Music Video of the Day: Lose My Breath - Destiny's Child

Back in my middle school days I loved Beyonce and her little cohorts, particularly the husky, sexy sound of Michelle Williams, but the other day I realized that I hadn't paid attention to them in years. I've grown into appreciating a different type of music by this point in my life but that doesn't mean there still isn't room for some old fashioned fun courtesy of a truly talented R&B group. This song, "Lose My Breath", particularly stood out to me because of the lyrics. Unfortunately.

There's always a song for every mood, whether good or bad, and suddenly this song just spoke to me at the right time. The beat is great and very dancy but honestly, some of the lyrics really speak to frustration. It's very rare to hear women singing about not getting enough action. I think a group like Destiny's Child gets a bad reputation for becoming so commercialized but this is really them doing what they do best. There really aren't that many groups that could get away this subject matter while still catering to a very young audience - and specifically females. There are many more rap and R&B men discussing sexual themes than ladies. And although the lyrics definitely get the point across, Destiny's Child still manages to be a little discreet in this song. It's just the right amount of metaphors.

Enjoy



Lose My Breath lyrics - Destiny's Child

Can you keep up?

Baby boy, make me lose my breath
Bring the noise, make me lose my breath
Hit me Hard, make me lose my (Hah Hah)
Can you keep up?
Baby boy, make me lose my breath
Bring the noise, make me lose my breath
Hit me Hard, make me lose my (Hah Hah)

[Beyonce]
OOOh
I put it right there, made it easy for you to get to
Now you wanna act like ya don't know what to do
After I done everything that you asked me
Grabbed you, grind you, liked you, tried you
Moved so fast baby now I can't find you

OOOh
I'm startin' to believe that I'm way too much for you
All that talk but it seems like it can't come through
All them lies like you could satisfy me,
Now I see where believing you got me
Gave you the wheel, but you can't drive me

[Chorus]

[Kelly]
OOOh
Two things I don't like when I tryin' to get my groove
Is a partna that meets me only half way and just can't prove
Take me out so deep when you know you can't swim
Need a lifeguard and I need protection
So put it on me deep in the right direction

OOOh
You understand the facts that I'm tryin' to give to you
You movin' so slow like you just don't have a clue
Didn't mama teach you to give affection?
You're the difference of a man and an adolescent
It ain you boo, so get tha steppin'
[Chorus x2]

[Michelle]
If you can't make me say OOO
Like the beat of this drum
Why you ask for some and you really want none
If you can't make me say OOO
Like the beat of this groove

[All]
You don't have no business in this here's your papers
Baby you are dismissed, dismissed, dismissed, dismissed, dismissed, dismissed, dismissed

Twenty Songs For August 2010 Playlist

I feel like it's been awhile since we had a simple playlist post so here it is.

On a muggy summer day with a tiny purple fan and a hot cup of raspberry coffee (for some reason), I sit here hoping you will enjoy this music as much as I do. Some songs are old, some new, some corny, some blue, but all will have you moving your feet to the interesting beat.

That was stupid and these songs are not. Enjoy.

01 Janelle Monae - Tightrope
02 Sia - Clap Your Hands

03 Jack Johnson - At or With Me

04 The Doobie Brothers - You Belong to Me

05 The Bird and the Bee - I Can't Go For That (cover)

06 The National - You've Done it Again, Virginia

07 Beyonce - Why Don't You Love Me

08 Josh Ritter - Southern Pacifica

09 Usher - There Goes My Baby
10 Hall & Oates - It's Uncanny

11 Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs - Beg Steal or Borrow

12 Norah Jones - Back to Manhattan

13 The Rolling Stones - Beast of Burden

14 The Black Keys - Howlin' For You

15 Leela James - Tell Me You Love Me

16 Kanye West - Flashing Lights
17 James Hunter - Carina

18 Eli "Paperboy" Reed - Take My Love With You

19 Raul Midon - About You
20 Darondo - Legs

Some listening samples:

Music Video to Love: Why Don't You Love Me - Beyonce

I'm positively in love with this video. Yeah, what a surprise that I'm overly excited about something, I know, but this is exquisitely done and so different. Beyonce may be one the most mainstream artists around but she continuously proves her artistic integrity. Not only is she drop dead gorgeous in this video but the song itself is relatively unique and it's something I could picture myself listening to regularly.

Really though most of the credit must go towards the visuals. Everything from her makeup (which is art in itself) to her stunning, sexy costumes to her martini glass is perfect. I'm so impressed with this video. It's the kind that makes me really sad that this is basically a dying art form. I did first catch it on the 24 hour music video channel, MTV Hits though so there's still a glimmer of hope.

In a time when Christina Aguilera is failing to reinvent herself as a retro sexpot and Lady Gaga has begun to overdo the crazy, Beyonce does both wonderfully.

I promise the next four minutes of your life will not be wasted.

Women Rock (Or I'm Not Very Creative With Blog Titles)

I was just on my new favorite site, http://8tracks.com/, and randomly decided to create a mix entitled "Women Rock". Yes, not that creative but it is full of songs that do not die: "I Love Rock 'n Roll" - Joan Jett, "Something to Talk About" - Bonnie Raitt, "I'm the Only One" - Melissa Etheridge, and the INCREDIBLE "My Favorite Mistake" by Sheryl Crow.

Actually, I'm not a big fan of female singers. That sounds bad but it is certainly not a conscious choice. It just so happens that my absolute favorite musicians always seem to be male. There is not a single female that makes it to my top 10 (well, Fleetwood Mac..).

Yet when I was going through a serious break up way back when, I immediately turned to Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow religiously. Once again this was not a conscious choice but for some reason I gravitated towards their powerful voices and strong lyrics. This was about the time (early 2007) that I really started to learn about their music inside and out. I would go on a stationary bike and scream the words to "I'm the Only One" like the person I was directing it towards was right in front of me. It helped me blow off a lot of steam and I'm eternally grateful for this amazing music.

It wasn't until recently (as documented in another post) that I re-discovered Bonnie Raitt, another incredible female voice, and fell in love with women rockers all over again. Tonight I found myself listening to Heart, Stevie Nicks, and Patti Smith all in a row and enjoying it more than I could've imagined. These are voices I've heard all my life - with mixed feelings - and they've become part of my personal landscape. They're probably some of the only strong female influences I've ever known.

My cousin, who is an intense music lover in her own right, is a huge fan of female vocalists (although she'll deny that she has a particular preference) but they usually fall more on the pop side of the spectrum. If you're in her car for longer than ten minutes you're sure to hear Natasha Bedingfield, Katy Perry, or Shakira. She seems to rarely buy full albums these days but these are three of the most recent purchases.

Although this strays very far from my taste, I don't think there's anything wrong with this of course. I just find it interesting that if you compare our personalities, she is actually very into having female friends. She is always telling me about a debacle with one of the women she works with or a friend that broke plans, etc. She is very into being around females. I am not. I have some of the most beautiful, intelligent, special girl friends - but very few. I can't stress how unconscious this is (I would love to have more female friends) but nevertheless I have never been a girl's girl. I'm very feminine and fashion obsessed but I'm usually not compatible with many females. They confuse me. Is that wrong to say? Probably but I don't mean it like that. I'm equally confusing and so is every guy out there. My female cat is a much less complicated person than anybody I've ever met. She also has great taste in music.

Point being, I wonder if there's a correlation between my cousin loving to be around girl friends and also loving female voices and me having few female friends and not particularly listening to female artists. I'm probably looking way too much into it but I find it an intriguing coincidence (and the fact that I usually like deeper, raspy voiced female singers).

Maybe I'm just high.

So, in celebration of you reading this post, here's a great list of some of my favorite songs by some incredibly inspiring and immensely talented females of all sounds and styles.

Stevie Nicks - Stand Back
Melissa Etheridge - I'm the Only One
Bonnie Raitt - Not the Only One
Sheryl Crow - My Favorite Mistake
Cher - Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves
Heart - Alone
Mary J. Blige - No One Will Do
Adele - Cold Shoulder
Etta James - I'd Rather Go Blind
Audra McDonald - Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home
Jewel - You Were Meant For Me
Mandy Moore - I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week
Amy Winehouse - Valarie
Beyonce - Me, Myself, and I
Billie Holiday - Speak Low
Sharon Jones - Got a Thing on My Mind
Queen Latifah - Hello Stranger
Regina Spektor - Eet
Nina Gordon - Horses in the City
Rihanna - Rude Boy
Mary Wells - You Beat Me to the Punch
Alice Russell - Hurry on Now
Carrie Underwood - Last Name
Chrisette Michele - Best of Me
Corinne Bailey Rae - I'd Like To

Check out my playlists at http://8tracks.com/angelicadiamond

15 Songs to Spruce up December

As usual there are so many things I should be doing but cannot seem to concentrate on - one of which is a final revision of a short story I wrote for my creative writing class. I turned on my iPod in the library hoping it would clear my mind of all the things I'm thinking about (and nervous about) but of course it just filled my mind with music and how great all the songs are that I've been listening to for the past month.

In October I thought things couldn't get any better. In November, I figured it was already the end of the year so nothing else was going to come out that would blow my mind and now in December, I'm astonished by all the music that waited until year's end to bestow its greatness on us - and I haven't even touched the surface yet. There are still so many albums to run through on my iTunes list that I keep hearing good things about. I couldn't wait any longer though: here is my brief playlist for the final month of 2009 that touches on a few of these new singles and a couple from the past couple years that I'm just discovering.

Robin Thicke ft. Jay-Z - Meiple
Beyonce ft. Lady Gaga - Video Phone
Passion Pit - Moth's Wings
John Mayer - Assassin
David Gray - Fugitive
Them Crooked Vultures - New Fang
Wale ft. John Mayer - Letter
Silversun Pickups - Substitution
The National - Cherry Tree
Mayer Hawthorne - Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'
LMFAO - La La La
Passion Pit - Little Secrets
Jennifer Hudson - Spotlight
Phoenix - Countdown
Adam Lambert - Whataya Want From Me