Once December comes round, I take my Christmas CDs down from the shelves and delve in. One More Drifter in the Snow by Aimee Mann is a firm favorite, and I can listen to it for hours (preferably while baking cookies, but doing some other works is just fine as well). Calling on Mary is the last song on the CD, but there are many others on it that I really like.
What do you listen to just before Christmas?
- Rike Horstmann
New song by Kelly Clarkson – enjoy!
Normally, I’m a rock n’ roll gal. Or pop. Peppy country music is a favorite too. But I also love classical music. And when I am especially stressed, I love the sound of rain. I love the music of a quiet piano or guitar mixed with it. I love the sound of the ocean mixed with music as well. In other words I find water and quiet music very soothing.
I have very mixed feelings about Suzanne Vega. When I was at university, for six months I lived next door to this very nice girl named JoAnn, who loved listening to music. Really loved it. Did I mention the walls were thin? Her favorite albums were Suzanne Vega’s Solitude Standing and Tracy Chapman’s Tracy Chapman. And believe me, there are only so many times a day you want to listen to Tom’s Diner or Talking ’bout a Revolution. That said, I have since recovered from Vega overload and have come to quite like her. Luka, with its harrowing lyrics and lovely melody, is probably my favorite song by her.
Are there songs that you hated due to ever-exposure in the past, but that you like now?
- Rike Horstmann
Maggie first talked about Gangnam Style in her September blog. I am not sure who to give credit to for this mashup. David Haglund wrote about it on SLATE but YouTube says it is by FAROFF. Anyway somebody decided that this song would work perfectly with the 1984 Ghostbusters theme song by Ray Parker, Jr. Who thinks of these things? (more…)
This song is what I call an insidious earworm: It sticks to the back of your mind even after you’ve just heard the first few notes, and doesn’t leave you for days.
I don’t even particularly like this song. I understand it’s emotionally charged with memories of 09/11 for many, and for that reason I respect it. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s the kind of song that does not appeal to me much. Still, it sticks to me like a burr whenever I hear even a snatch of it.
Yesterday, someone hummed it near me – and here is my revenge on you all: I’m giving you the earworm. 
- Rike Horstmann
For me, Marianne Faithfull is a true “mood” musician. Sometimes, I don’t listen to her for months, next I take an album of hers and listen to it non-stop. (more…)
For those of you who don’t know, Gangnam Style by Psy is the Korean hit that is sweeping the globe. The dance is apparently the hottest thing going. So hot even Britney Spears wanted in on the action: (more…)
Long story short, I have kids and have spent many years going to children’s movies (and then watching the DVDs – repeatedly). These are not the kid movies my parents took me to. They are not just smarter and more clever – they have much better music. Or at least, they have music I like to listen to. My latest earworm has been The Travelling Song from the film Madagascar 2. Sung by the extremely talented Will.i.am it has haunted me for the past several days.
