On Estonian Artists and Artists in Estonia

So the ever-adorable Rachel wanted to know what kind of artists pass through Estonia. Since our country is so very tiny and, again, with only 1,3 mln people it's pretty hard to get the extremely famous bands and musicians to perform here, but for some unknown reason a few of them find their way here. Today's post will be about which artists have found their way here and since I'm already at it, I'm going to share some of my favorite local artists with you:)

My Personal Soundtrack for Charade by Nyrae Dawn

It's the first time I've ever done a playlist for a book, but I just think these songs are perfect for Charade + I can't get it out of my head how good this book was. Every time I hear these songs this novel just keeps popping up in my head. So yep, here are the (lucky) thirteen songs that "made it" to my playlist for Charade :)

1. Shotelle – Impossible
2. TaylorSwift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
3. Kings ofLeon – Use Somebody
4. AvrilLavigne – Complicated
5. Coldplay – Fix You
6. Sia – Breathe Me
7. MattNathanson – Come on Get Higher
8. Far EastMovement (feat. Ryan Tedder) – Rocketeer
9. Florence +The Machine – Never Let Me Go
10. Marianas Trench - Good to You 
11. Snow Patrol - Run
12. Marcus Foster - I Was Broken 
13. The Lumineers - Ho Hey 

I hope that when you read the book you'll know which scenes I had in mind when I chose these songs and yeah.. That's about it. Now whatcha waitin' for? Go go go! Read this fabulous book, make your own playlists and tell me which songs do you think suit best for this pure awesomeness that is Charade:)

Something different: Drake's Take Care by the amazing Florence and the Machine

So.. Occasionally I post something about music. If you're not interested, do not bother opening this post, but if you are, then ooooooh, man! This week has been crazy for me, because I've been stuck with this nasty flu, so I've been staying home more than usual, but the great thing is that I've discovered some great music and I'm a huge fan of Florence and the Machine. Here's a cover of Drake's Take Care in BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. I'm in love with this cover. And in awe. She gives this song such an intimate tune and feeling, ugh.. Florence's got such an incredible unique voice and I've been clicking that repeat button for the last hour straight. I love this! Hope you enjoy it, too :) Oh, and while you're at it, check out some of the other covers by different artists. Ellie Goulding, Rita Ora, the fabulous Jessie J and others have done an awesome job. Enjoy!

Inspiration: Philip Phillips

All right, fellas! It's my first post under this "inspiration" tag. I'll put it under #music, too, but yeah, this is not just music.. I think this guy's inspirational and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him. He stays true to himself and his music and doesn't change who he is because someone else thinks it might do him good. I liked him from the very first moment I saw him on this year's "American Idol". By the way, he's got a darn awesome name. Hope you enjoy. He's got that something special in him and I bet we'll hear from him pretty soon. Lol, he just makes me smile and I love how much he enjoys what he's doing. Yeah. That's pretty much it, so.. Check him out, will ya :)

Music Vol. 2

All right, cupcakes! I forgot to post some songs I've liked for so long and which I think sound even better acoustic. Also, I think whenever I have enough songs to make a bigger list than ten songs, I'm going to post them. Now I have, so here you go :)

1. Daughtry - No Suprise
2. Dave Grohl - Wheels
3. Nneka - Heartbeart (Chase & Status Remix)
4. Hot Chaelle Rae - Like It Like That
5. Kings of Leon - Birthday
6. Shawn McDonald - Without You
7. Travie McCoy - Superbad
8. Travie McCoy - I Need You
9. Selena Gomez - Hit The Lights (I really, really like this song because of the lyrics)
10. Colbie Caillat - Brighter Than The Sun
11. AWOLNATION - Sail
12. Fever Ray - The Wolf
13. Fever Ray - Keep The Streets Empty For Me
14. N.E.R.D. - Rock Star (Jason Nevis Remix)
15. Hollywood Undead - Hear Me Now
16. Anya Marina - All The Same To Me
17. Florence + The Machine - Spectrum
18. Florence + The Machine - Never Let Me Go
19. Foster The People - Houdini
20. The Hives - It Won't Be Long

Music Vol. 1

I’m not going to do posts about all these artists, but I’m probably going to write about some of them later on, but for now, here’s a list of songs I really like at the moment or songs that I think are worth sharing. You’ll probably know some of them, considering that some of them are pretty old, but I still hope you’ll find something new to listen to and as for reviews, I have a list of points written already, but not the full reviews, tho I'm planning on writing them and hopefully soon I'll be able to post them :) All right, enough of the talk, here are the songs:

1. Haley Reinhart – Rolling In the Deep
2. Paul McDonald – Rocket Man
3. Greg Laswell – Comes And Goes
4. The Kicks – Hawk Eyes
5. Thirteen Senses – Into the Fire
6. Marcus Foster –I Was Broken
7. Justin Nuzoka – After Tonight
8. Marianas Trench – Good To You
9. Jojo – Disaster
10. Birdy – Skinni Love
11. Jack White – Love Interruption
12. Sia – My Love
13. Alicia Keys – Unthinkable
14. Rye Rye – Sunshine
15. Coldplay – Princess of China
16. Coldplay – Major Minus
17. John Mayer – Who Says
18. M.I.A. – XXXO
19. Shwayze – Love Letter
20. Iiris – Weirdo
21. Train – Drive By
22. The Police – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
23. Barcelona – Come Back When You Can
24. August Hunt – Tantsulõvi
25. Chris Rene – Young Homie
26. Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know
27. Kerli – Zero Gravity
28. OsloSkyline – Turn Off The Lights
29. Snow Patrol – Fallen Empires
30. Snow Patrol – New York

Agnes Obel

So, I bet some of you already know about a wonderful and beautiful Danish singer (and songwriter) Agnes Obel. If you don't, I recommend (read: order) you to check out some of her songs. I found out about her after watching an episode of "Revenge" (an awesome show by the way, not a single episode has disappointed me so far) where her song "Riverside" was playing on the backround. Also, it was on the show "Ringer" which is a pretty awesome show, too. It's one of the most beautiful melodies I've heard recently, so calming and it just haunts me for days. Well, it did at least.

Oh, and I LOVE her accent.

So I know just two songs from her at the moment (aside from "Riverside" I've also listened to "Avenue"), but I will definitely listen to some of her other songs when I have time, and notice that I say when not if, because I do want to find out what other beautiful stuff this woman has in her repertory.

So, I promised some facts about the artists, right? I think I won't be consistant with these, because I really don't have time to check every artist's backrounds, but I checked out some things about this wonderful lady over here. Here we go:

• She's inspired by such classic French composers as Debussy and Ravel (by the way, I love Ravel's "Bolero", it's such a powerful piece of art) and enjoys the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe and also loves some Hitchcock
• She has won several awards, one of them is European Border Breakers Award (in 2011) which is given to an artist who's been successful not only in one's country but also across the Europe
• She knows how to play the piano and she's also familiar with the bass guitar
• At the moment she lives in Berlin

Ewert and The Two Dragons

All right, so, I have a band I'd like to tell you about. Probably, if you're an Estonian, this group needs no introduction, so this post's mostly for the foreign people.

The group's from Estonia. I've liked the frontman (Ewert) for a few years now. He's had some great songs from the past and he's kind of different. As is this group he's playing with at the moment. They won almost every award possible (if not all of them) this year and one can say that like Adele is to the world, they're the same to people in Estonia at this point. They've got this cool tune and something retro, something new, something edgy and they really are different. I haven't listened to a lot of their tracks and I, as sad as I am to admit this, didn't even know very much about them until recently. They're pretty cool, so I advise you to at least check them out. Here's a song (and I believe it's their most known song) from their new album and I just hope you enjoy.

Leighton Meester

To read in English, click on 'Read more'

Olen üpriski kindel, et paljud on kas ise vaadanud või vähemalt midagi kuulnud sarjast „Gossip Girl“, mis räägib New Yorgi rikaste noorte elust. Algselt keskenduti rohkem Blake Lively tegelasele Serenale, kuid vaatajate poolehoidu võitis tema parim sõber/vaenlane Blair Waldorf, keda kehastab andekas Leighton Meester.

Leighton on 25-aastane nätilejatar ja laulja. Just tema lauljakarjäärist tahtsin kirjutada. Ma ei ütleks, et ta on megasuperstaar nagu Beyoncé või Lady Gaga ning hääleulatuse poolest pole ta kindlasti Adele ega ka Mariah. Enamik teavadki vaid tema nägu „Gossip Girli“ plakatitelt, reklaamidest või sarjast, aga üldjuhul ei seostata tema nime muusikamaailmaga. Olgem ausad, tema suurem läbilöök selles valdkonnas saabus hoopiski koostöös bändiga Cobra Starship, kelle loos „Good Girls Go Bad“, mida saatis ülemaailmne edu, ka Leighton kaasa teeb.

Tunnistan, et päris paljudest tema enda lugudest ma palju ei pea, ent mõned on siiski pilku (või peaksin äkki ütlema kõrva) püüdnud. Kõige enam naudin tema esitust Check In The Darkiga ühel live-showl, mis toimus 2011. aasta suvel, kus nad esitasid pala „The Stand In“. Võluv ja intiimne esitus ning miks mitte seda siin ka teiega jagada :)

Ja kuna lubasin artistide kohta ka fakte esitada, siis mõned faktid:

• Leighton on suurema osa elust elanud NYC’s ja LA’s, ent sündis hoopiski Texases ja kasvas üles Floridas
• Ta on võitnud 2 Teen Choice Awardi ja ühe Hollywood Awardi
• Ta mängib kitarri
• Moelooja Vera Wang valis Leightoni hiljuti enda parfüümi Lovestruck reklaaminäoks

FM Radio, The Lumideers

To read in English, click on 'Read more'

Kuna ülikooli kõrvalt on esimesel semestril üllatavalt palju vaba aega üle jäänud ja kõik sõbrad-tuttavad tegelevad õppetööga, siis olen pidanud ise aega surnuks lööma. Hiljuti alustasin „Hart of Dixie“ vaatamist. Kuulan vahel kantrimuusikat (mitte küll liigses koguses) ning olen tänu HOD’le avastanud uusi huvitavaid artiste, kellest varem kuulnudki polnud. Üheks neist on FM Radio, kelle lugu „Lead Me Home“ kummitas mind mitu päeva. Teiseks leidsin sellise esitaja nagu The Lumineers. Mõlemad bändid on rahulikumale kuulajale, arvan, et parim on neid kuulata pärast väsitavat päeva puhates. Palju positiivseid ja rõõmsaid meloodiaid.

FM Radio

• Asutatud: 2010
• Liikmed: Schuyler Fisk, Tim Myers
• Tim on olnud sellisted bändides nagu OneRepublic, Snow Patrol, MoZella (kõik kuuluvad ka minu lemmikute hulka), tema soololaule leiab sellistest sarjadest nagu „Grey Anatoomia“, „Erapraksis“
• Schuyler on olnud tuuril näiteks Sheryl Crowga
• Fiski lugu „Paperweight“ on filmi „Kallis John“ üheks soundtrackiks
• 2 muusiku esimene koostöö oli looga „Be My Only“, mis mängis Hilda pulmas sarjas „Inetu Betty“
• Schuyler Fisk on ühtlasi ka näitleja, osalenud näiteks sarjas „One Tree Hill“

P.S. Suhteliselt raske on selle bändi kohta infot hankida, sest FM Radio ei ole just väga originaalne nimi ning igast muud informatsiooni kipub rohkem ette hüppama kui seda, mida parajasti vaja. 

The Lumineers

• Asutatud: 2002 ? Pärast venna surma otsustasid Jeremiah ja Wesley leida leevendust muusikast
• Liikmed: Wesley Schultz, Jeremiah Schultz, Neya Pekarek
• Algul püüdsid poisid läbi lüüa New Yorgis, hiljem koliti Denverisse, kus nendega liitus kohalik Neya
• Wes joonistas noorena ning praegugi tegeleb kunstiga
  

Arvan, et ei hakka nende lugu ümber jutustama, bändi kodulehel on väga südamlikult ja lihtsas inglise keeles kõik kirja pandud
 

Muusika: The Lumineers-Ho Hey, FM Radio-Lead Me Home