Someone Else

I've been feeling too weary/distracted/busy lately to post. {Not to mention, I have had some sort of virus this past week, that brought along a sore throat and chronic tiredness. I'm feeling much better though!}
For some reason, I deemed writing a blog post as "too much effort". So, I've decided to be firm with myself. I've told myself to stop being ridiculous and type out the post that has been rattling around in my head.

I'm posting a song I've been listening to a lot lately and really enjoying, 'Someone Else' by Annie and the Beekeepers.

Annie and the Beekeepers are a country/folk band. Now, I freely admit, I do not like country. But, even though they have songs with strong country sound, they also have a fair number of songs that are just folk. {Their main core of instruments are ones atypical, I believe, of bluegrass but they are played in more of a folky sound.}
Their lead vocalist, Annie Lynch, is an excellent singer - never twangy. {Which is always what I associate with country groups. Rather a gross generalization on my part.}

Listen to 'Someone Else':
{*laughs to self at the humour in that sentence*}




{Talks to self: Now see, that wasn't so hard! And yet you procrastinated writing this for days. *tsktsk*}

Crayola Doesn't Make a Color For Your Eyes

I have returned! I was many states away, visiting relatives that I hadn't seen in 20 years. {Quite a feat, indeed, since I am only 17!}

Anyhow, last week I made a conscious decision to go search for new music to listen to.
It did not work out very well.
I've found I usually have better luck when I don't make a conscious decision to go on a music search. {Must be good ol' Murphy's law.}
Though, that is not to say it was a total waste of time! I did run across this unique song by Kristin Andreassen, 'Crayola Doesn't Make a Color For Your Eyes'.
The lyrics to this song, and the song itself, are adorably fun. I found myself involuntarily smiling the first time I heard it.

It also has a music video {which has lots of cute kids in it!!}:

{Disclaimer: Don't blame me if you find yourself randomly humming/singing this.}

Ophelia Hope

September has finally arrived! To me, September marks the beginning of autumn - my favourite season.
And also, I have an excellent artist of the month picked out! It is with great pleasure that I bring you: Ophelia Hope!

It is rather a funny story how I happened upon this band. One day, I got it into my head that I wanted to like an artist named Ophelia. {Don't ask, I don't know. I just get these strange whims.} So, on the handy-dandy emusic searchbar, I typed in Ophelia. Unsurprisingly, there really aren't that many artist/bands with Ophelia in their name. Ophelia Hope was on the list, obviously, and once I heard them, I knew my search was over. Very soon afterward, I bought their album, also entitled Ophelia Hope.
Though Ophelia Hope is based in Bergen, Norway its members are from all over the globe. {"a Norwegian singer, an Italian producer, an Australian songwriter and English percussionist", according to their myspace.}

Defining the genre of Ophelia Hope is difficult. Their sound seems to change with every other song. I have seen them referred to as "acoustic, cinematic pop-noir" which sums it up very nicely. Since when I listen to Ophelia Hope I often get the feeling I am listening to a movie soundtrack of sorts. Only, the thing is, this [mythical] film doesn't stay within any genre boundaries either.
In my mind, I see it as being a mixture of:
1. A 90's chick flick with some despairing moments but a happy ending,
2. A modern romantic comedy with witty lines that keeps you laughing,
3. A black & white film made in the early 60's with a profound, bittersweet subject matter,
4. A brightly-coloured musical with almost childish lightheartedness.

{Am I being nonsensical? So be it!}

It's not as if Ophelia Hope is doing anything amazingly groundbreaking, but yet I find their music to be unparalleled. The more I listen to this album, the more I love it! The rich orchestration, the inflections of jazz, the pensive folk, the clever pop songs... Definitely one of my new favourite albums.

Of course, I had difficulty deciding what song to pick. Knowing that, whatever song I chose, it would in no way represent the full sound of Ophelia Hope. Eventually, I decided on 'Beautiful Tears'. So, I'll stop waxing eloquent now and let you listen. ;)




Oh, and, I am going away this weekend! Just an FYI, in case you desperately try to get in touch with me and get offended and think I hate you when I don't respond.
Ha...haha... :P