Today’s Soundtrack: Fados da tristeza alegre – Marco Rodrigues

It has been WAY too long! This summer has slipped away and not too much has happened in my blog world. Time to change this with a post about this wonderful CD, perfect for a lazy summer afternoon.

I first came into contact with Fado music, the traditional music of Portugal, on a trip to Lisbon. Portugal’s capital city reminded me much of San Fransisco, though I can’t speak to the accuracy of this assessment, having never actually BEEN to San Fransisco.  Let me explain, this sunny city on the riverside has rolling hills all throughout, and people make their way around on old-school trolleys. In fact there is even a bridge in Lisbon, the 25 de Abril bridge, that is an exact replica of the famous landmark in SF. Now I’m sorry if those of you who are aquainted with both places are offended by my comparisions, but trust me, if you are from SF, Lisbon is a perfectly wonderful place to be connected to in any metaphorical way, even if the comparison is a little weak.  My apologies, sincerely.

Back to the music, Fado is a traditional style that grew out of the difficulties of the immigrant population in Portugal, much like Flamenco music in Spain or the slave music in early America.  Now, it has been popularized and you can hear it any night of the week drifting out from the various upscale Fado houses all across the capital city.  The music is full of emotion and passion, though the particular emotion can range anywhere from playful to melencholy.

Marco’s CD is a perfect example and his hauntingly beautiful voice along with the traditional Portuguese guitar and classical guitar that accompany him…wow. beautifully simple and stunning.  I was blessed to hear Marco live, almost 2 years ago on that weekend visit to Lisbon when my friend and I stumbled quite unawares on a Fado house where he just so happened to be playing.  We were magically transported into the world of Fado sitting at the front of an almost empty house, dimly lit, drinks in hand, completely mesmerized.  We sat almost in silence til the closing time, 2am, soaking it all in. Marco was quite gracious to us, and spoke almost perfect Spanish (albeit with a Portuguese accent), I certainly owed him a shout-out long ago. Hopefully, this makes up for it.

So, if you’re in need of something to take you on a little stay-cation to another world, where everything is worth singing about, and is done with passion and grace…check out some Fado. You will love it.

Check out his myspace for some great examples of his work.

Today’s Soundtrack: Buddy Holly and The Crickets

Growing up, I remember my dad listening to classical music, opera, and Buddy Holly.  Perhaps I should explain the seemingly random insertion: my dad is from Lubbock, Texas.  Lubbock’s claim to fame: Buddy Holly.  They went to the same high school.

via Flickr user The Horror

So maybe it’s the nostalgia factor that gets Buddy Holly a special place in my heart; that would probably be a good presumption.  Makes me feel somehow closer to my dad and his experience.  I remember my family went to see The Buddy Holly Story (biographical rock’n'roll musical) almost every time it came to Chicago, and as with most stars rocketed to fame and then making a quick exit, it sure makes a pretty good story.

You only wonder what would have happened in his story had he not died in that plane crash so surreptitiously.

Today’s Soundtrack: Chanticleer’s Our American Journey

I went through a rather strange obsession with this group some time during in high school, a 12 man a-capella choir, and going to their Christmas concert in Chicago was a tradition of mine for several years.  My little sister hated them, but no matter.  I happen to think they’re pretty great.

via ralichte.com

This particular collection is a sort of archival group of songs from different parts of American history.  I love the sound of the human voice in all of its variations, and with 12 male voices, you certainly can explore a whole range of sound.  I love the harmonies, which they layer so skillfully, and even if you don’t like the music, you certainly can appreciate that.  Arrangement of harmony is always impressive to me, and much more in 12 parts!

Happy Love Day!

Today’s soundtrack is a song by Negramaro, Parlami d’Amore…you’ll probably figure this out, but it’s in Italian, so I actually have not much of an idea what the song is saying, except what I can gather from its similarities to Spanish and from the action in the music video. The title, at least, I can translate roughly for you: Talk to me about Love!

Got the music video off youtube, so I apologize for the slightly poor quality, but I like the video well enough that I really wanted to share. Hope you enjoy!

And, have a great valentine’s day close to the ones you love

Today’s Soundtrack: Putumayo’s Asian Grooves

I have a lot of chores to do today, and chores definitely require musical motivation! I’m tired after a long week, so didn’t want to pick anything too crazy, but just enough to keep me moving…and my selection was the Asian Grooves collection put out by Putumayo.  It’s definitely mellow, but with a good beat.  Perfect to suit my mood.

Most of the tracks are from India, with a few exceptions: Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Trinidad, Germany (not sure how this one fits…but eh).  Maybe I just have India on the brain because I’m working on a farewell scrapbook for a friend who is moving there to be a missionary!  Either way, I love hearing music from different countries, because it’s such an important part of culture.

So I’m cleaning, drinking tea, and “groovin” alone in my apartment on a Friday night.

Today’s Soundtrack: Meredith Andrews

I was listening to the radio and recently discovered Meredith Andrews and was really interested by her interview, and of course I’m always intrigued by songs with piano as the driving instrument. I just love how it sounds.  I looked her up on iTunes, and ended up downloading her album, The Invitation.  The CD was my playlist today, as when I make a new music discovery, I like to listen to something over and over to kind of let the lyrics, musicality and the whole picture of the album kind of sink in.  It’s part of the exploration of the artist.  Meredith is a worship leader, but a lot of the songs on her album are personal dialogues between her and God, more so than corporate worship songs.

I must admit, however, that after the quick 30 second samples on iTunes (how much can that tell you, really?) what really tends to sway me one way or the other is the album cover.  Yes, I am superficial.  Yes, album covers don’t really have anything to do with the person or the music.  But I like album covers.

I love her style (wish I could pull some of those things off!) and I think the classic/vintage embellishments are a great touch.  The green floral wallpaper is probably not something I would have seen and picked out on my own, but it suits the photograph and I kind of like it.

Overall, there aren’t too many surprises in her album, but it is kind of a classic sound that is comforting and thoughtful and served me well today as a great daily soundtrack.