Elegant Symphony Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication...

John Legend is one of those artist I can listen too at any given time. In fact I have been letting his albums run (and Jason Mraz) all morning.

The song P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care) is featured on John Legend's 2006 album entitled "Once Again". It's really a romantic yet promiscuous song and I love it!

Good Morning Blogger Nation... Is it weird that I now own all 23 Soundtracks to the Bond series? The music is so intense and lively. The strings are phenomenal but not every song is centered around orchestra. At the moment, I am listening to music from the Bond film "Live and Let Die" and it's actually has a lot of funk and soft rock elements incorporated, not to mention, Paul McCartney wrote the main theme for the film.

Remember that blog entry I posted earlier in the year? I guess now I can really make that happen ha!

This is one of my favorites from "Live and Let Die":

Today's New Band is Bon Iver. I found out about this band by looking up a song by Kanye West, Jay-z, and Nicki Minaj. Apparently, Kanye West used a Bon Iver sample in the song "Monster". I was curious to who they were so I gave their 2008 album entitlef "For Emma, Forever Ago". Honestly, it is a really enjoyable album. I like to listen to it when I'm working on things personally. The album is like brain food to me the music and singing are soothing and melodic.

Bon Iver is classified as Indie Rock/Folk. They have Released three Albums to date

For Emma, Forever Ago 2008
Blood Bank (EP) 2009
Volcano Choir 2009

Apparently, Bon Iver's song "Blindsided" was featured on Grey's Anatomy:

Hello blog world! I've severely neglected you all, but according to my stats my page still gets plenty of hits. I know it's been months since my last post but it's been a busy and eventful summer! Here's a tune for you all on this beautiful Saturday morning, Jack Johnson's "Hope" remixed by Nightmares on Wax:

Rainy days are Jazz kind of days.. Jamie Cullum was a featured artist yesterday (raining) and Michael Bublé today in "The Groove" series.

Today's New Artist is Jamie Cullum, hailing from England and born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Jamie Cullum isn't a new artist to me; more or less rediscovered.

I first found out about him watching 60 minutes back in 2005. He came to fame by covering songs by artists such as Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole and Ol' Blue Eyes himself...Frank Sinatra. Jamie has a good voice but what really drew me to him was his skill as a pianist. He's phenomenal!

When I found out about him in 2005, he was releasing his forth studio album entitled Catching Tales . Songs off the album that immediately caught my eye (or ear if you will) at the time were "Photograph" and "Mind Trick".

Recently I decided to look him up again and I found He released a new album late last year (November 2009) entitled The Pursuit. This past week I've been listening to it and it is quite enjoyable. My favorite song off the album is probably "If I Ruled the World" (featured). He also covers Rhianna's 2007 hit single "Don't Stop the Music" on the album which is a nice piano version of the song.

Discography:

Heard It All before (1999)
Pointless nostalgic (2002)
Twenty Something (2003)
Catching Tales (2005)
The Pursuit (2009)

Chocolate High... this is the kind of relationship I want one day. "If we make each other happy then we just can't lose" One day ha...

You know how certain songs bring back certain memories? I'm up bright and early this morning reminiscing away, ha. I have my computer on shuffle and "Voyage to Atlantis" by the Isley Brothers comes on.. Family road trips from the 90s anyone??

Back in the day My parents would take my two brothers and me out of school for like two weeks and just drive off in the sunset. It was so much fun, and to tell the truth I miss those days. My dad would always play his old school music like the Isley Brothers, Babyface, ect and it would grind our gears. As kids all we wanted to hear was the latest in Hip Hop and R&B.

As I've grown into the man I am today I have learned to appreciate the music my dad forced us to listen to and everytime I hear one of his old school songs playing it brings back memories of all the amazing times we spent traveling as a family. My dad, mom, two brothers and me.

I was cleaning out my car today and I noticed my CD case sitting on the floor in the back. So I go through it and decide to listen to Anthony Hamilton's The Point of it All (2008). I seriously forgot how good this album was because all the music I ever listen to is either online, my mp3 player, or computer. I rarely ever listen to CDs anymore...

Here are a few albums I can listen to any time anywhere.

(in no particular order)

Marvin Gaye: The Master Disc 3 (1961-1984)







John Legend: Get Lifted (2004)








Kanye West: The College Dropout (2004)








Jay-Z: The Blueprint (2001)








Maxwell: BLACKsummers'night (2009)








Aaliyah: I Care 4 U (2001)

I found out about this young lady from a friend on Facebook. In all honesty, I was not expecting such a powerful voice out of this young lady. Her name is Jessica Cornish but commonly known as Jessie, hailing from London. Her vocals are absolutely ridiculous, and she has personality to match her talent, which can be seen in any YouTube video you watch of her singing. As far as I know she doesn't have any albums as of yet but she is signed, so I'm guessing something is in the works soon. She definitely has my stamp of approval!

Check Jessie out: Facebook | MySpace | YouTube |

Today's featured artist is Janelle Monáe, hailing from Kansas City. She's different but she keeps it interesting. I can dig it. She has nice vocals and you can clearly tell that Outkast has an influence on her music, especially the song "Coldwar" (B.O.B anyone?). For more songs check her out on Myspace and YouTube.

Sorry so short but I have to keep it moving.

A good way to avoid the lack of lyricism and storytelling in popular music is to go the instrumental route. Insert Ratatat, hailing from Brooklyn, New York. This duo that features Mike Stroud (Guitar) and Evan Mast (Synthesizers) is not necessarily new to me, just rediscovered. I've always liked their song "Wildcat" (2006) but I never gave any serious thought about checking out any of their previously released albums. This week I did and I'm liking what I hear.

Their style ranges from Electronica to Rock to Hip Hop. While they do have their own albums under their belt, they have remix albums which features artists like Kanye West, Jay-Z, and The Notorious B.I.G. I would definitely recommend checking out their previous albums. Also, Keep a look out for their upcoming album LP4 slated for release May 2010.

- I do not own the rights to any music used in this blog -

I'm not in a relationship or anything at the moment but alas, I dig "It's Good to be Loved" by Babyface from his 2005 Album Grown & Sexy.

I'll try to get a new artist up sometime soon!

"Pretty Please (Love Me)" by Estelle featuring Cee-lo Green of Gnarles Barkley, from her 2008 Album Shine.

-my fortune cookie from dinner last night

Here's something I don't understand. It's the reason why people have an undying need to try to impress me. Does this happen to anyone else? People always want to make sure I notice things or brag exceptionally hard when I'm around. It even seems to happen with perfect strangers. I really hate to sound like an asshole or self-aggrandizing but I don't care. Yes, I like nice things but I have the things that I own because I like them. Not to impress others. I don't spend loads of money on things but I do have unique tastes that I guess appear really expensive and refined when in actuality most of it is dirt cheap (I shop wisely).

At any rate, I believe this can be used as an example as to why a lot of people fail to find true happiness in this world. They spend their lives doing things because of what others around them think or trying to impress someone instead of what truly makes them happy. Be yourself. At all times express who you are. Let people love and accept you for who you truly are instead of for who you believe they think you should be.

1. Create a page using Blogger's "Page Widget".

2. Post the page using Column view.

3. Go to "Edit HTML" on the Layout tab.

4. Check Expand Widget Templates.



5. Look for the line of code for the Page Widget that looks like this:

< b: widget id =" 'PageList1'" locked="'false'" title="'Pages'" type =" 'PageList'">



6. Locate the < /ul > tag.



7. Directly BEFORE this tag type this line of code:

< li >< a href=' INSERT YOUR LINK'> YOUR PAGE NAME < / a > < / l i >
(no spaces)

8. Repeat step seven as needed for however many customized pages you want.

Your lines of code should look like this:





**Preview your blog before publishing it to ensure the new page links work correctly.

I haven't posted in a while (Musical Experiment wise anyway) but it's kind of a good thing. I found a new job! Just an office job but I'm happy about it. I spent all of Sunday reworking my resume then sent some out that night. The next day (within hours actually because I applied at like 3am) I get a call back for an interview which was scheduled for wednesday. I killed the interview. Today was my first day. I had to design fire escape floor plans, ha. At any rate, I'm happy about the situation.

In other news, I have Lauryn Hill's "Sweetest Thing" on repeat in the memory banks. I haven't heard this song in I don't even remember how long.

I planned on making Australian singer/songwriter Jade MacRae a featured artist. But in all honesty, I'm not a huge fan of the songs I heard from her 2008 album Get Me Home. It's just too Pop for my tastes.

I haven't had the opportunity to experience her debut album. However, I do enjoy her live performances. Maybe it's because of the fact that she's gorgeous. How could you resist a smile like hers?