Music Monthly: August 2013

Well hello, friendlies :) It's about time we listened to some music, don't you think? So, August... unlike my usual boring summer, it was actually a fun and busy month. Featuring the tragic story of how I didn't get to meet no YouTubers, more dental adventures (dislocated jaw. woop! woop!) and then a week in the mountains spent with my choir. Happy times! :) Musically, it has been very... erratic, which will be reflected in the absolute incoherence of this post, I am afraid. Anyway, what have I got for you today? My new discovery and love, a dance tune, a blast from the past and two current mainstream songs that I happen to like. Not necessarily in that order, we shall see.

Read on and listen to an unlikely mix of Ricky Martin, The Cranberries, Rudimental and Hudson Taylor. Oh gosh, that sounds like I've no idea what I'm doing :D

You know what, let's get the contemporary stuff out of the way first. If you skip these 2, I won't blame you. Then again, these are some of the good music that is popular nowadays. There is so much more rubbish and worthless and I'm-not-gonna-waste-my-words-on music, but these guys are actually good at what they're doing. There's nothing super special about them, they're just... nice to listen to, occasionally dance a little. Here they are: Naughty Boy ft. Sam Smith and their "La La La" with a very intriguing music video. I dare you not to sing along to the song.

No. 2 is  Rudimental ft. Ella Eyre: "Waiting All Night". hmm I'm all Rudimental recently, aren't I? The music video is all nice and inspiring, although not very relatable to the song in my opinion.

And here comes the blast from the past: It usually happens to me, sometime during summer, that I revisit some of the music that I used to listen to ages and ages ago, when I was a little baby (i.e. a teenager). This time my eyes fell on a pile of Cranberries :) And boy, did I have fun singing along to them! I always love it so much, when I find out that years and years later, I still remember the songs as if I listened to them yesterday, to the smallest detail of the musical arrangement or the tiniest quirk of the vocal. I was also very pleased to realize that since back then, my singing voice has significantly improved and I can now sing along with Dolores with much more precision and accuracy. In fact, I was so good I should start a Cranberries tribute band 8-) Seriously, who wants to join me? :D Anyway, here you go. Travel a little bit back in time and listen to "Empty" by The Cranberries, featuring a stunning vocal performance of Ms Dolores O'Riordan.

Last but one in my August music selection, I'm going for a little bit of a guilty pleasure maybe :) But what can you do, when it makes you dance. Every year, at our choir rehearsing get-away, we have a little dance party - usually one of my favourite parts of the week. This year particularly, I had been looking forward to it several months in advance, pretty much since... February. (All with me being healthwise indisposed and that... ) And the song to represent the magnificent super party is: Ricky Martin's "María". Frankly, I don't give a monkey's about Ricky Martin, or the music video. All I care about is dancing and this is a good tune for that. For some reason my dancing compadres were mostly catching their breath during this track and I almost soloed the whole thing and, let's be honest, totally ruled the dance floor. I mean, why shouldn't I? After all, the song is about me :) and I pretty much killed it! No, wait, it was the other way round. The song killed me :D I was expecting it though (having spent almost 6 months stuck at home, not doing anything). I didn't mind. If I was ever meant to die by physical exhaustion, and I could choose the place, it would be a dancefloor.

And finally, my latest musical discovery and dare I say obsession (in a nice way!) : Hudson Taylor, which is a band formed by two Irish brothers Harry and Alfie (plus friends). Mix good songwriting, Irish charm, sweeet vocal harmonies and acoustic guitars... Sold! Maree has lost her head! and heart :)) Seriously, I can't help it. For the past few weeks, their music has been keeping me alive and smiling. They are releasing a new EP in October, be sure to check out their website for details. I have a feeling there might be a separate, Hudson Taylor-dedicated, blog post coming on here... Just, because ^^ Meanwhile, listen to "Chasing Rubies", one of their lovely original songs, which for some reason has been stuck in my head for 6 consecutive weeks. And I still love it. It's still relevant, still beautiful, and I will never grow tired of it! <3

And that is all for now, dear occasional reader. I hope you liked at least one of these :) Even though it is a very strange and unlikely mix of songs. Where else would you get Rudimental, lovely acoustic guitar people and Ricky bloody Martin together? Well, here of course! :D Let me know in the comments what is your favourite track from this crazy playlist. Or, as always, if you have anything to tell me, I will be happy to read it. Until next time, byeeeee! xx