The on-repeat playlist : this week

So yeah. I suddenly have a vague recollection of promising to post my favorite songs every week in this very blog. But ah, for once I’d like to have a bad memory and say, “What? I don’t remember promising something like that!”

Meh. Sometimes I am selfish and love to keep all the good music I have found all to myself. Sometimes I am a little too lazy to post stuff that I am actually dying to share with all the people. So enough is enough, I thought. Here’s getting straight to business. Here’s one of my choicest and (I’d like to think) most diverse playlist that I can’t seem to get enough of, for the last week. Or maybe two. I forget.

I’ll start with the one song I have been listening on repeat the whole day. Actually since yesterday.

So I first got to know about Mozella after watching a Castle episode for the umpteenth time. Must be in one of the episodes in Season 2 that the song “Can’t Stop” plays in the background. I guess I had missed the song in my first viewing. But well, as is my habit, I found out the song, liked it, and straightaway searched for Mozella in Grooveshark. And suddenly this song got to me. Like hit me with a truck or something. “Uh-Uh” is from Mozella’s album Belle Isle, and although all the songs are really good, this one, with its backing vocals is specially catchy. More so because it is about a woman who steadfastly rebuffs her guy’s pleas for forgiveness, and doesn’t relent to all his pleas. Man I wish I were like her!

Before this, I was listening to Ingrid Michaelson. And particularly this song.

My sister was the one to introduce me to Ingrid Michaelson. She had first posted a link of her song “The Way I Am” and I fell in love with the song from first listen, but in the long run, my favor tilted towards “You And I”. I have always been a fan of quirky lyrics, and even though Ingrid Michaelson reminds me sometimes of Regina Spektor and sometimes of Elizabeth and The Catapult, I like the fact that her songs are happier, and lighter, and you are bound to smile once you have heard the songs. Definitely one of my happy songs. Plus I absolutely love the ukulele!

Now, this next song by Edward Sharpe ad The Magnetic Zeros, I hunted for. I mean, I found it on my purposeful hunt for new music on the Popular tab in Grooveshark. I should by now just pledge allegiance to that site, really.

So what do I love about this song? Umm, just about everything. Starting from the whistling, to the perky beat and to the fact that this is a love song like one I hadn’t heard before. I mean, really, it doesn’t get any better than “Home, let me come home, Home is wherever I’m with you”. Plus it has got this old feel to it that appeals to the sucker for classics in me.

Before that I went through a total Alexi Murdoch phase. I can’t count the number of times I had to pause the movie “Away We Go” to google the lyrics and find out what song was playing in the background (I never have the patience to wait till the end credits roll) only to realize it is an Alexi Murdoch song. My favorite so far is this.

I am always about interesting beginnings, and this is as amazing as it gets, I tell you. Even “All of My Days” is a good song, but well, Blue Mind has this something I can’t put my finger on that appeals to me. This is for the rainy nights when I want to just lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling.

I went through an ambient music phase in between, and it started with Azzo. The track is called Jonathan and I hunted it down after hearing it in a video. Worst part with instrumentals is that it doesn’t have lyrics I can google… But well, find it I did!

Jonathan by Azzo

The starting is a little shrill so it might kind of get to your nerves but believe me it gets better. I played this song for one whole night and I can safely say I quite got used to the high-pitched intro by the eleventh time. It was only after this piece that I started finding out what was ambient music, and discovered Aphex Twin. Phase didn’t last long. Only this piece did.

Moving back further, I also spent one whole day listening to Lil Wayne’s “How to Love”.

This isn’t what I normally expect from Lil Wayne so maybe it was more of surprise that worked for this song. It is slow, and sad and touches me in a way I can’t explain. Maybe it is the minor chords that do it for me. This song actually makes me stop doing whatever it is I am doing, and just keep staring at my laptop screen vaguely. Whatever it is, it did change my opinion about Lil Wayne, just like “Anything” changed my opinion about Jay-Z.

Saving the best for the last, this song I discovered only after watching The Social Network. Blasphemy, I know, both discovering a Beatles song through a movie, AND watching a good movie a year and a half post its release, but well, sometimes, you need to save things for later so you can savor them better!

I got hooked to the intro, big time. The Beatles had always used unusual elements and had experimented with a lot of different things, but this was something I hadn’t heard before. Prompted me to download the entire discography, I tell you. And bam! The Beatles were back in my life yet again.

So much for now… I have also been listening to some Kina Grannis, and David Byrne and RnB compilations but I keep going back to these songs over and over again.

Give the songs one listen at least.. and do let me know. I have been known to play Genius to my friends so I’d love to make more personalized playlists! Ciao for now!

On singing and family and the Assamese classics

You should know my family is a musical lot. We wear our music right on our sleeves. My mother says I started singing when I was all of two and a half. My sister and I were trained later in formal Hindustani Classical, but we grew up with the radio. That, and songs our father composed for us. Music was the solution to everything you see. So mother and my sister are outside and six-year old me is getting restless and bored? No problem. Dad will compose a song. Twenty-four year old me is on the verge of a nervous breakdown over the final semester project and is ready to break into tears each time she turns on the laptop? No problem. Dad will sing a song! And it’s not just my Dad. At our place, when one starts bathroom singing, it turns into a family chorus without fail, with the others joining in from everywhere else in the house, of course. No major celebration was complete without bringing in the good ol’ harmonium (which sadly got stolen couple of years ago) and singing our hearts out. New Year’s eve, birthday celebrations, even engagements and weddings (not that there have been many yet); everything had to be laced with a few hours of joyful singing. What I had really enjoyed growing up was seeing Mom, the “less-talented” (read slightly tone-deaf) singer in the house, actually complement Dad, with her perfect memory for the lyrics of all the songs. It would always be heart-warming to see Mom and Dad sing a duet. Even though I have absolutely forbidden Mom to sneak into the sacred domain of classical music because I can’t stand a song being murdered.

Which is all good and blah blah, but at this point you might be wondering where this is all leading up to. Which is what I should have mentioned in the first place. Last time when we were in Guwahati for my father’s check-up (did I mention he fell down and fractured his knee-cap?), despite the hectic schedule, we did manage to pack in a few hours of family singing post dinner on the night before we left. And as I tucked myself to sleep that night (it was past midnight) I realized that each time we have one of our “musical” evenings, I travel across decades of Assamese music, and I am grateful to have a set of parents who imbibed in me this love for what I would call our classics. So here’s a short (not!) list of the songs we sang that night (now we’re talking!) and although I am not saying we’re experts or anything, here’s just a sneak peek into what I think should cover the base on at least a few decades of Assamese cult songs.

The “session” started in the dining table itself with Bhupen Hazarika’s “R’od puwabor karone” which was for the movie “Era Baator Xur” in the year 1956. Sticking to Bhupen Hazarika we then sang his first ever recorded song (he was just a kid then), “O Moina ketiya ahili toi“. I must have heard it on the radio just once, and it is a very rare recording, I have been told. By then we had finished dinner and we moved our jamming to the next room. On vocals, everyone. On synthesizer, my cousin (who, by the way, is still on the Fur Elise stage). On percussion, my Moha (Uncle) with a steel glass and a fork which I later took away from him. At which point he went into the kitchen to get two steel ladles. On the dhol, my father. And here I must mention he rested the dhol on the very knee he had injured. Yes, that’s what music does to all of us.

Nothing starts really happening unless it is with folk, so we started with a Kamrupiya lokageet and followed it up with the famous Goalpariya “Komola Shundori“. On public demand (more like Moha’s constant pestering) my Dad sang Tarikudeen Ahmed’s “Imaan dhuniya mukuta’r mala” which was written by Molin Borah sometime in the 1940′s. Amazingly beautiful song, with really deep lyrics. From there we moved on to Hemanga Biswas’s “Dur neela paharot” which is a trans-creation (not a translation) of a Chinese folk song. Another song I grew up with. Don’t ask me the time-frame. I don’t think even my Dad is sure. But then after two “heavy” songs my Moha wanted something light, which led to Dipen Barua’s “Jiliki jilika tora aakaxore” from the famous movie Dr. Bezbaruah. People who have heard this song will identify with the quirky funny take on the philosophy of “xomoyor tikoni aagphale ure” which could be the Assamese equivalent of “Opportunity doesn’t knock twice”. To take funny to a whole new level, my Moha actually danced to Mohd. Rafi’s “Oxomire sutalote” while we sang. Yeah, we are a bunch of crazy people. Specially since we followed it up with “Mur dristi’t tumi dhora porila” in immaculate Mohd. Rafi accent.

If we sing Jiliki jilika, can “Moina kun bidhatai” be left out? So we sang Moina kun bidhatai with gusto, and then moved on to “Laaj Laaj Laaj Bhonti” which is again, a perennial favorite. But then after goofing about a bit, we moved on to the slightly serious. We started with Parbati Prasad’s “Maaj nixa mur“. Each time I sing the song I see the entire painting right in front of me. Of the dark night, and a closed room, and the turmoil within the writer. After Parbati Prasad we moved on to Dipali Borthakur’s “Bondhu“, because the song paints a portrait of rural Assam as depicted to an outsider, like nothing else can. Although I must mention that my favorite is “O senai moi jau dei” but then again, maybe it is everybody’s. Speaking of portraits, another not-so-famous song paints a really beautiful one of a typical village in Assam, with its Naamghor and the Krishnasura-lined roads and the riverside, “Rohedoi Oi, eiya Nirmala Nodire ghat“. I had heard this long long time back once, and then again the other day, and my father was surprised I even remembered the song. To sign off, we topped the “portrait” songs with the ultimate portrait song, Lata Mangeshkar’s “Junakore Raati” again from “Era Baator Xur”. Somewhere in between I think we also sang Jyoti Prasad’s “Xaat Xagoror Dex Bidexor“. But fluctuating between deep and funny is what we do best, so we again started off with Bhupen Hazarika’s “Pokhiraaj Ghura” which is also a ballad, albeit a funny one. It was almost midnight, but we were still “in the mood” for more, so this time we sang Khagen Mahanta’s famous “Kauri Pore” which is a heart-touching ballad about a postman who keeps delivering messages all over, and talks about how much he misses his home and his wife and his kid, and how he is denied of getting messages from them. And then, the creme de la creme, my favorite of all times, “Hoi Era Jetuki Bai“. The song always moves me, but the first time I heard this song about the “naamoti” who lost her own daughter (one who sings naams) and keeps celebrating other’s daughters’ weddings to compensate for her loss, I really wept.

I am not mentioning the Bihus we kept singing in between because the list would then become really really long. So what do you think? From Bhupen Hazarika to Dipali Borthakur to Khagen Mahanta, did we leave out much? Maybe we could have thrown in a few Jayanta Hazarika numbers. And a couple of Zubeen Garg’s (my dad’s favorite till date is “Xunere Xojuwa Poja“. But what can you do when two hours is all you got, eh?

P.S. If you need more information on any of these songs, let me know. I will personally record snippets and post them here, I swear!

Musically Mine

When was the last time you surprised yourself? When was the last time you discovered something about yourself that you had previously not known?

This totally amazing thing happened with me today, and I just couldn’t wait to let it all out. And no, I am not talking about a song moving me so much I was shedding tears of happiness. Although that was crazily amazing in itself. Try sobbing heavily and giggling at the same time. And then try not being able to control either. As crazy as it gets, I tell you. Specially if it is over a song.

But that’s not my point, although this is also about a song. It all started yesterday when me and A were watching The Big Bang Theory (yes, again). Right from Episode 1 of Season 1. So, in Episode 3 (or 4, I’m not quite sure), Lenard gets to know Penny is going out with someone else, and he goes into one of his “phases” where he listens to emotional songs. In one scene, Lenard enters the room with his earphones on, and is singing along to the song he’s listening to. Only it sounds like he’s yelling out the lines, “You don’t know me, and you don’t even care“. And suddenly I sit upright, and I’m like, “Where have I heard this song???” because I know it is a song I have heard and majorly liked sometime in the past, but I can’t for the life of me remember which song it is. Pity there’s no internet connection. I mean, given how I actually pause a movie and Google the lines of the background track so I know which song it is (I can’t wait till the end credits), and then download it so I can get back to the movie in peace, I’m actually quite helpless without my plug and surf. But then we forget about it and move on with the episode. And the one after that. Until it is time for lunch and we have to come down to the kitchen.

As if one “unresolved” song was not enough, suddenly I am humming a tune that I simply know is the intro to a song that I had again, heard and majorly liked sometime in the past, and can’t again, for the life of me, remember. But unlike the song from The Big Bang Theory, this tune gets stuck inside my head. And after a while it starts bugging A so much she has to threaten me to stop. And I stop, for like five minutes, before I start again. All I know at that point of time is that the song was from Scrubs, another favorite series. I even try checking out the names of the songs from Scrubs just in case it rings a bell. But before I am done skimming even a fourth of it I lose patience, and leave my pursuit there, hoping the song would suddenly jump at me, like it normally does in my case.

It didn’t. I woke up today morning with the same intro stuck inside my head, and boy was I bugged. Never before had a good night’s sleep let me down before! I went through the day and the evening humming the intro as if repetition was somehow reinforcement for my memory to kick back something for me. But it wasn’t until the time I was about to sleep that the miracle happened.

I suddenly knew which song the intro belonged to. And even though I had turned off all lights and my eyes kept closing down their shutters, I got up from bed, turned on my laptop, and did what was seemed to me the most natural thing to do. I Googled the lines, “You don’t know me, and you don’t even care” (yes, the same lines from The Big Bang Theory) and the song that pops up is Boston by Augustana, and even before I play it I know how the intro is going to sound.

Voila. It was like the moment I heard the lines in that episode and failed to remember the song, my brain prompted me with the only hint it could think of: the intro. Only I couldn’t recognize that clue either. And was dumb enough not to even know it was a clue.

Which actually made me look at myself in a whole different light, really. I mean, I know I am thorough to the point of being geeky when it comes to music, but I didn’t know I had hidden receptors, which were sensitized to pick up stuff unconsciously, and then also a storehouse which stored all that stuff without me even getting to know about them. When LT had called me a data-card with an immaculate memory when it came to music I had scoffed at the idea. I just loved music enough to be able to commit lyrics and notes to memory without even trying to. But this? Associating lines with intros unconsciously, without even knowing that it is an association? Does it happen to everybody?

Maybe it does. But it isn’t everyday that I get to know something about myself that actually impresses me. even if it might not impress anybody else. And for now, even if I am sleep deprived, and my eyes are screaming for mercy after all that typing in the dark (high time I think of a USB light for my keyboard), I am happy. And did I mention I am in love with that song again?

P.S. Just so you know, here’s the song:

Chansons Nouveau: Take III

First things first, I have been sick (this is where you are supposed to go “Sooooo sad…!”) and down for the whole of last week. And busy as hell the week before that doing stuff I really can’t remember at this point of time. And sometime between being feverish and weak with a high blood pressure and giving stage performances (oh yeah!), I still managed to listen to some really catchy stuff. Inspite of the HUGE volume of new music I have listened to in the past two weeks, somehow the only songs that come to my mind right now are the ones I have heard (on repeat, ad nauseum) in the last four days.

And just in case you’re interested, this time I went through a whole “hunting” phase, where I made it a point to only listen to stuff I would never listen to before. Which meant a lot of “different” and lesser-known-to-me music, like School Of Seven Bells, Spoon, Charlotte Gainsbourg and The Magnetic Fields. I also threw in a bit of MGMT and Mumford and Sons, which settled* tad better. That phase didn’t last that long, though, and I was back to the more conventional Billboard Hits in a week. So well, here’s my pick from the mid-year Billboard Top 100.

Your Love (Nicki Minaj): Believe me when I say I haven’t felt this mushy in a long, long time. Which is weird because the lyrics of this song isn’t really all profound and moving, and most of the time it is the lyrics which does the trick for me. If anything the song goes “And for your lovin’ Imma Die Hard like Bruce Willis ” (I mean, seriously?). But I remember trying to go off to sleep late at night after a crappy day and a frustrating conversation with the guy in Vietnam (High Speed Internet Access, you suck!) and then playing this song and going all “Awww… but don’t I just luuuurve him?”. Maybe what I loved about the song is how simple it is, and how it made me feel like a teenager when it was all about the “Ooh ooh aah aah sexy eyes”. Beware though, this song is overtly sweet, and could leave you thinking of pink candy-floss or bejeweled pink shiny jackets.

Glitter In The Air (Pink): Told you hadn’t I? That I am a Pink devotee? I wonder how I had missed this song, considering the fact that I’ve had the album Funhouse in my system for more than half a year now. But anyways, given my weakness for Pink, this was one of the first songs in the compilation I had heard, and now I am hooked to it. I only wish I could sing it the way she does, because any other way would be doing injustice to the song. My favorite bit in the song: “There you are, sitting in the garden, Clutching my coffee, calling me sugar“. Man, you can almost hear her soul pouring out. I die for the piano chords in this one, and will stop doing whatever I am doing, when this one starts playing. Makes sense actually; this is not one of those songs you can let play in the background while you go about doing something else. Oh, and while I mention Pink, I have also been listening to her latest single “Raise Your Glass” quite a lot. Spicy lyrics, perky beats. Need I say more?

Up, Up and Away (Kid Cudi): This is my latest “happy” song and I swear by it. It’s simply so buoyant you can’t help feeling light after you listen to it, and I guess I spend an average of thirty minutes per day listening to this one (given the amount of depression I have been going through the dosage of happy music is proportionately larger). The amazing thing is I don’t get bored of the song, at all! I can’t sing along to this one, alright (rap has never been my thing) but I sure do the whole groovin’ and the pouting (yeah, I am weird like that) when I put this on. This is the one if you want your soul to be lifted “Up, up and away” and soaring high for a long time!

Pray For You (Jaron And The Long Road To Love): Okay, I’ll confess something today. When listening to new music, I am more likely to listen to songs AND artists whose names I like (I try stay away from the long names ‘feat’ some more long names) and it surprisingly works for me. And while going through this method of picking and choosing, this one came up randomly on my playlist. It hasn’t got a very impressive intro, and would lead you to believe that it is yet another of those lame boring songs, but if you have a little bit of patience (like I have) and keep listening (like I did) you are in for a treat. The lyrics. Oh. Man. It made me smile like nothing else could. I even posted it to my Facebook profile. I mean, read it for yourself here. I seriously couldn’t think of anything more brilliant in a long time. Melody wise the song is not that exceptional, so I don’t really listen to it unless I am grumpy, but well, given how often I have been grumpy these days, this has been quite the savior!

If I Die Young (The Band Perry): This one will tug and pull at your heart strings and make you want to sing it again and again. Death is not a very happy thing to think about, and singing about death just makes it sadder, but somehow, this one doesn’t make you sad. It is just very profound that’s all. So while Just Jack‘s “The Day I Died” made me all sad and heavy in the heart, “If I Die Young” just made me philosophical. It almost makes me think of a young woman with curly disheveled hair wearing a baggy red sweater, who’s sitting by her window on a gloomy winter with a mug of coffee cupped in her hands (and it’s not me I see, if you must know… just blame my oversensitive overactive imagination), who’s thinking of life, but that beyond death. Sigh!

Teenage Dream (Katy Perry): This one’s all about the mm-chk mm-chk that’s typical Katy Perry but I love it to bits. Or maybe that’s why I love it so much. I am not normally a fan of techno, but just like Hot N’ Cold, this one stuck with me, and I can’t get enough. I guess sometimes I just love being a girl and being able to love chicky-chick songs like this one! I would keep humming this all day long, so much that my Mom must have started raising her eyebrows about the “Let’s go all the way tonight, no regrets, just love” bit, and wondering if that’s what is on her daughter’s mind after all! Lyrics, again, is pretty simple and easy-going, but that makes it easier to relate to I guess. Dang, why do I need to justify me loving it? I just do!

I guess this should do for today, or I run the risk of writing about everything at one go and exhausting myself yet again. Will come up with the pick of the week next time, although I have a feeling these songs are here to stay!

* by “settled” I mean the songs made me crave for them at odd hours, and I found them playing inside my head even when I was trying to sleep. I know I don’t love a song until and unless this happens!

Chansons Nouveau: Take II

Prelude: Yeah, I am writing this one out, even though all around me people are dressing up in their sparkling best and jostling each other in the streets. And if you are one of them fussy people (like we are) who will, on principle, only drive around, chances are you will end up seeing more flashy glittery throngs of enthusiastic hoppers than “pandals” and idols. And you will be back home before it’s too late, with all the time in the world to do more un-festive like stuff. Like I am doing right now.

Picking up from where I last left off, and with more enthusiasm than what I started with (honest!), here goes this week’s picks. From Pakistani to the more predictable English to German, this one has it all.

Khairheyan De Naal (Shafqat Amanat Ali): This one is another one of those gems that BIL had mailed to me, and I remember pausing midway in a sentence when I started listening to it. And I couldn’t stop listening to it. Although the lyrics is not something I could relate to at this point (he begs not to be sent to some foreign land because his love is out here, while I would fly away to Vietnam at the drop of a hat), I stayed up awake with this song on repeat. And since then this is the song that I have been humming all the time even though it’s been a week now. Love the classical touch that Shafqat flirts with oh-so-perfectly with his honeyed voice. And while at it, I should mention Shafqat’s Mahiya , which is another b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l song that somehow makes me a little sad. Both definitely worth a listen. Or two. Or umpteen, which it is in my case.

Paimona (Zeb and Haniya): I’d have loved to tell you how I discovered this one, but that would mean I would have to explain just how my mind works when it comes to music, which, if I may say so myself, can’t be put in a few words. So let’s just say I discovered this song. And how! I was hooked to the Rubab piece that opens the song, and then to the language of the song, which is a mix of Farsi (Persian) and Pashto (Afghani), and sounded just the right amount of mysterious to be beautiful. The song in itself is quite simple, has very simple notes, and is very “hummable”, if only you “get” the beats and the lyrics. Both are tricky. “Nazar Eyle” and “Chal Diye” are two of my Zeb and Haniya favorites after Paimona.

Done with the Pakistani, moving on to the English.

Stitching Leggings (Kate Nash): Before I discovered this song, the only Kate Nash I had heard was “Pumpkin Soup” and I had found it pretty interesting. But Kate Nash earned my Leo loyalty right after I heard Stitching Leggings. And everything in it can be summed up in the one line that I keep waiting for: “At least I’m lucky that I don’t have all the power in the world so I can’t fuck everything else up” which she sings in one breath (took me sometime and then Google to realize just what it is that she sings). The song in itself is quite nice and easy, as is another of my Kate Nash favorites, “Foundations“. The sucker for good lyrics that I am, it just doesn’t get any better than Kate Nash. Her songs are funny laced with weird, and leave me smiling each time I hear them.

King Of Anything (Sara Bareilles): Just a month ago I had compiled a playlist called “It’s A Woman’s World” for Fried Eye, which included almost all the so called women-empowering songs that I had known. And this one would have made it there if only I had heard it before. Sara Bareilles had a fan in me right after I had listened to “Gravity” (and also watched the dance sequence in So You Think You Can Dance some seasons back; don’t remember) and “Love Song” but King Of Anything is something I would love to sing over and over again. Love the bit where she goes “Who cares, if you disagree; You are not me; Who made you king of anything?“. This is signature Sara Bareilles, and you will like it if you like prominent piano chords and easy beats.

And I mentioned German didn’t I? Ah, this is like saving the best for the last, yet again.

Rette Mich (Nena): Cut to last year around this time, when the one song I would keep mumbling was “99 Luftballons” (meaning 99 Red Balloons), since I didn’t have the capacity to really sing it, the song being German. There is also an English version of it, but for me it isn’t just quite the same. And so a random search on Nena led me to Rette Mich, which has quite conveniently replaced 99 Luftballons for me now. Rette Mich means “Save Me” and the song is about a girl who’s stuck in a hotel room in the night and is asking her guy to help her and save her from the loneliness, which can’t be cured by any amount of video cassettes and discs. The beat is peppy and fast and there’s a lot of “dhink-chik-dhink-chik” if you know what I mean. But it is a happy song, even if it is about loneliness. The tone which starts the song has got a little addictive for me now and I find myself humming it at odd hours. And while at it, “Kino” and “Leuchtturm” are another couple of songs by Nena I really dig.

That just about covers it for now I guess. Have been listening to music like a maniac the last week, starting from Sufi to Rubab instrumentals to Scottish Bagpipes. Few other songs I have just discovered are “Naya Jahan” (Anaida feat Noori; from her album with the same name), Shafqat’s “Aankhon Kay Sagar” and just yesterday I started listening to A.R. Rahman’s latest “Jhootha Hi Sahi“. But more on that in the next post. Let’s see how well they settle in my system.

Tastin’ the wastin’ and groovin’ and sharkin’

Finally I am through with the screw-ups I call my mid-terms, and suddenly I have time in my hand to do everything I want to do, and it is sort of a let down. See it’s not even like I stopped doing stuff because my mid-terms were going on, but well, it was a whole different case of the thrill of the taboo. Can you even imagine how boring it is to do things only when they are meant to be done?

So well, although I don’t really love to write when I am expected to (like in the free time I get when the exams are over), I had to do this. Tried talking it out but R’s busy (nothing new in that anyway) so I can’t talk to him. I even took an outside chance on getting my sister to listen to me, but seems like I am the only person in the universe who won’t be home late tonight.

But it’s not everyday you realize you are an addict. And I have to get this off my chest. So let me do this right.

I am Sam (nickname courtesy AB), and I am a musiholic. I am afflicted by that disorder characterized by the excessive consumption of and dependence on music (oh yeah, I tweaked the definition of an alcoholic, and in case you were wondering, *consume* is exactly what I do with music)

And how did I come to realize it?

Exhibit A: I spent four hours on the night before my Artificial Intelligence paper, surfing for new music to listen to on Grooveshark, and I wouldn’t stop smiling, all the while that I listened to some awesome, awesome songs.

Exhibit B: After getting into bed at 2am in the morning, I spent another hour listening to *one* song that I had hurriedly transfered to my phone (the only one I had with me; rest of the songs I could only listen to online) and thus ended up sleeping at three. And it doesn’t end there.

Exhibit C: I wake up at 7.30, and turn on the laptop (meaning to go through the slides) and almost unconsciously connect to the internet, and before I know it, I am shuffling more through the random searches than the pdf files I am meant to learn.

Exhibit D: I come back from a f***ed up exam (no surprises there), and the only thing I want to know the moment I enter my room is if the wi-fi’s still behaving itself. It is. And I start right from where I had last left off, and that is where I start having a doubt as to if this is really normal behavior.

Exhibit E: I try taking an afternoon nap, and have my laptop right next to me, with the earphones still in my ears, and a playlist put on repeat (rubab instrumental, if you must have it). You must have some idea about how a woman feels when she wakes up with her cheek squashed on top of her laptop and her hands lovingly placed on its closed screen like it’s the most natural thing to do. Freaked out, yeah. That was exactly how I felt.

And if it were not enough, I am still at it. I am even now, zealously searching for new music like it’s going out of fashion; I find myself counting hours till I can get home and start downloading all the songs I have been listening to, so I can have them with me all the time, unlike now when I need to be connected to the net, (which in itself is such a pain).  I have got into the bad habit of active listening, because half the time I am like “Ya..ya..hmm.. hmm…so have you heard *this* song?“, and rest of the times I am humming something under my breath. And why would the social networking be left untouched? The obsession spreads over Facebook AND Twitter as well. I wonder at times why my earphones don’t just start growing out of my ears. And I wonder how many more years I have left before I start hearing music inside my head without even actual music being played. Oh, and it wouldn’t matter, because the rate at which I am going, I will be deaf way before my time anyway.

So there you go. I am confirming my Dad’s worst fears, and confronting my own. Oh no, I am not scared I am an addict. I am just scared of that slightest possibility that I might someday change. Because I hope, hand upon my heart, that I don’t. I love being a musiholic, which means I will not even try to stop myself, so help me God.

Just heard an amazing song I need to Google the lyrics of. So ciao for now.

P.S. Maybe , just maybe, this has to do with the whole idea about putting up playlists on my blog. I can’t believe I have deliberately, on my own,  set myself up a routine to write. But boy am I excited about it.

Chansons Nouveau: Take I

I am a good girl who keeps her promises so here I am with my first playlist of the month. And I have just the right ambiance… have put on some nice music (latest discovery, Newton Faulkner, but more on that later), it’s just the right weather for wasting time on uselessness, and I have too much free time on my hands, inspite of the fact that I have an exam on Monday. Anyways, so here goes nothing:

The Cave (Mumford and Sons): This, I am happy to say, is one of those few songs which have lasted on my “The Mood Right Now” playlist in my i-Pod for more than a month now, and is also my ringtone, which is saying quite a lot, if you know me. I discovered this song while digging for hidden treasures in the endless pit I call my Music folder, and it caught my attention with its very first notes; absolutely love the way it starts. Also, it is one of those unusual songs which kind of stand out, and it justs get better with each listen. I don’t really know what the lyrics imply but I make an exception this time just for this song. Have been humming this one ad nauseum (bless my room mate) for quite some time now. All it takes is a phone call anyway, and I get started again. For the umpteenth time.

That’s Not My Name (The Ting Tings): Heard this one the same day I discovered The Cave; in fact they were both in the same folder, and it was just a matter of luck that I happened to be patient enough to keep listening to it for a little while, because that’s when the good bit starts. I like the harmonizations in this one, and the beat, although there’s not much of a melody. The lyrics, again, is nothing much to write about, but well, the song in general kind of appeals to me. It is also not one of those songs you can sing in the shower, because it would sound kind of like you’re shouting out slogans, but the beats are really really good. Oh, and I think I should add that this is kind of a chick-song. And I love it because I also loved Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback Girl.

Sajde (Khatti Meethi): This is one of those recommended songs I mentioned in my last post, and I love it to bits. And all thanks goes to AB for making me listen to this one. I remember we were walking together when we suddenly wanted some music, and so she shuffled through the music in her phone till she got this one. And by the time I reached my hostel, I was already in love with that song. Honestly speaking, I don’t quite pay attention to the way the song starts, which is unusual for me, but I like the verse: “Sajde kiye hain lakho, Lakho duwayein maangi, Paya hain maine phir tujhe“… Each time I listen to this I wish someone would consider me that precious; the answer to all his prayers. The lyrics is really sweet, albeit a little over the top, but I like the way those tiny little effects in the background sum up to give this song a beautiful touch. I love mush, so I love this song. Simple.

Kaisi Hain Yeh Udaasi (Karthik Calling Karthik): For this one I thank Stuti Goswami, who had mentioned this in her Facebook status update. Although it should have come with a warning: “Not suitable for people whose moods are sensitized to the music they listen to”. This song reminded me of all the painful heartbreaks I had gone through (minutely, too), oh but isn’t pain beautiful at times….. I lay awake almost half a night listening to this one on repeat. It is slow, somber, and sad… and the lyrics is the best part about the song. Kailash Kher, as usual tugs and pulls at your heart strings till you think they are going to snap and break. True story.

Runaway (Pink): I have a feeling there is always going to be one Pink song or the other in each of these playlists. Although this one is from a somewhat old Pink album called “I’m Not Dead” I got it fairly recently, and needless to say, I liked the whole of it, but somehow this one stood out because of the way it starts, again, and also because of the way the song managed to surprise me with its strong chorus, specially since the song starts real soft. The lyrics is good enough not to be the sole reason I disregard the song. On the whole, something I find myself listening to from time to time. Not a “on repeat” song though.

For the following songs I have to thank BIL, (R’s younger brother) who is an angel to keep sending me songs he likes from time to time in my mail. Had it not been for him, I wouldn’t have discovered the next songs, which have now become my staple aural diet.

Khushnuma Sa Woh Mausam (Knockout): Don’t ask me anything about the movie, or who stars in it, and how big a hit or flop it was. I don’t know. What I do know is that this song made me sigh and sigh the first time I heard it. Krishna (the singer, duh) has a really nice way of making room for himself in your heart with his voice, let me tell you that. Although the song gets a little unpredictable sometime in the between, and flows in some direction you might not have wanted it to go, it is good enough. To stay in my list for at least another week, I think.

Tu Hain Rab Mera (Jugaad): Ditto for this song when it comes to which movie it is from and all, but well it is Krishna again weaving magic in this one. It has a distinctly classical taste to it, and although the beat has got a modern folk-like twist. Also, the lyrics is in Punjabi, so for me it has that slightly mysterious tinge to it (which leaves me wondering what it means) but I love it all the more for it. The last Punjabi songs I had loved were “Main Tenu Samjhawa” from Virsa, and at the same time Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s evergreen “Ankhiyan Udeek Diya“. So call it love by association of language, but I am still in love with this song; specially the bit where it goes “Mere ishq da maan ta rakheya kar“. Although it is love that is so strong and potent it makes me feel a million things at the same time, and sparks like this I know wear out a little too soon. For now though, it stays right where it is in this list.

Phir Wahi Raastey (Ramchand Pakistani): This is what I call, saving the best for the last. When BIL sent me this song, I didn’t know which movie it was from, so when I googled the lyrics, I found this amazing post about the movie and the song, and honestly speaking, this only made me appreciate this song more than I already did. This is one of those blue songs which are not really sad, you know, but make you want to delve into their depths. And I don’t think anyone would have sung this better than Shafqat Amanat Ali, with his velvety voice that just seems to caress your ears. The lyrics is pretty good, and the somber guitar along with it is a match made in acoustic heaven.

That about sums it for this time… But oh, before I forget, I was listening to this one song on repeat for the major part of the evening today, so it would be unfair if I don’t put it here, although I would ask you not to find any implications of it. It’s “I Want To Have Your Babies” by Natasha Bedingfield. Call it the “Baby On Board” (stupid movie, by the way) hangover, but I have been going “Uh uh uh uh uh” (the bit I like the most in this song). Love her voice, seriously. And the lyrics does ring so true.

Ciao for now. Will get back to my Newton Faulkner. Awesome, awesome songs.

L’idee nouvelle d’aujourd’hui

…which translates to: The new idea for today: putting up playlists (and reviews) in my blog.

It’s taken me some time, but I have finally got some idea as to how music, or any song in particular, works for me. And it all started when I was listening to some Ben Harper just day before yesterday, and wanted to share it with a friend, who in turn wanted me to put up a playlist for him with all of my “picks”. It was only after I put in some thirty odd songs in his i-Pod and he told me later that he really liked it that I realized I could actually do this for myself. I know, I know this is like the dumbest thing anyone can have said, but you see, my choice of music is just so chaotic and whimsical, that I can’t really categorize it into anything, not even a playlist with similar songs put into them. And so this whole new idea about putting up playlists in my blog.

Alright, it’s not that simple also. I’ll tell you how it works for me. I listen to a song, often something that I consciously choose from the depths of that endless pit I call my Music folder, and sometimes something that a friend had suggested (suggestions are mostly for Bollywood Hindi numbers); I like it, I listen to it on repeat for like a week, and then I forget about it… until some other time it just happens to get played randomly, and then I’m all like “Hey, I love this song….!”. Sometimes, I can’t remember why I had fallen in love with that song so much. Oh hang on, that isn’t what I meant. What I mean is, I would like to enjoy a song, always, just the way I did the first time, and most of the times, because the times have changed, and more importantly, my mood has changed, it isn’t the case. And hence this putting it down out here. So I can keep track of all of it, you know. And I will call them “Chansons Nouveau” (because I am feeling particularly affectionate towards French tonight).

Also, since I do this whole music review thing for Fried Eye, I thought it would be nice to put in something of my own in my blog too. And the best part is I really don’t have to worry if people are going to like it or not This, in all honesty, is not for anyone’s benefit but mine.

So, for the start, just as a good omen, I am going to put in the name of the songs that I have been listening to a lot in the last couple of days. Tomorrow. Promise.