jubyred

Every Day

Did I mention that my kids love music?  It's one of those inherent things about children that I adore.  These scenes play out every single day in my house. 

This one is from Valentine's Day.  We were cleaning out some old costumes and GirlChild found some fake hair to really put her in the mood to rock out.  She's looking into a mirror in case there was any doubt.  I love the way she makes up words and has her rock-n-roll pronunciation.  And how she throws in a "Baby" every now and then.



Rock N Roll Valentine's Day from shannon cobourn on Vimeo.


And then there's yesterday.  I woke up Sunday morning to the drumming and singing.  They do this for hours.  This is four minutes and probably only remarkable if you are related to these children, but figured I'd post it anyway.  Again, I love her stream of consciousness lyrics and her made up rhyming words.  The drum solo is also particularly awesome.




Cobourn Family Band from shannon cobourn on Vimeo.

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

I'm picky about Christmas music.  There are several traditional standards that I love and it doesn't matter how many times I hear them, I probably always will. 

But I just can't get into the overly sentimental, sappy, Celine Dion/Josh Groban type music.  Yes, I know, they both have lovely voices.  I just feel like I need to take a shower after listening to them, like I am dripping in saccharine.   Give me Ella Fitzgerald singing Oh Holy Night or anything from Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas any day.

As for newer stuff, check out Across the Rhine or Low or Sufjan Stevens-all of whom have really stellar Christmas CDs.

Here's a sampling to get you started.  You can play it while you slave away at work to get you in the spirit. Enjoy!

Four By KoL

Seriously.  Listen. Love the way he says 'I hope it's gonna make you notice.' Kills me.

Lay Where You're Layin'. Don't Make A Sound.

This is starting to get some radio play finally, especially after they performed it on SNL last weekend.

I listened to it, oh, 18 times this morning.  Mmmmm.  His voice. His dirty dirty voice. 

YouTube won't let me imbed the video (and frankly, I think the visuals distract from the song) but he's lovely to look at, all skinny and dirty.  I have lived in the south too long, obviously. 

But really, crank this up and listen and tell me it doesn't make you wanna find a backseat immediately. Or, at very least to dance around in your underwear.

Oh, by the way, I'm pretty sure Drew has a slight musical man crush on him so all of the above talk is ok since he's on board. 

Heartstrings

Any mother worthy of having children knows what it takes to get her children in 'the zone.'  For mine, it has always been music.  Since birth, my kids have responded to music.  No matter what crazed mood they are in, I have been able to snap them into calm with the right song.

GirlChild's latest favorite song is one I started singing to her at bedtime a few weeks ago.  Within days, she had the entire thing memorized.  I can't get her to remember to rinse her toothpaste out of the sink, but she can mostly sing a song back to me after hearing it once or twice.  I love her intonations and strange southern accent as she earnestly sings it into her squash microphone. 

I also included the real version by Alison Krauss in case this isn't in your repertoire and you'd like to hear the treatment of it by a grown woman instead of the four year old's version.

Rainy Day

Working at home today.  Listening to this...

Tell Me...

You know how some songs just take you to a very specific place in your life?  I was listening to this on my way in this morning and had forgotten how much I loved Kim Gordon.

Shatter

Fifteen years ago, in 1993, I was 22 and living in an apartment in Virginia Highlands and this was my soundtrack.  It has consistently been on all sorts of lists as one of the best CDs, but I'm guessing you haven't heard it. 

I was deeply entrenched in that rite of passage most women my age have gone through wherein we start to ask many questions of ourselves.  The endless breakup I found myself in helped that cause.  Phair was brave enough to say out loud, "I want a boyfriend" on one track and "I want to fuck you like a dog" on another.  To a Camille Paglia reading,  girly, neo-feminist which I fancied myself at the time, it was news to me that I could revel in both sentiments. 

She has claimed that it is a song by song response to The Stones' Exile on Main Street (which I bought into years earlier).  But now, with the 15 anniversary re-release of the CD, I tend to agree with this reviewer who says, "It’s an album that sounds like a difficult relationship, a passive-aggressive wheedling album that reveals a deeply girly singer, vulnerable and bluffing and unhappy enough to put her misery on display."  No surprise that I found solace in the lyrics.

Some of my favorites from the album are here (look under the 'Exile' playlist).

Something So Right

I was never much of a Van Damme fan.  That was, until I saw this.  The tank top with the pleated pants.  And so limber.  Set to Chromeo. 

Hide Me

Riding in the car through Tallulah Falls and this song comes on...

-Man, this guy needs to be bitch slapped (cracks himself up)
-What?
-You heard me. What are we listening to?
-He's very sad, Drew.
-That is beyond sad. Someone needs to get on some medication.
-He's a sensitive guy.
-Uh, yeah. Does he cry at sunsets because he sounds like he cries at sunsets.