Campus Music Invasion

The Campus Music Invasion this year featured a plethora of talented upcoming artists.  Though I truly enjoy all of the music on the album, my favorite artist is Our Satori.  I really love their use of the electronic instruments (keyboard and guitar) to manipulate sounds.  The vocals remind me a lot of the Red Hot Chili Peppers who I absolutely love.  I also love the laid back feeling of the track “Quit Your Day Job,” it makes me want to sit on my couch and veg out all day long (not necessarily a good thing in the middle of finals!!)

My favorite artist from the Ann Arbor area is Alex Brumel, who now performs with Janel Elizabeth.  The combination of the sound of their voices is unmatched; with beautiful lyrics and amazing chemistry, this duet is unforgettable.  I’ve seen Alex perform a few times (both solo and with Janel) and every time I just fall in love with his music even more.

Music in Movies

As a kid, I was in love with all of Maurice Sendak's picture-books, and obviously my favorite was "Where the Wild Things Are." Based on the success of past children's classic stories being turned into movies, such as the Harry Potter series and Curious George, I am actually really excited to see how the book translates onto the big screen.  Although the trailer itself seems a little bit interesting (I'm not sure how I feel about live action monsters as opposed to animated ones), I really liked the Arcade Fire song chosen to go along with it.  The song effectively conveys the different emotions being portrayed by the commercial, from sadness to adventure to curiosity.

I love the usage of popular and indie music in films.  I am currently taking a film course at Michigan, so I've learned a lot about how sound influences the mood being portrayed by the visual images on screen and I no longer feel that one of these elements can survive without the other.  No matter what genre of music it is (anything from an orchestral score to a period of silence), as long as the sound impacts the audience in the manner desired by the director I'm all for its creative incorporation.

So I've been trying to think about my favorite musical moments in film and it has definitely not been an easy task.  As far as my favorite intimate love scene song, hands down (and I think many other people will agree with me) it is the Counting Crows' "Colorblind" love scene in "Cruel Intentions." The music makes the actions and magnetism between Phillippe and Witherspoon feel so incredibly real.  My favorite song used for opening credits in a film is Barry Louis Polisar's "All I Want is You" in the beginning of "Juno."  The song is simple, just like Juno's character and the movie's plot, and it fits really well with the cartoon action shown during the credits.  As for closing credits, the "Jai Ho" Bollywood dance sequence at the end of "Slumdog Millionaire" definitely tops the charts.  The song itself is great, but the combination with the entertaining dance number as the credits roll makes it even better.  I'm not as familiar with movies that have fight sequences or car chases, but if I had to choose my favorite for each I would say that "Eye of the Tiger" in "Rocky III" made for an impressive fight scene soundtrack and "Race Against Time" in "The Fast and the Furious" was an amazing song for a car chase scene

A Rush of Blood to My Head

The release of Coldplay's 2002 album "A Rush of Blood to the Head" featured the unbelievable track "The Scientist," which is the single song that has flourished my love for music and provided me with insight and meaning in my life.  Never have I found myself so captivated by a song as the first time I listened to The Scientist - immediately I was lost in the lyrics, music, and vocal performance all at once.  I can't pinpoint exactly what it was in the song that compelled me to change the way I view the world, but soon after I found myself feeling much more easy going and laid back, just taking things day by day and not letting the little things get to me.  As I listened to the rest of the album, I found myself falling more and more in love with Coldplay's unmatched talent and sound, and of course, Chris Martin's beautiful voice.  To this day (six years after hearing the song for the first time), I still find myself enthralled by The Scientist and feeling a kind of full body relaxation every time I hear it.

Lollapa-who?-za

Okay, so apparently I've been living in a big bubble for the past 19 years because although I've heard of Depeche Mode, Jane's Addiction, and the Beastie Boys (this year's Lollapalooza headliners), I have never heard any of their songs.... I guess I'm not an expert on the alternative/punk rock genre of music, so I don't really think that Lollapalooza would be my cup of tea, but I will say that I am very impressed with this year's Bonnaroo lineup -- Bruce Springstreen, Phish, Andrew Bird, Band of Horses, Santogold, Girl Talk, Erykah Badu, and Ben Harper, among many others. This mellow, indie rock, jam band type festival is much more appealing to my taste in music than the line-up of Lollapalooza.

Hope and Dream

Asking me to choose my "dream show" line-up is like asking me to pick my favorite jelly bean flavors or something .... IMPOSSIBLE!!! However, after contemplating for a lonnnnnnggggg long time I finally settled on what I think would be the most rockin' music festival EVER, featuring shows by the best rock, jazz, hip-hop, and pop/soul artists I could think of.

To kick things off at this festival, which would be called "Hope and Dream" (my middle name is Hope and I think it sounds like a cool name =) there would be a show featuring rock icons throughout history: opening would be Queen to rock for the 80s,  in the middle would be Coldplay to show off the rock of the new millenium, and headlining would DEFINITELY be the Beatles to represent the 60s.  Though each of these bands have totally different sounds, I really feel like their music complements each other, and who wouldn't want to see such epic legends as Freddie Mercury and John Lennon, and future-legend Chris Martin performing on a single stage?!?!

For the second show, we would take it down a bit for some pop/soul music.  I really love musicians who are talented pianists, so I chose musicians who really know how to tickle the ivories ;-) The show would open with a bang -- a performance by none other than Sir Elton John.  Next, Elton John would perform some kind of duet with John Legend, who would then play a set on his own.  Headlining the show would definitely be my favorite female artist: Vanessa Carlton.   The soulful voices and amazing instrumentals of the music of all of these artists would make for the concert of a lifetime.

The second day of "Hope and Dream" would start off with a jazz concert.  Prior to thinking about what I was going to write for this blog, I had never really listened to much jazz music at all.  I had only known about the classic jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, etc. but I wasn't familiar with any contemporary jazz musicians.  After doing my research, I actually came across a few I really, really enjoyed.  Therefore.... the jazz line-up would begin with Jamie Cullum, whose sound is more of a mix between jazz and pop.  Following would be the great Michael Buble, who has the feel of an old-timer but the appeal of modern music.  Finally, the headline spot would definitely be a performance by the all-time best crooner, Frank Sinatra.  Though the sounds of all three of these artists are different, they all contain the essential musical elements that people love about jazz.

On the final night of the festival would be a hip-hop concert, featuring three of my current favorite hip-hop artists: opening would be Lupe Fiasco, mid would be Kanye West, and headlining would be M.I.A.  I absolutely LOVE her and think her style and sound is something so unique and passionate.  I really get into her music and I think in concert she would be just absolutely unbelievable.  As for Lupe and Kanye, what else is there to say? 

All I can say is that my life would be complete if any music festival or concert like this ever was created.  Obviously not all of the artists are around any longer but can't we still hope and dream?

Can't a girl just get some General Tso's around here?

Here in Ann Arbor it's been REALLY REALLY hard to find a decent Chinese restaurant. Whether it's take-out or delivery or sit-in, nothing satisfied me at ALL in my first three semesters at school, except the fried rice at Lucky Kitchen. My roommate, Hillary, and I were becoming more and more depressed about the lack of quality dumplings anywhere in this city (not to mention we live in a sorority house where all we eat is healthy grilled chicken and veggies and we were CRAVING some greasy lo mein and egg rolls), so we decided to go on a mission to find the best Chinese food in town. Though the journey is not over, we have tried two different places in the past two weeks... the first was Saigon Garden-- half Vietnamese and half Chinese-- and they had GREAT wonton soup and the one we went to tonight--ChinaGate-- had AMAZING lo mein! I'm starting to think that maybe there's not just one all-around, heart-stopping, jaw-dropping, mouth-watering great Chinese restaurant. Maybe each one just has their specialties...

I Am...

SASHA FIERCE! So I just downloaded Beyonce's third solo album "I Am...Sasha Fierce" and I am addicted! Unlike her first two albums, which consisted mainly of hip-hop dance beats, Sasha Fierce is a unique combination of soulful R&B tracks AND her sexy hip-hop flavor. The passionate lyrics of the first six songs on the album, including the recent number one hit "If I Were a Boy," are captivating, and the vocals she exhibits on these tracks are evidence of the true depth of Beyonce's talent. Fans who consider themselves one of her "single ladayys" would be extremely satisfied and moved by the rest of the album! This album is definitely one to download in entirety instead of just the few overplayed popular singles!!