rose_griffes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rose_griffes) wrote2007-02-14 06:14 pm
rose_griffes) wrote2007-02-14 06:14 pm
Entry tags:
I want music
Music!
I got an mp3 player for Christmas. It doesn't hold a lot, but it's enough to keep me happy on a road trip or while walking (I don't jog-blech). The very-cool thing is it came with a hundred free song downloads from emusic.com. I don't know if anyone else has spent much time there, but it isn't a complete waste like I thought at first. (The first two or three hours of surfing there I only downloaded nine songs--not from a slow connection but because I couldn't find anything I wanted.) The collection there is eclectic, and not many big names in pop music are represented. But there's a lot of interesting, unusual stuff.
Anyway, here's a list of some music I've downloaded recently:
The Wailin' Jennys: most of their two albums Firecracker and 40 Days. I bought 40 Days for my father a couple of years ago after hearing these three women sing on "A Prairie Home Companion." I'm surprised it took me this long to get my own copies. They have gorgeous harmonies.
Amadou et Mariam: From Mali, this husband and wife have traditional sounds with... hmm... I'm not sure how to classify it, but I like it. I downloaded most of their album "Je Pense à Toi--The Best of Amadou et Mariam." I may dig around and find some of their other tracks soon.
Corinne Hermes--album title Vraie. I downloaded the whole album. According to the French online seller fnac.com, Ms. Hermes was popular in the eighties. I had never heard of her before. This is a 2006 release. She has a lovely voice and the guitar is a great companion for it.
Natacha Atlas. I already have two CD's by her (Halim and Ayeshteni), so I rummaged around on some other albums and downloaded a few more songs. She sings mostly in Arabic, with a few English and French tracks. Though I have never had a belly-dancing lesson in my life her music makes me want to shimmy around the room.
Ofra Haza. I selected about two-thirds of her album Kirya. She had an interesting voice and I enjoy the exoticism of her music.
Hmm, I'm noticing that almost all of the singers are women. My CD collection is a lot more balanced. (I still have about fifty tracks I can download from emusic.com, I guess I'll see where that goes.)
Aha! A man! Miossec is another French singer. I only downloaded one track, though, so he doesn't provide much balance, heh. And I only downloaded it because the title made me laugh. "La facture d'electricite"--the electrical bill. The first line is "I haven't paid the electrical bill yet." (in French, sorry non-francophones)
Four tracks downloaded from the French group Autour de Lucie. The tracks I like all have a bit of the fado Brazilian sound, even though this is a modern French pop group.
Downloaded the entire work "Scheherazade" by Rimsky-Korsakov.
Advice requested, some stuff I want to look for: I would love to know some good Indian music. So far all I have is the soundtrack to "Bend it Like Beckham," which isn't much of a sampling. I plan to watch baby brother's Indian movie collection this summer if he makes it to Texas, and that would probably be a good starting point. But if anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to hear them.
I want more Spanish-language stuff. I have CD's by La Quinta Estacion, Alejandro Montaner, Luis Miguel, Shakira (love her Spanish-language stuff! need to get "Ojos Asi"), Ricardo Arjona, erm... a few others. But not much.
More modern French stuff. My collection here is pretty good, but I'd love to know any recent releases/new artists.
Male bluegrass vocalists, especially with harmonies. Not too much like barbershop quartets, and not too *COUNTRY*.
AAAACK! No wonder people hate iTunes. I'm glad I can get my favorite tv shows with it (just downloaded VM), since I cut the cord on the dish, but yeah... I can't play the Shakira song I downloaded from iTunes on my RCA mp3 player. Now I feel stupid for even trying, since I think I read somewhere that their songs are "proprietary" like that. Probably here on LJ, maybe even someone on my flist. Oops. I guess I'll just listen to it on my computer.
I got an mp3 player for Christmas. It doesn't hold a lot, but it's enough to keep me happy on a road trip or while walking (I don't jog-blech). The very-cool thing is it came with a hundred free song downloads from emusic.com. I don't know if anyone else has spent much time there, but it isn't a complete waste like I thought at first. (The first two or three hours of surfing there I only downloaded nine songs--not from a slow connection but because I couldn't find anything I wanted.) The collection there is eclectic, and not many big names in pop music are represented. But there's a lot of interesting, unusual stuff.
Anyway, here's a list of some music I've downloaded recently:
The Wailin' Jennys: most of their two albums Firecracker and 40 Days. I bought 40 Days for my father a couple of years ago after hearing these three women sing on "A Prairie Home Companion." I'm surprised it took me this long to get my own copies. They have gorgeous harmonies.
Amadou et Mariam: From Mali, this husband and wife have traditional sounds with... hmm... I'm not sure how to classify it, but I like it. I downloaded most of their album "Je Pense à Toi--The Best of Amadou et Mariam." I may dig around and find some of their other tracks soon.
Corinne Hermes--album title Vraie. I downloaded the whole album. According to the French online seller fnac.com, Ms. Hermes was popular in the eighties. I had never heard of her before. This is a 2006 release. She has a lovely voice and the guitar is a great companion for it.
Natacha Atlas. I already have two CD's by her (Halim and Ayeshteni), so I rummaged around on some other albums and downloaded a few more songs. She sings mostly in Arabic, with a few English and French tracks. Though I have never had a belly-dancing lesson in my life her music makes me want to shimmy around the room.
Ofra Haza. I selected about two-thirds of her album Kirya. She had an interesting voice and I enjoy the exoticism of her music.
Hmm, I'm noticing that almost all of the singers are women. My CD collection is a lot more balanced. (I still have about fifty tracks I can download from emusic.com, I guess I'll see where that goes.)
Aha! A man! Miossec is another French singer. I only downloaded one track, though, so he doesn't provide much balance, heh. And I only downloaded it because the title made me laugh. "La facture d'electricite"--the electrical bill. The first line is "I haven't paid the electrical bill yet." (in French, sorry non-francophones)
Four tracks downloaded from the French group Autour de Lucie. The tracks I like all have a bit of the fado Brazilian sound, even though this is a modern French pop group.
Downloaded the entire work "Scheherazade" by Rimsky-Korsakov.
Advice requested, some stuff I want to look for: I would love to know some good Indian music. So far all I have is the soundtrack to "Bend it Like Beckham," which isn't much of a sampling. I plan to watch baby brother's Indian movie collection this summer if he makes it to Texas, and that would probably be a good starting point. But if anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to hear them.
I want more Spanish-language stuff. I have CD's by La Quinta Estacion, Alejandro Montaner, Luis Miguel, Shakira (love her Spanish-language stuff! need to get "Ojos Asi"), Ricardo Arjona, erm... a few others. But not much.
More modern French stuff. My collection here is pretty good, but I'd love to know any recent releases/new artists.
Male bluegrass vocalists, especially with harmonies. Not too much like barbershop quartets, and not too *COUNTRY*.
AAAACK! No wonder people hate iTunes. I'm glad I can get my favorite tv shows with it (just downloaded VM), since I cut the cord on the dish, but yeah... I can't play the Shakira song I downloaded from iTunes on my RCA mp3 player. Now I feel stupid for even trying, since I think I read somewhere that their songs are "proprietary" like that. Probably here on LJ, maybe even someone on my flist. Oops. I guess I'll just listen to it on my computer.
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I may go download more of the tracks from both CD's later; it's hard to judge from a thirty-second clip. I'm grateful to have that much, though... makes music purchases much less risky than it used to be.
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If you can find the 'Indian Summer' compelation put out by Channel4 it's a great intro to current Indian music. 'Sajanna' by Badmarsh & Shri is worth the entire album by itself and is well worth tracking down. Coupled with tracks by Talvin Singh, Sheila Chandra, AR Rahman and Nitin Sawney it has a good selection of styles.
The soundtrack to AR Rahman's 'Bombay Dreams' musical is brilliant and a good primer for Bollywood (seeing as most of the songs are rewritten Bollywood tunes) and is very accessible (and sing-alongable going to work). Otherwise anything by Sheila Chandra is probably a good bet as she's in my collection right next to Natacha Atlas! 'OK' by Talvin Singh is one of those albums that isn't to everyone's taste but 'Traveller' and 'Butterfly' are stunning.
For something odd but fun The Bollywood Brass Band are a London Indian Wedding band who do interpretations of Bollywood classics with only a six piece brass section and some drummers but it's hugely enjoyable. Their Rahmania album is an absolute gem.
I'm not sure about new French groups but I do love the Orchestre National du Barbes.
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