Last.fm Chart Exchange Week 2 - C.P. Time Edition

Published by Laya under Music, Sharing is Caring on October 27, 2008

I am a horrible, horrible blogger.  It is time for another last.fm chart exchange, and I am LATE.  In my defense, I haven’t been feeling well (hence my lack of blogs period), but at the same time that’s no excuse!  So I owe humble apology to my fellow bloggers.  So, without further ado…

You guys should remember softjunebreeze, who blogs at Write For Freedom from last month’s exchange. Well, besides posting a great breakdown of the source of Lil’ Wayne’s ‘A Milli’ sample’, she also guest blogs every Monday at Gangstarr Girl (yet another blog you should be reading) for Manic Music Mondays. So go check her out! Her chart for this week:

[John Legend's new album is FIRE.  Go get it.  Seriously.  But I ain't one to gossip so you ain't heard that from me.]

Next up is a new addition to the exchange: Nukirk, who blogs @ Thought Remixer. He says he want to be a “different sort of hip hop blogger”. The post that really sold me on his blog was this one, where he posted a commercial for Guinness Stout featuring Ainsley Burrows. I’ve got quite the soft spot for poets, and his post not only introduced me to someone new, I found the poem incredibly inspiring. I feel like I should get the text and put it on my wall, so I can read anytime I start to doubt myself. But anyway, here’s his chart for the week:

And not, without further ado, my own chart:

So, I went a little game-tastic this week. The first entry comes from my listening to the Final Fantasy XII Piano Soundtrack, and the second entry is “Kow Otani” - the composer for Shadow of the Colossus (an absolutely incredible game and soundtrack). Other than that, my only other comment is that I am a strange, strange person, but then again I own it, so whatever. :D

So. Got a blog? Wanna promote it? Use last.fm? Well then get in on it! Hit me up - laya[dot]white[at]gmail[dot]com.

Broadway Madness

Published by Laya under Music on October 22, 2008

And now for something completely different, because it’s past 3 4 in the morning, I can’t sleep, and I have fallen down a vast well of youtube videos.

Firstly: if you did not know this about me already, I’m a huge musical nerd.  I love musicals in all of their forms: movie or on stage, professionals or community theater or high school, whatever.  Honestly, I love the theater period.

I think my first real encounter with musicals was the movie version of West Side Story - which is still one of my favorites.  Occasionally I babysat for a friend of my mother’s who had adopted a brother and sister from China.  They weren’t allowed to watch any television, but they had a massive library of VHS tapes - mostly homemade.  One (or rather two) of those was West Side Story, and I remember being entranced, even though the older child fast forwarded through the “mushy parts” (such as One Hand, One Heart) because she didn’t like them (nowadays I agree - weakest part of the whole movie) and the Rumble, because it “wasn’t appropriate”.  Yeah.

Then, I discovered that my Mom had the soundtrack to West Side Story on LP, so I listened to it incessantly, learning all of the songs (and all of the scratches).  She heard me, so for Christmas that year, she bought me the movie on VHS, along with The Sound of Music (another favorite).  And so it began.  (I like dance movies too, but that’s a whole other post.)

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My Fellow Americans

Published by Laya under Off the Top, Sharing is Caring on October 21, 2008

I am sick and tired of this election. Yeah, I said it, and I know I’m not alone.

I’m tired of analysis, of speculation, of fear mongering and personal attacks.  I wish cable news had something else to talk about (not that I watched much of that in the first place).  I’m tired of people talking about it at work.  I’m tired of talking about it with my friends and family, and I’m tired of not being able to help myself.  I’m tired of campaign ads on TV.  I’m tired of signs in people’s yards, signs in their windows, stickers on everything and buttons, buttons, buttons!  I know who I’m voting for, dammit!  So let me do that and leave me alone!

I think there is something seriously wrong with the way elections happen in this country.  If 2000 broke any illusions I had that things were fair, 2008 has ground those illusions into dust.  The level of racism and intolerance that has come from people on both sides of our “political system” sickens me, but hey - I’m black, female, and living in America so I can’t really say I’m surprised.

Despite all of my bitterness, at my core I am still American, and I still believe there are others like me on both sides who are fair, tolerant, and want what we feel is best for this country.  There was no better way to bolster my faith in my country than for me to see this video on Attackerman (via Jezebel):

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The Great last.fm Chart Exchange

Published by Laya under Music on October 19, 2008

Ah, twitter.  Supreme time suck, voice of the hive mind, and sometimes the generator of truly awesome ideas.

If you’ve ever looked at any of the blogs listed in my sidebar, you’ll notice one called Write For Freedom. That is the blog of softjunebreeze - a music expert, friend, and all around cool person.  We’ve been trading thoughts and comments for a while now - first through livejournal, and now on twitter and through our respective blogs.  I *loved* the music-related  posts she did from time to time on Lj, so I was quite happy when she announced she was taking it to the blogosphere.  (Psssst. You should go check out her blog. Seriously.)

Somewhere in the twitter thoughtgasm, an idea was forged: we should trade last.fm charts!  For those that don’t know, last.fm is a music sharing site.  You can run a plugin to your favorite player (iTunes is my choice, natch), and it will “scrobble” all of the tracks you play.  The site aggregates this date per user, and provides a widget showing your weekly or monthly “charts” by artist or track.  (If you look at the very bottom of the blog page, I’ve embedded a widget with whatever I’m currently playing.  As I write this, I’ve been on a Bjork kick for the last half hour or so.  But I digress.)

Hopefully, this will become a regular thing.  So without further ado, this is softjunebreeze’s last.fm chart for the previous week:

And, because it can’t be said enough, go check out her blog, Write For Freedom You won’t be sorry.

And just for shits and giggles, my weekly artist chart:

What’s funny is that it’s going to say one thing now, and something completely different later on when a new week in last.fm time starts. So I can’t even comment on it, lol. I’ll say this - I know there’s going to be a lot of plays of Jazmine Sullivan. If you haven’t copped that yet, what are you waiting for??

Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.

Published by Laya under Uncategorized on October 16, 2008

I’ve just been off…being me, I guess. :)

I don’t think I hit 30 new things in 30 days, but I did do a lot of things I’ve never done, and I hit a lot of my goals.  That felt pretty good.

I also realized I need to re-examine my “30 by 30″ list.  My priorities are changing. Again.

Got a lot of new music - mostly good. I said to someone on twitter that I wish that we could take Solange’s songwriting and production and put it with Jennifer Hudson’s voice.  Instead I get a Solange album that I like in theory but refuse to buy because I can not stand her voice, and a Jennifer Hudson album that has a T. Pain duet.  You heard/read right: a T. Pain duet.  Lord give me strength.

I finally have internet at home.  Sprint has debuted a new service in Baltimore called XOHM, and I decided to take advantage of their introductory offer (the service is $10 cheaper a month for the 1st 6 months).  So far I really like it!

So, expect to hear more from me.  I have a post about Hurricane Sasha Fierce (a.k.a. Beyonce - and I’m not making fun of her - that’s the name she’s give her alter ego) brewing, and I’ll get it up tonight. 

I just felt like dropping a quick line to say *Nettie voice* I AM NOT DEAD!