Sounds Like?

When looking at schools one of the things that drew me to Jacks school was the strong music program. I was excited for my kids to have the opportunity to play in a band or solo if that was the thing they were interested in.
Then once we started I realised that they weren't really able to play anything but percussion instruments until they were in year two. It felt like a long way away.
But Jack is in year 2 this year and today was musical try outs. What was awesome was that it wasn't the kids trying out for a place (like an audition). Instead the music department pulled out all of the instruments and told the kids to have at it! Try everything, see if there is anything that you enjoy and would like to take further, or if you don't feel like this is your year, come back to it next year.
They had timpanies, drum kits, keyboards and piano, saxophones, violins, flutes, clarinets, trumpets, trombones, percussion, and a lone cello.
Jack started off feeling very nervous, but seeing that they had older kids showing the younger ones how to positions their mouths or hold the instrument Jack quickly relaxed and wandered from space to space listening and trying.
And you know what, I was jealous! I wish that this access to instruments of all shapes and sizes was something that had been available to me when I was young.
So this morning we found out that the cello, violin and drums weren't Jacks 'thing'. As he tried the trumpet he got such a lovely clear sound straight away that even the music teacher was surprised (ohh how I would love for him to choose the trumpet, but I felt forced to play the trumpet when I was young and so no pressure).
I got such a huge rush from watching him trying all of these things, and hope he chooses to join. But also will not push it. He has already said that he would like a guitar, which will be a very belated birthday present. And he regularly picks up his (on loan) saxophone, but it's still a bit to big for him to really get into it.
It was a mummy moment worth bottling and an experience I think he will keep with him for a long time to come. And if he decided this year isn't his year or that playing in a ensemble isn't his thing then at least he has had the opportunity.
Watching - Sherlock S2.
Listening - Other than Jack on the cello I have an obsession with The xx at the moment.
Reading - Fahrenheit 451
State of mind - All tingly and so proud of both my boys. I may need to be reminded of this later in the week :)

New Musical Obessions - Kimbra

A friend sent me the new Goyte release 'Someone I Used To Know' Featuring Kimbra recently.  I love Goyte (and am having a love affair with this song) but had not heard of Kimbra.  And then another friend mentioned her a few days later, after a bit of perusing the internet I think I have found my new musical obsession. I can't wait to hear her album which is coming out in a month or so.  What a voice, what a presence .... ohhhh.

iPod Drive Tunes (2)

So before I write this I am wondering if maybe its boring to others to read about the music that accompanied me when I drive? Its just that so often when I'm driving a song comes on and I think gosh this is so great/sad/bad/funny I wish I could share it. I add the links so that you can give it a listen and hope that you also think this is so great/sad/bad/funny I'm glad I heard that today. So if it's boring tell me and I'll ... well I'll probably still write it but at least I'm not thinking that everyone else is loving it *grin*

Saturday I drove up to see Dad on my own. It was a great drive. It reminded me of driving up the coast to see dad before I had kids. Music blaring, not noticing how long the drive is because there are no kids yelling in the background.

The hour drive meant I listened to a lot of music ... loudly !!! Here are a few that caught my ears:

Barry Louis Polisar - All I want is you. This is one of the things that I love about soundtracks. You come across songs that you would never hear elsewhere. I have visions of singing this song at a wedding. For someone who doesn't want to get married I often hear songs that I think would go great at my wedding, or someone else's. To be fair I often hear songs that I think I'd like to play at my funeral as well. There's a blog post (or 2) in that somewhere.

Brooklyn Funk Essentials - Istanbul Twilight. I love this album, its a mixture of global sounds and hip hop beats. Istanbul just happened to be the track that graced my drive but I don't think its my favourite ... actually I don't know what my favourite is.

Prodigy - Voodoo People. This is also a soundtrack favourite. Its from the Hackers soundtrack. If you haven't seen it you should but you'll need to be in the mood for a crazy young 90's flick. It's one of my top 10 (maybe 20) movies of all time. The song really needs to be played loud. My one criticism is that its a bit to long for such a repetitive tune. But really it does get into your blood if you play it loud.

Seth Sentry - The Waitress. I don't know if I actually like this song, but I like the lyrics "the relationship is built on breakfast, I'm waiting on her just to wait on me". Its from Triple J Hottest 100. Which has really become my best link to new popular music ever since I have let myself get sooo out of the loop.

iPod Tunes for the Day

Yesterday as I drove out to Camden I got stuck in the tunnel in traffic. At first I was feeling cranky about the fact that the traffic was making my drive take a lot longer than normal but then I noticed the tunes that were playing and I decided that maybe it was nice for the day to slow down a bit so I could use the time to enjoy the music my iPod decided to show me.

A few got a laugh, a few I just loved and of course a few I skipped cause they just weren't what I was in the mood for. I decided to share a few of the stand outs:

The Temper Trap - Love Lost I really love something about this song. I find myself turning the volume up every time I hear it.

Flight of the Conchords - Carol Brown Who wouldn't get a giggle from the lyrics " Hmm who organised all my ex-girlfriends into a choir, and got them to sing? Shut up, girlfriends from the past."

Kate Miller Heidke - Caught in the Crowd I wasn't ever bullied at school, but something about this song really brings a tear to my eye.

Lou Reed - Wild Side Really there isn't a day that goes by that can't comfortably handle a bit of Lou Reed. And this is the one that my iPod decided to give me.

Florence and the Machine - Dog Days I'm loving Florence and the Machine at the moment and this track is the one that seems to really get into my brain.

Ooh and I forgot Johnny Cash - Hurt Its a very heavy song but its amazing.

Im sure there were more, I was on the road for ages. But these were the ones that corresponded to me being stationary so I could note them down.

What's your iPod giving you at the moment?

OK Go - This too Shall Pass

Once again I am feeling like I am behind on current pop culture thanks to Neil himself's Tweets I am passing on this very cool video. In case you are wondering YES it is the same guys from this video.

Listen, Watch, Read

I often feel that I am behind the eight ball when it comes to pop culture. I blame this on motherhood most of the time, but really I didn't give these things a lot of time even before kids. I'd like to though.

But where to start when your this far behind? Where do the people in the know get their know?

Today I decide to blog about what I am currently reading watching and listening to but please note I am, as usual, behind the eight ball.

Listening:
My external hard drive died a week or so ago so at the moment I am stuck listening to the few things that I popped on my iPod pre its death. Luckily they were my all time favourites and the few new albums I downloaded recently
- Portishead, Dummy
- Kate Miller-Heidke, Curiouser
- The Cure, Greatest Hits
- Clouds, Octopus
- Emilana Torrini, Fisherman's Woman
- Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Live Art

Watching:
The one good thing about the death of the external hard drive is that the kids movies are also currently unavailable. This means that we are both having to watch less kids TV but also looking at the video store again for kids movies and therefore adult movies/shows as well.
- House (Season 3), the first two episodes were fresh but I have to wonder if that was all the new stuff the show had for us this season.
- Howl's Moving Castle & Spirited Away, these are both brilliant and I'm loving how much both of the kids are loving them as well.
- Buffy (Season 7), an oldie but a goodie I love having something light, trashy and familiar to watch after I have woken up
- Dollshouse (Season 2), I lost the first few episodes that I had downloaded in the hard drive crash of 2010 but luckily it is playing on Foxtel.
-The Vampire Diaries, as with Dollshouse I have lost a few episodes but I'm now back up to where I was thanks to Foxtel
- 10,000 BC, so crap I turned it off after 1/2 hour cause I just didn't care.
- Big Love (Season 3)
- Lastly I have Defying Gravity and some Mystery Theatre 2000 to watch when times are tight. I'm so excited to watch them but I really need some quiet kid free time so I can pay attention to them.

Reading:
I am trying some new things this year. Firstly I'm trying to catch up on some classics. Secondly I'm trying to get into some of the comics I have been wondering about. Both of which are lots of fun. The following are just the books I currently have on my bedside table.
- Sandman comics
- The Books of Magic comics
- Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monster
- Wonders of a Godless World
- We Need to Talk about Kevin
- American Gods

So that's my last week in a very large nutshell. What are you L/W/R? Anything your loving that I don't know about? Come on people in the know, share the knowing :)

TRIPLE J Hottest 100 of all time

Just in case you missed it, here is the list. There is very few songs that I don't agree with and although its completely subjective, they did pretty well I think.

Well I tried to copy and paste the list and the formatting is all off and I cant possibly be expected to type the whole list out so here are the top 10; DELETED (cause I'm a goofball)

And the rest you can see here

(edited to say, forget it the list I just posted was from the wrong year *grin* just go and look at them yourself cause something is going crazy in my blogging head today)

Here is a link to a site including video, thanks to a comment from a complete stranger (but a very helpful stranger at that)

For the Love of a Soundtrack

I'm a soundtrack lover.  Of all the albums on my play list its the soundtracks that I like the most.  I love the way that they take me on a journey in a way that your average album does not and I also love that they often introduce me to music I would never usually listen to.  So I decided that I would post my favourite soundtracks, the ones that really cover both of the above points. (in no particular order)

1. Dusk Till Dawn - what I love about this is that there are so many artists that I would never listen to if it wasn't for the way they fit within this album, ZZ Top being the most obvious, with Jon Wayne singing Texas Funeral (not the actor) not far behind.

2. The Blues Brothers - come on its a classic, you've got Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, James Brown and the Blues Brothers all in one album, plus Cab Calloway singing 'Minnie the Moocher' what's not to love !!!

3. A Life Less Ordinary - Surprised?? I know I was but as I was listening I realised that out of all of them this soundtrack really takes me through a journey, the soundtrack is the same as the film, its quirky, dark and doesn't fit together quiet right and that's what makes it so good.

4. O Brother Where Art Thou - For someone who would say they are not that fond of Country music and is an atheist it might surprise you that this makes it on my list, but I love the Blues and Gospel so really its fits in pretty well, plus 3 of the songs from this soundtrack are lullaby's that I sing my boys so it holds a special place in my heart.

5.  Pulp Fiction - The best thing about this album is the way they jog your memory of the placement of the song within the movie by adding some of the best quotes, plus the music is pretty cool; Al Green - Lets Stay Together, and Maria McKee - If Love is a Red Dress (Hang me in Rags) are two of my favourites.

6. Empire Records - This is one of my favourites, not entirely sure that its not mostly because I want to work in that record shop but either way I do think that its a great soundtrack, the only let downs were that it wasn't the movie version of the song 'Sugarhigh' that has Renee Zellweger singing on the rooftop and it is also missing the Flying Lizards version of 'Money' originally by the Beatles.

7. Reality Bites - Speaks for its self really, it was probably one of the first times I watched a movie and thought wow I have to have that soundtrack.  The classic being 'My Sharona' which brings back memories of them all dancing in the service station, and then there is U2, Ethan Hawke, Lenny Kravitz, and a lot of other great artists.

8.  Tank Girl - This is up there as one of my top 3.  Its got Bjork, Devo, Ice-T and Portishead just for starters and the Joan Jett and Paul Westerberg version of  'Lets Do It (lets Fall In Love)' is brilliant.

9.  The Crow - Its an amazing soundtrack, the music is generally a bit heavy but then the movie was so dark that of course the music has to be.  The mixture of Stone Temple Pilots, Pantera and Jane Siberry is a fantastic mood creator plus who wouldn't love The Cure - Burn

10.  Reservoir Dogs - Full of great music and some very memorable quotes this definitely deserves a place in the top 10.

And the supplementary is;

Juno - Its a lovely soundtrack with some beautiful songs its also quirky like the movie, my personal favourite is Cat Power - Sea of love, made even more memorable by the scene that the song appears in.

iPod Humour

Once again my iPod has proved that it has a mind and personality of its own. Today as drove out to Camden it introduced me to two very weird songs and reminded me of one other. Why it picked these three songs at the same time out of the 1000's of songs I have, I don't know.  But they were all 2 or 3 songs apart and each made me laugh. (the film clips really add to the weird little song feel as well)

Alfie - Lily Allen

Lily singing about her brother Alfie and the fact that he smokes to much pot.

Salmon Dance - Chemical Brothers

This is a funny little song about a guy who invented a new dance style that he calls the Salmon. I hadn't watched the video, how cute is that puffer fish.

Coconut - Harry Nilsson

I'm sure you already know this one, its about a woman who puts lime juice into coconut milk and drinks it, then gets belly ache, calls the Dr and woke him up ...... who comes us with a cure. (why he has a gorilla costume on in the clip I have no idea)

Currently on my Playlist

At the moment there are a few songs that i just keep playing;

Nina Simone - Work Song
Andrew often mentions that he cant imagine songs that are currently being played standing the test of time. I have disagreed at times but i have to say that just don't make songs like this anymore.

Regina Spektor - Samson
I'm loving this song at the moment, its so subtle and sweet. Whenever I hear it it reminds me of my friends Trish and Antony. Weird I know, but I think of the stories they have told me about when they first met and how he used to have long blond hair. It also reminds me of that time when you first meet a new partner and its so filled with longing and cautiousness.

The Herd - The King is Dead
Speaks for itself really, lets hope we can sing this tomorrow as well !!!