Music Monday: We Have Lift Off

I don't even know how to preface this post, aside from saying, "Dude! It's SUMMAH."

Yah, it's only the end of May, but I live in Canada's Okanagan valley, the only "real" desert in the country, whatever that means. For a desert, it's pretty green, but that likely has less to do with the climate than it does the fact that we use more water per capita than any other city in the country. But that's just my degree speaking.

Anyway, it's summer in Kelowna. I know this because it is, a) sunny and 26 degrees outside, b) I sat on the beach eating an ice cream cone while watching beach volleyball yesterday, c) I had a burger and fries for dinner on a patio on Bernard Street, d) I finished the day with an orange screamer, which is a slushie with soft serve ice cream on top, e) all of the above.

With summer weather and summer activities come the summer playlist. I've busted out the mash-up playlist from Singapore, and it feels just as fresh here as it was in the tropics. I've moved on from a 3LAU-centric list to one with a lot more Basic Physics. Luckily for you, Basic Physics offers their entire first album free to download from their Soundcloud site. I've embedded the entire album below with the download links for your convenience.

Happy summer!

Music Monday: Born to Feel

Alright, this is gonna sound totally lame, but I'm basing this Music Monday entirely off of what Last.fm says was my most played song over the last week. Yah. I've honestly got nothing else for you, as I was working all day (and all weekend, for that matter), and today was a holiday. So content yourself with this.

I've said before that I love Lana Del Rey. I've said before that I love mash-ups. Well, this one here is a mash-up that includes "Born to Die" by Lana. Whoo!

Best of all, the entire album is free to download if you choose. Just head over to the Jane Doze's Soundcloud page.

Music Monday: Bringing Sexy Back, Again

So after a lot of "softer" Music Mondays, I'm back with a dubstep track. If you don't like dubstep, then too bad. This is my blog, I'll play what I want.

You might remember me saying that I have seasonal music: acoustic and jazz in the fall and winter, more upbeat stuff in the spring and summer. Well, it's volleyball season, so that means I need to have a pump up playlist. Seriously. This playlist is affectionately titled "Wub Wub Wub" on my iPod and HTC. As the name suggests, it includes lots of wubwubwub, but also a significant amount of unstunstunst. I believe I have used those terms before on this blog. If you are unfamiliar with them, please read this post.

Anyway, I recently came across a real nice remix of Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack," one of the big tracks of, oh, 2005 I think? Something like that. I think this is one of those rare occasions where I like the remix more than the original. The build-up is perfect, the wobbles (another contemporary music term, seriously) are spot on, and the drop is mad rad.

No video for this one, unfortunately. But I can do better! Below you'll find the streaming track and download, straight from Cry Wolf himself. Enjoy!

Music Monday: in Paradise

I've just come back from a weekend vacation to Pulau Tioman, a tropical island off the East Coast of Malaysia. I know that I already live on an island in the tropics, Singapore, but it's just not tropical enough. The beach scene is quite lacking here, y'know? So I set off with two friends to Johor Bahru, just across the strait, to catch a regional coach to Mersing and then a boat to the island. All that travel time was definitely worth it.

Tioman is your stereotypical tropical island. On approach, the first thing you see is the massive mountain covered in jungle descending into the ocean, with waves crashing against the rocks. This gives way to long stretches of sandy beaches, lines with palm trees and hammocks. We spent a lot of time in those hammocks, actually...

We were afraid that the weather would be sour, as the forecast was calling for heavy rain all weekend. Luckily, we were spared. The downpour didn't start until this morning when we were getting ready to leave, and it put even the Singaporean rain storms to shame. There were a few panicky moments where we were afraid that the ferries would be cancelled.

But back to the beach. I have never seen water so blue in my life. It was like a tanker carrying blue food colouring sunk nearby. And the water was incredibly clear, too. We went snorkelling and saw tonnes and tonnes of fish. They are very social. And curious. More than a few decided to offer my cleaning services, or peck at my mask. I was literally part of the school of fish. Also, I came across a reef shark. It made my day much more rad.

So, this is a Music Monday post, and I do have a song, video, and download for you. I'll keep it quick now. The song: "Paradise" by Norwegian Recycling, a mash-up group who offers all their songs for free on their website. The video is below for your listening and viewing convenience. Cheers!


 all photos by me

Music Monday: Bloomin' Pogo

The other day one of the comic artists I follow on Twitter, @kinokofry, posted a silly link that made her giggle (that's what Twitter is for, right?). I clicked it, found it amusing, and then ventured through some of the related videos.

All the videos were by a remix artist who goes by the name Pogo, and I have to say he's quite unique in his craft. Whereas most remixes target the Top 40, Pogo samples bits and pieces from various film and TV soundtracks and clips. For instance, he has songs sampling "Lord of the Rings," "Up," and "the Mighty Boosh."

The song I want to share today is a mix of various Disney films called "Bloom." According to the artist, "Bloom" is "a patchwork of vocals and musical chords from various Disney films. I recorded the harp sample from 'Sleeping Beauty', and a series of chords from 'A.I: Artificial Intelligence' to form the base of the chorus. The vocals are sampled from Disney films, each of which are illustrated in this video." The video is below.


As with the last Music Monday post, this one has a download link! All of Pogo's tracks are available on his site, and you can choose how much you would like to purchase them for. Free is an option, too! But it's always good to support artists that you enjoy. Happy listening!

Music Monday: in Memoriam

It shouldn't be any secret that I am a long time fan of Russian pop group t.A.T.u. From the moment they launched into North America singing "All the Things She Said" through four more studio albums, I was an avid listener. It's sad to say, but that era is over: the girls split up last year to pursue solo careers, and after 11 years t.A.T.u. came to a close.

A few months ago, one of the members, Lena Katina, released her first single as a solo artist, titled "Never Forget." Now, Lena was never my favourite singer between the pair; that honour belonged to Yulia Volkova. However, Lena's solo offerings far outstrip Yulia's in all ways.

"Never Forget" puts the last nail in t.A.T.u.'s coffin, both in the lyrics themselves and the music video (t.A.T.u.'s final music video ended with a fiery explosion, which was rad). I'll share it below, but here's a quick run down for those unfamiliar with t.A.T.u. (which is most everyone, I assume). The bodies of Yulia and Lena are brought out of the morgue and examined by a few former band-mates, though without any burns making it unlikely that this is a continuation of the previously mentioned t.A.T.u. video. Their coffins are then carried to a funeral ceremony, which Lena attends. After turning her own photo face down, she picks up the photo of Yulia and kisses it. Graves are visited, roses are thrown, and all the while Lena sings of her memory of the past and outlook for the future.

NSFW because of brief female nudity. Censored version can be found here.

So, long story short, I really like this song. I really like this video. And if you really like this song, I have good news: download links! This is one of Lena's official sites, so all the downloads (and there are many) on it are completely legal and guilt-free. That said, the MP3 file for "Never Forget" is badly edited, and it ends a few seconds before the song is actually over. The B-side to the single, "Stay," is also available on the linked page and is edited much better. Also included are some demos from her years with t.A.T.u. Take a look!

Music Monday: Oh Beautiful Town

Although I occasionally long to be in Victoria, while I was adventuring in Borneo last week something strange and unexpected happened: I became homesick for Singapore. Guess that means I'm almost like a local now, lah?

In reality, that anecdote is just a handy intro to my Music Monday pick this week, Oh Beautiful Town by IAMX. It's the final song on his latest release, and provides an astounding outro to the album. I fall hard for ballads, especially the ones by artists that tend to lean in the other direction. This is not the first time Chris Corner (the sole man behind IAMX) has captured my ears, and he's come to be one of my absolute favourite artists. The link above will take you to Last.fm where you can give the track a listen. No download link for this one, but you can preview the rest of the album and purchase a digital copy on his official website.

If you are hungry for a free track, Chris is offering up the song Fire and Whispers on the site, so give the link a click! The background music alone is worth the visit.

Music Monday: Feelin' Hella Good

After last week's combo breaker, I'm back with my female vocalists. This time I'm featuring the voice of Gwen Stefani with the song Hella Good by No Doubt, as remixed by Skymind. You can pick up a free download yourself by heading over to Last.fm

I'll admit, my music tastes are a little all over the place, as browsing through past Music Mondays will reveal. That said, my music mood tends to go along with the seasons. If I were back home I'd probably have KT Tunstall, Metric, and Shawn Hlookoff on repeat. But I'm not at home, and there is no autumn here (at least by my standards), so the season of the summer playlist lives on! As such, I'm still rawking the remixes, mash-ups, and dance tracks. Sorry if that's not your taste, but this be my blog and my recommendations! So deal with it. Or come to Singapore and share my mood. Either one will work, really.

Music Monday: Actually, her Name's Marina

It's a little sad to say, but I've loved Marina & the Diamonds ever since first hearing the song Hollywood (Fenec Soler Remix) on the Gap soundtrack at work. Soon after I got a hold of the album two other tracks made it onto the store soundtrack, causing a slight overdose on Marina that summer.

A year later I'm still just as fond of the group, particularly the titular singer's voice, and delighted that Last.fm recommended this track to me as a free download. I had never heard it before a few days ago, but I fell into that same immediate adoration as with Hollywood.

Y'see, I really like some of 3OH!3's work as well, particularly this song. The way that Marina & the Diamonds covers it though is so incredibly different, taking the tempo down and stripping the electronic sounds away for an acoustic jam session instead.

So take a listen, and if you like it hop over to Last.fm for the download link while they're still offering it.