I’ve been a fan of French DJ David Guetta ever since 2007′s “Pop Life“. His latest album seems to me a bit more “dance heavy”, but his songs can always put a smile on my face.

Its complicated, It always is
That’s just the way it goes
Feels like I waited so long for this
I wonder if it shows?

Bad Day
Lookin for a way, home
Lookin for the great escape
Gets in his car and drives away
Far from all the things that we are

I wish I had more time to write at the moment. Love this song ever since I heard it for the first time… less than a month ago. Still part of the “series”, its by one of the best portuguese lyricists out there, Manel Cruz. A really nice chap as well. Since I dont’ have time to write everything there is to say about it, I’ll go ahead and embed a video with the whole lyric, for your enjoyment.

Thanks for your time.

No time for words… no need for them sometimes.

Thanks for your time.

This next artist in the “series” was also the first I ever posted on this blog (over here). At the time I had also found this gem on youtube and have been waiting ever since for the right time to share it with you. It’s actually full of tricks, unlike the previous two posts, but somehow I consider them “good tricks”. She’s sings live, with nothing but her voice and claps to provide… orchestration, for lack of a better term.

It’s that time of year
Leave all our hopelessness’s aside
If just for a little while
tears stop right here
I know we’ve all had a bumpy ride.
I’m secretly on your side

Thanks for your time.

Chris Thile on his own, is one of the best mandolinists alive and here he joined forces with friends to form a five-piece acoustic string band. They record their albums live with only two microphones between them, as the video shows. The result is a pleasure to listen to, in my opinion.

Thanks for your time

Short on time for the next couple of weeks, so I thought I’do a series. It doesn’t take a lot of talent to sing nowadays, what with audio processing software like Auto-Tune, so here’s a tribute to artists who are able to captivate without these tricks backing them up.

Fist up is Lykke Li, who was introduced to me by Anita, in her blog. This music has been an inspiration to me more than once and I really like this version recorded live on the streets of Stockholm, with a toy piano!

Hands down
I’m too proud, for love
But with eyes shut
It’s you I’m thinking of

Thanks for your time

Part of the soundtrack of my life. So much time wasted and so much more to waste… Haven’t listened to this in a while, but I still remembered the video as being powerful.

Depressing? Maybe… Watch the video until the end, sometimes the rabbit in our headlights is more than he seems. Wikipedia has the details.

Back to wasting time, hopefully a bit more organized next week. I miss writing my own words.

I’m a rabbit in your headlights
Scared of the spotlight
You don’t come to visit
I’m stuck in this bed

Thanks for your time.

Fast forward 7 years and Death Cab For Cutie‘s latest album, “Narrow Stairs”, reached #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and lead singer Ben Gibbard recorded one of my favorite albums with the band “The Postal Service“. I chose this song because the lyrics have one of the sentences I’d choose for my very own literary tattoo, like these.

The Postal Service – Clark Gable

I want so badly to believe that “there is truth, that love is real”
And i want life in every word to the extent that it’s absurd
I know you’re wise beyond your years, but do you ever get the fear
That your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself to help you get by?

Thanks for your time.

Well, you say, we all knew that. To which I answer, gosh… (insert embarrassed smiley here), I’m not talking about that… not today, at least. I’m in love with a musical instrument, the mandolin, or bandolim, in Portuguese.

The first instrument I ever learned to play was a violin, which caught my interest for about… two years. Yet, before that, I wanted to play the mandolin. Fate, however, has a way of twisting itself around, and so I didn’t get to play on a mandolin until about… two decades later.

Maybe things would have turned out different had I started to learn earlier. Maybe I’d be playing like Hamilton de Holanda, Dudu Maia, or Chris Thile. Or maybe I wouldn’t have had the patience to stick with it… I’m sure I wouldn’t have learned how to crochet in order to knit a mandolin strap inspired by the Bailey strap!

I could post hours and hours of mandolin music, but I have to start somewhere. I was practically born listening to the original of this song, so I thought it would be a good place to start. “Passarim” by Brazilian composer Tom Jobim, here played solo on a 10-string bandolim by Hamilton de Holanda. You can listen to the original on youtube.

hamilton-de-holanda-09-passarim

Passarinho, me conta então, me diz:
Por que que eu também não fui feliz?
Cadê meu amor, minha canção?
Que me alegrava o coração…

Thanks for your time.