Tuesday, July 28, 2009

A Two-Hearted Dream


"They say for every high there must be a low
And every sun ascending a lonesome moon will grow
Drive my heart, drive my heart, into the fire of a burning heart's desire
The only spells you'll be seeing, do you hear me coming in my blue dream
Lonely, lonely, lonely, his mother told me
The dream of love is a two-hearted dream
Lonely, lonely, lonely, his mother told me
The dream of love is a two-hearted dream..."

Lately when I close my eyes and open my mind, this song is all I hear.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Ellipse


Along with my upcoming month-long, continent-crossing vacation in September, the one thing I am most stoked about is the release of Imogen Heap's new album, Ellipse. Are any of you familiar with Imogen Heap? She is a brilliant songwriter/musician/singer from the UK, and was formerly part of the awesome band Frou Frou (best known for the utterly glorious song "Let Go".) Her music moves in this endless loop of gorgeous electronic sounds, classical instruments and heavenly vocals and her songs change from whimsical to haunting at a moment's notice. She writes, orchestrates and sings all her own music, and provides most of the sounds herself (whether it involves heading out the park and recording passing jayhawks, or banging on empty carpet tubes with CD cases.) She is ridiculously inspiring, insanely talented and her album Speak for Yourself is one of the few CD's I could take to a deserted island and never get tired of.


Although I've loved Frou Frou forever, it was only about a year and a half ago that I finally tracked down Imogen's solo work. (You could say this is kind of cheating, since coming so late to the party cut down hugely on time spent in impatient "omygosh, when is the new album coming" thumb-twiddling, while the rest of her fans had to wait through the last four years.) However, as she has been sharing tidbits from the new CD via Youtube for quite awhile, I did become very impatient, especially to finally hear the finished version of a little song called "Canvas". Thankfully her newest work is finally all wrapped-up and will finally be released this August. And I could not be more excited. So, I thought I would share some music videos with you ("Headlock" is just lovely, and "Come Here Boy" is one of her best known songs.) Also, a little trailer for her new album!