The unknown - Imagine Dragons

The unknown - Imagine Dragons

When I recently purchased the deluxe CD version of 'Smoke + Mirrors' on Amazon, on it I found this song that I didn't know before. I guess that the concept of unknown applies quite fittingly to my present life. I'm ready to take my next leap of faith in less than a year (finally) and I can't wait any longer now! Even if I have greatly enjoyed these past months of me-time, it's time to jump into the unknown once more!

#yearinmusic A song or two per day - Best song of 2015

Happy new year, you all people who follow the Gregorian calendar! I hope this 2016 will bring you (and us all) joy, happy moments and even more great music than last year!

Best song 2015

Here I am once again giving the last look back at this beautiful 2015 in music, this time looking at singles / songs. And this time too, there has been no contest. This past year was the time when I reached 100 plays for the first and only of all the songs that I started listening to from 2012 on, i.e. The XX's 'Crystalized' (which I started listening to in 2013). A few days later I reached 100 plays for a song that was released in mid-2015. And that is my song o the year, without ANY doubt. I'm talking about Florence + the Machine of course, and the song is 'Delilah', a beautiful masterpiece off their new album. I have fallen in love with this song immediately after it's been released, a few days before the whole album came out last June. I have no words to describe just how strong the connection with this song is and how quickly it built up. I will just give it its well deserved 1st place and go on!

Runner-ups (Best song 2015)

I decided to make a ranking of the best 10 songs of 2015 because there have been soo many great
ones! Some of them were released in (late) 2014, but they are all pretty recent!


10 - Mountain at my gates (Foals)
9 - I put a spell on you (Annie Lennox)
8 - Failure (The Ting Tings)
7 - The blackest day (Lana del Rey)
6 - Queen of peace (Florence + the Machine)
5 - Dream (Imagine Dragons)
4 - How big, how blue, how beautiful (Florence + the Machine)
3 - I'm so sorry (Imagine Dragons)
2 - London thunder (Foals)
1 - Delilah (Florence + the Machine)

I hope you can somehow relate to this ranking, please comment with your personal favourites of this past year!! I'll be back soon!

#yearinmusic A song or two per day - Best album of 2015

Best album 2015

It usually takes me a little while for me to get ready and make this kind of decisions... the best album of the whole year, it's not so easy to say most of the time! In a year like 2014 the fight has been tight till the end... this year instead the winner was already kind of expected and what can I say... it even exceeded the expectations. I think I haven't been feeling any music as strongly as I did with 'How big, how blue, how beautiful' for at least 3-4 years. So many great songs on it, there's just a couple that I have not been overly excited about, but it happened with previous Florence + the Machine albums too. This doesn't take anything away from the greatness of their music, from the reverence that I rightfully devote to this woman and her fellow musicians. Their music is a perfect example of the incredible effect that music can have on our lives and of the reason why I started writing this blog. I cannot be thankful enough to them for sharing their art and work with us.

Runner-ups (Best album 2015)

But 2015 has been indeed a great year for music not only thanks to F+tM. There has been plenty of other albums that I've felt strongly and which have left a mark on me. Among others, I need to mention Kodaline, Of Monsters and Men, Carmen Consoli and Leona Lewis. Yet two albums in particular have been one step above the others to me, and (be it a coincidence or not), they are by artists that I have recently seen / will see in the next future live in concert. The first one in chronological order is Imagine Dragons' sophomore 'Smoke + mirrors', through which they absolutely confirmed of being one of the greatest new bands around: great music once again and a big following, I foresee a bright future for them and I'm happy about it. The other album, which would've probably won this year's contest if it weren't for Florence, is Foals' 'What went down'. I have been utterly in love with their 2013 'Holy fire' and I think that this new work is almost (if not) on the same level with it! Their songs have been the (only) ones able to make me detach from HBHBHB a few weeks after it came out, so thanks to them for putting a stop to my obsession (and giving me a whole new one)!! I really can't wait to see them live next month!

A few words about a couple of disappointments: Mumford & Sons and Lana del Rey. I have absolutely loved the Mumfords' first two albums, but I can't really process this new stuff they have put out... I just found a couple good songs on their album and that's it. I have completely forgotten about the rest. For Lana the situation is not very different: I have absolutely loved 'Ultraviolence' and I really had high expectations about 'Honeymoon', expectations that were mostly unmet. I know her music always takes a while to get under my skin, but a while has passed and I have only been able to feel some 4-5 songs (to be optimistic) on the whole album. Maybe she should have waited a little longer, anyway let's see if my relationship with it will change next year.

This is all for 2015, I can just say goodbye to this awesome year in music with the hope for many, many more like it in the future!

Bye!

Bleeding out - Imagine Dragons

Bleeding out - Imagine Dragons

Back I am to my dear blog in this hard and difficult time for me! But let's get to the good things first: Imagine Dragons were awesome in Milan two nights ago! Really nice gig, I enjoyed it with my friends! 'I'm so sorry' was the absolute highlight, but I kinda expected it, as I already used to scream it at the top of my voice while listening to it in the car... doing it while Dan Reynolds was singing it live has been even better I must confess! It's just a pity that they did a medley of some songs I would have loved to hear in full (this being one of them), but still... better than nothing! My friends enjoyed the gig too, so all good! And I also had a full couple of days in Milan, a full, packed schedule from Sunday night to last night, concert included. And it's been super nice, as I've had a good chance to spend some time with friends that I hadn't seen much in the last months, but I think that I asked myself a little bit too much: I probably hadn't recovered from my flu completely and I think that now it's getting worse again, also because of the frreezing cold that I took while walking through the streets of my University city. I've also been having an annoying headache in the last couple of days, which is quite unusual for me... Today I got back to Veneto (for the last time, oh yeah!), but I fear that I'll be sick again... I already had been missing from work for a whole week adding up sick leave and days off, it kinda looks like I'm trying to avoid coming here now that I have to go and I really don't like giving that impression, as I think it's quite unprofessional... unfortunately when sickness comes, there's not much I can do to fight it... 10 more days anyway, and then hopefully I'll be able to rest for a while and stop bleeding out!

Roots - Imagine Dragons

Roots - Imagine Dragons

Here we are!!! The big day has come, once again! Maybe I don't get as excited about concerts as I used to get, but still... it's been a while! And first times are always exciting, especially when you go listen to bands that you utterly loved in the last couple of years!
I'm also excited because we're re-creating the concert team of my first concert in Milan, that is Cranberries in early 2010 with my friends C. and E! Seems like a kind of circle is closing... I used the be the excited boy who just started university and was leaving his "big city" life alone and independently for the first time, but who hadn't bloomed yet and now I am practically a man (it sounds weird, yeah) who graduated, has been abroad alone multiple times, has already had his first job, his first resignation... practically a full grown-up! And that fact is, I still get so excited every time I come back to Milan... maybe because it's like I'm going back to my roots every time! Happy concert to us and to all of you who are watching or have watched Imagine Dragons live lately!!

Every night - Imagine Dragons

Every night - Imagine Dragons

My days at work, after a couple days of excitement following my decision, have come back to what they used to be before: pure bordeom. The difference is that right now I stopped caring about it at all, I know I'm gonna go and that's it. I'm still happy when somebody asks me something or gives me something to do, or if anyway I can be helpful to the team, but for the rest of the time (which I think accounts for 6-7 hours per working day on average, so you can get an idea) I just mind my own business. I didn't get to the point of watching TV series in the office, but I think you got the idea. I'm still surprised about how people seem to deem my work and my contribution valuable and want to keep me here as long as they can, while I just want to go and mind at my own business at home (ok, without getting paid for it, but still...). When you're 25 years old and you just started working, you can't find yourself in such a situation I think. Adding to it all the hardships and the fact that even when I do get something to do, the job is not exciting nor appealing to me. Well, my mind is made up... I am going to buy (second-hand) tickets for ID's concert in Milan!

"My mind is made up, nothing could change that

I'm coming home to you every night, every night, every night"

Polaroid - Imagine Dragons

Polaroid - Imagine Dragons

At first I liked this song on S+M, but it didn't stand out among the other great ones in the album. Then I've gotten very much obsessed by this song one day a couple weeks ago, but I sensed that Imagine Dragons were about to release it as the next single out of their new album and I have been waiting for an official video of it to go with my post.

But I have been waiting SO LONG!

And well... here I am posting this song a looong time (I think I drafted it a few months ago) after the idea of posting it came to my mind! I thought the Dragons would use this as a single, but they didn't (yet), so I guess it's just time to post it and get it done with! I listened to their new album again while driving here on Monday morning and... well, too bad for them that Florence released an album this year too, otherwise they would've been likely candidates for my personal album of the year 2015!!

Thief - Imagine Dragons

Thief - Imagine Dragons

It's been a while since I posted twice, so just to be (sometimes) faithful to the very name of this blog, here I am!! I'm taking advantage of having more times on my hands today, after sleeping for a good 36 hours under the weather I'm almost back to "normal" (not that my normal is particularly healthy or by any definition normal anyway, I don't like the adjective!) and ready to start again! A good discovery today helped me get back on track: thanks to one of you guys I did a little research on Imagine Dragons' tour schedule and I found out they're gonna be playing Bangkok at the end of August! So, if things turn out fine and the (not-so-cheap) tickets don't sell out quick... well, there might be a chance of getting a name out of my to-see list!

"When the stars look down on me

What do they see?"

The fall - Imagine Dragons

I know you guys love Imagine Dragons, and coming from two very successful posts (thanks for all the likes, views and reshares!! Keep it up!!), I don't wanna lose momentum, so I'm gonna play it safe and share one of the songs that didn't really stand out in Smoke + Mirrors, but that I really end up liking a lot each time I listen to it!
I also want to share with you my experience of tonight: I went to Terminal 21, one of the not-most-famous (is it?) malls in Bangkok, but for sure one of the most peculiar! The theme is an airport (from which the name Terminal) and each floor is called after a famous city in the world and themed accordingly. It's quite funny and entertaining, especially as far as the bathrooms are concerned! Plus, there is a good choice of shops, both more high-end and more affordable, but all of them nice to take a look at, with no people pushing you or inviting you to buy stuff and so on. Besides, it's located at one of the most crowded intersections of the city, so don't miss it out if you like this kind of things and happen to pass by!

It comes back to you - Imagine Dragons

It comes back to you - Imagine Dragons

Soo, I'm almost ready to leave for Spain!! Well, I still have to get my baggage ready and set up the last things, but there's plenty of time, the perks of having a flight late at night! That gives me time to post on the blog too, and also the get a few posts ready for the next few days, in case (as I expect) I'll be super-busy enjoying my trip! But let's take a step in a present and focus on today and on Imagine Dragons, whom I know you all love greatly, and I am no exception! I'm really growing more and more fond of 'Smoke + mirrors' as each day goes by, and this is one of the songs that have grown the most into me. So, well... happy labour day to you all, enjoy your weekend trips, your time with your dears, your lonely and lovely adventures or whatever you're gonna be doing this weekend! And remember that it all comes back to you! Cheers!

Smoke and mirrors - Imagine Dragons

Smoke and mirrors - Imagine Dragons

I'm getting past my playlist #5 of this year (I'm actually already well into loving the #6, even if I'm listening to them in parallel because I love the songs on them soo much!) and I still have loads of great stuff on it to post here!! Well, I've already mentioned how 'Smoke and mirrors' has a big chance to enter the top list of my favourite albums of this 2015, even if it's still early and I expect many more great releases in the next few months! Anyway I couldn't not devote a little space to the title track, which is methinks the best representation of the main feeling the album gives me, that is... I'd say it reassurance. Let me explain. What I mean is that many songs, after a few listens, have given me the idea that I knew them already, that they have been part of my musical background for a long time, like mid-90s classics... I don't know why I got that feeling, if they are plagiarising (parts of) some of my favourite songs without me noticing, or if they just have been able to create this beautiful atmosphere that makes me enjoy the songs great because they're fresh and to feel comforted by them at the same time! I'll be positive and say bravo to Imagine Dragons!! Have a nice weekend!

Dream - Imagine Dragons

Dream - Imagine Dragons

It's been a few days of posting older songs, and that's good because it means I found a good amount of inspiration for the blog! But now it's time (to begin, isn't it?)... joking! It's time to get back on track with the stuff I'm currently listening to!! As I told you a few times already I'm utterly in love with Imagine's new album and it really feels like I haven't been posting nearly enough of their new songs yet, so here I am!! Out of my (not so ) current (anymore) playlist, here is another one of my absolute favourites out of Smoke + Mirrors!! Wish you can forget all the shit that is in your lives (lucky you if you don't have any!) and spend a happy easter weekend (even if it's freakin' cold here)!!

"We all are living in a dream

But life ain’t what it seems

Oh everything’s a mess

And all these sorrows I have seen

They lead me to believe

That everything’s a mess

But I wanna dream

I wanna dream

Leave me to dream"

"But now I am leaving
All of us were only dreaming
Everything is actually a mess"

Friction - Imagine Dragons

Friction - Imagine Dragons

Can I? Is it time? Yeahhhhh it is! Imagine Dragons time!! But first a little updates on my life: I finally got into a residence, a few miles south of where I'm working, but I have a kitchen and a place that resembles a home, finally after weeks of running through hotels!! The room is quite big and nice, almost perfect, except for the fact that... it doesn't feature a bidet! I mean, come on! We are in Italy, I could understand it abroad, but... well, I'll just have to live with it. Take it as a training. Back to ID! I've been in LOVE with their new album and this is one of the songs I'm most attracted to as of now; it is also the opener of my brand new playlist!!

I'm so sorry - Imagine Dragons

I'm so sorry - Imagine Dragons

This is a post I care about quite a lot, so I hope it will find your favour, my dear readers! Given the wide support and love I've seen around for Imagine Dragons, especially on Google+, I'm not really worried about that! So, apart form the fact that I'm really LOVING Imagine Dragons' new album (I even started liking 'Gold', that I didn't really like until a few days ago), and this song in particular, I want to take advantage of this post to say I'm so sorry about a few things: I'm so sorry that often I don't show the people I love how much I love them; I'm so sorry that I can't devote to this blog the amount of time it deserves, just know that I'm doing my best given my... well, my life; I'm so sorry that I am not exploiting all the occasions that presented, once again I'm doing my best; but most of all I'm so sorry of not being sorry, because I'm living my best in the best way I can!!

Working man - Imagine Dragons

Working man - Imagine Dragons

Was looking for something appropriate for my first day of (real/paid) work, and well... this just makes it! I'll just tell you that I slept quite badly last night, was probably a bit too excited about this new adventure, and after signing up the contract and getting all the papers done and collecting the materials in the morning, I came to the foot of the mountains where the firm I'll be operating in is located and started by immersing myself fully in the job already, so you can understand if my eyes burn and I just need some sleep!! Wish you a good night, hope to post smth more significant soon!

Shots - Imagine Dragons

Shots - Imagine Dragons

I've been waiting for Imagine Dragons to release the official video of this song before posting it, as I have done with other songs in the past. It's been a while of a wait, especially because this is the song I liked the most out the materials released out of their sophomore album before it came out (yesterday actually). I quite like I bet my life now (I didn't at first) and I still don't like Gold, but this one... is a yes for me! I quite like the concept of the video too, pictures inside pictures inside pictures...!

I've recently read an article claiming that Imagine Dragons are not alternative, they are what passes for alternative nowadays and I tend to agree. It also criticized them for sometimes pushing it too far in terms of "alternativity", which I can't completely disagree with,  as oftentimes their songs have a little too many layers of sounds that don't make them very accessible or even enjoyable at times. What the article also stated is that they have a big songwriting talent, and I can't disagree with that either! This is the proof of it!

#yearinmusic A song or two per day - 2014 in music

Hello folks! 2014 has gone by and I haven't summed it up musically yet, so I decided to do this directly on the blog, to share my best picks of this past year with you all in case you overlooked them or missed them altogether!
So, let's begin!

First there is the most difficult category, that is the best song of 2014, meaning the song that has been most meaningful for me last year. I will build a quadrumvirate, yet even if I don't feel comfortable picking one of them over the others, I dare say that Elastic heart would be the first pick.

Best songs 2014

Hey now is the first song I ever listened of London Grammar (goodness bless KEXP and their live recordings) and it started my path of love with them. London Grammar have been, probably together with Imagine Dragons, my "best new band" of 2014, and that gives you a measure of how much I grew to like them in less than one year. The story of America is very similar, I remember falling in love with it one time it was playing in the office early last year, in the period when I was listening to Imagine Dragons and getting to know them myself. Beautiful combo, which brought it to be my alarm call song for quite a long time!
Elastic heart is the representation of great soundtrack music: I obsessed over Catching Fire's soundtrack (as you might have noticed) and this is my favourite song out of it, together with Shooting arrows at the sky. I picked this one because it made me curious about Sia, and brought me to listen to her latest album, which I loved so much!
Lastly, in chronological order, Every other freckle has become kind of an obsession soon after Alt-J's sophomore album came out, it stood out immediately as my favourite in an album that I utterly loved and still love. The cat of the video has become highly representative for me (just check the cover image of the blog's Google+ page)!!

Moving on to albums, I am once again in a difficult position, as many great CDs have seen the light in 2014: U2, Tori Amos, Hozier, Lykke Li, Hundred waters and more have released awesome albums that found their way deep into my heart. Yet I decided to pick three albums that made it a step deeper than the others.

Best albums 2014

After scoring my favourite song of the year, Sia didn't disappoint me with her album either: it took me a while to appreciate Chandelier, which then went on to have a (deserved) huge success. I didn't fall in love with the other songs immediately either, but after a few listens the album pierces through your heart and won't ever leave. Great, awesome pick. Don't make the mistake to overlook it or to just stick to Chandelier. There are many other great(er) songs in there!
Same line of reasoning goes for Alt-J's This is all yours, a highly expected album by me (and many others) which, I am confident to say, didn't disappoint. I am still not sure whether the level is as high as An awesome wave's, but their debut album is so, so great that even being slightly less awesome than it, would make their sophomore one of the albums absolutely not to miss in 2014!
The last one of the three is the one that didn't score any song in my top ranking, maybe because they are all so good that none of them really stood out (if I were to choose I'd probably pick Florida kilos, one of the deluxe edition bonus tracks)! When West coast first came out I kind of hated it, as I did with practically all Lana songs. In this case, I didn't grow an utmost love for it, as I still think it's one of the weakest songs of the album, but let's say I don't dislike it. West coast aside, the rest of the album is... just wow! Just go give it 5 to 10 listens, it's gonna become your favourite album of 2014, as it did for me!!

Well, here it is! 2014 is gone, but its great music will stay! Now I'm hoping for a great 2015 in music, as I'm waiting for new albums by my favourite artists, mainly Florence + the Machine and PJ Harvey, both of whom have not released any albums since 2011! Don't keep us waiting too long girls!

I bet my life - Imagine Dragons

I bet my life - Imagine Dragons

Minus 2 to graduation. I promised and, sooner or later, I keep my promises! This is one of the couple of songs I've been meaning to post for a while, so here I am now! I'm betting the last and most meaningful result of my whole (academic) life on what will take place on Friday morning, i.e. me defending my master thesis. Today I carried on with practicing with my speech and I think I'm getting close to a decent and satisfactory result in terms of timing and content. After a couple of repeats I had to stop as anxiety was starting to mount inside of me, and it's a bit too soon for that methinks! About the song, as it happened with ID's first album, at first I didn't really like it, it rang no bell in me. Now I'm not saying that it's my favourite song, but I have slowly grown a liking for it, so I can keep my hopes high for their coming, sophomore second album! I bet my life!

Amsterdam (live at Lollapalooza Brazil) - Imagine Dragons

Amsterdam (live) - Imagine Dragons

Aaand here we are again! Amsterdaaaam! I should have been arrived by now (I'm writing this in advance) after a (finally) 'decent-houred' flight in the middle of the day! I hope the travel has been smooth and the weather is nice (well, that might be a bit unlikely), we'll see... I have been thinking about how to post something related to the city, but the only two songs that come to my mind have been here already... yet I really want to post this one by Imagine Dragons and I can't find a decent remix or a decent live version... what to do? The only decent version I found is this live at Lollapalooza Brazil recorded last April! Happy Amsterdam!

EDIT: I have not arrived, actually I'm at the airport in front of my gate waiting to climb on the plane, but this makes sense still!

Nothing left to say + Rocks - Imagine Dragons

Nothing left to say - Imagine Dragons

There are so many good songs on Imagine Dragons' debut album Night Visions that I still didn't post, and given that I've been listening to it quite a lot today, it looks like this is a good time to write about one of them at least! This is the closing act of the standard version of Night visions (b-sides and bonus material apart) and it's one that really grew into me with time! I think it's also a great choice for closure, both in terms of message/lyrics and of music. Just don't think this is a way I'm saying goodbye to you, I'll be back tomorrow as usual, I promise!

PS: After a 1 minute break you'll find also the ghost track Rocks, a very good way to make you understand that it doesn't end here!