Music, Burn Notice, Christmas

[icepixie]

Over the past week, I bought fifteen Christmas ornaments (all the stores I went to had sales!). One is an adorable straw porcupine (its spines are twigs), one is a glass ball with a snowflake etched on it, one is an egg, and the other twelve are birds. Because I didn't have enough last year, obviously.

I might have an addiction.

Anyway, while I'm here, have a link to my favorite Christmas song: "Darlin' (Christmas Is Coming)," by Over the Rhine.

In fact, have many links to music, because I haven't done a music recs post in a while. This is what I've been listening to lately.

Maria Taylor
You may know her as part of Azure Ray. Her lyrics...don't make a lot of sense, but I like the space between folk and pop where she tends to hang out.

100,000 Times (My favorite of these.)
Time Lapse Lifeline
Cartoons and Forever Plans

Peter Bradley Adams
He's a perennial favorite of mine, and while I wasn't looking, he released a new album. IMO, it's his best so far. Some favorite tracks:

Be Still My Heart (I love the chorus.)
Full Moon Song (It's almost a kid's song, but not exactly. Very fun.)
Between Us (Purty.)
London Bridge Is Falling Down (Takes some of the lyrics from the kids song, but an entirely different tune. It reminds me somewhat of Loreena McKennitt's long settings of poems, but even mellower.)

Karine Polwart
I know, I rec her practically every other time I do this. But...so pretty!

I've Seen It All (Sad, but awesome.)
Don't Know Why

Eric Whitacre

Five Hebrew Love Songs (I'm linking to the album here because it's five tracks. My favorite is the fourth one, "Eyze Sheleg!")

*

And finally, a couple thoughts on last night's Burn Notice:

I loved seeing Mike and Fi calmly talking about other stuff--like going on a double-date with his mother and her boyfriend--while breaking into a secure building via window-washing rig in borrowed janitorial uniforms. Because this is their job!

Heeee, Jesse's hipster glasses.

OMG it's Goodman! Or Jonathan Adams, aka Goodman from S1 of Bones, aka someone I would gladly listen to as he read the phone book just to hear his voice, because mmmmm.

Awww, Michael gains enough trust to get supervision of an operation just as Anson's digging his claws into him.

This one was elegantly done, I have to say. I always enjoy it when the team allows the bad guy to be hoist by his own petard.

Comments

[thespatz.livejournal.com]

You're not alone. Lovely lyrics, practically identical chord patterns in the songs I've heard.

Do you know Abigail Washburn?

[icepixie]

I honestly have a hard time telling one of their songs from another. It's so sad; I could probably name a dozen bands and artists who make similar music, but who do it better--more variety, a better singer, more interesting instrumentation--but this is the band that got (relatively) huge? Sigh.

I do indeed know Abigail Washburn! Her voice does have the capacity to get on my nerves sometimes, but I really like "Bring Me My Queen," and the Chinese influences and instruments she uses are really cool.

[thespatz.livejournal.com]

That's how the game goes, alas. Hopefully people will find those other groups, once their horizons have expanded?

Yeah, she's got a very classically bluegrass/folk voice. She's the sweetest person in person - I first saw her when she toured at my college for Song of the Traveling Daughter (a bunch of contra dancing friends dragged me along), and she and her cellist Ben Sollee stayed after for hours chatting and showed us a folk dance they learned in Tibet. ♥

[icepixie]

Awww, that's so great! :)