Wednesday 14 May 2008

Seven songs

Bob has tagged me for this 'Seven songs' thing that's going around (serves me right for targeting him for that sentences game). So this is what you have to do:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.

Here we go then. Here are seven songs that are going round in my head these days, in no particular order (and sorry that, unlike Bob, I lack the technical know-how to provide links to audio clips):

Bruce Springsteen, 'Girls In Their Summer Clothes' . A characteristic mix of acute social observation and seasonal intensity, with just a hint of middle-aged masculine wistfulness with which I painfully identify.
Arild Andersen, Vassilis Tsabropoulos and John Marshall, 'Pavane'. A lovely jazz reworking of Ravel, arranged (and with some beautiful piano playing) by Tsabropoulos.

Moby, 'Ooh Yeah'. OK, it may be (brilliantly) annoying, but it's the first track on the free disc given away with last week's 'Sunday Times' and I can't get it out of my head.

Vanessa Carlton 'A Thousand Miles'. Because when you're a parent, the songs that live in your head are frequently those played by your children, and my daughter has just taught herself to play this on the piano (and the video, with Carlton and her baby grand travelling down what looks like the Pacific Coast Highway, is fun).

Mariza, 'Ha uma musica do povo'. Watching Mariza perform this song, with words by the great Fernando Pessoa, at the 'Concerto em Lisboa', always bring me out in goosebumps.

Todd Gustavsen Trio, 'Being There'. The kind of languid piano jazz that calms the soul and puts you in mind of long wine-filled summer evenings.

Barry Ryan, 'The Colour of My Love'. A wild card. I don't know if it's spring-time nostalgia, or the 40th anniversary of its release, but just lately I've been revisiting this poignant reminder of youth and first love.

I tag (with absolutely no compulsion involved) : Shuggy, Paul at Mars Hill, Lisa at Rullsenberg Rules, Daniel at The Stark Tenet, Tom, Peter and Paulie.

6 comments:

Paul E. said...

Done

http://nevertrustahippy.blogspot.com/2008/05/seven-songs.html

bob said...

What a good choice Martin. Mariza has a beautiful voice. Bruce is The Man. I am embarassed to not know Barry Ryan or Vanessa Carlton though.

Martin said...

Hi Bob -Thanks for the comment. You're probably showing your age - i.e. too old (like me) to be into Vanessa Carlton and too young (unlike me) to have heard of Barry Ryan (aka Barry Sapherson). I'm planning a 40th anniversary post on the Ryan brothers soon - my contribution to the '68 nostalgia fest - but in the meantime, if you're interested,here's some wikipedia background:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Ryan_(singer)

Martin

Anonymous said...

Well, I know "Eloise", via the Damned, as that IS my era (more or less), but I will rectify the rest of my Ryan Bros ignorance forthwith.

b

Daniel Stark said...

Sorry I failed in reaching a reasonable deadline, college papers and finals are a ...yeah.

Martin said...

Not to worry, Daniel - I'd only just discovered your blog, so it was a shot in the dark. I was a bit nervous about tagging people, as I'm quite shy about responding to these things myself.
All the best
Martin