This fine social scene - Zero 7

This fine social scene - Zero 7

Hello my dears, I am back from a 2-day trip to Guangzhou/Canton with friends, first time to Mainland China, super tiring but worth it! After a Sunday of morning rest, afternoon work and dinner out, I am ready to start a new week (am I?)! The year of cock, so let's also get ready for this Chinese New Year!! I'll leave you with a perfect tune for a chill end of the week, with vocals by Sia. Hope you enjoy!

#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!

Never gonna leave me - Sia

Never gonna leave me - Sia

Long and exhausting day today, been around since 8 am and got back home 12 hours later after attending an exam where I didn't understand half of the questions (but they're not gonna fail us, they say...!) Why should we management people be concerned with tough maths in the first place, is not clear to me, nor is the whole point of doing this exam in this way, but whatever, let's just hope that it's in the past. Of course because we have a sh*tload of other stuff to take care about! I'm trying to carve some me-time off the schedule (like weekends and hopefully nights) and, for the time being, I am miserably failing. What the hell did I sign up for?!

Big girl, little girl - Sia

Big girl, little girl - Sia

Hello people, here is your favourite music blogger (probably not, but whatever...)! I had been meaning to post this for a few days now, wanted to do it last night but then of course I got lost in doing things and it was past 2 AM already and it made sense to go to bed (stupid mistake, actually, as I laid there for like 2 hours without being able to fall asleep...), but here I am now! I've recently started digging into Sia's (musical) past, and I'm already being rewarded with a few precious tunes, one of them being this. It's also one of my favourite songs at the moment, so I guess I really need to share it with you now before she starts releasing new stuff again!!

The greatest - Sia

The greatest - Sia

It goes without saying that I consider Sia to be one of the greatest talents in the current pop music panorama, and I don't think I am alone out there...! She came out with yet another great tune, just a few months after releasing her latest album, a tune that probably is going to be the first taste of her next full work. With the video for this song she came back to the beginning of her fame exploit in 2014 with Chandelier: we have once again Maddie Ziegler dancing around weird moves in a creepy setting, this time around with other (little and great) guys and with a stronger link to reality, in particular to the Orlando shooting, which the song is linked to. You really don't wanna miss out on this one. Go and check out the greatest!

House on fire - Sia

House on fire - Sia

Back from the short trip to the sea with my parents, it's time to set back into my usual routine and start planning the next trip! But I'm gonna do that tomorrow, as right now my bed is calling out for me! Have a good night with one of the songs off Sia's latest album!

Space between - Sia

Space between - Sia

Back home from my trip in Portugal with my parents, I am still struck by fever and bored at home as I can't do anything but lying in bed day and night... computer, smartphone, everything is not really good for my headache, so I'm taking advantage of this moment of slight recovery to tell you guys I'm still alive! In the last couple of days I couldn't take Sia's 'Cheap thrills' out of my head, such an awesome song, but given that I already posted it a few weeks ago and that there's another good one that has been waiting quite a while, here it is for you! Don't forget to give a full listen to good albums, don't just stop at the singles / more renowned songs!

Sweet design - Sia

Sweet design - Sia

Nothing particularly interesting going on with my life in these days: a dinner out with my wifey at the Indian restaurant, a movie, a new TV series, travel plans... I'm just mostly passing these days by in boredom. And in all of these, I could find the chance to post the blog at a decent time of day, but... nope! Here I am at past 3 in the morning! Because that's the way I like it.

Move your body - Sia

Move your body - Sia

Hello guys! It's Saturday night (well, it's Sunday already technically...) and it's time to move your body! For some of you at least...! I've been mainly been smoking sheesha and then eating sushi all-you-can-eat until.... well less than a couple hours ago. It's been long. It's been tough. I'm still incredibly full and would really, really need to move my body, but whatever...! I'm gonna share with you this beautiful, new song by Sia, which is featured in her latest album. When I first listened to the album in its entirety, this song was the one that immediately struck me and became my favourite, even if some of them had already been pre-released and I had the chance to listen to them quite a lot. I don't know why, but there's something magic in it and I really connected with it instantly. I think it still is my favourite off 'This is acting' after a few weeks of listening, so please treat it well!!

Fist-fighting a sandstorm - Sia

Fist-fighting a sandstorm - Sia

There happen to be many times in our lives when we just keep trying to do things we already know we can't do, and even if miracles exist, they don't happen often. Letting go of something that isn't working for you is sometimes hard, but when you finally realise that you need to cut it, when that switch clicks in your head, there's just one thing to do: stop trying to make it work and turn the page. Fist-fighting sandstorms... we all did and will do that at one point, so the lesson to learn is that you need to stop doing it as soon as you realise you ARE indeed trying to punch flying sand. Don't be afraid of change, as the feeling of getting rid of something that makes you feel bad is one of the best feelings in the world!

Cheap trills - Sia

Cheap trills - Sia

"It's Friday night and I won't be alone" sings Sia in this awesome new tune. It's been incredibly hard for me not to be alone this Friday night, as I've been trying to arrange a night out with friends for more than a week (and failing). I'm just gonna gonna see a couple of friends for a dinner out here in Milan and that's it. It's really frustrating, and it's been a bad day for me overall, but I don't have any big reason to complain, just the small little things of life that pile up and make you wanna scream at the world sometimes. Let's cheer to a happy Friday night for us all!

"Baby I don't need dollar bills to have fun tonight(I love cheap thrills)"

Bird set free (live on Ellen) - Sia

Bird set free (live on Ellen) - Sia

I just watched Sia play 'Bird set free' on Ellen DeGeneres's show, a song off her new album 'This is acting' that she pre-released a few weeks ago. Out of the three songs she pre-released this was probably the one that struck me the least, but I've liked it from the beginning anyway. After watching this live performance my love for it has immediately deepened. I have already given a few plays to 'This is acting' too and, even if it is not as incredible as its predecessor (for now), it's a very pleasurable listen and an album that cannot be overlooked, or rather "overlistened-to"!!

One million bullets - Sia

One million bullets - Sia

While I was driving and thriving all around Lanzarote, I found a radio station ('La top cuarenta') that was putting on some non-spanish music, like Top-40 hits and so and it's been quite enjoyable! In the short time I've been driving I got to listen to two Sia songs, the first single off her upcoming album, 'Alive' and my favourite song off her previous album, 'Elastic heart' (which has been, coincidentally, my best song of 2014... we are almost at the end of the year, so stay tuned for this year's winners soon!). I've been greatly enjoying listening to those songs on the radio, as it means she got the success she deserves. This is another very nice tune out of her upcoming album, which should be out in about a month. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed my time here, which unfortunately has come to an end... I'll write again from the gray and cold Milan tomorrow. Have a great night!

Alive - Sia

Alive - Sia

I've been waiting for a while to post this song, as I wanted to post it with the official video. The official video came out today and I'm not a big fan of it. Ok, I know 'Chandelier' was hard to top, but I have been pretty disappointed with this new one. Then I found out there was a lyrics video I missed out, which I like way better than the one released today (and I'm not the only one on the big Y). Anyway I like this son and have big expectations for the whole new album, which is supposed to be released next January. The second song released recently out of it is quite good too, so let's keep it up for Sia!
Turning points.

Big girls cry - Sia

Big girls cry - Sia

Well... besides thanking Sia for writing amazing music, I have to be particularly grateful tonite because with the release of her brand new video, she took me away from the embarrassment of deciding which song to post! The official video for 'Big girls cry' features the usual "little Sia", Maddie Ziegler, but this time her dancing skills are not in the foreground, rather we see her moving and shaking before a black background. I'd say the video is nice because it keeps a coherent atmosphere with its predecessors from the '1000 forms of fear' album, but is not particularly cool or inspiring (to me) as Chandelier and Elastic heart were. Very good song anyway!

Fire meet gasoline - Sia

Fire meet gasoline - Sia

Hello people! After many many hours of travelling, I am finally almost on the other side of the world! Ok, maybe not THAT far away, but it feels like it! I finally reached Dominican Republic to have a 1-week holiday with my father, and I'm already thrilled, even if my baggage has remained in Paris (for now). We already had a nice buffet dinner and enjoyed a Broadway Musicals show since we came to the hotel a couple hours ago, but the song I'm posting is related to my long plane trip from Paris to Punta Cana, 9 hours and half of cramped seats and pushy people! Luckily enough, the entertainment on board was quite nice, there were the usual movies (I watched a couple, let's say one and a half as I was almost sleeping at one point), but also games and of course music! Nice music! I created a playlist with songs from some of my favourite albums of last year, by London Grammar, Imagine Dragons, Lykke Li and of course Sia! Even if while this song was playing I was asleep (I actually slept for almost the whole duration of the music play), it still stuck in my mind and given that I hadn't posted it already, here it is!
Once again, as usual when I'm away from home I might delay and/or miss some posts, so I'm sorry in advance, I'll do my best to keep the flow regular and constant (while also enjoying my Caribbean trip at the fullest)!!! Burn with me tonight!

Elastic heart - Sia

Elastic heart - Sia

Just a few days after I picked Elastic heart as my favourite song of 2014, Sia released for it an(other) awesome video with Maddie Ziegler and, this time, also Shia LaBoeuf. I already professed my love for this song more than once, so I don't think I need to say anything more about it, and the very fact that I picked it as my fav in a year which has been of great musical inspiration for me should be enough to tell you how much I care for it! The version of the song featured in this video is the one found on Sia's album '1000 forms of fear', while the one I posted last February (and my favourite, probably because it's the one I fell in love with) is the one featuring Diplo and The Weeknd, used in the Hunger Games: Catching Fire movie soundtrack. What more? I think you'll just love the video, I'd love to hear your interpretation of it so feel free to comment anywhere and start a discussion! Cheers!

#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!

You're never fully dressed without a smile - Sia

You're never fully dressed without a
smile - Sia

Just to be consistent with the theme of mouth, teeth and stuff, here is another song that I've been listening to lately! For the soundtrack of the coming movie based on the musical Annie, Sia recorded her version of this song, which I quite enjoyed, even if I didn't know it before. Smiling properly is something that I can't really manage now, given my teeth-removal balloon-face condition, but let's say that you don't need your mouth to smile, you can also do it with other parts of your body! Or with emoticons! :)

Eye of the needle - Sia

Eye of the needle - Sia

Hello folks! I am back, finally and sadly. Yesterday the trips has been quite tiring, so I didn't have the strength to sit down and post when I got back at about 1 AM, but here I am now! I'm not gonna talk much about Sicily anymore, as I think you already noticed these two weeks have been awesome and intense! I'm a sad to be back, but it is also good to start again with my regular life, I am quite thrilled with my thesis as I can see the end of the tunnel close to me and I really can't wait to get done with it now! Music is also a good topic, during the trip I have been mainly listening to old stuff, 90s hits, Florence + the Machine, Coldplay, OneRepublic... Today I got back to more current stuff and I'm posting one of my favourites out of the latest playlist, and also another great song out of Sia's latest album!