tropic Thunder.
9. "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer.  Oh, those pants!
10. "Empire State Or Mind" by Jay Z.  Great tribute to the Big Apple.

Any one of these should get you up and dancing, rap fan or not!

Aloha From IZ World

As the spring breezes become warmer, carrying the scent of the ocean to my door (okay, I live inland in the Northeast, but I can dream, can't I?), I find myself listening the music of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.

A native Hawaiian, Kamakawiwo'ole (known also as simply Iz) died in 1997 at the age of 38.  They flew the Hawaiian flag at half-mast on the day of his funeral, which was attended by around ten thousand of his fans.  Fortunately for us music fans, Iz left behind a musical legacy that incorporates traditional Hawaiian music with other styles, such as reggae and jazz.

Perhaps the best known of all Iz's songs is Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World.  It's a great mix of the two songs, just vocals and the ukulele.  Doesn't sound like it'd work, but it does.

As you can see in the video, Iz was a big fellow.  But the biggest thing about him was his talent.

Personal Faves

• Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World
• Ka Huila Wai
• White Sandy Beach Of Hawai'i
• Kaulana Kawaihae

The Girl From Estonia - Kerli

Sometimes you're walking through a store, and something you had no intention of buying leaps out and catches your eye.  That's what happened to me couple of year with Kerli's album Love Is Dead.

I freely admit that it was the cover art on the CD that first got my attention.  It's pretty cool, sort of folk art meets goth.  And better still, it was on sale!  I decided to take the plunge and buy it even though I'd never heard of her.  And I'm glad I did.

Love Is Dead starts out with the title track:

Don't worry, she gets less scary looking as the video goes on.

That song sets the tone for the whole album; it's kind of like goth Gaga.  And it works. 

As of this writing, Love Is Dead is the only album Kerli has released.  There are some videos she's made in a style she calls "bubble goth"- personally, I prefer her earlier style.

Personal Faves

• Love Is Dead
• The Creationist
• Creepshow
• Fragile

Ole' ELO

That was the name of one of the Electric Light Orchestra's (ELO) early albums.

ELO was my band in high school.  While everybody else was into AC/DC and Led Zepplin, I was into this classical influenced rock band from Britain.  I always did march to my own beat (literally)!

Of course, I was (am) hardly the world's only ELO fan.  They were really popular during the '70's and had a lot of hits. My first ELO album was A New World Record; it's their best, in my opinion, and I still get it out and give it a spin today.  That album was one of 12 I got from good old Columbia House.  For those of you too young to remember Columbia House, it was a mail-order business that sold albums.  You could get 12 albums for a penny for the first order, then you had to buy so many at the regular (inflated) price over a certain period of time.  Got several good albums doing that.

"Don't Bring Me Down" is probably the best known today of ELO's songs.  Like a lot of their music, it's a very catchy and upbeat song.

That video was from a more recent (semi)reunion concert.  The one below is an earlier one, for Mr. Blue Sky.

There certainly was a lot of hair going on at that point! 

Many hairstyles later, they were still making great music.  And as every ELO fan knows, their music can chase the blues away.  It's like my favorite line in "Tightrope" " ...somebody had thrown me down a line, stopped me drownin'".




Personal Faves:

• Don't Bring Me Down
• Do Ya
• Livin' Thing
• Rockaria
• Tightrope
• Can't Get It Out Of My Head
• The Jungle
• Turn To Stone

My First Ever Favorite Song

Seeing that this is a brand-new blog, I thought it'd be appropriate to start off with my first ever favorite song.  I mean a real rock and roll song, not a kiddie song.  It was George Harrison's "What Is Life".

I can remember waiting and waiting for that song to come on the (AM!) radio.  I was too little to have any money to buy the 45 at this point, so I was at the mercy of the DJ.  Lots of commercials, lots of other songs, and then at last!  My song. My little heart would leap, and I would start dancing.  That was the start of a long love affair with music.

I'm still a George Harrison fan-I always think his music was underrated compared to John Lennon and Paul McCartney.   George's music definately has a flavor all it's own. 

Personal Faves:

What Is Life
My Sweet Lord
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (while with the Beatles)