Piano Man

Today I am going to do something radical and post a song that everyone has heard of! {Okay, maybe I am overestimating my and other recent generations...} The song is 'Piano Man' by Billy Joel! {If you've never heard of this song, your parents have, undoubtedly.}

I've liked Billy Joel for a couple years now. My first introduction to him was the inclusion of 'Still Rock and Roll to Me' on a mix CD my father made for my mother. But it wasn't until recently that I have come to really love his music.
It started one night about a month ago. I was riding in my sister's car and I had just heard a piece of news that depressed me. {A piece of news that meant a dream of mine was going to have to die.} We were listening to the radio and the song 'Piano Man' by Billy Joel came on. I knew the song, I even had it on my ipod. But I hadn't really listened to it in a while. As I sat there in the dark, sad and listening to Billy Joel singing about unfulfilled dreams... I don't know. I just fell in love with the song. When I got home, I listened to it again. Since then, we have been inseparable. :P
Ever since, I have been on a major Billy Joel kick. I've pulled out the copies I made from the Billy Joel records of a friend and am learning how to play 'She's Always a Woman' on the piano.
Also I'm driving my little brother crazy by constantly singing 'Piano Man'!

'Piano Man' became Billy Joel's first major hit in 1973 and is considered to be his "signature song". Which makes sense since Billy Joel is the piano man. Before he was a successful musician and after his first album had failed, he spent some time as a piano-lounge singer. This song is about that. The characters mentioned in the lyrics are all based off of real people.

Listen to 'Piano Man':
{Full version too. No radio edits for this girl!}

I Just Realized

You know what I thought would be fun? If I posted a song every day for a week! I know, you're probably thinking "Tell me why that is fun, exactly?" And well, it's not. But I want to do it and this is the perfect time of year for it, so paste a smile on your face and let's go!

Basically I shall be posting the songs that have been "rocking out to" lately. {Well, if I rocked out, which I don't. And if the music I listened to induced rocking out, which it doesn't.}
So, let me phrase this differently... I shall be posting the songs I have been listening to constantly as of late.

The other day I saw the music video for this song, 'I Just Realized'. It is by an artist named Matt Wertz. I had never heard of him before but this video made me an instant fan! ;)
I think it is so sweet! I love the video's lighting and summery aura. It makes me feel nostalgic for some reason. The song and lyrics are marvelous as well... Oh, I just love the whole thing!




Well, that's all for now! I'll see you all tomorrow. :P

Chère Françoise

I cannot comprehend how it is December already! Not only did November speed by... the whole year did! And guess what? I have now been selecting artists of the month for a year!
{If you'll see, I have taken the past artists off my sidebar and have given them their own little page! The reason they are arranged in such a *coughcough* "artistic, varied manner" is because the page editor is really difficult to work with. Or maybe I'm just stupid. Either way, I'm just not going to mess with it too much cause I finally got them in the right, chronological order!}

And speaking of artists of the month, this December's "chosen one" is Chère Françoise!

Chère Françoise is Franziska Beeler {as well as Shawn Jurek and Graydon James}. Originally from Switzerland, she sings in English, French, and German!
So far, she only has an EP entitled Departures. In my experience, I've found that EPs tend to have one amazing song and the rest are good but seem to weaken in light of the best song. Well, that is not the case with Departures. Each song is excellent! Indeed, I have trouble picking a favourite.
It is a pretty straightforward folk/french pop album, mostly it's just guitar with Franziska's charming vocals. {Though, if her new songs on myspace are any indication, she is leaning towards a more Electronica sound.} Half the songs on the EP are in French and the other half are in English.
As I mentioned before, I have trouble picking a favourite. Which turned out to be a problem when trying to decide what song to post. I got it narrowed down to three songs: 'Milupa, the Cat' {a song about her cat who was "named after an infant nutrition brand"}, 'Les Démons' {I'm not sure what this song is about since I can only catch every third sentence or so, but it is just lovely}, and 'I am Chère Françoise' which is the song I ended up picking. But I would definitely recommend checking out the rest of the EP!

Listen to 'I am Chère Françoise':




{You may have noticed the time durations skipping around on some songs. Files off emusic do that for some reason... I used to fix them in this long, tedious way but it was too time-consuming and messed with the quality of the song. Overall, the numbers changing around shouldn't affect the song. But let me know if it does.}

My Twin

Eleni Mandell! Why have I not posted about you yet??

Eleni Mandell is one of those artists that I "bookmarked and forgot". But, she was brought back on my radar by happy chance. I was listening to The Living Sisters which is a group formed by Becky Sharp, Inara George, and Eleni Mandell to satisfy their craving for harmony. {Dream team? I think yes!} I knew who Becky Sharp was and Inara George. I thought the name Eleni Mandell sounded familiar. Figuring I had probably bookmarked her, I did a simple search on my computer and sure enough, she was there!

Eleni Mandell seems to me to be an extremely classy person. I don't know why. Her music and personality just seems to have an aura of elegance. She is also versatile! I have her album Miracle of Five which is a folk/jazz album. But she also sings country, rock, vintage-y pop and probably a couple of other genres as well.
And her vocals... words such 'dusky' and 'sultry' are unavoidable. Her song 'My Twin' from Miracle of Five makes me want to slink around like some sort of 1920's lounge singer. :P

Listen to 'My Twin':
{And please: feel free to let your inner lounge singer come out. ;)}

Zoey Van Goey

As the days of October dwindled away and the month of November approached, I realized I had no one in mind to make the artist of the month. Usually, I have a fair idea at least a week or so before. These past few times, I have even had it picked out a month ahead!
I was pondering eligible artists when a little voice in the back of my head said: "Why not choose Zoey Van Goey for the artist of the month?"
"Zoey Van Goey? Hm, I don't know..." I replied, somewhat lukewarm to the idea. But my ambivalence soon faded. The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea. I had been listening to their album with unremitting fervor the past few weeks. Really, they were the obvious choice.

So, props to the little voice in the back of my mind for having such a fab idea. ;)

That picture is the first one I ever saw of them. Seriously, you have to love a band with a picture like that.
I bookmarked Zoey Van Goey in my "bands to listen to someday" folder but didn't get around to them until... uh... *checks date* a little over... a year later. My, my. That's rather sad. And there are still hundreds more still waiting for my attention. {Sorry, I'm apparently having major focusing issues today. I shall try to keep to the subject at hand!}

Zoey Van Goey is, by my standards, indie pop/folk at its finest. Accessible melodies, often humorous lyrics, great girl/guy vocals, a quirky band name, and elements of surprise... it doesn't get much better than that!
They have only one full length album so far, "The Cage Was Unlocked All Along" which, as I mentioned before, I have been listening to it almost incessantly as of late. Pardon, but I have to make another soundtrack comparison. "The Cage Was Unlocked All Along" sounds as if it could be the soundtrack of a musical. The plot being: a boy and a girl who are romantically involved try to escape an island before it is blown-up into apocalyptic nothingness. The lyrics really seem to follow a interconnecting vein. Though this idea was probably first engendered by the album cover:


Anyhow, here's one of my favourite songs off the album, 'Sweethearts in Disguise':