The sons of Mumford and the songs of Brandi (cont.)

Alright, since I got a little bit carried away yesterday on my music blog, I decided to carry over (like in addition). Heaven forbid a single blog post would be too long to hold your attention; I wish to be everything but boring.

So. Brandi.

I've loved Brandi Carlile for a while now. There's just something about her music that really hits home for me. At first I only listened to her for her lyrics (and because of my somewhat obsessive affinity for female singer-songwriters). I didn't really like her voice that much, because every time I listened, it kind of hurt me inside. I thought, "There is no way that singing like that is actually good for her." She's an excellent musician and song-writer, but as a vocalist... it just didn't do it for me.

My opinion has changed. Quite a bit.

First of all, her vibrato. At first, I thought it was over the top. It's a little bit on the shaky side, but now, as improper as it may be, I kinda sorta love it. It's something that's different from every other singer out there, and it's absolutely beautiful.

Second of all, her range. It's not an obnoxious belty range, but she has immaculate control over her voice. She can belt without making it sound like belting. It's loud, but it's not simply noise.

Third, and most importantly of all, her lyrics. I am still trying to figure out Brandi's writing style. One minute it's deep and philosophical ("I don't think you ever learned a thing from me/but I'm sure that you want me to learn from you/and you've drawn heavy handed lines around morality/about yourself and I don't share your point of view"-I Will), and the next it's raw and simple ("And nothing you could do could make me turn my back on you/when you're lookin for a friend/I'm your man/when you need a friend/you got my hand"-If There Was No You).

Oh, and about the album. It's AWESOME. As if acoustic Brandi wasn't good enough. Add a full symphony, and you've got a folk singer-songwriter concert gone Broadway play. It's like nothing I've ever heard before. On a lot of songs, the orchestra bows out and lets Brandi do her thing on the guitar, but those violins and trumpets and all that jazz just add so much to the album.

Check out these tracks from the album:

I just really love her. She's deep, she's raw, she sings about things that are relatable. Not just love, but friendship, life, her dreams. You can tell that her music is really personal to her, and that "for her, love is the axis around which everything else turns, whether coming or going, long-lost or firmly rooted" (paste magazine's review). (I have no idea how to cite things via blog, I just didn't want to attempt to pass off that well-written sentence as my own. It doesn't even flow well.)

OH! And totally off subject, but the bloggerson has a new feature! If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, you'll see a little box inside which there is a place where you can subscribe to my blog via EMAIL!! How great is that?? Cause google accounts are lame, and I know that very few of the people that read my blog actually have them, and EVERYBODY has an email address (despite how little they check it). I hope that this new feature will encourage you to check your email more often. Hey, maybe I'm even doing you a favor. I know that you hate to get on your aol account and see
5 billion emails from facebook and random stores on whose lists you never even wanted to be. Maybe now you'll check it often enough to actually delete those emails. So, subscribe. It brightens my day to see new followers. It really does. Especially if you're from Europe. That's super cool.

Good night, internet.

The sons of Mumford and the songs of Brandi.

Wow guys. There really is just so much good music out there. I have so much admiration for the people that write and sing their own songs. There's something that makes singer-songwriter music so much better than singers that simply perform music written by others. No matter how hard they try, singers that sing songs written by others can never fully express the emotion felt by the one who wrote the song. And that's what makes self-written and produced music so great... it comes directly from the heart of the performer.

Whoa. Major rabbit trail. But I just love music.

I really wanted to talk about two musicians/bands: Mumford and Sons and Brandi Carlile.

Every summer when my family goes to the beach, I beg them to make a special trip to Seaside for me so that I can spend some time at one of my favorite places in the world: Sundog Books and Central Square records. My two favorite things, reading and music, smushed into one cute, beachy, artsy, cabin-like shop at the heart of Seaside. AWESOME. I can literally spend hours in that one little house. And every year, I make it a point to go out on a limb and buy a cd (or tw) that I wouldn't normally buy so that I can look super cool and artsy to the people that work at Central Square (They love me. You should've seen the owner when I purchased the Fiona Apple album at 15. He was shocked that such a peppy, blonde child could have enough angst inside of her that she would be led to purchase a Fiona Apple cd. (I didn't have any angst at all. Whatsoever. I was just attempting to appear enlightened). But this summer, I went to Seaside TWICE so I bought TWO cds! Mumford and Sons' Sigh No More and Brandi Carlile's live album from Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony.

1. Mumforddddddd. Guys, I know I'm a little late on this craze, but just bear with me. The album was released in October of 2009, but to be fair, their music didn't hit the US til February 2010. And, in my defense, at the time of this release, I was a naive little high school sophomore. My maturity was that of a... well, a high school sophomore, and my music taste was still being formed.


Back to Mumford. I just love this album. Marcus Mumford is absolutely fantastic. I watched a few of their lie performances, and you can tell that he has so much passion for the songs that he sings he can hardly contain it. It's similar to the Avett Brothers, but less screamy. There are times when Mumford's voice sounds as if it's about to break into sobs, and there are times when his voice is nothing less than a growl of anger. The lyrics are strangely spiritual ("In these bodies we will live/in these bodies we will die/where you invest your love/you invest your life/Awake my soul/you were made to meet your maker" (Awake My Soul) and "Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you/it will set you free/be more like the man you were made to be" ( Sigh No More)) and sensitive ("Tell me now where was my fault in loving you with my whole heart" (White Blank Page)). that I love about this album is the perfect blend of acoustic music and the sound of a full band. There is nothing hollow about this cd, it doesn't sound as if anything is missing. It's not just a simple combination of a guitar and a banjo, but it also includes a little keyboard and trumpet. And the tight, yet occasionally harsh harmonies just add to the blend. The final a capella chorus of "Little Lion Man" is out of this world.

Not to mention I'm a sucker for British men in winter clothes and canoes.

This is probably one of my favorite songs on the album.

Alright, Brandi will just have to wait til tomorrow. I got carried away on Mumford.

Where have you gone?

Where have you gone
with your confident
walk with
your crooked smile

why did you leave me
when you took your
laughter
and departed
are you aware that
with you
went the sun
all light
and what few stars
there were?

Where have you gone
with your confident
walk your
crooked smile the
rent money
in one pocket and
my heart
in another . . .


Mari Evans.


I know that I don't normally post poetry or lyrics or anything like that, but this is just so beautiful. Love this.

Vocabulary lesson.

Dwell:

1. To live or stay as a permanent resident, reside

2. To live or continue in a given condition or state

3. To linger on, emphasize, or ponder in thought, speech or writing (often followed by on or upon)

Let's focus on definition number 3.

Something that I've struggled with lately is regret. Well, not exactly regret; more like thinking about the past (because I have one now that I've graduated) and thinking about how it could have been different. What I could have said to salvage a friendship, what I could have done to prolong a relationship. Where I went wrong, or how in the world I was lucky enough to go right. You get the gist. 

But this regret, this dwelling, has recently caused me to become distracted from the present and, more importantly, the future. Because I am unable to let go of things that happened in the past, I am unable to focus on and become excited about my future. A chapter of my life has ended, but I'm physically unable to turn the page and begin the next.

God has so many incredible things planned for those of us who are in his will. I have faith that my future has just as much promise as did my past, and it is this hope that keeps me going. Because how terrible is the thought that the best days of my life have already passed me by? But I know that they have not, and I praise God for that assurance. 

"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:18-19

"Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure." Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.


I know, I'm killing you with all this Jane Austen. But this quote is perfect for this post, and it seemed like too good of a closing statement to let it pass me by just because it's repetitive.


Clumzzz.