What.A.Song !

I suddenly had this urge to listen to a nice uplifting music and went for The Dark Knight ending theme. Stumbling upon a few pieces, I went on to hear the "No time for Caution" from Interstellar and then it stuck me why it was such a hair-raising/mindblowing-awesome experience !

The music, that was it. It's the way it is built. It's like someone knows the emotion, to put it into something beyond words, something that makes you live the experience that Cooper is going through, captured in music. Made alive. Makes me feel alive.

I can almost hear TARS stating "It's not possible" and Coop replying "No, it's necessary".

An amazing feat. Makes me feel alive.  What does it do to you ?

(Had to put this under the label "love". What else can I say about that feeling ?)

Falling in love with the strings...

A few years ago, had one told me that I should listen to Violin, I'd have shown contempt. I used to wonder when I saw people learning Violin, when I myself tried a hand on Piano and Guitar. I was quite immature then. Music, as things go, is beautiful even if it is made from a steel plate and a spoon. But back then I'd have scorned.

I guess it was an year ago that I fell in love with Violin, but didn't know it. I liked the music when I heard it, but couldn't discover that it was the this stringed instrument that I loved most (in a few songs). I've just discovered it a week ago. And am I glad !

I guess I owe most of this discovery to Damien Rice's songs. I am not sure if people liked that part of his music, but it was one of the big reasons to love his songs. Listen to the part starting at 3:30 in Cold Water, or Amie and you'd know. I guess it gels amazingly well with his voice to make it a complete piece.

And then there's this orchestra from Andre Rieu that played instrumental version of "Annie's song" (originally by John Denver) that I really liked. While I already love the original song, this instrumental version with Violin took me by surprise as I found that I liked the Violin sound. And then suddenly I realized that I like most of Damien Rice's songs because of this. Things fell into proper places...

I started liking this girl Taylor Davis when I heard the "Alchemist Brothers" Violin version. It's originally in some animated series OST but this Violin version is the first I heard of that. She plays really good.

And then there's this instrument Cello, one that I didn't even know how it looked like until a minute ago. I heard it's name a lot of times but never cared to look it up. In India, people seldom play it. My discovery of Cello has to be attributed solely to the game "Braid" which had a very positive impact both in terms of gaming and music. I really loved the music a lot and as I was searching for its OST, I found that it was by Jami Sieber (and Cheryl Ann Fulton, Shira Kammen) and that she's a Cellist. Fantastic stuff. Check out Maenam, Downstream from her.

By the way, the Braid artwork is brilliant too. The background pictures were as fresh as a morning daisy.

The Earth Prelude by Ludovico Einaudi

Play this and close your eyes. I somehow felt that I should put this under the "life" label of my blog too.

Came across this in the short movie "The country of Mediocres". Lovely short movie. Just about 13 mins or so.

What I am listening to now...

1. Hey there Delilah - Plain White T's : Nice !
2. When you were young - The Killers : Awesome ! I didn't have an impression on this song when I first listened to it. That was when I was just exploring "The Killers" about a couple of years back. But last week I heard this play on VH1 and I was like "How did I miss this ?" Just getting this into my mobile and will probably hear it a lott.
3. Colorblind - Counting Crows : Kind of like feel very close. The piano and the way the song is sung just get me to a quiet mood. A song that makes me close my eyes and just listen to it and take it all in.
4. Chasing cars - Snow Patrol : Was addicted to this song sometime ago. I am quite alright now, but still listen to it. I think its amazing that they came up with : "If I lie here, if i just lie here, would you lie with me and just forget the world" !

5. Acha lagta hain from the movie Aarakshan : Amazing lyrics and song.
6. Us against the world - Coldplay : A song that comforts me and brings a sense of calm.
7. Paradise - Coldplay
8. Life in Technicolor II - Coldplay : Love the intro tabla and "And my feet won't touch the ground" is so well written. Love the video too, quite funny that one.

9. Til Kingdom Come - Coldplay: Words fail me.
10. Fix You - Coldplay : The build up when Chris Martin runs on to the stage is amazing. Always gets me up whenever I listen to it. Feels like a rush of blood everywhere in the body.
11. Juno OST : Kimya Dawson's songs are good. I didn't hear songs like this earlier, and felt good about it. The movie wonderful too.

And lots and lots of Damien Rice. So much that I am gonna write a blog about how good I feel about Damien Rice.

What i am listening to now

Lately I've been into Blink 182. Its a crazy punk bad. I absolutely love some of their songs. Yes, some have censor content in them, but some of them are really good. Something's different abt their music, can't point out what, but i like it..

1. Another girl, Another planet
Liked the energy and the line "I think i'm on another world with you".

2. I miss you
Liked the two different tones.. just blends in..

3. Always
Great one again.. nice energy and lyrics..

4. Down

Wanted to write my own adaptation to this one.. another one of my favs..

5. I'm lost without you

Awesome song ! Loved the slow build up plus the rock.. Great lyrics.. can't believe it isn't in their "Greatest Hits" album :(

6. What went wrong
Aha.. its a different take on the "hate your ex" songs.. liked the music.. though i don't approve of it, i really liked their idea of putting such a bold song.

I totally loved songs from "Ye Maya Chesave". Rahman never fails to fascinate my music senses. Especially liked the :
1. Ee hridayam
Its like a fresh breeze. Liked the way rap is brought in. Though the dance wasn't good, liked the way the director wanted it to be. Just liked the whole package.

2. Kundanapu bomma
I simply liked the title of this song. And the way its given sort of a western music touch to it. I have always admired Rahman's use of Shehnai and Tabla.. Shehnai's too good in this song.

PS: Happy to know that "Use somebody" won the grammy :) It was the song of the last year.. was in my What I am listening to... of the previous entry.

What I am listening to...

Just wanted to write about stuff that I am listening to.

Right now, I am addicted to (In no particular order) :

1. Use somebody - Kings of Leon.

This was a serendipitous discovery. One that I wouldn't have dwelled into without the help of

youtube or my lousy workplace which drove me desperate to find something new to listen to.

Of late, I've been searching for songs, artists or music that I haven't heard. It's simple, actually. First you have to like something. Then enter youtube and search for it. You'll be shown a list of "recommendations" and you just need to explore that category.

"Use somebody" is good. It has a different feel altogether. The lyrics are good too. The voice reminds me of James Blunt and, needless to say, its a bit inclined towards sounding "haunted". This song inspired me to write up a little stuff of my own and it shaped into Painting a picture, in one sitting.

2. Romeo and Juliet - The Killers.

Again a serendipity. I stumbled upon this band when I came to "Use somebody" on the youtube. Heard to a song and thought of getting the entire set of songs that they composed. I googled and finally heard to their discography and found a few songs that I liked. This one, in particular, had a different set of lyrics. Like someone just started writing up something and then set tune to it.

The rhyme caught me. "Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start. And I bet, you exploded in my heart", etc.

3. The Scientist - Coldplay.

The connection with Coldplay is through blood. What I mean to say is, I came in touch with them through my cousins. They had come to visit us during the winter of 2005 (they stay in the UK,

and ofcourse Coldplay is an english band). They thought of buying us some stuff and I asked them to buy me a music album of their choice. They were arguing over Radiohead and Coldplay and found "The rush of blood to the heart" over there. This was Coldplay's hit album and it had "Clocks", the presence of which, on the cover, made my sister to insist on buying it.

It also had "The Scientist", which made my brother feel likewise. So there I was, listening to the clocks and the scientist. At first I heard the scientist only twice and lost interest in it. After a couple of years, in 2008, it caught me by storm and didnt quite leave me, if ever for small intervals. Right now, I still hear it regularly. Great guitar, a different depth to the lyrics (mostly it cant be explained). Nice video, but I am talking about the music anyway. It's an amazing song to me.

4. For reasons unknown - The Killers.

Great lyrics. Love the combination of music and lyrics.

5. Ruby, don't take your love to town - The Killers.

The way this song goes, just love it. The way the music goes till it says "Oh Rubyyyyyy" and then it stops and it says "dont take your love to town" and the music starts again. Saw somewhere that it was sung by Kenny Rogers as well, but have to google that up.

6. Buy me a rose - Kenny Rogers.

Amazing. Nice with a guitar. It's a slow one, but has nice lyrics plus slow music. My brother introduced me to this. He has a set of songs to which he's practising guitar and this is one of them.

7. Priyatama - Guna

This is dubbed from a tamil movie to telugu. Greatt lyrics. Heard it on my way home, on the radio. Instantly liked it.

8. Povodhe prema - Oye

Nice one. Telugu.

Also listening to are :

Tum agar mujhko na chaho - Dil Hi To Hai (1963. Raj kapoor's hit)

Dooriyan and Aaj din Chadeya - Love Aaj Kal

Pehli baar mohobbat - Kaminey

Nayan tarse - Dev D

Nenu nenuga lene - Manmadhudu (Telugu)

Til I collapse - Eminem

Leave out all the rest - Linkin Park

Running to stand still

How can someone come up with something like that? Ever since I've heard these four words, I have been asking myself this one question. How can someone write words like that? Then it strikes to me that this work could only be that of the masters: U2.

From the time I've started to explore U2, they always came up with a new all-time high, be it through the guitar of The Edge, Mr.Clayton , or the beats of Mr.Mullen Jr, or different octaves that are distinctly Bono-ic or most importantly for me, the lyrics. Bono is truly a genious. He writes so well, sings through his heart and soul and you can feel music. That is what I consider truly marvelous. You have to feel music. That's what I say. It is universal, so is Love. And when it's U2, you have music and love. And then it forms a masterpiece. Period.

I'll like to talk more, even though you might argue that there are better bands (for which I say "okay. For each, his own"). I'd like you to listen to the songs sung by these artists. They are of top quality. And it just makes me wonder sometimes, why I wasn't aware of this earlier, why I wasn't there to see these men perform live. That's just me talking, talking. But coming to the point, you have to give yourself time to feel their music. Initially, I was attracted only by a few songs. It was only when I started listening to the others more carefully that I found how much I missed them. Everytime I listen to them, listen to a new song of theirs that I haven't already heard (Yes, I haven't heard all of theirs), I feel a new surge of emotions within me. Some of which I haven't myself found till now. Their music talks. Even the guitar talks.

Thank you U2 for opening a world full of possiblities to me. A world so full of Love and beauty. A world full of music.

If there's anything above the level called "fan", like being a worshipper, then I am that for U2. And I am sad that I find fewer fans, here in India.

The era of Songs

Most of my life can be viewed as series of era's of Songs, mostly intermittent. The thing is, I become attached to a few set of songs, and mostly from one singer, for a definite period of time and anytime I listen to those songs, I'll be reminded of the period of my life when I used to sing them. And I sing these songs until I get ones that I didn't listen to earlier.

Right now, its U2 that I am humming. Man, you should listen to some of their songs. You see their lyrics are so vague that most of those who listen to them feel that they are written especially for them. And that is considered one of the reasons why U2 is arguably the best band around since long time, the 80's. They have such beautiful beats and The Edge is wonderful on the guitar. Do you know this guy is so good at guitar (Electric guitar) that he experimented playing the electric guitar with a magnetic pic. You know, the effect of magnetic field over electric field, and all that stuff that we learnt in our Plus 2.