Category: music

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music

The Sounds of Christmas: Outro

cc via http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmtimages

Well, I had planned to do a post for each song on my 2013 Christmas mix, but now that Christmas has already passed it doesn’t seem quite as important. The good news is that I already have a start on my 2014 list, including songs I liked for this year but that didn’t quite fit. That’s no guarantee that the 2014 list will get done on time either, but at least it’s a good start.

I’ve done three Christmas mixes now, and they all have twelve songs on them. It has nice synergy with the whole “12 days of Christmas” thing, and keeping the song count down means the task of creating a list is less daunting. Finding 12 songs is much easier than finding 20, or even 15.

So without further ado, here’s my Christmas music list / mix for 2013. For those who have All Access Music from Google Play, you’ll have a much easier listen if you check out the playlist there. Otherwise I’ve done my best to include links to full versions of songs, mainly on YouTube, but some are not available to listen to publicly on the web and those links go to Amazon. Enjoy!


Ahniwa’s 2013 Christmas Mix Playlist

1. Fairytale of New York / Gianni and Sarah (link)
2. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day / The Civil Wars (link)
3. Santa Claus is Coming to Town / The Selectrics (link)
4. Angels We Have Heard on High / David Ian (featuring Acacia) (link)
5. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel / Belle and Sebastian (link)
6. Green Grows the Holly / Calexico (link)
7. Baby, It’s Cold Outside / Little Hurricane (link)
8. One Bright Star / Sarah Jarosz (link)
9. Jingle Bells / David Ian (featuring Andre Miguel Mayo with Tal & Acacia) (link)
10. Carol of the Bells / Pentatonix (link)
11. Merry Christmas Baby / Straight No Chaser (featuring Otis Redding) (link)
12. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? / The Head and the Heart (link)

Categories
music

The Sounds of Christmas: Track Three

via pastemagazine.com

Though not technically a Christmas song, one of my favorite songs during the holidays is Baby It’s Cold Outside. There are quite a few versions I enjoy, and being a duet, a number that I really like half of; e.g. why the hell did Norah Jones have to sing with Willie Nelson?

Since 2013 was the year I discovered Little Hurricane (it may have actually been late 2012; I’m really not sure), their version of Baby It’s Cold Outside gets the nod this year on the Christmas mix. If you like it, you can download the MP3 for free from their website.

I like it because it’s dead simple: Tone playing guitar in his dirty blues style, Tone and CC singing (CC sometimes a little off key, in her style), and then a little rhythm added near the end. Dead simple, and really what Little Hurricane is all about, and epitomizes why I love listening to them.

Categories
music

The Sounds of Christmas: Track Two

cc via http://www.flickr.com/photos/morganholmes/

I really like the movie, Pitch Perfect. It’s one of those films that is easy to watch, but still intelligent, and it has great music. Okay, it might not be “intelligent”, per se, but at least it’s not dumb.

The first time I watched Pitch Perfect, I enjoyed it and then didn’t give it much thought afterwards. It was a fun film. I didn’t return to it for awhile, and when I did it was in a somewhat roundabout way. I was browsing YouTube and I came across this really cool collaboration between Pentatonix and Todrick Hall, The Wizard of Ahhhs.

I didn’t recognize the cups song, “The Long Way Around / You’re Gonna Miss Me / When I’m Gone”, as the song from Pitch Perfect. I just knew it got stuck in my head, and then everyone else’s head, and then I traced it back to Pitch Perfect. It actually goes back a lot further than that; further back than Lulu and the Lampshades too though most people try and credit them with the song originally.

So Pentatonix helped bring me back to Pitch Perfect and that movie, in turn, helped put Pentatonix on my radar. So when I discovered that Pentatonix had a brand new Christmas album, I was pretty stoked, and when I listened to it, I was ecstatic.

From 1 to 10, it’s aca-awesome (that’s an 11, I think), and it gets my pick for Christmas album of the year. That has its pros and cons when putting together a Christmas mix, of course, because there are a number of great songs that could go into a mix and I don’t want to pick more than a couple songs, at most, from any given album.

This song is probably my favorite on the album, so even though there are other great songs on the album and other great versions of this song, this is a sure pick for the mix. Enjoy!

Categories
music

The Sounds of Christmas: Track One

cc via http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the music. I’ve been known to hum / whistle Christmas music all throughout the year (hopefully without annoying anyone too much) and each year when the weather gets cold I enjoy the opportunity to listen, hum, and whistle guilt free for a month or two.

In addition to my listening enjoyment, I always try and put together Christmas mix albums, though I’ve had limited success. A lot of that relates to what I was talking about last post: I dream big, and sputter out before I get started.
This year is a bit different, because I have the Google Music All Access thing going for me, and I can listen to any song I want to, more or less. The last couple weeks I’ve been looking at “best of” Christmas album lists for 2013 and trying to see if I like any of the new Christmas music. After all, I could have the same favorites every year (and I often do), but the point of making a yearly mix, for me, is to see what sort of new and interesting music might be out there that I can add.
My list isn’t done yet, though there are about 25 songs on it at the moment. I need to go in and whittle it down a bit. All the same, some songs are sure things, and I thought I’d share.
The first song that is definitely on the list is Fairtytale of New York, performed by Gianni and Sarah (of Walk Off the Earth). I like the Pogues version okay, and there was a version on Late Night recently with Glen Hansard, Iron & Wine, Calexico, and others; I was hoping I’d like that version, but it was a little too busy.
This version by Gianni and Sarah is intimate, and it’s funny, and I feel like it captures a lot of what the song is about. Walk off the Earth has itself been on the rise this year and people are starting to recognize them, which I think is great. They are talented musicians and their videos are always as impressive as their music. Check them out if you haven’t already.
Categories
humor libraries music

Hey Mr. Library Man

This has been hiding out on Ning for long enough, thought I’d share.


Find more videos like this on Library 2.0

Categories
music

Yes, yes, yes.

Thanks to Coyote for posting.

Categories
music personal

Easter melody

I was playing around learning “Hit Me Baby One More Time”, and I started playing this instead. Funny how music works.

Happy Easter, whatever it means to you. 🙂

Ahniwa Ferrari – untitled guitar tune
[audio:https://www.ahniwa.com/blog/uploads/easter-melody.mp3]

Categories
cinema music

Movies with great songs

a girl plays guitar on a dock on the puget sound

If you haven’t seen them yet, you really, really, really need to go out and watch these two movies.

Once is a story of music in Dublin, of love, and of chasing your dreams. And it’s completely, madly, absolutely brilliant.

Juno is, of course, the story of a young girl who gets pregnant, decides to keep her baby, and has some insightful, clever, endearing moments along the way.

They’re the two best movies I’ve seen in months, and they both have fantastic music in them. To further entice you:

Glen Hansard – Once Soundtrack – 01 – Falling Slowly
[audio:https://www.ahniwa.com/blog/uploads/01 Falling Slowly.mp3]

I need to learn how to play that.

Categories
music personal

And I’m so lonesome now …

I was a high school drama geek and it changed my life. Before drama I was quiet, shy — painfully shy — and had no luck with the ladies. Somehow, being involved in acting changed all that, and as I became more confident and sure of myself, life in general got a whole lot better. It’s funny how that works.

The only really sad part about this story is that I never learned how to act. Despite the many things I gained from being in drama, I really don’t think acting ability was one of them, and I feel like a lot of this has to do with our drama teacher, who we (dis)affectionately referred to as “The Beast.” I’m not sure why, except the fact that she was rather beastly. In her theater, acting ability was always secondary to being able to project and to knowing your lines. Which is fine, sure. Those are good skills. But for those of us who had a talent for remembering lines, and had learned how to project, her lessons were wasteful and superfluous. And we never learned any, you know, acting skills.

All of this just to get to the point that the only good thing I ever learned from the beast, really, is that no matter how you feel your performance will turn out; indeed, even if you know that your performance is going to suck, a lot, you should never start apologizing before you’ve even begun. Never tell people you’re going to suck. Let them figure it out, and who knows, maybe they’ll like you anyway. Somehow. Maybe you don’t suck as much as you thought you sucked. Who knows.

So I won’t say that the song I’ve linked below here sucks. Because it doesn’t. I will say that I’m not the greatest singer, but I hit a great Jack White note in there somewhere, and I can learn to be satisfied with that.

Ahniwa Ferrari — I’m so lonesome now
[audio:https://www.ahniwa.com/blog/uploads/im-so-lonesome-now.mp3]

Categories
music personal

New strings, same fingers

guitar strings

I briefly related my harrowing adventure, out into the ice, wind, sleet, and cold, to purchase new guitar strings for my lovely rosewood guitar. The strings I got are the same kind I’ve been using since I discovered them, recommended to me years ago in a music shop in Port Townsend, I think, back in 1997 or so. I don’t know if they’re really the best strings out there, but they do keep a nice tone for a long time, which is essential for a musician as lazy as myself, and one therefore prone to not changing strings for significant lengths of time.

I bought two sets of strings, polyweb lights and polyweb mediums, and put the lights on first. My fingers are out of practice, so I thought maybe lighter strings would do a little less damage for now. They sound great, of course, as new strings should. Bright and clear. Once they’ve worn in a bit, I imagine I’ll like how they sound even more. I usually do.

Now, if only they made me a better guitar player. Here’s a little sample of a tune I’ve been working on. My favorite at the moment.

Ahniwa Ferrari – Untitled Guitar Tune
[audio:https://www.ahniwa.com/blog/uploads/tune04.mp3]

Categories
montreal music personal

Inclement Weather Blues

It was raining when I went to class this morning. Muggy and nearly warm and I began to sweat halfway through my not-even-fifteen minute daily commute. For kicks I checked the weather on my laptop in class, and saw that there were two weather warnings. Weird, I thought, it seems so temperate. The weather people were right, though. All that rain flash froze as the temperature fell to -10C, and the windy picked up to steady gusts of 90kmph (nearly 60mph).

The result? I practically had to ice skate over to the Archambault to at last get new guitar strings, and everyone’s trash bins are merrily ice skating around as well, usually right into the middle of the street. Thank goodness they’d already been emptied, I suppose, or it would be trash-a-go-go.

Now I’ve got new guitar strings, cold cheeks, two new blues guitar books, cold fingers, and a sweet 10-disc set of old blues songs. Oh, and a cold tookus. Whatever that is. Once I thaw out, maybe I’ll even give ’em a shot.

Categories
music

Kate Nash

I went to the nearest Archambault to see if they had guitar strings, but they didn’t and instead directed me to their other Archambault which was a good twenty-minute walk away. I’ll swing over there eventually, maybe tomorrow, ’cause the strings on my guitar now are seriously dead. They sound like crap.

I did take the opportunity to browse, though, and spent a lot of time in front of various listening stands checking out artists I’d never heard of before. I keep meaning to get a subscription to Spin. One of the artists I enjoyed (and consequently am listening to right now), was Kate Nash, an up-and-comer from the British pop market. She’s got a nice voice with a brit accent, which is all well and good, but I’m more attracted to the lyrics themselves, which are story-telly and dryly humorous, and to the complicated beats that go on behind the songs. One of the more amusing songs begins (and often refrains):

Why you being a dickhead for?
Stop being a dickhead.
Why you being a dickhead for?
You’re just fuckin’ up situations.

I find this endlessly amusing.

If you know who Nellie McKay is, and you like her, you’d probably like Kate Nash. She’s got a little Lisa Loeb in her too, and maybe some Feist. All in all it’s not the best album I’ve ever heard, but I certainly do like a few of the songs on it, and recommend it to anyone looking for a new, poppy female music artist with some funky beats behind her.

Listen to Kate Nash – Foundations
[audio:https://www.ahniwa.com/blog/uploads/foundations.mp3]

Categories
internet music

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

radio silenceOn June 26th, internet radio observed a day of silence in a play to make listeners aware of the threat of increased royalty fees. Unfortunately, whether or not people became more aware hasn’t made a difference yet, because as of this Sunday, online radio stations (Pandora, Rhapsody, Live365 et al) will be forced to pay royalties that are not only much higher than what radio stations on the airwaves pay, but will also have to pay back royalties for every song played in 2006.

The result? Many online radio stations are being forced to shut down. Especially the small, independent ones.

What can we do about it? I’m not sure, sadly. For now, I hope people will pay attention to this issue, and see what develops. SoundExchange, who represents the artists and labels, claims that everyone involved in making/producing the music is just trying to get paid what is due to them. A long, personal history of hating the music industry (because I love the music), makes me incredibly skeptical.

Happily (for me), Pandora says that it will stay on(line) the air. For now.

Read more here.

Categories
internet music

The Day the Music Dies

If you’ve ever talked to me about music, chances are that I’ve mentioned Pandora, my all-time favorite web radio application … ever. Pandora starts with a suggestion; say you like you some No Doubt, or maybe you heard Little Brown Jug for the first time, and you’re itchin’ to find something else to make your toes go all nimbly-jimbly and dance around. Pandora’s got that, they’ll take your suggestion, and they’ll roll with it, and you’ll like some of what you play, and you won’t like other choices, but as you go along you can tell them what you think, and in this fashion your station becomes more and more refined, more and more perceptive, perhaps even, ultimately, sympathetic to your search for a certain feel of music.

Today, however, no toes are tapping. Today there exists only silence in the hallowed halls of pandora.com. Today we observe a day of silence, and hope that it really, truly, only lasts a day.

Today, you can be sympathetic to Pandora’s cause, and fight to save internet radio.

Categories
libraries music

Library Music Video (and Clipmarks test)

I’m tentatively dipping my toe into the world of Firefox extensions, after being a longtime vanilla user. If I like how it works, expect to see more posts like this, linking to interesting stories from the interwebs. (edit: Due to its extensive use of divs and tables, Clipmarks posts are getting the thumb down. I do like Scribefire though, so far, so perhaps I’ll continue using that.)

From geek.lisnews.org

An Anonymous Patron writes ” *I want to be a librarian*. a music video (4:10) by New Zealand band HauntedLove, which performs ghostly pop tunes about werewolves, haunted museums, vengeful librarians, love inside computers, and ponies that just won’t go. Filmed on location at the Dunedin Public Library. Camera work by Claudia Babirat, direction and editing/effects by Don Ferns. Starring Haunted Love (Rainy McMaster and Geva Downey) and Henri Davidson…. YouTube, Apr. 9?

Categories
music socialweb

[Burnout] Flame [music] Wars

My friend Yuri lives in Bellingham, WA, and is in a band called the Planets. They used to be the Jetsons, but I imagine that certain copyright issues were discussed, and a name change ensued. But hey, the Planets is good. I like ’em.

So there’s a bit of a competition going on right now for new bands to try and get a demo gig with Virgin Records, and to get their song on the next Burnout soundtrack. theplanetsAnd you guessed it, the Planets have a song entered. Personally, I think it’s awesome. You should too. But more importantly, you should click on over here to the MySpace Burnout Bandslam Contest Page, click to “Listen and Rank” the U.S. Gallery, and find the Planets submission, which looks like this:

You don’t have to do it for me. But you should do it because their song is actually really great.

Categories
libraries music

All librarians know how to breakdance

That’s just the way we roll.

I’m referring, of course, to the end of this music video by Cascada. In my opinion, it’s all fun and games until she starts throwing the catalog cards around. At that point, I’d throw the tramp out and ban her library privileges indefinately.

Then I’d breakdance.

If you want to watch a library music video of an ENTIRELY different persuasion, you should click here. It’s very cartoon network, i.e. annoying but catchy anyway.

Categories
music socialweb

MySpace Music

Most of us who use MySpace have something of a love/hate relationship with it. Let's be honest, I find it damn useful.  Whether for tracking down friends, keeping up to date, or sending annoying bulletins (about important events, NOT pointless surveys), it's pretty handy.  Oh yeah, and for pretending you're an internet sleuth, aka being a total voyeur.  On the other hand, the code is complete shit, the whorebots are annoying as hell, and as soon as people start using MySpace they seem to lose about 30 IQ points.

Still, one thing I like about MySpace is the music scene, and that makes sense because that's how MySpace got its start.  If I hear a random band, I can find out who it is, and then chances are I can find it on MySpace and listen to a few songs.  Sure, some bands have websites; some of those websites have streaming audio; some even have videos.  But MySpace is a one-stop shop, and you don't have to click through quite as many splash pages with annoying if artsy flash designs to get to the music.  Plus, MySpace just restructured the music search engine, making it a bit easier to find the stuff you're looking for.

That said, here are a few bands I've discovered through MySpace.

The Jetsons proclaim themselves as "retro dance rock from the future", which is probably pretty accurate.  Their tunes are jangly, annoyingly catchy, and instrumentally tight.  Jules Jetson also has one of the best singing voices, ever, at least for this kind of music though I could see her doing well pretty much anywhere.  I should probably mention that in a complicated fashion I'm sort of related to Jake Jetson, and that we used to play Magic together a lot back in '98.  Aside from that, though, the music is great, and I'm really excited that they seem to be getting noticed and really going places with their music.  If you like them, be sure to swing over to their NME music page and drop them a vote.

June Madrona is a local Olympia band that focus mostly on folky instrumentation and heart-wrenching ballads, i.e. very pretty songs.  They're signed with Bicycle Records, a local indie label on the rise, and have one album available to purchase with a second one on the way, eventually.  Ross Cowman, who does guitar and vocals for June Madrona, has a solo album available as well, which is certainly worth checking out.  I ordered both albums from the Bicycle website and was surprised when Ross knocked on my door and delivered them personally (since he had been riding by on his bike), and then we ended up hanging out and chatting for a couple hours.  They play live a lot, so if you enjoy their music, it's easy to catch a show.

Changing gears a bit, Bitter:Sweet is a poppy trip-hop group that sounds like it should have done the soundtrack for the No One Lives Forever line of video games.  They're already popular, and not local, so I don't feel as much like I might be turning you on to a "hidden gem", but they still sound absolutely fantastic, and if you like trip-hop (and even if you think you don't), you should definately check them out.

Zofka is also described as sounding "futuristic and retro at the same time".  Is there a specific genre for this sort of thing?  Neo-retro?  If not, perhaps there should be, because it seems to be music that I enjoy.  In any case, they sent me a friend request out of the blue the other day, and I've been enjoying their sound.  Sometimes it's nice when bands can find you; another MySpace perk.

Last but not least, I heard a band called Smoke City whilst perusing a surf/board shop in Friday Harbor this last weekend, and I had to ask the salesdude who was playing.   The song playing was probably their most popular at the moment, Underwater Love, and I made sure to remember the band's name for the rest of the weekend until I got home and could check them out. Underwater Love really enchants me, and the rest of their music is top-notch as well.  I've only recently realized that I'm a fan of trip-hop, and now find I may be a fan of nu-jazz as well.  Having expansive musical taste is exhausting.

But I couldn't live without it. 

Categories
internet music

Mercora: Ajax Radio

Pandora owns my heart when it comes to listening to music over the internet, but I allow myself certain infidelities from time to time. Mercora uses the power of Ajax in that effective manner that makes you wonder how pages managed to ever seem smooth before. The idea behind the site is interesting: the users are the DJs, the users are the listeners. Essentially it’s a peer-to-peer music-sharing service, but with streaming instead of torrenting, and legal listening instead of pirating. One perk over Pandora is that you can actually search out specific songs and play them on the spot. Instant gratification for your ears.

Categories
music personal

Devil got my woman

Saturdays are my long day at work when there isn’t actually a whole lot of “work” to do. My charge is to man the reference desk. I understand the importance of being available, but I’m seldom called upon to actually offer any assistance. Any given Saturday is slow, and over the summer especially so. On the upside, I get to listen to internet radio in one ear since the library is so quiet. Today I’ve asked Pandora to create a Skip James station, and gotten songs from Frank Stokes, Leadbelly, Charlie Patton, and two songs from Skip himself. It’s the perfect music as I watch the clouds outside create an early dusk and threaten rain. I wonder at my preference for mellow, heart-broken music.
.