Bent - Kiasmos

Bent - Kiasmos

Another week has almost flown by, another busy one but I'm quite happy about it, I brought to completion what I was supposed to and kind of enjoyed the process too. The only problem is the sleep quality I've been getting lately, worst of all last night (thanks Coca Cola for not reminding me I shouldn't drink you at night...), but I'm kinda getting used to it. More good news, I bought the tickets for the music festival that is gonna happen in Hong Kong in late November, whose complete music program has just been released, with a late addition of one of my favourite bands of the last few years, which I can't really wait to see live for the first time! So excited!! (No, they're not Kiasmos, but I still love this one quite a lot)!

Looped - Kiasmos

Looped - Kiasmos

After starting listening to Kiasmos and C Duncan, I think that an ambient parenthesis in my musical discovery is about to open, also because reading papers 24/7, I could really use some background music that helps me focus, that entertains me without distracting me too much from my "main task" (and what is that between the two, I sometimes wonder...). I actually happened to stumble upon a 'Pitchfork' article on the best 50 albums in ambient music, which reeeeally looked like it popped up just for me! I then went on to compile a Spotify playlist with what I could find of the top 10 mentioned by them, and I must confess I haven't been extremely enthusiastic about it so far (well, I guess that's the point of ambient music in a way...); anyway, I'll be sharing with you what I AM liking for the time being, and then we'll see...!

First love / late spring - Mitski

First love / late spring - Mitski

Double shame on me. After a busy day two days ago, wandering around in Milan, doing some courses that came up at the last time and then going to the cinema with my aunt, I didn't post yesterday... no excuses, but my day has been quite full coming back home from Milan and... well, that's it! Moreover I got up not too late and I already thought I would post something, but then it went off my mind. And today... today has been a rough day too, as I woke up super early to go and fetch my grandparents and take them to the doctor... unfortunately my car didn't wake up with me and it was all for nothing...! So I went to get lunch at my other grandparents' (it was grandma's birthday) and I practically spent my whole free time on Booking.com and so on, arranging trips that I'm undertaking in the next few weeks! Now I just finished watching Eyeshield 21, the anime series I've been following in the past few weeks, and I'm quite happy it got to an end, so that I can watch some real TV series now! Anyway, even if the show got pretty slow and boring lately, it's been the first time I understood so many words spoken by the characters (I watch them in original Japanese language with subtitles), so it looks like my (languishing) Japanese studies are paying off!! In honour of that I'm gonna be posting probably the last song off Mistki's 2014 album (for now), even if it's still early (and not late) spring and my first love is gone with the wind!

Texas reznikoff - Mitski

Texas reznikoff - Mitski

I've been recently getting to know Mitski, don't remember how or when exactly, but I did and I quite liked her. This is the opening track of her 2014 album, which is the one I have approached so far, and it's also the first song of hers I've ever heard, I believe. It's always delicate when you listen to a completely new singer for the first time, it usually takes me quite a while to get into the music and the very first approach is key! In this case it's been quite successful and I entered into her music quite quickly, but then it got a bit harder to go deeper, I think I still haven't completely processed her yet, even after 10 plays of the album. We'll see in the future how my relationship with her develops!! In the meanwhile I hope you'll enjoy this very nice tune! Good night!

Hold my tongue - Sheppard

Hold my tongue - Sheppard

Dealing with people is often everything but easy, and especially when you have to deal with people that play or might play an important role in your life, stuff can get hard. I'm not really a tongue-holding kind of guy, I believe that communication is key and I usually share my (confused) thoughts with the people around me, I tend to tell them when there is a problem or when there's something that makes me feel bad. Sometimes I don't say things (straight-forwardly), because there's also that part of me that likes a quiet life (and the part of me that tries to get revenge quietly, especially by indifference), but this is more the exception than the rule, and in the end stuff ends up coming out at one point. Lately I've been having a lot of time to think about one relationship in particular and the thoughts I've been making are not that good, so maybe this time I really need somebody to hold my tongue before breaking things more than they need!!

Townie - Mitski

Townie - Mitski

"I'm not gonna be what my daddy wants me to be."
Mitski is another one of my latest discoveries, her music is strangely peculiar and standard at the same time: I have a feeling like her melodies are not particularly original, yet when they are put together, she has a kind of peculiar effect, I don't know how to explain it in words, you have to listen to her songs and try to understand!
"I want a love that falls as fast as a body from the balcony."
It's also weird how many songs I'm finding lately whose lyrics perfectly match with my current thoughts and lifestyle... it happened already with a few artists (namely Florence + the Machine), but lately I've got the feeling that more and more songs have been written related to feelings very much akin to mine right now!
"And I've tried sharing, and I've tried caring [...] and change, change, change is gonna come but when, when, when?"
Now I'm ready to start this lazy Saturday with a lunch with one of my university friends, than I'm gonna go back home and see what to do with my life next week!
"I'm gonna be what my body wants me to be!"

Ain't nobody (loves me better) - Felix Jaehn feat. Jasmine Thompson

Ain't nobody -
Felix Jaehn feat. Jasmine Thompson

Oh my goodness guys, my computer went back on last night (thanks goodness itself) and so I officially have a new playlist. And still more than one week worth of posting to make from my former playlist. How can time pass by so fast?! I guess that staying at home for most of the day lately has given me a lot of free time for listening to music and I have indeed been approaching many new artists and albums lately (many of which are not even considered among my already-planned posting yet!), and I'm quite excited about it, as it's been quite a long time since I approached so much (good) new music all at once! For tonite I'm gonna leave you with a song that you've been hearing around for sure; when I think about it, I personally go back to a taxi ride in Abu Dhabi when we got this one and another song that I added to my library in that circumstance. It really feels great to travel and it feels even better to go back to the memories created while going around the world!
PS: Don't forget to check out the beautiful original version of this song by Chaka Khan!!

A grade playa - Sheppard

A grade playa - Sheppard

Don't ask me why, but I found this song (that I absolutely love) in my head this morning, and thus I went to listen to Sheppard's album, which I hadn't approached for quite a while! The song actually is a great fit for today, as I am enjoying some winter time in a nice, nice place, i.e. Lanzarote (one of the Canary Islands)!! I needed to reward myself with some warmth after this long and hard year and given how cold it is back at home. I got here last night and today I spent the whole day at the playa, a nice one 2 minutes away from the hotel: total relax! The sea water is somewhat cold, but on the beach I felt great, with a warm sun and a pleasant breeze, I couldn't ask for more! I wish you all an enjoyable time as the one I'm having here!

Let me down easy - Sheppard

Let me down easy - Sheppard

Last night I went to bed quite late, as I finished watching the 11th (and last) season of 'Shameless' (UK Version), and when I came on the blog at past 2 AM I searched for a couple of songs that had made my day and realised I had already posted them, I decided to call it a day and to come back today. And here I am! I have absolutely no idea why I woke up with this song on my mind this morning, and I actually thought I already posted this one too, but I haven't and so I'm doing it now! I wish you all a great day and a great end of summer (here unfortunately I fear the best weather is over...)!

From eden - Hozier

From eden - Hozier

Hello my dear people, I am back to you at the end of a very tough day for me, with the alarm clock set at 6.30, a 3-hour drive and a full day at work after a night out (with my aunt and a friend of hers) at Hozier's concert in Milan!! But I'm glad I planned this as I did, the concert has been quite enjoyable, if not memorable, and of course I couldn't do without sharing a song by him today, one of the few I haven't shared with you already. The peculiar thing is that 'From eden' has been probably the one I enjoyed the least live: it was at the beginning of the concert, right after my favourite 'Angel of small death...' and it's neither an up-beat rock song nor a romantic ballad... yet I found it playing in my mind right after the gig, so I think that in some way it did leave an impression on me! Anyway, if you get a chance, go see Hozier, it's well worth it!

Raised by wolves - U2

Raised by wolves - U2

I have been listening to U2's latest album quite a lot last week, for different reasons (my Argentinean colleagues were playing it in the car, I got it out randomly in my own car and some other instances I don't remember), and it's weird because I realised it gives me a similar sensation to Imagine Dragons' 'Smoke + mirrors' that I posted yesterday, that is of a reassuring freshness! Like the songs were already in my heart but I'm listening to them for the first time, it's so weird I can't explain it better than this... and so here I am, with one of the songs I was SURE I had already posted, because it's been one of my first favourites off 'Son gs of innocence', but I just realised I didn't, so it's a perfect pick!! After a nice day meeting an old university friend in Udine, studying Japanese on the train and watching 'Frozen', I still have to clearly define my plans for tomorrow, even if I already have a couple ideas! I also know what I'm gonna post for this week's sundayrevival, so stay tuned!!

Hold back the river - James Bay

Hold back the river - James Bay

Spotify Spotify Spotify!! Today's post is pretty much Spoti-related! I'm preparing a Spoti-related surprise for the blog, so stay tuned, just let me put the final touches in the next few days and I'll let you know!! But it's not just that: when I installed Spotify on the work laptop, I used it widely in the first few days and while listening to the ads in between the songs (thanks to them, actually) I got to know this pretty nice song by an emerging singer, James Bay. I'm really enjoying it, so I hope you can enjoy it too, and know it if you don't know it already!! Besides... well yeah, it's also my birthday today, but that's the least important news of the day! Cheers!

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!

Stay - Anastacia

SPOILER: This is not an April's fool! Or maybe it is! Haha! Up to you!!

Stay - Anastacia

You might remember that yesterday I mentioned a song I woke up with in my head, and that's the one. You might also remember that I've been looking for it in my last year's playlist and found other stuff. Well, that makes quite a lot of sense because I never put this song in any playlist! A-ha! That's a self-April's fool that I made myself, methinks! Anyway, I really have absolutely no idea why this song came back to me now, I also have no idea why I was dreaming about me and my younger cousin I haven't been seeing for years while I was kinda teaching her how to drive in my (other side of the family) grandparents' garage. Weird things happen. One is that I'm writing this post in advance and it's not even April yet! The other one is that a good and very fitting song for this post came to my mind while I was writing, but I think I'm gonna keep for next year! This song was a great moment in both Anastacia concerts I went to in the last few months anyway! Great memories! Well, what can I tell you now?
"I need somebody to tell me I'm too hard to break. So I'm gonna stay. I'm not ready to go just yet." (Or am I?)

Work song - Hozier

Work song - Hozier

I know, I know, I promised I wouldn't post any more Hozier for a while... well I lasted a couple of weeks, but I had to share this with you now! Besides it being one of the last three songs I still haven't shared with you that have been featured min my playlists, it is also the perfect one to celebrate the end of this first week of "real" work! I've had ups and (few) downs, and given that's it's the beginning, it's probably better than I would and should have expected! I mean, it's working, but still... it can be worse. Much worse. And things in the future look quite exciting!! For the time being though, let's just enjoy this weekend!

Communication - The Ting Tings

Communication - The Ting Tings

Given the lack of time I've had lately as far as listening to new music is concerned, I've really savaged my second playlist of the year for inspiration for blog posting. And well... this is one of the very few songs that are in it that I hadn't posted already. And yes, I have already compiled a new playlist after it, and posted songs out of it, but I needed to give the Tings at least this one post out of their new album. You might remember how I previously underlined that I didn't really get to love their latest work as much as the previous, but it successfully passed the proof of time and I actually got to like most of the songs on it way better than I did. Like transitioning from "that's ok but I'll forget about it in a couple of weeks" to "Wow, I really do like this! I'm going to listen to it again soon!". Because there is all the difference in between wanting to hear a song again and just happening to hear it by chance!

In the woods somewhere - Hozier

In the woods somewhere - Hozier

You might well be sick and tired at this point, so I promise: this is going to be the last Hozier post, at least for a while! I counted them all, this is the tenth song I'm posting out of his debut album (which is quite rich, at least the version I have is made up of 17 songs!), so well more than half of them are up here, all my favourites! It's been quite a blessing to get so much (genuine) inspiration from a single artist, who just debuted with his mainstream career! I'm really eager and curious to get to see how it will develop in the next few years, plus I'd love to get the chance to see him live (he's coming to Milan this summer, bummer!), even though I highly doubt that my concert life is gonna be particularly active in the next year or so...! In the meantime let's just enjoy what we've got and hope for a bright musical future (in the woods somewhere)!

Failure - The Ting Tings

Failure - The Ting Tings

You guys know me, I am very bad at remembering things daily... you might wonder why I started a daily music blog, you are not alone in that, I wonder about that too... like Katie sings in this song I am a failure! Ok, not a complete failure, but a failure in respecting my daily commitment! Another kind of failure in my life that happened today is that concerning attention: the two sessions of training of today were so boring and/or impossible to follow that I almost paid no attention to the speakers... well, one good thing is that I did useful stuff in the meanwhile, more precisely freshen my Japanese (language) skills! Last night I spoke with the contact that is going to offer me a job and... well, big news are coming soon! I hope I won't be a failure concerning that part of my life too!

Jackie and Wilson - Hozier

Jackie and Wilson - Hozier

Hozier + Annie Lennox @ Grammys... I mean, wow! Did you watch their performance? I was amazed, had to watch it two times to recover from the emotional blow but... wow! Crazy intense! Unfortunately I haven't found a decent quality video recording of it available on the web yet, but... wow! Really, after a few hours I still haven't recovered! I'm more and more sad that Annie isn't touring anymore because of problems with stressing her voice, I would have loved to see her live!! And Hozier, so peaceful but resolute, almost eaten out by Annie's power but working as a perfect and complementary element... almost like a bass in a band! Wow... I can't stop being amazed by the power of this performance!
I've actually been willing to listen to Hozier's album since this morning, when my wake up call (his song Angel of small death and the Codeine scene) rang... I'm doing it just now, but with a more special feeling in my heart! It's so peculiar that I've been listening to his album and Annie's latest practically together and then they've performed together at the Grammys! And what a performance!! What I'm sharing with you is a song I put in my current playlist, actually one that I am greatly enjoying these days, it's called Jackie and Wilson, I hope you enjoy!

Foreigner's god - Hozier

Foreigner's god - Hozier

Going on with the Hozier special of the week!! It feels like this has become an appointment, me posting a Hozier song every few days! Anyway, this is my current most-listened to, and for a reason that is unusual as far as my approach of approaching (sorry for the word play!) songs is concerned. I usually start focusing on the melody, while (I came to speculate) my subconscious is also assessing the lyrics. After I'm familiar with the musical side of a song, I get to read the lyrics and almost all the time the more I like the song, the more the lyrics mean to me! I've been explaining this with the supposition that I unconsciously assess the lyrics too and they influence my liking of a song without realising it. With this song it's different, the "chorus" line is repeated often and clearly in the song and it struck me quite a bit, I find it beautiful, moving and very to-the-point. It's the lyrics that brought me to appreciate the song (consciously), but in the end... the process doesn't matter much, what matters is the relationship with the song, ain't that true?

"Screaming the name of a foreigner's god: the purest expression of grief"