So I love this song so much that I made a music video for it.
I hope you enjoy it! I wanted to match the moody and drone of the music. It’s an incredible song, so I hope I gave it justice.
Enjoy!
My Music Video:
Jodie.
Category Archives: All Music Reviews
Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings – Father John Misty
Recently stumbled across this song via a fellow follower, Dusty who was promoting his top ten songs of 2012.
I had never heard of this act or song before but I knew within ten seconds that I loved it. It’s moody and full of emotion with dark lyrics that tell a vivid story.
Jesus Christ, girl
What are people gonna think
When I show up to one of several funerals
I’ve attended for grandpa this week
With you
With meSomeone’s got to help me dig
It has a strong, steady beat with a metallic sounding guitar complemented with echoed vocals that drones which is actually very relaxing.
Alternative rock/indie genre is my favourite, with this band’s sound reminding me of a darker, rockier Cold War Kids.
An awesome discovery.
Jodie.
Eminem and Elvis Mashup
Okay, I stumbled across this incredible mash up in the Narnia parts of YouTube. I think it is so incredibly well made. Two very unlikely songs, two opposite genres from two different time periods. Eminem’s Lose Yourself mashed with Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock.
It is easy listening at it’s best. Fantastic. I’ve always been big fans of both artists, and this just shows how their different styles can compliment each other.
Enjoy!
Jodie.
Dream – Priscilla Ahn
This song is a lovely soothing tune that is relaxing and thought-provoking.
I had never heard of Priscilla Ahn until I stumbled across her in the “Narnia parts” of YouTube. I love her name, her voice and sound – especially the harmonizing.
Dream is a wonderful song. Although I can’t really relate to the religious references, I can definitely appreciate the song about life and moving on.
If you enjoy Ahn’s song, you may enjoy her more upbeat and feel-good song called “When You Grow Up“.
Jodie.
Lakehouse – Of Monsters and Men
Have you heard of this Icelandic band before? Of Monsters and Men are an AMAZING indie/folk band. They have the coolest singer I have ever come across, her name is Nanna (@nannabh89) and she is an incredible musician.
But, although I love her style and her talent, I can’t forget the rest of the band who act like they are all family in interviews and are all equally as talented… Especially Ragnar, the other front man/singer… He’s awesome.
So ANYWAY! I picked out this song, Lakehouse, because it is my favourite. But you may have heard of their hit single “Little Talks” before or my second favourite song “Mountain Sound“. All found on their album My Head Is An Animal.
They are the kind of band who would be incredible live! Enjoy this Mumford-and-Sons-but-better kind of band!
So here is the amazing song “Lakehouse” – the imagery is so vivid. This is how I imagine Iceland to be like in song-form.
Jodie.
Big Jet Plane – Angus & Julia Stone
This song was recommended to me by a friend of mine and I absolutely adore it. It is a sad song but very relatable. They are an Australian band consisting of brother and sister; Angus and Julia.
Jodie.
Your Arms Around Me – Jens Lekman
I found this song on the film Whip It. I didn’t like it at first, but the harp sounds so magical against the solemn strings…
Hope you enjoy it too!
Jodie.
West Coast – Coconut Records
So a friend recommended that I listen to this incredible indie pop song. It’s super uplifting. But even if you don’t love the song, you’ll love the video!
A great ‘easy listening’ song… An even better road trip song too. Particularly if you’re going to the West Coast.
Jodie.
A Minor Incident – Badly Drawn Boy
So I found this dude’s music from the film About A Boy and I fell in love with this song in particular. It is a sad song… Yet, a song that almost puts things in perspective on bad days.
Loving the bridge with the harmonica :).
His other songs that are worth a listen are “About A Boy (Something To Talk About)” and “Silent Sigh” which is a song that I will probably blog about soon since it is equally as awesome as A Minor Incident.
Enjoy!!
Jodie.
I’ll Be Seeing You – Billie Holiday
I adore this song – it’s relaxing and very reflective of the 1940’s sound.
This song is used in The Notebook as a very romantic song, yet also in Misery as an uneasy tune. It just has a feel about it that fits for the two opposing genre of film, which is unusual.
I hope you enjoy listening, singing and dancing to it as much as I do!
Jodie.
Times They Are A-Changin’ – Bob Dylan
Do you want to be inspired? Lifted up? Be given a ray of hope?
Do you want to hear one of the best protest songs ever written..?
Well. This is it. This is the key to your hopes and dreams. Bob Dylan’s song is like Imagine by John Lennon and Blowin’ In The Wind by Joan Baez combined. Just as inspiring, just as awesome, just as timeless.
Depending on what mood you are in, this song could make you just totally despise what our world has come to, and make you want to make your own protest outside parliament listing all the reasons that you hate their selfish ways and that you are finally fed up with feeling fristrated and powerless against their blatant lies and flip-flops.
OR
You could feel at peace knowing that times really are changing, and that the great peace warriors are on your side.
Actually, I decided to liberate your minds with this song because Michael Moore covered it for the Occupy Movement album :) Look it up!
Peace out, dude-faces.
Jodie.
Pop Star Sings like Family Guy’s Herbert
You never guess what I stumbled across!!
Herbert the Pervert (voiced by Mike Henry) off of the hit cartoon series Family Guy has an accidental sound-alike!
The band is called Sleeping At Last and the song is called Turning Page with the sound alike singer named Ryan O’Neil.
If you’re a Twilight fan, you’ll know it from the Breaking Dawn Soundtrack.
I couldn’t stop giggling at the similarity. Just close your eyes and picture Herbert singing…
Go right ahead and skip 35 seconds in…
Jodie.
The Down Home Shake Down! – Big Mama Thornton
I AM ABOUT TO LIBERATE YOU WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC!
Holy crapolahs peoples! Big Mama is back!! It’s got harmonicas, a beat and a strummin’ bass and it makes you want to get moving. The flat-footing days of the south have been preserved for our era… And I’m loving it!
I tell you what, if I could go back in time, I would go back to the days of this kind of music! So freakin’ awesome.
I love this Down Home Shake Down because of Big Mama’s voice in the background – it makes chills go down your spine.
If you want to feel like dancing, I strongly shove you in the direction to watch this:
You don’t have to thank me. Thank the Mama, Dr. Ross, Shakey Horton, John Lee Hooker and the other AMAZING musicians of this genre and time for making incredible, outstanding and really, really cool music.
Jodie.
Hound Dog – Big Mama Thornton
Her voice is stronger than Aretha Franklin’s and her stage presence is as breath taking as… As somebody who has a lot of stage presence…
But this song will get you dancing and longing for the fifties!! As well as longing for a singing voice as strong as Big Mama’s… You just can’t sing along to this song unless your voice measures up to her’s. You just can’t.
I actually prefer the lyrics to this song than Elvis Presley’s because Big Mama doesn’t sing about catching rabbits… I never really got that line anyway…
Jodie.
Por una Cabeza – Carlos Gardel
This is a fantastic classic.
After watching this scene (tango scene in Scent of a Woman) I wanted to take tango lessons! Yet, I don’t think it was the visuals, but the song that made me fall in love with the scene.
Por una Cabeza (“By a Head”) was written in 1935 by Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera. Originally with lyrics, it tells a story about a gambler who compares his love of women with his addiction of betting on race horses.
I think it’s the whining instruments that makes the piece sound like it’s yearning for something, like the song is telling a story of losing somebody… I don’t know. It’s awfully touching though!
This is the best version I have found, I think it’s the French accordion that completes it.
I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do!
You can read my review to Scent of a Woman here. Including the trailer.
Jodie.
Twist and Shout – The Beatles
Umm… So this is only the BEST SONG EVER COVERED BY THE BEATLES!
If you’re feeling down, put this record on and scream along to it. So friggin’ awesome.
Cool fact: You can totally hear John Lennon’s sore throat in this recording!! Apparently he struggled to sing throughout the entire recording of the album, Please, Please Me. Naw… Good ol’ Lennon…
Jodie.
Tighten Up – The Black Keys
I have only recently discovered this song. But it is a wicked sound, for sure!!
It is a song that’s easy to dance to, yet its underlying tone of anxiety makes you want to scream the words along with the singer!!
If you like The Black Keys already, you’ll love the band Cold War Kids. Their similarity isn’t obvious until you compare the two singers’ voices. Yet, their sound is still totally new
and unique. Will definitely recommend some good Cold War Kids songs soon!
Jodie.
Love Will Tear Us Apart, Again – Broken Social Scene
If you’ve watched The Time Traveler’s Wife, you would have heard this song.
I love this cover of Joy Division’s original song. It’s so relaxing, yet this is another emotional song that makes you feel almost sad as soon as you hear the first three piano chords.
I couldn’t help but learn the chords on the piano after hearing this. It’s quite a simple song, but it’s still so enjoyable. The guitar is quite quick paced, where as the vocals and piano are slow and prolonged, and by these two speeds playing at the same time, it tells a story within itself.
Jodie.
O’ Children – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
If you have seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, you would have heard this epic.
Sure it’s long, but it is a song so full of emotion and such an incredible deep story that is being told that you end up using up all of your internet allowance listening to it on repeat.
It kind of has a gospel sound which I really enjoy. It makes you feel the pain they’re trying to portray, and like there’s an urgency to get a statement across to somebody. I’m not sure what it is, but the emotion of this sound really comes through.
I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do. If you don’t have a lot of time to listen to it, try skipping about half way through it. That’s where the magic begins.
Jodie.
Coldplay Plays Playschool – Mylo Xyloto Album
So I absolutely idolise Coldplay. Their albums are spectacular, their songs are well written and Chris Martin seems like a genuine guy with a great voice – especially live.
So when I got Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay’s latest album, I was expecting to find many hits that I would put on repeat for hours. But I felt they were pushing their usually faithful audience just a little too far.
It didn’t take long before I lost all confidence and enjoyment in the music by the time I reached the second song on the CD “Hurts Like Heaven” with lyrics sounding like they were being sung to pre-school children:
Written in graffiti on a bridge in a park
‘Do you ever get the feeling that you’re missing the mark?’
It’s so cold, it’s so cold
It’s so cold, it’s so coldWritten up in marker on a factory sign
‘I struggle with the feeling that my life isn’t mine’
It’s so cold, it’s so cold
It’s so cold, it’s so cold……Yes, I feel a little bit nervous,
Yes, I feel nervous and I cannot relax,
How come they’re out to get us?
How come they’re out when they don’t know the facts?
Cold, is it? These lyrics really did not fit with the tune which was disappointing when you compare their new shallow and electronic-sounding music to their older songs that are richer sounding and more emotional.
But I suppose if I’m honest, these kind of lyrics did begin on the previous album with the song Violet Hill:
It was a long and dark December,
One the roof tops I remember,
There was snow,
White snow…
Yeah… All joking aside, snow is typically white. If you need to fill in a line, maybe try something a little more adventurous.
The most famous song on the new album ‘Paradise’ was a good song until my Uncle pointed out that it sounds as if Chris is saying “Pair of Tights” not “Paradise”… Yeah, try getting those lyrics out of your head when you next listen to it. Also, despite the deep and meaningful nature of the lyrics not really being carried through with Chris Martin’s short notes, which didn’t quite fit the bill.
(Dreaming of a pair-of, pair-of, pair of tights)
With my favourite album being Parachute which I still listen to often, Mylo Xyloto (and to some extent Viva La Vida) was a gigantic flop which I hope this ground breaking band will be able to make a come-back from.
I have always loved Coldplay albums before I even hear the first single. But usually I’m not disappointed. Now I will not make that impulse purchase of their newest album with new fears that Coldplay is seeing how ridiculous they can make their music before their devoted fans realise.
I’m not turning into a music reviewer, but I did want to point out this massive flaw in this usually talented band, despite still being a huge fan of the band’s old music.
Verdict: Don’t waste your money, watch the parodies for free on YouTube.
Jodie.
American Pie – The Day The Music Died
I have recently re-discovered a song from the seventies.
This song is by a dude named Don McLean,
and the song is named American Pie.
“…Something touched me deep inside,
The day the music died
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey in Rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die…”
This emotionally-charged blog is being written post-viewing of the film I recently reviewed named “The Boat That Rocked“, where rock and roll, as we knew it in the sixties, came to an abrupt end. When the music died.
It seems many of the most incredible talents die a premature death.
Anything from plane crashes such as Buddy Holly who was a great loss to music.
Along with two fellow stars as passengers, Ritchie Valens (who had boarded the plane as a result of winning a coin toss) and Jile Perry Richardson/The Big Popper in 1959. This crash inspired the writing of the song American Pie.
“…Everyday seems a little longer
Every way love’s a little stronger
Come what may
Do you ever long for, true love from me
Everyday it’s a-gettin’ closer
Goin’ faster than a roller coaster…”
(“Everyday”)
“I don’t like that surfin’ shit. Rock and roll’s been going down hill ever since Buddy Holly died”- American Graffiti
There were also drug-related deaths, such as Jimi Hendrix in 1970. I think, due to his outstanding guitar skills, his unbelievable singing voice was not recognised quite as much as it should have been.
“…A broom is drearily sweeping
Up the broken pieces of yesterday’s life…
‘Cause the life that lived is,
Is dead.
And the wind screams Mary…”
(“The Wind Cries Mary”)
“You see the thing that makes sense in this crazy world is Rock and Roll.” – The Boat That Rocked (deleted scene)
A heart attack got The King, Elvis Presley in 1977 who had the looks, style, talent and personality. I have three photos of him on my wall, even though I wasn’t alive when he was. That’s how influential he was.
“…Please don’t ask me what’s on my mind
I’m a little mixed up,
But I’m feelin’ fine.
When I’m near that girl that I love best
My heart beats so it scares me to death…”
(“All Shook Up”)
Wolfman Jack passed away in the arms of his wife, Lou, due to a heart attack in 1995. He was a legendary pop music radio host in the sixties and has appeared in films such as American Graffiti.
Somehow the Rock and Roll stars of our world don’t seem to last.
Sometimes the music dies because it’s simply not created any more. With the most heart-breaking tragedy occurring in 1970, when The Beatles split up.
“…Life is very short
and there’s no time,
For fussing and fighting my friend,
I have always thought that it’s a crime,
So I will ask you once again
Try to see it my way…”
(“Try To See It My Way”)
By 1980, John Lennon is shot and in 2001 cancer takes George Harrison.
In 1981, the legendary Bob Marley also died of cancer. With his final words being “money can’t buy life”
“…Rise up this mornin’,
Smiled with the risin’ sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin’: “This is my message to you
Singin’: “Don’t worry ’bout a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right…”
(“Three Little Birds”)
Despite not really being a fan, I can’t deny the incredible influence Michael Jackson has had on other musicians and, of course, his unmeasurable talent as a performer and musician. He died under suspicious circumstances in 2009. This death is a memorable one for me due to its recent occurrence (I was in maths class, and this shocking news put an end to that lesson… Which was the light in the darkness I guess).
“…It’s close to midnight
Something evil’s lurkin’ in the dark
Under the moonlight
You see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream
But terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze
As horror looks you right between the eyes
You’re paralyzed
‘Cause this is thriller…”
(“Thriller”)
Of course, this is just a pinch from the endless realm of musical talent that we know of today. Amy Winehouse (2010) and just yesterday, Whitney Houston are a couple of others that have checked-out much too soon. However, they have still influenced our popular culture and, more importantly, inspired future musicians.
We’ve had many sad days when “the music died”. American Pie is a song that represents the importance of our favourite music and artists. This song is for every time a star has fallen.
Give peace a chance, and keep listening to good music! Especially by the musicians I have mentioned – to keep them alive. They represent the better parts of music because they are talented – unlike many of the ridiculous acts the money-grabbing producers are finding today. Just because we have computers that can sing for these “posers”, doesn’t mean that’s what we should be doing. We need to inspire people today more than ever.
The death that has affected my iPod playlists the most, it’s the death of The Beatles. And with that, I will leave you with John Lennon‘s solo tune, Imagine. Which is about how it could be.
“All you need is love”. And when you feel bad, “take a sad song and make it better”.
Jodie.
NZ Film Freak 