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 My primary Writing.com blog. |
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Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics). Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places: Thanks for stopping by!  |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life"  | Day 22"I'm A Star (Dance Version)" by Devin Lewis feat. Solea Pfeiffer The first time I'd ever heard Solea Pfeiffer's name was when she played the role of Eliza Hamilton in the U.S. Tour of the Broadway musical Hamilton. We managed to get tickets to one of the Los Angeles shows and, in preparation, had been listening to the Broadway cast recording (where the role was most notably performed by the phenomenal Phillipa Soo), and I remember thinking how impressed I was by the fact that she was almost as good. Some of the traveling cast weren't anywhere close to the magic of the most notable performers, but Solea was amazing. This is also my second blog post of this year's "The Soundtrack of Your Life" where I'm featuring someone that made an appearance in Hadestown, a musical that I really, really want to see. I previously mentioned in "Whisper" that Betty Who played the role of Persephone in some Broadway productions of the musical, and Solea Pfeiffer did the same with the role of Eurydice. I would pay so much money to see a Broadway musical with both of those artists in it.  I really like this song as a productivity listen, when I need something up-tempo to keep focused and plugging along on a task. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 21 "Don't" by Wild Rivers Wild Rivers is a bit of a strange band for me because I really like a lot of their songs, but I don't think they have a consistent sound. In looking back on my most-listened to songs of 2023, the band actually shows up a handful of times, but it wasn't intentional on my part. Each time they were added based on Spotify recommendations (where the service provides a curated playlist of new music) and I'd hear the song and go, "Okay, I'll definitely listen to that again," and will add it to my regular playlist. Then, at the end of the year, I had a moment where I was like, "Wait, that song AND that song AND that song are all the same band?" It was a strange experience for sure, but I really love this song and it's my most listened-to song by the band from last year. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 20 "King of Wishful Thinking" by COTTA I had a weird experience finding this song... I wasn't familiar with an artist named COTTA, but I was sure I'd heard this version of Go West's hit song "King of Wishful Thinking" before. It was bugging me until I realized where I'd heard it before; it was actually a contestant's audition for a singing competition. Cassidy Mackie was a semi-finalist on Season 11 of The Voice Australia, and this was her audition that got her selected for the competition. I'm not entirely sure why she released the song under the name COTTA since she currently seems to be an acoustic wedding and event performer under her given name, but I'm so glad I found this track on Spotify because this is one of my all-time favorite songs, and I think this is a beautiful, modern update of a song with an original that feels very dated and 80s (not that that's a bad thing all the time...  ). |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 19 "What If I Don't" by Shaylen This is another song I found in my "country phrase" this year. Like some of the other songs in this year's playlist (like "Before You" , this song takes me back to my trip to Nashville and all the relatively undiscovered talent that just absolutely packs every single bar and club there. This is definitely the kind of song that would have drawn me through the door and convinced me to take a seat for the artist's set.She also does a great duet with Austin John Winkler performer a cover of Hinder's "Lips of an Angel ." I love the original song and this cover is a pretty great alternative. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 18 "Thinking 'Bout You" by Dustin Lynch feat. MacKenzie Porter I'm including a live performance of this song from Good Morning America because I think it does a better job of capturing the "call and response" song structure than the official music video. I also think it does a better job of showing the chemistry between the two singers, which is kind of an interesting story. The song was originally recorded with a different female vocalist (Lauren Alaina) for Dustin Lynch's fourth studio album, but by the time they released it as a single, Lauren Alaina had recently released a single of her own with a different male vocalist (Jon Pardi), and her label was concerned with her having two different male-female duets on the country charts at the same time. So they solved the problem by Lynch conducting a blind audition and choosing MacKenzie Porter from among all the contestants. I think he chose wisely; they really seem to have a great connection through this song. The funny thing about this song that because it was recorded and performed by different vocalists, the song is officially credited as "Thinking 'Bout You by Dustin Lynch featuring MacKenzie Porter or Lauren Alaina" which is actually the first time I can think of where a song was credited to two completely different artists but still considered one song for the purposes of of chart position. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 17 "Forever" by Gryffin feat. Elley Duhé I really like Gryffin as an artist. His collaborations with other talent are great, and I love the way that he makes them front-and-center in his collaborations. A lot of artists when they're looking for a collaborator want to make sure they're the center of attention and he kind of reminds me of Zedd and Kygo in the sense that he lets each collaborator shine on their particular track. I'd never heard of Elley Duhé before this song and I'm not quite sure what's she's done on her own at this point, but she's got a great voice and really complements Gryffin's electronic music style. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 16 "you heard me" by Heather Sommer Heather Sommer appeared on my year-end Spotify playlist a couple of times this year. I picked this song because I probably listened to it the most of all her songs, and I really like the line "we could be away on the PCH right now" because Pacific Coast Highway is a really famous highway where I live, and the song always reminds me of cruising down that particular stretch of road late at night, which is one of my favorite drives. I also listened to "sometimes" and "and if i'm being honest" quite a few times last year. I don't know much about Heather Sommer as an artist other than that she's considered up-and-coming; I'm excited to see what she does next, whether it's continuing to release singles or if she has plans for a longer EP or album that are in the works. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 15 "Steal The Show" by Lauv Elemental was one of my favorite animated movies from last year, and this original song from the film is something that's been in a regular rotation on my playlist ever since. I really like Lauv as an artist, and the message behind this song (and the movie) is really touching. I was surprised to hear that the movie was poorly received at first, but then that rumor seemed to get dispelled as the movie gained popularity throughout its release window. I think it's a really touching story about family obligations and expectations, and juxtaposing that against giving yourself the opportunity to be surprised by life and by love. I really like this video because it also captures a bit of what I think makes the movie so special; the filmmakers did an amazing job creating the world of Element City and showing how these four very different elements live together in the same place. It was a beautiful film, and an impressive follow-up to his prior directing effort for Pixar, The Good Dinosaur. Fun fact... he also played the voice of Emile in Ratatouille! |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 14 "Dance For The Hell Of It" by LOVA This is one of the songs that I listened to the most last year. Like "Over Yourself" from last year's activity, this song is a feel-good, get-up-and-move song that I found myself listening to a lot on repeat when I needed to be productive on a particular task and I just needed some background music to keep my productivity up. Fun fact: LOVA is actually Swedish-born and based artist who started singing and writing songs at age seven. By her teenage years she was releasing music online.I haven't heard any of her other songs at this point, but I'm curious if she'll be able to make the transition to mainstream popularity. This song is great and pop synth is definitely a popular genre right now, but it seems like a lot of artists in this space end up being one hit wonders before settling into a steady, if much smaller following of dedicated fans. I'm definitely excited to hear more of her music. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 13 "QUARTER LIFE CRISIS" by Taylor Bickett This is the second title (after "CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS" ) of young artists that I think have written really insightful, poignant songs. It's also apparently the second song in a row where the song title is spelled in ALL CAPS.  This song came out in 2022 and similarly to Braden Bales' song, it really captured the attention of a whole generation of young people who feel disillusioned with the way life is going. I particularly like the fact that the song acknowledges that the narrator isn't unique in feeling the way they do, but that they still feel the way they do anyway. I also like the fact that "quarter life crisis" is a play on a mid-life crisis and something that I think more and more people are becoming familiar with as they start to make their own way in the world and then, several years later, have a bit of an existential crisis about where their life is headed. |
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