digitalcitrus.com

Annie Lennox
“A Whiter Shade of Pale”

As you know, I usually reserve sundays for Classical music. Since this week is ‘cover songs’ week, I figured I’d feature a song whose roots are from a Bach piece — Annie Lennox’s cover of “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, originally written by Procol Harum. You will notice the resemblance to Bach’s “Sleepers awake” and “Air on a G String”. Hundreds of artists have covered this song, but I picked this one.

Annie lennox is a synth-pop godess and diva with an androgynous fashion sense. Her version of this song also affords me a nice segue into next week’s genre i’m calling “Girl power” week. Next week will feature women artists only.

I remember being scared of her when I was younger. I saw her videos on TV and something about her demeanor scared me. She still scares me a bit, but I have learned to respect her. She’s confidant, artistic, and certainly a diva.

Pat Benatar
“We Belong”

Pat Benatar showed men how to do it in the 80’s. She rocked out. She had some serious girl power. No “girl power” week would be complete without one of her songs.

Music
“Uninvited”

Alanis raised a firestorm of protest when she released her CD “Jagged Little Pill”. I remember Wal-Mart banning the CD. They wouldn’t sell it. Apparently some of the words in the track “You outta know” were just too much to stomach for Wal-Mart.

Regardless, Alanis apologized for nothing. She stood by her words and her music. For that I give her a thumbs up, and put her in this week’s music.

Sarah McLachlan
“Last Dance”

Sarah started Lilith Fair – a fact that I had forgotten. At each Lilith Fair venue, one dollar for each ticket sold was given to a women’s charity in that community.

If you listen closely, you’ll hear a high-pitched “bendy” instrument. It’s a saw. A soccer game I attended last year included a performance by an artist who played the National Anthem on a saw. Here is a picture I took of that performance.

Lisa Loeb
“Life is just a bowl of Cherries”

This song was written in 1931. I used to be in like with Lisa Loeb when I was in high school (10 years ago). I still think she’s awesome. I wish she would come out with more music.

By the way, Lisa was also a part of Lilith Fair. Go go gadget girlpower.

Indigo Girls
“Love Will Come to You”

I heard this song for the first time in 2000. I have loved it since. These two girls are amazing musicians. You should listen to more of their work. These girls are all about girl power.

Greg Laswell
“Girls Just Want to Have Fun”

I’ve listened to this song a few times since Easter. I’ve been wanting to play it, but needed a good time to do so. This ends girl power week, and better way than to post a song about girls having fun? :)

I might have to continue this trend and post songs about girls. We’ll see. I have a day to mull it over.

Kate Havnevik
“Kaleidoscope”

I’ve been very “downtempo” lately. Long hours at work probably have something to do with it.

I received a very nice email from a Alex O. which inspired me to find something tonight.

I’ve been listening to a love of Kate Havnevik, Imogen heap, (and frou frou of course) lately. I’ve also been listening to Gnarles Barkley and some rapper named Flo rida – his stuff is just hilarious, and he makes use of interesting rhythmic phrasing.

Anyway, the opening of this song, “kaleidoscope” reminds me of opening scenes of dramas, or closing credits. It’s somber and beautifully arranged. I hope this helps be break the ice on another year of posting music.

Please enjoy. Thank you all for the encouraging emails.

Rosi Golan
“C’est L’amour”

I first learned about Rosi via Greg Holden. He was visiting her in NYC or something and mentioned her in a video or on facebook or something.

I love this song. It’s catchy, cute, and quirky – just how I like it. Rosi is a great songwriter. A lot of her songs have a sort of innocent feel about them. I just like how they’re produced. They aren’t overly done.

I’ve listened to a few songs on this CD. You can too with the link below to amazon.com. Give her a chance, you’ll like it!

Daughter
“Smother”

Another song I caught at the tail end. I believe it was used with a contemporary dance to help emote pain or suffering. It worked. Enjoy!