My Music Post

I was just thinking that I haven’t written about music ever on here.  So today is the perfect day to bring it up!  I have a pretty eclectic taste when it comes to music.  I’ll give anything a chance and take it from there.  For instance, I’m not a huge fan of techno, but sure there are a few songs that really grab my attention and have been able to hold it.  The only reason I even ever hear techno is because my husband has a few favorite techno bands and from there it reaches my ears.  Lately I’ve been feeling out of touch with mainstream bands.  In a way I feel as if it’s the same old shit, just a different day.  Then last month it occurred to me that I usually like the music that’s on “So you think you can dance” and went on a search for tunes.  It’s difficult to always pinpoint what you think you heard to what’s written on the internet.  When that didn’t turn up as many songs as I had hoped it would, I went to the podcasts I listen to and screened their shownotes.  This is what I found.

Katy Pfaffl.  On a certain knitting podcast I heard her song “As she Stands” and was hooked.  It’s a beautiful song and makes for something I’d listen to knitting, reading or just hanging out.  From there I downloaded “Different Voices”, “As She Stands”, “Take it Slow” and “Everything Happens” from Amazon.

Via Katy Pfaffl I discovered Rachael Sage whom I even MORE in love with.  The day her CD came out I was slow on the uptake and had to wait to buy it.  But luckily the last time we were visiting family Barnes & Noble had one left.  I am now the proud owner of her lates CD “Chandelier”.  From Amazon I was able to download “My Word”.

A long while ago my husband introduced me to Pandora.  But life got crazy and I haven’t used it for a year or so.  Yesterday I popped it back open and was introduced to several new songs that I have in my queue to download.  Those are:

“I felt your Shape” by The Microphones

“Don’t Wake Me Up” by The Hush Sound

“Words Cannot Describe” by Mirah

“November” by Azure Ray

“Damn Shame” by Jolie Holland

“Ten Days” by Missy Higgins

Also last night after watching “So you think you can dance” I immediately downloaded “The Garden” by Mirah.  The couple danced a funky slow jazz routine to it and I was entranced.  Absolutely entranced.  My husbands likes the song, but feels that it should speed up at some point and it doesn’t.  So this is what I’m into now and if anybody has some killer recommendations, I’d love to hear them!

Done!

Last night I wrapped up “Soul Music” and have nothing but good things to say about it.  The character Death is so entertaining!  I can fully envision his personality and what this character is like.  Even if I had never seen “The Hogfather”, I’d still be able to recreate the same image in my mind.  The whole universe that Terry Pratchett has created is amazing.

I absolutely could not stop giggling at the wizards at the Unseen University.  Their logic is complete crap and the fact that all of the professors are hesitant (more like terrified) to teach their students just cracks me up.

This is the set up for “Soul Music”.  Imp Y Celyn (aka Buddy) has traveled from his home to Ankh Morpork to become a musician.  Along the way he meets up with a dwarf and a troll and they make a quick decision to form a band.  The Musician’s Guild turn down their application to become musicians because they can’t pay the fee to join the Guild.  Destitute, they formulate a plan to play music in secret where the Guild won’t find them.  While they are planning, Imp’s harp, a one of a kind and not made to be fixed, is sat on by one of the group and broken.  They pick up a guitar at the local music store, which none of them remember having been there, but it must have been, becaue it’s always been there. The guitar takes a special hold on Imp and propels the group into wacky music stardom.

In the meanwhile, Death has become somewhat depressed and goes on his own journey of attempting to forget.  As a result, his granddaughter Susan is plucked from her boarding school and put in charge of all things Death related.  Her companions are the Death of Rats who has a raven for a translator and Binky, Death’s horse.  She becomes wrapped up in her own question of ethics and challenges the way of the world when she learns that Imp is supposed to die.

Throughout the book I caught on to the many references to different artists and songs.  For instance:

“Don’t Tread on my New Blue Boots” is Elivs Presley’s “(Don’t Step on My) Blue Suede Shoes”

“Good Gracious Miss Polly” is “Good Golly, Miss Polly”

“Pathway to Paradise” as Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”

Other parts of it that reflect pop culture is when the Dean paints his room black as a result of going to a rock concert.  You are immediately reminded of The Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black”.  The entire city goes bananas after hearing Music With Rocks In (the name of Imp’s band).  Virtually everyone decides to create their own band and goes to town playing bad music and the wizards start rebelling against their wizardness.  The wizards and some of the help start wearing leather pants and jackets and beehive hairdo’s and platform shoes.  Basically everybody goes crazy with music on their brain.

I heartily recommend this book because it’s a fun read!