Home - Edward Sharpe & the Magentic Zeros

Home - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

As usual, I didn't mean to post this today... until now! I think I got to listen to the Magentic Zeros while choosing which songs of Ellie Goulding's debut album, which I'm getting to know now, to put in my next playlist; one of them is called Home and, reminding me of this, one, brought me to start a random play at Up from below! Home was actually the last song just before Come in please (my absolute fav, which I already posted a few months ago, at the end of last year actually, check back the post clicking on the link!) and well... it seemed right to post it, given that it's the first song of theirs I fell for and still one of my favs!

The Gospel of John Hurt - ∆ (Alt-J)

The Gospel of John Hurt - ∆

Archiving the first (successful) experiment of the 90s music week, let's get back to regular posting! During this convulse past week I must confess I have not been feeling the need to post anything else except what I've been posting, i.e. songs from the awesome 1990s. With one exception. This one.
I think I have already underlined more than a few times how I already love Alt-J's sophomore work, maybe not as much as their debut (there are still 3-4 songs that didn't totally convince me yet), but up to the point that is is a serious candidate for my personal album of the year. John Hurt's gospel has been one of the first tracks that struck me on the album, and well... it's the last big thing I wanna post from this album for now, waiting for its sisters to ring a bell inside me too. And, well... today I'm feeling better, no more temperature symptoms, just a bit of late phases of cold and a pretty annoying cough, feels like my chest is burning like John Hurt's too...!

#90smusic The sea - Morcheeba

The sea - Morcheeba

Well, I don't know about Anastacia, but my conditions have worsened... yesterday is taking its toll and now I am utterly feverish and weak and aching and shivering... well, the regular temperature stuff. Spent the whole day in bed sleeping and resting, now I got up for a while but soon enough I'll be back methinks. Now it's all about listening to Lykke Li, getting 'depressish' and waiting for it to end... gosh, how I hate this! I hate the flu, I hate temperatures, I hate feeling weak and dazed, I hate winter and its freaky cold! I really really want to move to some place tropical to start working next year, I'm more and more convinced of this. Well, enough with complaining, let's talk a little music. I promised you the last piece of my beloved week of 90s music, and here it is. I had something else in mind to close up this week, but given the circumstances I guess that this is more appropriate: relaxing, soothing, you can feel the waves... I already feel better!

I'm outta love - Anastacia

I'm outta love - Anastacia

What a monday, what a monday!!! What a crazy, excruciating, exhausting, unforgettable monday! You guys might not know that I had Anastacia's concert tonight, as I forgot to mention it due to the overwhelming greatness of 90s music I have been posting but well... I meant to post one last great 90s song to end the week, as I started on tuesday I realised, but tonight this is more compelling, so maybe I will do the last 90s piece tomorrow. Tonight it's about one of the most wearying concerts I ever had, probably the most demanding in terms of energies. Of course the first flu of the season struck before November, more precisely yesterday, and the friend who came with me to the concert was eager to get in front, so we went there early, then I went back and forth a couple time to get my sandwich ready and rest a while at home, just to get there definitively, endured through the wait and the opening band, and then she comes and... BANG. She had a cold too! Come on, just how freaky is that? I am in synchro with Anastacia! And we both wished we got a cold in a different moment. Well, I can't say I fully enjoyed the concert, as she let us sing a lot and she couldn't reach medium-to-high notes, so she practically didn't sing any refrain and stuff. That part, it was the main part, the main dish, the thing we all wanted to experience and it has been disappointing not to have it, also given the amount we paid for the ticket. Yet it has not been a bad experience, rather... I really enjoyed her most famous hits (and also the new songs) as her die-hard fans and us (a little less die-hard, but still fans) supplied our astounding singing skills to cover up for her lack of voice! I must say it's been emotional, also to see her almost cry when we were singing her songs by heart, it's been nice. I really hope I'll get the chance to enjoy her at her best (and also at my best, goddamn flu!), but my friend and me couldn't do without rocking it also in the car with our favourites, among which this is the one favourite of mine!!!

#sundayrevival #90smusic Here with me - Dido

Here with me - Dido

It's time to merge these two fabulous initiatives, i.e. posting 90s music AND posting music I have been loving for a long time! Well, and how could I have done this better than by posting the song that has been my absolute favourite for so so many years?! Dido has been with me since the late 90s, with this CD that my father had ripped on a musicassette and we listened to it from time to time in the car... then I bought Life for Rent as xmas gift for him a few years later, the first album I ever bought, and then... well Dido has been my fav singer throughout my teenage years! I have literally lived on No angel and Life for Rent, I have listened to them so many times that I lost count, but none of them as much as this. Here with me was the most listened song on the laptop computer I shared with my parents before I got my own computer for my 17th birthday, and it is now crossing the 100 plays threshold on my current iTunes too. I don't think I can describe with words my bond with this song, so I'll just play it for the 100th time again and enjoy it as I have done for a long long time!

#90smusic Truly madly deeply - Savage Garden

Truly madly deeply - Savage Garden

Here we are with the second post of today, even if it's tomorrow already... (and we're also getting back to solar time, to add to the confusion)! Anyway, here I am! Today has been a full day too, but not nearly as full or exhausting as yesterday has been. The "good" news is that my stomach ache has quite completely gone away, while the sore throat has come in, calling for a coming flu/cold/whatever/Ihatewinter hallelujah! That was unavoidable methinks, and actually I'm been kind of jinxing it to myself in the last few days, saying that I never happened to me in recent times to get through to November without a flu/cold/whatever/Ihatewinter, and I think it's not gonna happen this year either, yay! Anyway, now I really have to focus a little bit on my thesis, which I have been pretty much neglecting today, and then off to bed. Not before posting another 1990s masterpiece though! I have been anticipating this in yesterday's post by mentioning a couple of the adjectives in the title of the song, so here it is in full glory! Enjoy!

#90smusic You gotta be - Des'ree

You gotta be - Des'ree

Yesterday I did not post, I am aware of that and I am sorry, but unfortunately it has been a crazy, crazy day. It started in the late morning, when I had to do a Skype interview but the guy I had to speak with was not there, so I waited in vain. Then I moved with my father to reach my mother's school, driving him there. I was then ready to drive to Milan to have lunch with a classmate of mine, but the highway was completely blocked because of a car crash, so I decided to come back, have lunch with my parents and stayed there with them a couple hours more to let the traffic move away. When I got to Milan, I helped my aunt with the cleaning up a little and then we went to buy a new vacuum-cleaner, then shower and out for dinner and drinks (drink actually, just one). And that's when the real problems began: that freaking thing dulled me more than it should so I threw myself on the bed and fell asleep (it was 2.30 AM) only to wake up at 6 for a short trip at the toilet and not being able to fall asleep again, with a mess in my stomach and nausea. Well, that was the nice start of my day! I'll post twice today to compensate yesterday's loss, and I am posting about a lesson I should really learn...!

"You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser

You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger"

#90smusic '74/'75 - The Connels

'74/'75 - The Connels

This is a special song I'm posting, one of those you don't really get to love madly and deeply (or at least I don't), but one of those that you get to listen to from time to time, maybe casually, and then you realise each time how much you like... maybe it's the good thing about it, only listening to it from time to time and not... how to say it?... exhaust it. Keeping it fresh every time. And then, well... as all the songs I'm posting this week, it reminds me of times from my childhood, one of these songs that break into your heart when you're a child and stay there... forever!

#90smusic Caribbean blue - Enya

Caribbean blue - Enya

Here we are, it's wednesday, time for the second rendez-vous of this week with music from the awesome 1990s! For tonight I have chosen one of my favourite songs by Enya. I guess this song needs no introduction either, I'll just mention that Enya is the biggest selling Irish artist (after U2) and (unfortunately) she has never been on tour... well, we will wait for this event to happen, in the meanwhile let's enjoy her on record! Caribbean blue is out of her 1991 album Shepherd Moons (a great one as a whole, listen to it if you don't know it!). The special story behind this song for me is that I dedicated it to my dear wife for St. Valentine when we were just married, back in.. what was it? 2006? Second year of high school, anyway. A life ago, but we are still together, (almost) the same group of friends! How cool is that?

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#90smusic Natural blues - Moby

Moby - Natural blues

I hope you all have enjoyed this first year of music blogging, I sure did. To further celebrate the blog's birthday that happened yesterday (check out here if you missed out), I decided to start a week dedicated to 90s music: yes, you got it right! For this new week I will only post music out of my favourite decade, the magical, poppish, trashy, dancy, alt-rocky 1990s! I take this chance to celebrate the part 2 of 'The my 90s' playlist, which I complied recently; you have already had a taste of it with the last sundayrevival (here), and I can't wait to give you more!
The first glimpse of this fabulous week that is ahead of us is one of my absolutely favourite songs ever (and I'm sure I'm not alone in this, rather...), which needs no introduction! Enjoy and stay tuned for more great 90s music tomorrow!!

#blogbirthday Underneath - Alanis Morissette

Underneath - Alanis Morissette

So here we are, the time has finally come to say HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY to A song (or two) per day! That's right, it's been one year since I started this blog and, I swear it's not made on purpose, this is the post number 365! That meaning that I have written 1 exact year worth of posts, so the target for next year is to improve that, in order to be faithful to the blog title! To celebrate this special event I chose a very special song that also marks my musical evolution: last year I started posting with Dolores O'Riordan, that together with her band (The Cranberries) has marked the beginning of what I defined as the first adult phase of my relationship with music, marked by a return to the music of my childhood, the 1990s, and by the diffusion of technology, that let me be exposed to loads of new and old music. Alanis Morissette has been the second step in 2008: my mother loved her debut album and had the musicassette in the car for years, so I already knew her most famous songs, but it has not been until Underneath that I started falling in love with her, second performer I utterly fell for after the Cranberries. And then, also thanks to they guys on the Italian forum of Alanis, I got more and more inspiration on new music I completely fell in love with too (Tori Amos, PJ Harvey...). Now I am approaching many many "new" artists every year and I lost that kind of one-artist per year approach, so I'm carrying the old guys and girls in a special corner of my musical heart!
Enough with the words, I can just say I am very happy for reaching this goal and thanks again for reading, I won't get tired to tell you that! Enjoy Alanis!

#sundayrevival You might need somebody - Shola Ama

You might need somebody - Shola Ama

I am stupid, you know me and know that by now... I wanted to post before midnight so that I could really celebrate the blog's birthday well, but of course I noticed the time just as midnight struck... whatever, I'll keep this post as Sunday 19's post (it's a sundayrevival, it couldn't be otherwise)! This is one of the songs I have loved since I was little, one (of many) that I only rediscovered some years later, when I really started listening to music! I'm sure you are all gonna love it, so stay tuned for the birthday post, which is going to come before the end of the day, I PROMISE!

Halfway to hell - Sheppard

Halfway to hell - Sheppard

Wow, I really got confused with timing and everything, not surprising as I always post around midnight so I never get to really really post a song every day... anyway, this whole mess because there is an important moment that I really want to celebrate well, and that's the birthday of this blog! Yes, I started on October 20th last year, it seems incredible but I have been posting for almost a year now! I have never been able to keep a daily schedule for anything like that before, so I am really proud and happy, as it means I am doing something I really like and care about; plus I've had the chance to interact with so many great people during this posting time, you are growing bigger and bigger and I couldn't ask for a better audience! I really hope there will be many moments like this but first we still have to celebrate the first one, so let's not run too fast!
Thanks to my confusion I thought I only had today's post before the anniversary, but I figured I have two more, so there's going to be time for a great sundayrevival before celebrating the blog's birthday! What I have been wanting to post for a few days though is this brand new song, out of Sheppard's debut album (you will for sure know Geronimo...!), which I am liking quite a lot! It makes sense to get close to such an important date and to sing "it's a long way back when you're halfway to hell", as this blog really helped me walk an important part of this way back! Stay tuned for to....day's sundayrevival and for the blog's birthday tomorrow!!!

Leaving Nara - ∆ (Alt-J)

Leaving Nara - ∆ (Alt-J)

In the end we are leaving Nara, with its beautiful temples, shrines and gardens... but don't stop listening to these 3 beautiful songs!!










PS: I have so many great songs ready for posting, I'll keep them coming!

Nara - ∆ (Alt-J)

Here we are... here we have arrived in Nara finally!

Nara - ∆ (Alt-J)

Yesterday has been I think the single marginally most productive day in terms of thesis writing: I wrote about 10 pages bringing the (draft) qualitative analysis part to end. It is now pending proof-reading, feedback and approval by my second tutor. Today (and partly yesterday too) I have been working to polish the rest, so that he can understand better how that part fits in the whole work. In parallel I have been working on the quantitative part today, as I "happily" found out that the regression model I should use is the only one nobody has ever taught us in university... I thus had to study it by myself, thanks goodness I found a tutorial on YouTube by a lovely lady who helped me clear my mind at all! Now, tomorrow I will have to send the quali part, so I guess I'll stop playing around with the quanti model and go on polishing the rest, so that it can be ready by tomorrow afternoon. That's it all. That's all my life is about now. Well, almost all.
I don't have to forget that there is (almost) always great music playing in the background, helping me focus my thoughts and enhancing my productivity! Lately this music has mainly consisted of ∆, which I've been listening to a lot. Makes sense, given that their new album is great. Yet I still can't get as much pleasure out of listening to it than I do listening to their debut. But my dear friend who introduced me to them told me "Give it time...!". And I am doing it. And this is the result. We have arrived in Nara.

Arrival in Nara - ∆ (Alt-J)

...we are coming to Nara...

Lights - Ellie Goulding

Lights - Ellie Goulding

It feels somehow weird to be posting this song now, but I knew t would've happened when I decided what to do with it. I first got to know and like this song while listening to Ellie's latest re-released album, Halcyon Days, which, I don't know why (weird marketing in my opinion, doesn't encourage people to buy her debut album at all!) contains this song too, even if it was featured on her previous album. Well, even if I soon grew a liking for it, I decided to refrain from putting it into any playlist until I got to listen to her first album. Now the time has come and here we are, the beautiful Lights is into my very very beautiful playlist called "Database" (guess why?!) and will be with me during this hard-working times. This week is gonna be tough, I have finished with the interviews and now I have to analyses to bring on in parallel, plus I have to re-read and re-organized all the literature review, loads of work! Good night!!

Every breaking wave - U2

Every breaking wave - U2

Yay! It's "only" 2.25 and I am finished with working on my thesis for today plus I already brushed my teeth! Lucky me! Or not... today I had the (second?) last interview and it has been very nice and pleasing, the girl I've been speaking with has been good company! Moreover, I exchange a few mails with the Professor that's tutoring me for the thesis and he gave me a few suggestions on how to improve my work, saying that's it's a good and promising paper for now, with lots of material! Let's hope that's good, and I'm happy to get some advice on how to further improve it, as at this point I'd be very pleased and happy to make a good show with it! A good show like the one U2 have been doing with their latest album! I haven't had the time to watch their performance on Italian TV that was recorded last night, but I will for sure tomorrow! (I have watched Alt-J live on KEXP instead, I had a good excuse!)

#sundayrevival Hedonism (just because you feel good) - Skunk Anansie

Hedonism (just because you feel good)
Skunk Anansie

It's time for a new sundayrevival, after a long long time since the last one, I'll try to keep it up in the coming weeks. This time I chose a song by Skunk Anansie: I am listening to their debut album in these days, even though I still find it a little bit too rocky for my current taste, but I'm enjoying some songs on it nonetheless. Yet none of their songs are even close in terms of my liking to the one I'm posting today, out of their sophomore album, their biggest hit and one of the most famous and best hits of the 90s decade. We've been listening to this song a lot in Sicily, as one of the friends who was on the trip with me liked it a lot too and kept on putting it on repeat! It is also in my Best 20 playlist, and that's just how much I am in love with it. I don't think any further words are needed to talk about it, so just listen and enjoy!

Taro - ∆ (Alt-J)

Taro [with Capa] - Alt-J

Today I feel compelled to post this one, I'm sorry I can't share one from the new album but I'm sure there is going to be plenty of time for that in the next future...! Today something happened, that is I had an experience while driving the car and listening to music that gave me chills comparable only to those that shook me a couple of times with Florence + the Machine. I was driving back home from Milan with my aunt and I put on my Alt-j playlist, starting with their first album. She seemed to be enjoying it, which I'm glad of, and I was enjoying it a lot too. Then I left her at my grandmother's and drove the last part of road alone... Soon enough Taro started and I couldn't do without singing and shaking in the car like a maniac (two times, as I had to repeat it). It's so great, as I never tend to remember about this song, back there at the end of the album after so many great tracks... sometimes it can get lost, today it was the cherry on the pie, the grand conclusion of a great piece of art. Only lately I've been fully realising just how great a song Taro is itself and I feel that today it's been the peak of my process of appreciation of it, so it feels natural to write about it here. All of this to say that most probably Alt-J are now definitely my favourite act among those debuting in the last few years, together (and still a few steps below) Florence. But those chills...

Volcano - U2

Volcano - U2

I feel like posting is going to take place later and later in the next few weeks as the deadline for handing in my thesis gets closer... today I have been practically out all day until 22.30 and then I started working on my quantitative part, so bad, I didn't realise I don't remember almost anything about how to interpret a regression! That means I'm gonna have to go back and study it again (for the third o fourth time). Good is that I enjoy regressions and applied statistics, but I don't wanna read any more stuuuuuuuff!!!! Good night!

Tire swing - Kimya Dawson

Tire swing - Kimya Dawson

Seems like a great time to write my post! As usual, I have been working quite hard for my thesis! Now I'm waiting for a program to download and I have a few free moments, and here I am! But I didn't do only thesis today, I also went back swimming, even if my dear public pool in Milan increased its entry fee from 4€ to 6€, that's a lot and I think I'm gonna start going when I'm in Varese... anyway, it was great as soon as I entered the water, that feeling... then it was hard, as I haven't been properly training in the last few months, especially because of the bad weather and the missed open air swimming... I'll get back in fit soon! My thesis is looking good, database is practically finished, now I "only" have to make analysis on it! Yay! Can't wait! Will leave with another peculiar track, one that I thought I would post when I listened to it today. It's out of Juno's OST again, and after a few listens, when you get into it, it's quite... nicely peculiar!

Yr mangled heart - Gossip

Yr mangled heart - Gossip

I must thank Facebook for adding a feature that lets you check your pages directly on your home (nice thingy btw, thanks!), otherwise I would've probably forgot to post again. I'm very very busy with the last steps (hopefully) of the creation of my database(s) for my thesis, I say hopefully as I'm so into it that I can't stop and keep on adding data! Anyway now I'm almost done and this goal is quite ultimate, as I also really need to start working on my analysis of these data. I don't have much time to spend here, my database is waiting for me (yes, I know it's past 2.30 at night and tomorrow I need to go swimming before lunch, but I can't stop!). Today a vain trip around Milan as my interviewee ditched me, hope I'm gonna be able to reschedule! Great dinner with friends. Stop. Bye!
PS: Enjoy, great song!

Something's gotta give - OneRepublic

Something's gotta give - OneRepublic

Today I wanted to post something OneRepublic, as a post of a friend on Facebook put them in my mind. I actually wanted to post Burning bridges but I checked and I posted it already in February, so no way. Given that I had to find something else and I didn't feel about posting older stuff, I picked one of the other (few, I must admit) songs I quite like out of their latest album, Native. I have never completely fallen in love with the album, even if they got more and more famous after releasing it. Counting stars has been a great single and the best song on the album in my opinion, this is not quite as good but it's nice, way more significant than many others!

Every other freckle - ∆ (Alt-J)

Every other freckle - Alt-J

I was scared of already having posted this with a crappy fan-made video with a still picture when I remember that there were two videos for the song and I still hadn't watched them!! But luckily enough I haven't been that stupid! Anyway, here is one of my other first-listens favourites out of Alt-J's new work, a song released with two videos, one featuring a boy and one featuring a girl. I must say that overall I like the girl version better, but... well, the bot version has its perks too! The song is very weird, as it has no plain development, so I guess it's one that you get to like more the more you listen to it, and I feel I'm still in the middle of this process, as I haven't grasped it completely already, but I already love it, so there's no reason why it shouldn't be here, rather I was anxious to post it (to the point I thought it was already here)!!
Anyway, yesterday I promised to give you a couple of updates about what is going on, F1 apart, and I will do it now. I'm still in the process of writing my thesis, even if I'm not actually writing now: I am done with the literature review part and I am finishing with the empirical research part to start writing about it too, and then... voilà! I still have more than one month before deadline, so I'm not under any strong pressure now, I'm actually happy and satisfied with my current work, as I'm working on stuff that I like and care about. To the point that I finished compiling a database I've been creating and I immediately started building a new one!! Crazy me! It's the power of music!

The miracle (of Joey Ramone) - U2

The miracle (of Joey Ramone) - U2

I realised just now that I haven't posted yesterday and, well, midnight has just past... anyway, it's been an intense couple of days, especially thanks to / because of F1. I went to bed early on friday night, before midnight, which is quite unusual for me (as you can tell from the usual time of posting!) and I slept badly, woke up at 5.38, couldn't sleep again until after the F1 qualifying session, anyway not well... Then last night I went to bed late to avoid making the same mistake, so I ended up sleeping some 5 hours or so... ok, I was very productive and I slept well during my sleeptime, but I've been feeling my eyes burn since this afternoon... I need sleeep! I was even more nervous/excited because I have been having the feeling that this GP would've made history... and it actually did make it, but not exactly in the way I supposed... besides a very good race of my JB (Jenson Button), the main news is the terrible accident that the other JB (Jules Bianchi) was involved in. So bad that they didn't even show any official pictures or video of the action... so we don't even have a very clear idea of what happened, anyway the young French pilot is undergoing surgeries for a trauma at the head, not nice... We can just hope in a miracle to avoid another Michael Schumacher case methinks...
I see F1 has been filling up my life so much as it has filled up this already-long post, so I'll tell you the rest tomorrow! For now I'll leave you with the miracle track out of U2's new album, which seems a good fit... hope you enjoy. Good night!

Please please please - Fiona Apple

Please please please - Fiona Apple

One hour and a half ago I told myself: let's post on the blog, otherwise I'll get lost in my stuff and forget it... guess what I've been doing in the last hour and a half? Uff... this thesis is really draining the energies out of me, but seeing my dedication to it makes me feel better, as it means I enjoy working on it, at least a little. Actually I enjoyed it a lot up to now, until last night I had a moment of despair caused by the overwhelming amount of data I am collecting for my database, but in the afternoon I had the chance to speak with a ticketing manager at Live Nation Italia, so I went to their office in Milan and it felt great, I'd really love to work there! Anyway, I don't remember if I ever mention (and I don't think you will care that much anyway), but I'm writing my thesis on music, on the pricing of tickets for live music more precisely! I'm very happy I've been able to write about something I'm passionate about, and if the mark is not gonna be the best... who cares! The important thing is that I'm enjoying what I'm doing. And I'm mostly enjoying it. After all, without a few moments of despair, it wouldn't be called a thesis, would it?

"Give us something familiar, something similar to what we know already, that will keep us steady, steady... steady going nowhere"

Ribs - Lorde

Ribs - Lorde

I've been holding on to this song for a couple of days and finally its time has come! It's been a while since I last posted Lorde and sincerely I thought I posted more songs of her than I actually did, I repent and I will make up for it! I really liked her debut album, it's been one of the (many) highlights of this past summer in music, that has been pretty satisfying for me, with both brand new stuff and slightly older debuts such this that I approached with a little delay but, as we say in Italy, better late than never!

Standing in the way of control - Gossip

Standing in the way of control -
Gossip

I'll start this post like I did with many others: this is not the song I planned to post today. Even more, I was sure I had already posted this one. But I just realised I didn't. Well, no problem, I'll make it up now. The worse thing is that I haven't posted any Gossip at all yet! Well... no problem again, making it up already. I'll just tell you a little bit of my relationship with them: as many of you out there I got to know them in the Heavy cross period and I grew a liking for them, I am in love with Music for Men, the album Heavy cross is on, but I never got to like a lot their previous albums. This song was the only exception and I got exposed to it again sooner this year in the office when I was working, so it got back into my head and, given the new level of maturity of my musical tastes, I decided to give another shot at least to the Standing in the way of control album. I'm doing it now and I'm not repenting at all. Yet I still haven't found anything that moves me (literally) as much as this one. And movement is particularly good while writing the thesis, as I'm seating all day long, so some convulse dancing time is always appreciated. I'm sure you would benefit some too!