.. That’s the question I’m posing to my faithful readers today on this glorious American holiday. What is it that you are thankful for? Hit up the comment section with your answers.

I’m also hooking up some of my favorite song about giving thanks. These are hand-picked from my personal collection, I hope y’all like ‘em.

Have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving all, Enjoy!

Download: Bob Marley – Thank You Lord (Vocal Version)

Dido – Thank You

DOOM – Thank Yah

Massive Attack – Be Thankful For What You’ve Got

Maze & Franky Beverly – I Wanna Thank You

Stevie Wonder – Thank You Love

If you were a king
Up there on your throne
Would you be wise enough to let me go
For this queen you think you own
Wants to be a hunter again.

♥

Well it is is Monday of a short week.  I am leaving early to head down to my in-laws place in La Jolla, a nice little suburb of San Diego on Wednesday morning.  One thing I love is that I won’t have to cook anything but the desserts this year.  My in-laws are great hosts and I married into a HUGE family where the men just rule the cooking on the holidays and let the women sit back and talk or go swimming. 

This is so different from the cold winters I had growing up.  While I miss the snow and Fall leaves, I do love the great weather this year.  Anyway, this is a roundabout way of saying Thank You to everyone!  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Pēdējās dienas ir bijušas pinas dažādu notikumu, bet dalīšos tikai ar kādiem 2-3…
Pirmkārt, izdarīju vienu labu darbu un izdzēsos no populārās i-neta vietnes Facebook…
Būtu gatavs izdzēsties arī no visa pārējā… No draugiem… Un no šejienes.. .bet “draugos” es palikšu, jo ir pāris cilvēki, kurus es tiešām ikdienā nevaru satikt un ar kuriem ir patīkami parunāt…
Bet es nespēju saprast, kā cilvēki var dzīvot paralēlu dzīvi datorā… Tas tiešām ir drusku traģiski … un es to nevēlos… Tāpēc izdzēsos no Facebook’a lai būtu 10 minūtes laika vairāk dienā kam noderīgākam… 10 minūtes nav daudz..Tur es tiešām tikai iegāju/izgāju, bet tomēr tās var iztērēt tūkstoškārtīgi labāk un noderīgāk… Protam,s nemaz nerunāsim par tiem, kas tur pavada visu dienu.. Un audzē vistas savās virtuālajās fermās un tad tās virtuāli nokauj… Un tā tālāk… Un tā visu dienu…
Es neesmu no tiem… Un nebūšu… Mana dzīve naw datorā… Datorā ir tikai bildes un mūzika…
Dzīve? Tā ir tepat… Tā mūsos… Tā ir iekšā un to nevar sintezēt vai aizstāt..
Mana dzīve ir viss, kas notiek manā sirdī..
Tur gan ir plašumi.. i-nets ir salīdzinoši maziņš…
Iztēlojoties vien… Manu dzīvi nekad neierobežo datora veiktspēja… Vai i-neta esamība/neesamība…
Mana dzīve sākas te… Aizverot datoru…

Daudzi man nepiekritīs, bet es vnk izdomāju, ka tas ir jāuzraksta…

Otrkārt esmu ticis pie 2 jauniem mūzikas albumiem…
Tiem, kam patīk tādi stili kā Jazz un Folk es noteikti ieteiktu noklausīties Norah Jones pēdējo albumu “The fall”un Dido albumu “Safe trip home”

Divas jaukas balsis… Divi dažādi albumi… Un tiem dodu kādas 3 zvaigznes no 5…
Un tas ir labi… Tā jau ir klausāma mūzika..protams, ir jānoklausās albums no a-z, bet man jau naw tas jāatgādina…

Lai Tev jauks šis vēlais rudens! Un smaids tomēr ir labākais, ko uzdāvināt citiem…

There’s More To Me Than Meets The Eye

Once upon a time an 11 year old boy strolled around Woolworths not too sure what he was looking for. At the time his hometown had no music shops at all and no electricity if some people are to be believed so his ears were well and truly closed to the sounds of 2001. By the counter the small boy, most probably dressed in an Adidas jacket of some sort, happens upon a basket. This basket was the ‘Bargain basket.’ Said ‘Bargain Basket’ was full of cassettes. Not only did this look interesting, it also set up the little fellow for a life of tightness. Some of these cassettes included Hero by Chad Kroeger, some R’n'B pap by Christina Milian but most importantly of all Thank You by Dido. On a whim he purchased them all. Before that fateful day in 2001 little Daniel wasn’t really into music. After that day on 2001 he still wasn’t. His Mum still insists on calling Dido his ‘first girlfriend’ which is a bit embarrassing.

There’s More To This Than Meets The Eye

It would be very easy to slate this album but because I’m rather happy with myself and my mate loves her I’m going to try and be positive about it.

Straight off the bat White Flag is a karaoke favourite of mine. It’s a nice song that makes me think of now defunct television shows such as CD:UK. Mainly though it acts as a reminder that 8 years later I still hold a torch for Dido.

Oddly, the second song starts with a jungle intro which, as my friend points out, is because jungle is massive. Without the jungle intro it’s a good mainstream song. It washes over you in a good way rather than being forgettable and has a sort of calming influence. About 3 and a half minutes in it turns into the Dub cut and is easily the most ‘experimental’ track on the album. This is the song that that Jem based her whole career on.

Life for Rent is the second single on the album and might make you want to end it all. But don’t because Mary’s In India is up next and I really, seriously like that. Don’t be fooled by the handclaps it’s truly miserable.

It’s building, it’s building. To be honest with you I really like Dido’s voice. It’s soothing, I mean some of the songs are the utter dross but on this one it really works for me. Don’t get me wrong it’s no happy go lucky knees up but for me it’s the standout track on the album. Whether this is because Dido is singing about ‘taking care of’ a guy called Danny (ie me) remains to be seen.

Next song, See You When You’re 40, washes over me in the opposite way to Stoned. There’s nothing that sticks out about it, such as the singalong chorus of White Flag or any memorable lyrics. Don’t Leave Home picks up the baton and returns us to standard Dido by numbers, not a bad thing by any means. Dido by numbers over Dido being rubbish.

And now foe the single worst intro to a song I’ve ever heard. And I’m including the full 4 minutes of Johnny Sniper by Enter Shikari in that. This is Dido trying to be too laid back for her own good. Unfortunately, she’s not capabale of pulling off the correct vocal to suit the song. But saying that the musical composition is shockingly bad.

Sand in My Shoes is typical radio fodder that anyone with half a voice could record. Dido doesn’t offer much to the song that anyone else wouldn’t apart from a perfectly acceptable vocal performance.

In all fairness the final three tracks are pretty dull and don’t do much for me. It seems to me that Dido could have swung either way in terms of her musical approach. With a better set of musicians behind her, a few stronger songs and if she’d have taken advantage of her voice at it’s best she could have made quite a haunting album. Instead an album is produced that falls between good and bad, and sometimes fluctuates between the two, and provides a perfetly amiable listen.

Life for Rent is available for streaming here if you fancy a chilled out listen.

Alternatively, a week in music playlist is available here featuring Alec Ounsworth, The National, Ivor Cutler and The Beach Boys.

Next week one for myself (A Trip to Marineville by Swell Maps) and then we’ll be back onto your recommendations so get them in.

TRAVIS

“COMING AROUND”

b/w “Just The Faces Change”/”The Connection”/”Rock N’ (Salad) Roll”/”The Weight” (The Band cover)

Released 6/5/00

(Fran Healy)

I used to really love Travis; from 2000 til around 2003, I would say they were one of my favorite bands. I was won over by their second album (the massive U.K. smash The Man Who) and subsequently picked up their debut, Good Feeling. By the time The Invisible Band was released in the summer of 2001, my Traviphile tendencies were at a fever pitch. My friend Ryan and I even went to a Dido concert just because Travis were opening. In the middle of this period of devotion came “Coming Around”, a non-album single released to help ease the wait between records.

Now, the first thing you might notice when you hear “Coming Around” is that it sounds like The Byrds. Not just kind of like The Byrds. Just like The Byrds. My knowledge of guitars is nil, but I’d bet dollars to donuts that’s the 12-string Ricky on the track, the kind Roger McGuinn made famous. But I’ve never let blatant borrowing ruin my appreciation of a good song (Oasis is one of my favorite bands, after all), and almost a decade later, I still really like “Coming Around”. It’s got a good Fran Healy-supplied melody, and I’ve always been a fan of jangly guitars/ Now, it’s sounds like more of a transitional song to me than it did then; the melancholy of The Man Who being replaced by the (perhaps overly) sunny tones of The Invisible Band.

Unfortunately, that change also marked the beginning of the end for my time as an ardent Travis fan. I enjoy Band still (though it’s been years since I listened to it), but I think my affection may be borne more out of nostalgia than enthusiasm. I actually liked 2003’s 12 Memories, though after that my interest in keeping track of Travis faded. I bought The Boy With No Name, but it was out of habit more than anything and I seriously doubt I’ve ever listened to it all the way through. I didn’t even bother to get Ode To J. Smith. Some bands stay with you, and some bands are destined to fall by the wayside. But I still love The Man Who and I still love “Coming Around”…like I said, it was a transition, but I think it still has enough of a sweet spot for me, enough residual TMW qualities to make the cut-off of my Travis love. I also remember listening to it on a plane ride to Japan in the summer of 2000, and anytime a song can take you back to some of the best days of your life, it’s bound to have a positive effect on you.

Here’s the video…there’s a giant egg in it:

G.

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Jesus. As it stands its 2am, i have a class at 9am, on the fucking Sahara Desert, and i am just sat here blaspheming and listening to fucking Dido. Dido? I have no idea what my iTunes new obsession with her is all about… but i like it. Pfft, i dont really need to go tomorrow, I have been to the Sahara, its pretty i will give you that, not as hot as you would think but you cant have everything right? I must be the only person in history to go to Egypt and come back whiter then when i left. I wanted to be a modern-day Cleopatra, all tanned and powerful, minus the braids. No one looks good in braids. Well, my complete experience of the Sahara involved, I kid you not, being held at gun point for wanting to buy some crisps and being mugged in the middle of the desert by a small child, of a T-shirt. I experienced the real desert, there is nothing i can learn in a class room, I was there. I WAS THERE!!!

Also, between you and me, I shouldnt really be going back to uni anytime soon as, well, today i cried in geography. Like a mother fucking child. In my defence a baby got washed away in a massive mud slide. A BABY! Its mother was screaming. It was too much for me to take. Then a horse got washed away too. And you know that horrible look animals give you, when they are scared or they dont quite agree with something? Well, this horse was doing that, i could see it in its eyes, and it wasnt because he was thinking, “hmm, no. I dont really appreciate this. I’d rather not be washed away thank you very much.” No, this horse was fucking shit scared. It was fucking awful. This was a video we watched by the way. It was almost on parr with the god awful rape in Hans my Hedgehog.

THAT, is on the internet if you want to watch it. They cut out the rape of the princess by a man hedgehog, i think you will be glad to hear. He does however turn it to a bird in the TV version. God knows why. I’d like to say it was some sort of metaphor for his wrong doings in the book but that seems unlikely.

I went to Birmingham at weekend to visit my girlfriend. It was nice and i achieved something i can only be very proud of. If not proud, slightly ashamed. I got very drunk on the friday and on the saturday we went into Birmingham city and met up with Tor’s friend, Tash. We met her in the park. Now, i am sure it is common knowledge that i once vomited in this park, mostly because i was sat on a bench and the whole of Birmingham stood and watched as i vomited, wiped my mouth and then continued to eat my chips. HOWEVER, people, i have raised my standards. Lieessss i hear you say. This coming from the girl who once let my friend vomit all over me, who watched two of my friends run naked down a main road and then went on to spend the night sleeping in the centre of a bowling green, so i understand that you are wary as you cant get much more classy then that. This saturday however, sat in the park, surrounded by Zombies, i could feel myself going under. I knew that i would not vomit there and then (again), i refuse to be heckled by a few hundred emo’s dressed as Zombies. NO! So we went to a pub, and i vomited there. I missed the toilet but that is besides the point. This pub is the poshest place i have ever been, well, pub anyway. It used to be a theater. Oooo.. say it like Nicole Kidman: The Moulin Rough years and it sounds more impressive. It’s very pretty. Worst thing? I vomited, feeling very sorry for myself, i ended up squatting in the cubicle and sobbing quite loudly. I figured i best shape up and go find Tor and Tash who were getting the drinks in. So i go out, only to find a woman stood outside my cubicle. I had to cough and pretend it wasnt me. Difficult really with vomit around my mouth and tears streaming down my face. The sneaky little bitch though, sneaking in, making me belive i was alone in there. I should have fucking twatted her. But then again, i am weaker than a fucking new-born and i dont really have the stomach to glass somebody. Not at that very moment anyway.

I had every intention to do work today but after 12 full hours of Malcolm in the Middle i cant say i regret my day. I can say i regret going out of my way to get Cheryl Cole’s new album. I like the single, but the rest of it, well its wank really isnt it? I’d still shag her though. God.

“Take My Hand”

Touch my skin,and tell me what you’re thinking
Take my hand and show me where we’re going
Lie down next to me, look into my eyes and tell me, oh tell me what you’re seeing
So sit on top of the world and tell me how you’re feeling
what you feel now is what I feel for you
Take my hand and if I’m lying to you
I’ll always be alone
if I’m lying to you
See my eyes, they carry your reflection
Watch my lips and hear the words I’m telling you
Give your trust to me and look into my heart and show me, show me what you’re doing
So sit on top of the world and tell me how you’re feeling
what you feel now is what I feel for you

Take my hand and if I’m lying to you
I’ll always be alone
if I’m lying to you
Take your time, if I’m lying to you
I know you’ll find that you believe me
you believe me

Feel the sun on your face and tell me what you’re thinking
Catch the snow on your tongue and show me how it tastes
Take my hand and if I’m lying to you
I’ll always be alone
if I’m lying to you
Take your time, if I’m lying to you
I know you’ll find that you believe me
you believe me

Un gocciare senza sosta
della condensa cranica
corrode lentamente
la corteccia orbito-frontale
l’amigdala s’erode

Un tubo incastrato male
alla sommità del capo
da quei maestri dell’acqua
che mi hanno chiuso la porta
non capendo mai la mia lingua morta

Sto come la pasta in bianco
con un filo d’olio,
come Supermario
senza funghetti,
come didò
senza formine

Come una capoccia
senza ombrello

—————-
Now playing: Blur – Parklife
via FoxyTunes

Ja dom kloka orden hörde jag nyss sägas av Robert Aschberg!
Vet inte riktigt om det låter så klokt?

Patric har lyckats tappa sin mobil så jag har nyss beställt ett nytt simkort till honom så han får behålla samma nr. Finns nästan inget värre än att bli tvungen att byta nr.
Jag har haft mitt nr sen way back!
Men nu får han ju behålla sitt nr så här ska inte gnällas!

Nu har mamma & pappa lämnat broder med familj i Stockholm och har nog parkerat husbilen vid Ullared alldeles precis nu?
Sen Viva la Spania!

Min vän Zandra hängde med Mr Betnér när hon var i Stockholm Han är allt bra söt!

Själv så längtar jag bara till juletid och syster och London.
Känns mindre roligt att Linda inte ska med, allra helst nu när det är som det är.
Förhoppningsvis så blir det en förändring tills dess (och det tror jag)

Mina vänner och familj tjatar på mig att jag måste uppdatera bloggen och det är lite konstigt egentligen eftersom min familj och mina vänner är ju med mig hela tiden så dom vet ju redan vad som händer i mitt liv?
Kan ju vara så att “dom” (drar alla över en och samma kam) hellre vill läsa och få det återupprepat allt som sker?
Eller så är det för att det just denna blogg-fria period inte har varit direkt händelserik så då tänker dom att om man kan läsa det på nätet så blir det mer konkret och då känns det som att man läser om någon annan och på så vis blir det mer spännande?

En lite krydda i vardagen

Såg på Love Actually igår och den är ju så romantisk! Dido´s låt Here with me är med i den och den spelas ju givetvis när det är som mest känslosamt och kärleksfullt i filmen och den passar ruggigt bra… I love it! Kärlek är kärlek! Balsam för själen..

This day, a song inspired me:

so you’re with her
not with me
I hope she’s sweet
and so pretty
I hear she cooks delightfully
a little angel beside you

so you’re with her
not with me
oh how lucky
one man can be
I hear your house is smart and clean
oh how lovely with your homecoming queen
oh how lovely it must be

when you see her sweet smile baby
don’t think of me
and when she lays in your warm arms
don’t think of me

so you’re with her
not with me
I know she spreads sweet honey
in fact your best friend I heard he spent
last night with her
now how do you feel, how do you feel?

when you see her sweet smile baby
don’t think of me
and when she lays in your warm arms
don’t think of me
and it’s too late
and it’s too bad
don’t think of me
and it’s too late
and it’s too bad
don’t think of me

does it bother you now all the mess I made
does it bother you now, the clothes you told me not to wear
does it bother you now all the angry games we played
does it bother you now when im not the-re

when you see her sweet smile baby
don’t think of me
and when she lays in your warm arms
don’t think of me
and it’s too late
and it’s too bad
don’t think of me
and it’s too late
and it’s too bad
don’t think of me…

Dido, don't think of me!

I’ve firstly heard this song long-long ago when I ‘d been in the high school, but suddenly this song inspired me now.

I don’t know exactly what Dido means through this song, but I catch a feeling of a woman whose husband or boyfriend had an affair and choosed to left her after spending some times with her, and she knows the fact that, this woman has an affair with his best friend, recently.

Hmmm… this song happens here, around me, and the woman tells everythings to me…. I don’t know what to act, but I know the things that :

EVEN, AN AFFAIR CAUSES ANOTHER AFFAIR

EVEN, A LIE CAUSES ANOTHER LIES

so, beware of the affairs and lies my friends…

Most love stories are about people who fall in love with each other. But what about the one-sided love affair? If we were rational we’d acknowledge that its simply addictive emotional masochism; the more unsuitable or unattainable the object of desire, the stronger the fascination.  But when you’re madly in love with someone who doesn’t know you exist, being rational is the furthest thing from your mind. We’ve all been there. You feel like the walking wounded, the unloved one, the handicapped without the advantage of a great parking space! Charlie Brown says it best: “Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter like UNREQUITED LOVE.”

We opened the show with THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA from one of the best bossa nova singers ever,  Astrud Gilberto, performing with Joao Gilberto and Stan Getz. There really was a girl from Ipanema – a 15 year old called Heloisa Pinto who used to walk past the Rio bar frequented by the songwriters,Vinicius Morais and Antonio Jobim.  The song is a sweet tribute to the totally unattainable as well as an ode to youth. This music video is from the 1964 film “Get Yourself a College Girl”:

KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG has been covered by many artists, most notably by Roberta Flack, whose 1973 version topped the U.S. pop singles charts and won a Grammy Award. We opted to play the equally successful 1996 version, simply called KILLING ME SOFTLY,  by Hip-Hop group The Fugees with Lauryn Hill on lead vocals.

Whitney Houston’s version of I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU, released in 1992,  became one of the best-selling singles of all time. It was written and originally recorded by Dolly Parton and her poignant and bittersweet version, with Parton’s trademark twang,  was my choice this week.

I had to include Billy Bragg’s gentle, yet disturbing, song about a classroom crush, THE SATURDAY BOY, even if it was just for the line: ”I had to look in the dictionary/ To find out the meaning of unrequited.” The Violent Femmes’ upped the ante with a song about repressed lust.  ADD IT UP has Gordon Gano promising himself, ‘the day after today I will stop’, but the music’s pent-up passion suggests otherwise.

When I announced this week’s theme there was lots of correspondence regarding which genre of music does ‘unrequited love’ best. Yes, I agree with BayFM’s Cowboy Sweetheart that country singers have it pretty much all sewn up, but you can’t go past a little soul music when it comes to love songs, requited or not.  A couple of examples: JUST MY IMAGINATION from the Temptations and CUPID from Sam Cooke. And I didn’t forget the soulful sound of Ray Charles with YOU DON’T KNOW ME, delivering a duet with Diana Krall, from his Genius Loves Company album.

Joe Jackson is wonderfully incredulous when he asks: IS SHE REALLY GOING OUT WITH HIM? The Cars, on the other hand,  are obsessed with their BEST FRIEND’S GIRL while  Bowling For Soup are going nuts over the  GIRL ALL THE BAD BOYS WANT. I love a band with a sense of humour. Check out the video from Bowling For Soup. By the way, the band’s name was derived from a comedy act by Steve Martin.

Now if you need convincing that country singers are the kings and queens of the lovelorn, here’s Patsy Cline with I FALL TO PIECES, from the Glenn Reeves Show, February 23, 1963.

LAYLA by the Eric Clapton’s group, Derek & The Dominos, is a tale of unrequited love inspired by Clapton’s relationship with his friend George Harrison’s then wife, Pattie Boyd Harrison. Here’s a video clip from 1984 of Eric Clapton peforming the song live with Bill Wyman on bass, Charlie Watts on drums, Jeff Beck on guitar, Stevie Winwood on piano …. have I died and gone to heaven? 

A song that elevates lovelorn moping to operatic heights is Ben E King’s I WHO HAVE NOTHING and another, possibly,  is Dionne Warwick’s WALK ON BY, written by Burt Bacharach and David Hal. It was recorded by Warwick in 1964 and became a landmark single for her.

A year later Donovan released his first single, CATCH THE WIND, and in 1967 The Small Faces recorded TIN SOLDIER, a song Steve Marriott wrote to his first wife Jenny. The song signalled a return to the band’s R&B roots after their previous forays into psychedelic rock and other musical experiments. P.P. Arnold can be heard singing back up vocals. Here’s some rare footage of The Small Faces with P.P. Arnold performing on Belgium television. The year was 1968. Go the Mods!

Written by the Bee Gees, IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU was given to Yvonne Elliman when the group became involved in the soundtrack for the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever. She scored  a #1 hit in the US with the track. 

Going a bit further back in time is the Everly Brothers version of ALL I HAVE TO DO IS DREAM. Recorded in 1958, it was recorded in just two takes and features Chet Atkins on guitar. The B side “Claudette” was the first major songwriting success for Roy Orbison. Two years later, Orbison recorded ONLY THE LONELY, his first major hit. An operatic rock ballad, it was a sound unheard of at the time, described by the New York Times as expressing “a clenchied, driven urgency.” Here’s Roy performing the song during the Black & White Night concert. No-one does it like the Big O.

From the sublime to the ridiculous:  a teenager falls in love with a pin-up girl, in a picture dated 1929, in The Who’s PICTURES OF LILY and Fountains of Wayne sing about a schoolboy’s lust for his friends mother in STACEY’S MUM. 

And then it was a couple of classics: FOR NO ONE from The Beatles Revolver album, written by Paul McCartney and a track from one of my all-time favourite albums,  I’M WAITING FOR THE DAY from the Beach Boys Pet Sounds album.

In an effort to shake the lovelorn out of the doldrums, we closed the show with Radiohead’s masterpiece of poetic self-loathing, CREEP.

Here’s the complete playlist:

The Girl from Ipanema - Astrud Gilberto / João Gilberto / Stan Getz

Killing Me Softly  - The Fugees

I Will Always Love You - Dolly Parton

Diary - Bread

The Saturday Boy - Billy Bragg

Add It Up  - Violent Femmes

Cupid - Sam Cooke

Just My Imagination  - The Temptations 

You Don’t Know Me – Ray Charles & Diana Krall

Strange And Beautiful (I’ll Put A Spell On You) -  Aqualung

Is She Really Going Out With Him - Joe Jackson

My Best Friend’s Girl - The Cars

Girl All the Bad Boys Want – Bowling For Soup

White Flag - Dido

My Eyes Adored You – Frankie Valli  & the Four Seasons

I Fall To Pieces - Patsy Cline

Layla - Derek & The Dominos 

I’ll Kill Her - SoKo

I Who Have Nothing - Ben E. King 

Walk On By - Dionne Warwick

Catch The Wind - Donovan

Tin Soldier - The Small Faces 

If I Can’t Have You - Yvonne Elliman

All I Have To Do Is Dream - The Everly Brothers

Only The Lonely - Roy Orbison

Pictures Of Lily - The Who

Stacey’s Mom - Fountains of Wayne

For No One - The Beatles

I’m Waiting For The Day - The Beach Boys

Creep - Radiohead

Next week, we’re celebrating Halloween with SCARY SONGS FOR SILLY PEOPLE (or is that SILLY SONGS FOR SCARY PEOPLE?).  Suggestions welcome.

Listen to Lyn McCarthy at the Theme Park on BayFM, Tuesdays 2-4pm, Sydney time.  

Also streaming on http://www.bayfm.org

Tragically also on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/maccalyn

How many people can honestly say they heard of Dido before hearing her voice on Eminem’s smash hit “Stan”? I can. I knew of her from her brother Rollo’s band Faithless (boo yah – nerd powers) and couldn’t wait to get her album after hearing her single “Here With Me” when I used to watch Roswell on television (back when Katherine Heigl was still universally bad ass) on the WB. Those were the days.

Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O’Malley Armstrong , professionally known as Dido, originally released No Angel in 1999, it found a mass audience in 2001, and according to her official web site it went on to achieve sales in excess of over sixteen million copies worldwide.

The success of No Angel was spurred on by Eminem sampling Dido’s track, “Thank You” on “Stan”, a track from his The Marshall Mathers LP album, released in 2000. The Marshall Mathers LP reached #1 on the US and Canadian charts, and Dido appeared in the music video for “Stan”, which was the third single from the album, playing the fictional character Stan’s long-suffering girlfriend. While the song only reached #51 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA, it went to #1 in the UK and Australia and was an international hit. “Stan” was nominated for a Grammy award for the track (Dido did not sing with Eminem at the ceremony; Elton John sang Dido’s section).

Track listing

1. “Here with Me” (Dido Armstrong, Pascal Gabriel, Paul Statham) – 4:14
2. “Hunter” (D. Armstrong, Rollo Armstrong) – 3:57
3. “Don’t Think of Me” (D. Armstrong, R. Armstrong, Paul Herman, Pauline Taylor) – 4:32
4. “My Lover’s Gone” (D. Armstrong, Jamie Catto) – 4:27
5. “All You Want” – 3:53
6. “Thank You” – 3:38
7. “Honestly OK” – 4:37
8. “Slide” – 4:53
9. “Isobel” – 3:54
10. “I’m No Angel” – 3:55
11. “My Life” – 3:09
12. “Take My Hand (Bonus Track)” – 6:42

Today’s Pick: Dido – No Angel

Read more here.

Producer
AlexandLiane

Filming
The week beginning September 15, 2008.

Location
A ranch near Los Angeles.

Premiere
On Dido’s official YouTube account on October 30, 2008.

Some quick reviews of lately favorite yoga class music.  Check out the YogaFit music that I use as well.

Brian Carson- Liquid Soul

I adore this album.  It was produced by Brian Carson for Eoin Finn’s yoga DVD, Power Yoga for Happiness Surf Edition.  This album is extremely chill, with an almost sexy bass vibe and a slow oceanic texture.  The beats aren’t heavily defined, allowing for full free flow.  This album truly gets one in “Zen zone.”      

Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead- True Love Waits

A good mix of beats and speeds of choice Radiohead songs, the consistency of instrument (piano) is what makes this mix perfect for yoga.  Some of the tracks can have an anxious quality, so I save this album and those tracks for the “work phase” of power vinyasa.  This album has two of my favorite songs of all time, Fake Plastic Trees and Let Down.

Afro Celt Soundsystem - Seed

VERY cool!  This band mixes Irish music with West African percussion and dance beats.  The album flows together really well, yet each song is itself creative and inventive.  The album offers various faster paced rhythms and vocals that are appropriate for my power vinyasa class.

Brooke Fraser - Albertine

Beautiful vocals and words.  This album has a gentle pop/easy listening sound.  Brooke’s voice is clear and strong.  Her lyrics balance feelings of searching and longing, and then enlightening and realizing.  The tone of the album seems to be about seeking and finding, and affirming understanding.  I love to play this particularly when my class is all ladies.

Achillea - Amadas Estrellas

Achillea is featured on the Yoga Moods and Angel’s Voices YogaFit albums, and that was the inspiration for purchasing this album.  Sensual, deep, and intriguing, each track carries a great momentum for yoga.  If you aren’t familiar with Achillea, this band has a little bit of an “Enigma” vibe.  My only gripe is that the album is quite short, so I mixed in the Achillea tracks from the YogaFit albums to round out my play list.      

Soulfood - Yoga Groove

A good mix of Eastern instrumental and electronic sounds, chanting and some lyrics…this is your basic but GOOD basic yoga sound.  This album encompasses versatile tempos with some introspective and meditative tracks, and some light, airy tracks.  I recommend this to round out any teacher or practitioner’s yoga mix.  It is a “go to” album.  About 1 hour long, it helps a teacher time class.

Dido - Safe Trip Home

Another album I like to play with ladies class, Dido’s voice is so smooth and the backbeats pump silky.  The lyrics are about a girl’s life…love, recollections, contentment, and change.  She is sweet in this album, offering simple realism over anxiety.  The mood and tempo of the collection is pretty steady which makes it good for class.  Northern Skies is an awesome track, my favorite. 

Classical Music for Meditation and Yoga

This is my most recent purchase.  After hearing a song of my heart, Claire de lune, in a recent yoga practice, I was craving some classical music to simply edit images and write to, but I happened upon this album that is great for yoga!  It got RAVE reviews in my Go with the Flow vinyasa class.

Enya - And Winter Came

I bought this album last holiday season, and it was my yoga Christmas music for 2008.  I’m excited to bring it back again soon.  I have, however, used the track Oíche Chiúin (Silent Night) for a Shavasana song all year.  What can you say about Enya?  She’s just beautiful.

Share some of your lately favorite music, for yoga or otherwise!