Madame Trudeax - KT Tunstall

It was 2004 (wow, so long ago?) when KT got famous on the international music scene, mainly thanks to her early successes such as Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, Suddenly I see and Other side of the world. In the years after the buzz around her gradually reduced to the point that she now is touring only in the UK most of the time. But that doesn't mean that her music got less enjoyable... rather, I think she delivered some of her best tunes after. This is one of them, a very energetic song, so shake off that lousy autumn feeling, get up from your chairs and start dancing!

PS: Don't forget to like the blog's Facebook page, where you can also find pictures and biographies of my favourite (and most featured) artists!

Thank u (long intro) - Alanis Morissette

Time for a new post! Time to go back again, this time of about 15 years to 1998, when Alanis Morissette released her second album (fourth if we consider her two dance releases limited to Canada when she was younger) after the super successful Jagged Little Pill. The expectations for this album have been huge and, as it happens oftentimes, they have not been met, at least in terms of commercial success. The heavy burden of having an enormously successful album very soon in the career of an artist is that the rest of your career always lives in the shadows of that success. Yet, it'd be unfair to say that Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie was not a success: it went on to become a fans favourite and it sold decently. The first single out of it was Thank u: it is one of my Alanis personal favs and here I'm sharing with you a longer version, with some added (beautiful) lyrics with respect to the standard album and single version.

Reflektor - Arcade Fire

New Arcade Fire album, Reflektor, is out today (well, yesterday actually)! I just downloaded the digital version thanks to my pre-order, I'm waiting to be able to pick up the physical copy and I'm really excited. They have been making a good deal of promotion for it, most of the songs have been made available before the release in various ways (live videos, videos, a movie...). The beginning of it all was the release of Reflektor, a very peculiar track with a sound that calls back to the 80s. The band has released a regular video for the song + an interactive video, which is really amazing (you can find it here).

Special #2: Imogen Heap

Tonight I really feel the urge to do another special post. A few minutes ago I have been watching a couple of videos featuring one of the most inspiring and innovative artists (to me), i.e. Imogen Heap. She is very creative and I really like the way she tries to bring new life and new ideas into music, also thanks to her being outside the main music labels environment. In this particular video she is telling a little bit about the development of her musical gloves and showing a demo of their usage, followed by a song (Me the machine) she composed with them. The peculiarity of these gloves is that, according to the position and the movements of the person (singer usually) who wears them, they give you the possibility to play a whole lot of effects without needing any additional instrument + they also let you play with notes that you sing, such as holding them, making loops out of them and so on. I find this really brilliant and I wanted to share it, 'cos in my opinion it is really one of the ways in which music is going to evolve in the next future. Enjoy!

Stop the clocks - Leona Lewis

Walking around the city in a mid-autumn late afternoon, the lights of the cars passing by, other lights stay fixed in the background, people going back home after a hard day of work (it's a monday, come on!)... It's an image that is often used in song videos or album artwork. Well, this song was most probably not born with that intent, but listening to it while coming home a while ago... it just felt right. And so, undecided as I was among a few other songs for today's post, I ended up making my mind choosing this. 'Cos I also believe that, with the electronic and dance and everything that is trending today, the classic pop ballad is kind of losing ground among singers who want to chart well... Yet I think it still has grounds for existence and needs to get a good place in the world!

Special #1: Lou Reed

A special post is required to celebrate the memory of Lou Reed. Born in 1942 in Brooklyn, the American songwriter, singer and guitarist has been one of the most influential people in shaping the music of the last part of the 20th century. He left us today to "take a walk on the wild side". Here is one of his most famous compositions, Sunday Morning, out of its debut album with Velvet Underground.

Sing - Travis

Here is another classic from last decade, a good one for an otherwise gloomy sunday. I bet all of you know the song already, but it's never a shame to go back a little while. Late 90s / early 00s have been (in my opinion) a very good and fertile period for good music, for quality pop, maybe it's because I have such good memories of my life when I was a kid and I associate these tunes to that happy periods, I don't know, fact is that I really enjoy a lot of the stuff that dates back to that period!

The bad in each other - Feist

There are some names that didn't get any space on here (yet!) and I am very sorry about that but I'll get back to them in proper time. Now I must focus again a little bit of Feist, as I have been really kind of obsessed with a few songs lately and some days have already gone through since the moment I decided this one would be on the blog... now is the time! Have a good weekend y'all!

Under pressure - Queen + David Bowie

Big names coming, yo! Time to take a trip in the realm of classics, not a territory where I can say I lay my feet with much self-confidence, but a few steps... yes I think I can do that! Here I'm calling on stage two big big names that made the history of the music at the end of last century, I don't think I have to add anything more, as I am actually feeling a bit... under pressure!

Late night - Foals

Wow, I'm still thrilled (and tired) by tonight's gig by Foals! It was very cool, they're so good! They didn't play many songs, but it's been very, very intense. I must say, I've been able to enjoy the quiet parts better, as I'm not really into pushing (even though some dancing has to happen!). So, I promise, this is gonna be the last Foals post (for a while, at least), but I have to celebrate this night, so "stay with me" and with Late night!

My number - Foals

Foals timeee!! I'm getting ready to get out for the concert, I really can't wait! Today I've been doing some kind of full-immersion into their music, here is one of my favs out of their last album! Enjoy!

Olympic airways - Foals

Hey everybody, hope you're all good and thanks for still being there! I think it's time to get a little mono-thematic (ok, I'm not sure about the existence of this word in English, and Internet is not helping, but let's keep moving!) ... I was sayin'... ok time to focus on just one band for a few hours! It's time to devote some time and space to the Foals. Tomorrow I'll go to their concert in Milan (with my friend A.) and I really can't wait for it! I have first listened to Foals thanks to the Fifa football (ok, soccer!) videogame: their song Olympic Airways was in the soundtrack of the 2009 edition of the game and, I must admit, it has always been one of my favourites in the entire lot. In time I devoted some more attention to the band and... now the show is theirs! Enjoy!

Mary - Tori Amos

I bet that every music fan has been looking for a rare piece of collectible (be it a CD, a collection, a single, a T-shirt or else) of one of their favourite singers at least once in their lifetime. Well, my desperate search has been for Tori Amos's collection A piano, with almost all of her CD-songs plus a collection of B-sides, unreleased tracks and remixed material. Since around 2009/2010 I've been looking for it around the world, in the US, in Canada, everywhere but... no success. Until recently! A few weeks I was walking around in Milan, wasting my time before meeting the rest of my class for an aperitivo, and I decided to stop by Fnac, a media retailer (my favourite actually). I was just wandering inside the store, while my eyes fell on something that looked familiar and... there it was! My beloved and sought-after A piano! I was so overwhelmed with joy, but it wasn't the end. At the cashier, they told me that I could use my loyalty card, even if it was expired, as they were dealing with a change of ownership and messing around with the whole organization and everything... so I even got a 20% discount on it (and on 50-something euros of item it's not just coins!). This really made my day (and even the few days after, for that matter). So I started paying some more attention on some B-sides I already had in my library but I really didn't listen to with the "right ear". And there was Mary, a beautiful piece of song that I quickly fell in love with. It is so very interesting the whole relationship of Tori with the concept of Mary and the various Marys of the Christian tradition, but this discussion will not find its place here.
PS: If you're interested you can try to give a look to Tori's biography, it's called Piece by Piece and it has actually been another one of my most sought-after items!)

Them - The Cranberries

Coming back home from Milan (where I was tonight with my father to watch the football (ok, soccer) match AC Milan - Barcelona) on the highway, under that tiny but thick rain, when everything's dark and it seems like you're driving... into the nothingness! And then shuffling my dad's ipod (which has some of my music on), here they are, my favourite band, with a song that fit perfectly to the sitation and the environment around us. So, time to introduce you to them: they are The Cranberries and Them is also the title of this beautiful, beautiful song!

Afterlife - Arcade fire

What's the point of pre-ordering an album when they make most of the songs available on youtube before it gets delivered? Well, probably one of the few bands that you can forgive for that is Arcade Fire! Their new video is now online, check it out and be waiting for the new double CD that is being released next week!

End of night - Dido

Time for a little revival (again). I mean, the song is actually pretty recent, it's the artist that goes back in time quite a while. Yes, I actually spent most of my early teenage years with Dido as a soundtrack, Life for Rent was the first CD I ever bought (as a Xmas gift for my dad) and some of her songs are still in the list of my top favourites. But time goes on and we have to go on with it; that said, I'd say her last work is not that bad in the end, still close to her style even if maybe a little less inspired. This is one of my favs out of it, so enjoy the end of night!

Beach - San Cisco

Beach - San Cisco

Hey guys, how are you doin'? I really can't make peace with the fact that it's autumn, I really hate these days when everything's gray and gloomy and wet and... bwaaah! So bad. I want the sunlight! I want hot weather! I want summer! But I have to be strong, I know. So, my solution is choosing some good tunes that can cheer me up. In this particular case, I pick San Cisco. They are an indie-pop band from Australia, I got to know their music just recently thanks to a cover of Daft Punk's Get Lucky (check it out, it's cool!) and I almost immediately fell in love with their eponymous album. This is Beach, the first song out of it. They are currently on tour in Europe, so spread the word!

Crystalised - The XX

Tonight I have taken a very relaxing hot bath, I really needed it (in the sense that I needed to get clean!). I obviously didn't miss the chance to get a very relaxing (but powerful at the same time) soundtrack. I have to call into question my dear B. again so soon, and with her also the album that I have been listening to the most in the past year, i.e. XX, the debut album of The xx. I am totally in love with the whole album, but my super-favourite is this one for sure. It's a perfect tune for night time (even though there's another song on the album called Night time), so enjoy!!

Sunrise - Simply red

And here we are, time has come for the third post already! Today I'm giving you something coming from my childhood that I just found again. I'm talking about Simply Red! I have been exposed to their music quite a bit thanks to my father when I was little and last night, while eating out, I overheard one of their songs (that I already knew, even if I didn't know the title) in the restaurant and I decided to go and check which one it was.
In the end, by listening to the previews of their most famous songs, it occurred to me that I actually knew (well, know) many of them. So, thank you Sunrise for that leap back into my childhood!

Graveyard - Feist

Graveyard - Feist

Soo, time to introduce you to my great friend B! She's a classmate of mine in university, we have moments of very good chemistry and also we have pretty similar musical tastes! Feist is one of the things she's suggested I should listen to, I did lately and I am liking her (a lot).
This is Graveyard, out of her last album Metals (2011). Enjoy!

Intro + October - Dolores O'Riordan

Hey everybody,
I have decided to give it a try again, yes, I am starting a blog (again)! This time I decided to try to give it a structured shape and most of all to make sure I would be motivated to post frequently. I realised the only way to do it is to talk about something I am passionate about and that I like to talk about and share everyday. The solution seemed obvious at this point: music is the answer!
So that's it, I will try to create a sort of agenda/calendar/whatever/something that will (hopefully) give you a song (or maybe even more) per day, based on my tastes, new discoveries, revivals and whatever else. I hope you'll be interested in it, you'll follow me in this new trip and, most of all, I strongly hope that this will make my Facebook friends happier, since I probably will stop overfilling the walls with music videos! :)

So, let's start. Let's start in the most obvious way possible. Let's start with a revival. The song I picked for today (say, it's still October 18 for me, I am still awake!) is a revival. This is October (I guess you can find out yourselves the obvious reasons why it came to my mind now...) from her 2007 solo album Are you listening?

Enjoy!