Music of the Night

I guess maybe I'm stressed out or something because I've had some crazy dreams/nightmares over the past few nights. On the plus side, I don't know if they were in my dreams or what, but I woke up with two really awesome songs stuck in my head.

The first, which is still stuck in my head (but that's a good thing) is It Bleeds by The Hard Lessons, from their EP "Wise up!" It's a really chill rock song. Since I've already written about them, I'm just gonna say another quick "check them out" because they're awesome. And now you have an mp3 to keep, because I know last time I didn't post any mp3s. I only said to go to their myspace and listen to some of their songs that haven't been released on disc yet, which you should still do by the way.

The second song that was stuck in my head when I woke up this morning is the total opposite of the first song. It's upbeat and poppy. Or, playful. That's a good word for it. It's Dirty Laundry, by Bitter:Sweet, from their album "The Mating Game." I love how the song is basically just like "I'm bad and it's more fun that way." I first heard Bitter:Sweet on The Current, and I thought they sounded familiar. It's because they've been used in the show "Grey's Anatomy," which I used to love (although not so much anymore). I really like the variety of sounds they use - mixing orchestral instruments (on top of the lovely strings that are in most of the songs, some songs have wind and brass instruments too) with electronic sounds. Some of their songs sound as if there's a full orchestra backing them up. My other playful favorites of theirs include The Mating Game and Salty Air. Most of their songs are playful but the ones that slow it down, like Moving Forward or Don't Forget to Breathe, are very relaxed, but still have a funky beat and are kind of echoey, which gives the songs an interesting sense of space. It kind of makes them feel slower than they actually are, but not in a bad way. Does that make any sense? Probably not. I need to work on that whole "putting my thoughts into words" thing. Haha. I guess what I'm kind of trying to say is that they have a very visual/cinematic feel to their music. They've been used on a lot of soundtracks, not just Grey's Anatomy. They are coming to NY on August 23rd... Maybe I will go see them.

It Bleeds (mp3) - The Hard Lessons ("Wise Up!" EP) - iTunes

Dirty Laundry (mp3) - Bitter:Sweet ("The Mating Game") - iTunes
The Mating Game (mp3) - Bitter:Sweet ("The Mating Game") - iTunes
Don't Forget To Breath (mp3) - Bitter:Sweet ("The Mating Game") - iTunes

In other quick news, I went to "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" last night. It's 30 (original) "plays" in one hour... if they can get through them all. It was great. I thought they would all be funny but some of them were really serious, so it was an interesting roller coaster of emotions to go through in one hour. The sudden serious play here or there was very sobering amongst all the hilarity. There were also a few very experimental moments. My favorite "plays" were the musical numbers (surprise surprise). There's lots of audience participation, but don't sit on the narrow side because you will get left out (there was one "play" - maybe I should start calling them sketches or skits or something - called "Communicable Dis-Ease" where they just went into the audience and played Telephone, but we were sitting on the wrong side, so we didn't get to play). They made it through almost all 30, with the exception of one that they couldn't remember half way through and one that the timer went off half way through. Each week they roll dice to see how many new plays they're going to be doing next week, so if you wait a few weeks in between shows, you will see a completely different show each time.

Ok, lunch time. Tata dahlings.

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