#yearinmusic A song or two per day - Best song and album of 2016

2016 has been a pretty good year for me under many points of view, but A song or two per day has not been one of them, and the two things are probably related: I have been having such a good time that I found it hard to find the time and (mental) energies to sit down and write blog entries constantly, which ended up in me posting very rarely. The music point of view is another one in which 2016 lacked with respect to its predecessors, which is maybe another reason why I didn't post as much. These two reasons are also the ones why I procrastinated the posting of my 2016 music summary, as I am pretty much at a loss in finding a best song and best album released this year...

Best song 2016: Line of fire - Junip

Best song: Line of fire - Junip

Given that 2016 has mostly been the outcome of life decisions made in the past years, with a lot of change that took place thanks to triggering moments that had happened in the years before, I am actually quite ok with choosing a song that was actually released 3 years before as my 2016 Best song pick. Junip and José Gonzalez have been hugely meaningful for me in the last couple of years, probably the most influential new music discovery I made lately and 'Line of fire' in particular has been a soundtrack of many big moments of 2016, mostly the ones related to me moving to Hong Kong. "What would you say if you had to leave today? Leave everything behind even though for once, you're shining."

Best album 2016: Shura - Nothing's real

Best album: Shura - Nothing's real

2016 has been quite a disappointment for me mostly because some of my favourite artists released albums that were not nearly up to my expectations or to the level of what they have been releasing before. The biggest one of these disappointments has been PJ Harvey's 'The hope six demolition project': PJ made us wait 5 years for new music, and all the expectations built in this time crushed against an album I personally find weak and pretty much pointless, the only low of her career together with 'White chalk'. On a similar note I can place the new releases by OneRepublic, KT Tunstall and, to a lesser extent, Sia. Their albums have not been all bad and feature some quite awesome songs, but overall lack a consistency that would allow me to classify them as great albums. I have been tempted to pick Sia's 'This is acting' as my favourite album released in 2016, as notwithstanding its not being nearly as good as '1000 forms of fear', it's a quite good album, but in the end I decided to go for something that I discovered towards the end of the year, here in Hong Kong: I found out about Shura thanks to Clockenflap, the music festival I attended in Hong Kong this past November, and I fell in love with her debut album quite quickly. It will not go on to enter my music olympus, but it's a good representation of my life in this past year: new, enjoyable and linked to Hong Kong!

After a hectic, full and great 2016, which has been mostly about consolidation under the music point of view, I hope 2017 will take me back to previously unseen heights with some new, great music! And I also hope I'll be able to post a bit more consistently on the blog (even if I have a hard time believing myself)...!

Happy 2017!

Head first - Junip

Head first - Junip

Do you tend to jump into situations head first or feet first? That's the question Junip are asking today and, well... personally I wouldn't know what to answer. I tend to be a very rational human being from time to time, but when it comes down to taking decisions, I mostly base my choices on guts rather than logical judgement. The few times I've tried to take important decisions rationally, I couldn't come to a straight answer and in the end I always relied on my feelings. Does this make me a head-first kind of person? Might as well be... and where I am now would just confirm that! Cheers from Abu Dhabi airport, where I am in transit!

So clear - Junip

So clear - Junip

I'm wishing you a great night from one of my favourite cities, which I have the pleasure to be in once again! I'm talking about Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. This time it is only a stop, part of a more comprehensive trip (which I've been wanting to undertake for quite a while), but I really do love it and I'm so very pleased to get the chance to spend some time in it again! I am also very happy to share with you what has been one of my absolute favourite songs in this beginning of 2016, once again a great tune by Junip. I hope you'll enjoy the combo!

Your life, your call - Junip

Your life, your call - Junip

Lately I have been having a lot of time (like, a lot) to think about my life, where it is going, how I am trying to shape my future, how to fill my present... of course I'm receiving a lot of pressure from society (i.e. my parents, my family, my friends and so on), as we are all, but at this time of my life in particular, being back at home after my first job experience went... not so well... I don't know, it's weird. I'm very, very happy that I got a plan sorted out and that, if everything's gonna go well, I'm gonna start a new path in September, so I can't even say or be told that I'm uselessly wasting my time. I'm just wai(s)ting my time! And I know it and I have thought about it and I have kind of made peace with myself, saying that I will do travels I've been wanting to do for quite a long time, and trying to use this time to do things that I won't have time to do in the next future or that I didn't do in the past. Yet these things are not so numerous or time-consuming, and I end up having loads of time that goes into TV series, movies, wasting time on the internet and so on. Plus, the less you do, the least productive you get; this is very true for me. I'm trying to keep it up and doing my best filling this time, but it hurts whenever people say that I'm wasting these months, acting like a "parasite" (my mother's words), because it's partly true, but it's also true that it doesn't make sense trying to invest my time into things that I know I won't pursue, as I already have my plans... All of this just to say, never forget that it's YOUR LIFE, it's YOUR CALL! Needless to say, this song has been stuck in my head for weeks!

Line of fire - Junip

Line of fire - Junip

As I've told you many times lately, I've been listening to a lot of new music in the last few weeks/months, but undoubtedly the best music, which has quickly entered the olympus of my favourite music (if such thing even exists), is Junip's. Some magic has happened, the right music coming at the right time, or maybe it's just great music that I was lucky enough to find out now. I don't know... it didn't happen often that some artist's lyrics really seem to speak your mind, and it mostly happened with Florence + the Machine and maybe Tori Amos to me (but I already told you that methinks), and it happened again with Junip, with a few songs of theirs, especially out of their latest album, released in 2013. This is the opening track of it, a track I've immediately grown fond of and that has already become one of my favourites. Give it a chance, and it will enter your own personal olympus too!!

After all is said and done - Junip

After all is said and done - Junip

When you have to close something, to put an end to something that's not making you feel good, you just gotta do it. Try to be fair and square, honest but resolute, and hopefully things will go better for all of the parties involved. I've had to say "that's enough" to things quite often in the last dew months and it's never an easy choice, realising (first) and then accepting that something is not making you better off and is not likely to even in the long term, taking the decision and (the hardest part), making it effective. That's the most difficult part when there are other people involved, but you gotta do what you gotta do, be it leaving a job, ending a relationship, saying goodbye to a place or else. Goodbyes and adieus are sad but inevitable, and even when you immediately feel happier and more relaxed, there's always this kind of melancholy that makes you sad for things not going the way you hoped for. That's exactly what this song is to me, the feeling it talks about and evokes.

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To the grain - Junip

To the grain - Junip

I'm closing in with Junip's debut album 'Fields' (for now) with this other pearl of a song. I really need some happiness and positive vibes today, as the day is as gloomy as can be: cold, rainy, hazy, monday, "depressy" and so on and so forth. I'm finally starting to feel the lack of purpose in my life after more than one month of "idleness" (idleness filled with winter holidays, travel, hanging out and other pleasant experiences). It's one of these limbo times and I wanna enjoy it, as I have the opportunity of doing things that I wouldn't be able to do while working or being else-how employed. My goodness, life is hard indeed, even when you have to decide how to enjoy it!

Without you (live on KEXP) - Junip

Without you - Junip

The year has almost come to an end and I wanna take a further chance to post music by what has been my favourite new discovery of 2015, i.e. Junip. After finally watching the Walter Mitty movie after people had been suggesting I should watch it for quite a while, I have been enchanted by their debut album 'Fields', both the album itself and the CD2, which practically consists of a couple of their previous EPs. I cannot recommend them enough, I can't wait to listen to their newer album released in 2013 and then finally start to approach Jose Gonzales's solo music. This last Junip post of 2015 is 'Without you', a beautiful, beautiful song off the CD1 of 'Fields'; I chose for you an astounding performance live on KEXP, so that I take another chance to thank the guys who work there and give us the opportunity to enjoy such great performances of live music! Go on and listen to it now, before it's too late!!!

Tide - Junip

Tide - Junip

After a long and all-in-all satisfying full-day tour of Lanzarote, I got back to the hotel, had dinner and came back to my room. Driving up and down the hills and mountains of the island from south to north and back has been a bit tiring but it was called for. Some of the places I've seen were quite worth it, some others not so much and most of them anywhere lay in between the awesome and the "meeeh", so good to see but not unforgettable. The highlights are anyway always linked to the sea, and the tides are one part of it that struggled me quite a lot: the beach near my hotel at night gets some 20-30 meters longer, maybe more! It's impressive how the ocean retreats and advances, I'm not used to it as the Mediterranean is a closed sea and the tide events are not so significant! Probably Junip are more used to open waters than me!

Don't let it pass - Junip

Don't let it pass - Junip

I know yesterday I (almost) promised you would get something special today and this week, but I had a pressing urgency to share this song, which has just made my day, so I will keep my special idea for next week, when I'll be home and more able to write down great posts for you (hopefully).
I'm sorry, but the beauty of this song astounded me tonite... I can't stop listening to it, I got it on my mind two songs before it would play on my current playlist and when it finally started, I felt the need to dance at it with somebody, to the point that I took the Olaf (Frozen's snowman) plush that is travelling with me this last time and started dancing with him. This right after I bought two small packs of frozen vegetables "perfect for one person"! I guess that's it, I am embracing my life alone. It has hardly ever felt so good. As in the Walter Mitty movie, which is the one that got me close to Junip's music and which is featuring this song in one of the last scenes, a beautiful one where it's all about enjoying the moment...

"Nothing is compromised, nothing is lost. 

When everything's realised, nothing is crossed.

But don't let it pass..."

Always - Junip

Always - Junip

Hello my followers, here I am somehow back on my feet! Have been sick in the last couple of days, been off work and came back home, as I took a few days off starting tomorrow...! I hate this time of year and I hate feeling bad and sick as I did yesterday, today I'm a bit better thanks goodness, even if I still got a bad cough, maybe a little temperature and all the ending symptoms of the flu (hopefully). I gotta be back on my feet by Monday, as I have an important even to attend, but I will let you know more about that soon! For now let's enjoy some great music, once again by one of my best discoveries of the awesome year in music this 2015 has been!!
PS: Genius video, don't miss out (and please explain me your interpretation of it)!

Rope & summit - Junip

Rope & summit - Junip

Shame on me for not posting any Junip song for such a long time! I recently started listening to another one of their albums (well, more precisely the second part of their debut album, actually the first part as previously I listened to the bonus tracks contained in the second CD)! All of this, just to say sorry for keeping them far from the blog for so long! I am loving the CD1 of 'Fields' already after a few listens too, so I'm very happy I approached their music! This is another song out of my (not so) current playlist (anymore), probably one of the last I'm gonna share, as I already have a new playlist ready! Expect more great music to come: I have to celebrate the 7.000 +1s reached (a while ago) by the blog on Google+, plus tomorrow I'm going to celebrate the 700th post of the blog with a special entry! Stay tuned!

Official - Junip

Official - Junip

It's official now... I finished watching Game of Thrones season 5, I have to disagree with people who have been unsatisfied with this season, I must confess I liked less the previous one, as this year interesting pairings have been made and interesting developments have taken place. It's also been nice, after being in Dubrovnik last summer, to recognize some of the places where they shot the scenes! Ok, I understand all the people (see girls) whose hearts are torn apart because of the end of the last episode, but well... weren't we expecting it all the way? Yeah, ok, there was that little hope in (y)our hearts that things might go right, but if you like things that go right... choose another TV series to watch! Or listen to some great music, like this awesome tune by Junip.

Azaleadalen - Junip

Azaleadalen - Junip

It's hard for me today to post anything but Florence + the Machine, as I've been devoting myself almost completely to their new album which came out yesterday! I must say I'm pretty satisfied with it, there are a few songs that sound a bit to poppy and naif, but there are also powerful tunes that really are faithful to the band's style, history and talent, so I'll give it some more listens in the next few days to get a clearer idea about it, but I leave it after one day with a smile on my face. To take a break from it, today while driving back to Veneto from home, I (also) listened to Junip and so they are the only thing I can sense-fully post today. This is an awesome instrumental song I have been utterly in love with!! My car's steering wheel knows something about it, with me tap tap tapping all the times it plays!

The ghost of Tom Joad - Junip

The ghost of Tom Joad - Junip

After watching the Walter Mitty movie with Ben Stiller, I got to know (better) José Gonzales, who (together with his own band Junip) took care of the most part of the soundtrack for the movie. After falling brutally in love with 'Far away', their song that I have already posted a few days ago, I approached their 2010 debut album (as a band) 'Fields' and I fell even more in love with their music, some of the songs in particular. This is one of my current favourites, it's their rendition of a classic folk song already recorded by Bruce Springsteen and Rage against the machine. Although included in their 2010 album, the song was already featured in their 2005 EP 'Black refuge'; I'm sure all of those among you who like indie/folk/rock will be able to love it too!!

Far away - Junip

Far away - Junip

Last night I finally got to watch the 'Walter Mitty' movie by Ben Stiller, after many people have been suggesting I should give it a try. I have not been disappointed, as I really could identify with the main character and the story, even if maybe (hopefully) my life is not as extremely gray as his. I have been a little bit dazed by the non-sense of the whole story (SPOILER: why did the photograph guy leave clues for him if the picture has been in his wallet the whole time?! I can't really make that out...) and, well, by the fact that it gets a little bit predictable, the not-so-unique feel-good American style movie. Nonetheless it's quite enjoyable and it really conveys the powerful message that you should do something meaningful in your (real) life. Plus, the soundtrack is really great: Arcade Fire, Of Monsters & Men, and then Josè Gonzales, who I've been suggested a couple weeks ago, and its band Junip, both of which I've been greatly enjoying. This song in particular and the scene it is featured in have made me fall in love, so kudos to Stiller for the movie and to Junip for the music!! Tomorrow it's gonna be my own turn to go far far away, so I guess you're finally gonna get that update about my life! In the meanwhile enjoy your saturday night!