"Tautou" by Marble Sounds

Hey!

So I am in no way a professional when it comes to music, but I do love it a whole lot, and I like sharing my thoughts with others!

The last few years I've been falling more and more in love with the lovely Belgian band Marble Sounds. (Yes, you read it correctly: a non-Icelandic band I like!).
A while ago they released their new album Tautou. Several interviews stated that this album was going to be different and bolder. That scared me a little bit, as I love the careful vocals on the previous albums Nice is Good and Dear Me, Look Up. But I am still very excited about this, so I would like to share my thoughts on it with you!

First of all, the album art. I mean, look at this:

It's so pretty and exactly the feeling the music gives me: calm, innocent and relatable. There is even a little booklet with lyrics! I haven't seen that in a while.

To make sure I review this album thoroughly, I am going to listen to it and give my opinion on my favourite songs (probably most of them then). Here we go!

The Ins and Outs: They released this song just as I left for Iceland in November, so for me this is permanently linked to that trip. It also stands out from the album because I know it pretty well already. My first thoughts when I heard this were 'oh oh.. It is different'. I was a little worried for a while, but as the piano and guitars started, it felt like Marble Sounds again. It's a good sing-along-song and great choice for a single, in my opinion. (And, oh, that voice...)

The First Try: Yes, those strings!!! That was the one change I was absolutely thrilled about. Strings and Marble Sounds! Yes. They fit perfectly in this song, and they fit perfectly with the Marble feeling that I value so much. It's definitely a great start to this new album.

K.V.: And this is where the tears came. So soon? Yes, so soon. This song is calm and mainly focused on the (incredibly amazing) vocals and strings. But then the flute. This song made me smile through the tears because it was so Marble Sounds. I know that actual critics keep saying that they're bolder, but the fragility in the vocals has definitely stayed and I am glad it has. This song will definitely be on repeat a lot in my house.

Tout et Partout: Some of my all time Marble favourites are Sky High, Leave a Light on and No One Ever Gave Us the Right. There is a reason for that. It is the female vocals. They match so perfectly with the male vocals and add a feeling of mystery to it all. This song already feels like the video could be an awesome, well-dressed, female French secret agent on her way to kick some ass. In a mysterious and sophisticated way.

These Paintings Never Dry: This song caught my attention immediately. It is fast and catchy already at the first few seconds of the song. It will be a challenge to learn the lyrics properly, but so far I like to sing along to the chorus as fast as I can. Again, the strings and the soft female vocals in the background. Yes.

The songs I skipped are of course also worth noticing and I love them all a lot, but I will leave it here so you can discover them yourself. Listen to it on spotify, check out their website and you can even see them live! (if you're in Belgium or The Netherlands.) I'm seeing them in April in Amsterdam and I couldn't be more excited.

What a way to revive my blog, isn't it? I hope to see you soon!

Love,
Mia

PS: The Iceland vlogs are on their way.. Don't worry! I'm working hard! 

Excitement!

Hi!

Life is pretty stupid and boring like 50% of the time but I would like to focus on the other 50% that makes my insides cheer with excitement and makes a horrible day a little better. Some of those things are happening in the near future and I'd like to express my happiness about them right here and now:

The Amazing Book is not on Fire (Or: TABINOF)
A very exciting book that's almost arriving at my house is The Amazing Book is not on Fire by Dan Howell and Phil Lester. Yes the youtubers. And I know that 99% of the youtubers have a book now, but that doesn't take away my joy that Dan and Phil decided to join in. I've known these two for at least four years now, they've always been there to cheer me up and they're still here, doing new things to make me happy.

To be very honest I have no idea what this book is about, but Dan has said repeatedly that we should just trust them (I do, very much, trust them) and that it is not entirely written in Comic Sans. So that's definitely something to be excited about.

X

Apart from this awesome book that looks really amazing on the outside and will definitely be more amazing on the inside, they are also going on tour. First they go on tour in the UK (ugh why don't I live where things are happening) but they might take it to the rest of the world! In a recent live show Dan mentioned he'd love to come to The Netherlands too, so I'm confident that it will happen. I don't care if I have to go alone, I will go. What will happen on stage is still a huge surprise too, but again: I trust them to make it incredible.

X Look what's part of the set: a plant! 

Check out TABINOF here! Dan's youtube here and Phil's here, in case you didn't know them yet. Also their shared youtube channel where they play games in the most incredibly funny way possible. (I love them)

Marble Sounds
Ohh I am so excited about this one. About five years ago I was just randomly listening to new cool songs on the internet when I came across Marble Sounds, a post-rock band from Belgium. The song I heard first was The Time To Sleep and it is to this day one of my favourite feel-good songs. It's so great to just listen to in any season of the year, to clear my head and de-stress.

The rest of their music came to my attention a few months ago, and the rarest thing ever happened: I liked every single song. Besides their amazing songs, their music videos are really creative and cool too. Check this one out :)

The exciting news is that they're releasing a new album this January!! After their first two albums Nice is Good and Dear Me, Look Up, a new one full of new songs is actually happening. I'm super excited.

There's so much more I'm excited for but I think this should be enough for now :D Let me know what you're excited for!!

love,
Mia

A Fall Playlist

Listen to the playlist

A Summer Morning

In my last post I did not include a 'song of the week' area.
Now you might think 'She forgot!!!'.

Well, let me tell you!!!!!! I did.

Sorry!! But I did make an 8Tracks mix last week. I apoligize for forgetting my song of the week, here's 14 songs of the week!

Listen to it here!

Tracklist:
Sigur Rós - Góðan Daginn
Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun
Family of the Year - Hero
The Republic Tigers - Buildings & Mountains
Seabear - I'll Build You a Fire
Cassettes Won't Listen - Freeze and Explode
Hey Rosetta - Red Heart
Death Cab For Cutie - Brothers on a Hotel Bed
Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
Sin Fang - Loose Your Heart and It's Found
Seabear - Arms
Pascal Pinon - I Wrote a Song
Sin Fang - Look at the Light
Ólafur Arnalds - Gleypa Okkur

I hope you enjoy it,

Love,
Mia

March week 2

So last week the weather was GREAT. Like ‘SUMMER IS ON THE WAY’-great. That gave me a huge boost of energy and creativity. The weather today is less great, but that has given me the opportunity to write down the things that made me happy the past week.

I bought awesome socks. I actually bought them a few weeks ago, but I only started to appreciate them this week. I love them. Look at my socks. My socks are awesome.

I also passed the ice cream section in my supermarket this week and saw that the Ben&Jerry’s were temporarily cheaper than normal. So I had to buy one. Ice cream is my favourite food. I picked up the Vermonster flavour. It has maple syrup, caramelized pecans and a caramel swirl. Oh man. It is THE best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. It melts on your tongue and the caramelized pecans stay behind and are delicious and just hmmmm. So good, trust me. Buy it. Now. I’ve had it every day for the past week.

X

When it starts to feel like spring and summer are very close, I start to feel more colourful. That leads me to two awesome things that have occupied my mind last week: nail polish and The Colours of Madeleine. I love nail polish, but I hadn’t been wearing it a lot over the past months. Now I’m very excited about the colourfulness nail polish gives your outfit, and how much it makes me feel like summer is really very much coming. 

And The Colours of Madeleine. Yessss. I’ve written about Jaclyn Moriarty before, read it here. She’s an Australian author and wrote The Year of Secret Assignments, among other awesome books. She is my all time favourite author. She has started a new trilogy: The Colours of Madeleine. I read the first when I got if for my birthday from my sister: A Corner of White. I fell in love with it on the first page. It was so good. And a few weeks ago part two came out: The Cracks in the Kingdom. I ordered it the second I found out about it. It comes out in The Netherlands on the 25^th of March, so I’ll have to be patient for a few more days. Moriarty has also been writing a few blog posts. She interacts with the people who comment on them, which made me love her even more. She even responded to my (unfortunately anonymous) comment on this post. The way she writes is just so funny and generally happy (fits my blog, you see).

Of course I haven’t been all creative and cool all week. I’ve been watching a LOT of George Gently. I watched the first episode when it was on the Belgian tv and fell in love. I’d seen one episode before, but never really continued watching. Now I just had to. Quick synopsis: a detective series that takes place in the north of England, about a detective chief inspector and a detective sergeant. Solving murders basically.
I am especially in love with John Bacchus. He is a racist, sexist idiot but I love him. His character is so interesting, so real. Lee Ingleby is incredibly good. Gently is of course an essential character, he’s the only reason Bacchus isn’t a super corrupt policeman yet. I love the dynamic between the two, and the historic facts about England 1964 are super educational. They really emphasise the real problems: sexism, racism, homophobia. John is always the problem, but his being wrong gets pointed out. And apart from that it’s just a really good detective series. Would recommend.
I've also watched Penelope yesterday. It has it all: James McAvoy, Simon Woods, Peter Dinklage, awesome outfits, an amazingly decorated bedroom, even Hoppipolla. If you want me to go into detail on this film, let me know. But it was awesome.

Song of the week: My IT’S SUMMER song
Buildings and Mountains by The Republic Tigers

Alright I've been loving a lot this week I see. More next week?

See ya then!
Love,
Mia

Sin Fang

Hey lovely reader,

In my busy schedule I have finally found some time to blog about the awesome man who is called Sindri (the cool guy from Sin Fang) and me meeting him.

Firstly, let me introduce Sin Fang to you. Sin Fang is a band from Iceland, I would describe their music as light and happy, poetic and filled with sounds. The man behind it all is Sindri Már Sigfusson. He is complicatedly related to the lead singer of Sigur Rós, which is basically how I found his music. He is also the man who founded Seabear (another Icelandic band). He’s not very famous (yet) which is why I was able to go to his concert in Zwolle on the 31^st of May. It wasn’t too expensive and Zwolle isn’t very far away for me. 

On my way to Zwolle

At first I had no one to go with, but I knew a girl from Tumblr, Myrthe, who wanted to go too, so I met her and her mother in Zwolle. I was way too early; I took a train earlier because I was afraid I’d be too late. The concert started at 9 pm and I arrived at 7:30 pm. At least I was on time!

While I was waiting, Sindri suddenly passed me and I kind of froze until I regained my strength to make a quick picture. I was terrified and felt bad that I didn't wave or something.. But I made up for that later!

It's him! *

When Myrthe and her mother arrived, we went inside the building. It was really comfy and cozy inside. The show was going to take place in the attic, so we climbed the worn stairs until we entered a tiny room with couches and tables with chairs and a miniscule stage. There was no one else apart from us and a few crew members who were setting up. We sat down at the table that was closest to the stage and waited while more people started to arrive.

At some point someone lighted a candle and put it on our table and all the other tables, making it even more cozier and intimate.

The supporting act was Pascal Pinon and they made me fall in love with them head over heels (something the supporting act for Sigur Rós couldn’t). The two sisters were also from Iceland and this was their first time performing abroad. The music was magical, the two voices cooperated perfectly both in English as in their native language. The two girls seemed happy with the setting and we enjoyed their music enormously. 

**

Sin Fang’s performance was even better than I had expected. Sindri is a warm, kind of lay back and funny person and he looked like he was having as much fun as we were. They performed some old songs, Two Boys, Clangour and Flutes and Catch the Light, but they mostly played the songs of his new album Flowers. His music has a lot of sounds and instruments and it sounds hard to perform live, but they pulled it off. 

**

**

*

My personal favourites were Look at the Light and Clangour and Flutes.

After the show ended, we went to the merchandise and I bought a bag:

Suddenly we saw Sindri walking around near the stage, and we decided to go to him and ask him to sign something. I talked to him for a while and he recognized me from twitter (I had tweeted him a few times). He signed my notebook and some things Myrthe had taken with her.
It was absolutely amazing, he was so nice and I felt comfortable talking to him (even though I’m normally a rather shy person). I forgot to mention he’s an awesome artist and he draws pyramids with faces and melting pizzas, he’s so cool. Also he skateboards. 

Please ignore my face **

**

Anyway, we had an amazing night and Myrthe’s mother was really cool because she brought me to the train station where my mum picked me up (I’d already missed the last train).

I couldn’t be more happy after a concert, this was definitely one of a kind. I had never seen such a small place for a band to perform and the intimacy of it all made it absolutely perfect.
Sindri, please come back to The Netherlands soon, I will definitely come!


Love,


Mia



Sin Fang on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook


Pascal Pinon on Tumblr and Facebook


* Pictures made with my ipod, sorry for the quality 

** Pictures made by my friend and companion Myrthe

PS: Apparently blogger doesn't like me and wants one half of the font to be bigger than the other half. Sorry about that. 

Sigur Ros on tour: Amsterdam

Hey,

As you might have read before, I went to the Sigur Rós concert in Amsterdam on the 21st of February. My sister accompanied me, even though she's not that into the music, because I had no one else to go with! Thanks so much :)

This reminds me of Owl City

The concert took place in the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam. It's a pretty big location and the show was sold out! While we were in the queue waiting for the doors to open, I saw all kinds of people, even people who were not English, all anxiously awaiting the same awesome music. Some musicians have the same 'type' of fans, like screaming girls, but Sigur Rós has all kinds of people listening to their music. Also it made me feel less alone in my musical taste; I don't know many people in my environment that likes Sigur Rós as much as I do. I felt less weird, so to speak.

The supporting act was, disappointingly, a bit boring. The guy called himself Blanck Mass. His music is apparently used in the official Olympic opening in 2012, but his performance in Amsterdam didn't really warm my heart. He performed for about half an hour, and the entire time he didn't stop once. His music just went on and on and I think his problem was anti-climax. Nothing happened for thirty minutes straight, just an annoying wining sound and some spinning triangles on a screen.

I don't know, maybe other people liked it, but I had the idea everyone was thinking 'WHERE'S SIGUR RÓS?'. I was.

Finally Sigur Rós came on stage. At first they were behind a sheet on which beautiful images were projected. There was a spotlight on Jónsi, however, so we were able to see him. I was standing two pretty tall guys, but I could just peek between their heads so I could see Jónsi!

a bit like this

About halfway there was this guy who was pretty big and he stood right in front of me. He clapped with his arms above his head all the time as well, so I had to try to make pictures and videos in between his arms.. It was a bit annoying but I just ignored that.

The shadows on the screen were awesome

They sang literally all my favourite songs (I only would’ve loved it if they did Sé Lest, Samskeyti and Starálfur).

Ný Batterí made me tear up immediately (even my sister felt the sadness in his voice, and she doesn't like it!). His voice in 'real life' is even stronger and clearer than on the albums. Olsen Olsen, the ingenious song without lyrics, but with vocals, made me so happy. The light bulbs on stage flickered on and off like fireflies in a forest. The piano intro of Sæglópur and Hoppipolla made me want to sing and jump! Three new songs were performed, they were so amazing! I can't wait for their new album (it's to be released this year, guys, THIS YEAR).

The way home was pretty hard, thanks to the last train that didn't leave. We ended up in a deserted train station at one am. We had fun though (at least I had).

I had the best of times, thanks to Sigur Ros and their amazing music and my sister who sacrificed her night for me!

love,
Mia

New Batteries

Hey there!

Last Thursday I went to the Sigur Ros concert. It was perfect. More about that later, right now I'd like you to listen to one of my new favourite songs by Sigur Ros: Ny Batterí:

The lyrics in Icelandic:

Heftur með gaddavír í kjaftinum sem blæðir mig
Læstur er lokaður inn í búri
Dýr nakinn ber á mig
Og bankar upp á frelsari
Ótaminn setur í ný batterí
Og hleður á ný
Og hleður á ný
Og hleður á ný
Og hleður á ný
Við tætum tryllt af stað
Út í óvissuna
Þar til að við rústum öllu og reisum aftur
Aftur á ný
Aftur á ný
Aftur á ný
Aftur á bak Þar sem við ríðum
Aftur með gaddavír
Í kjaftinum sem rífur upp gamalt gróið sár
Er orðinn ryðguð sál
Rafmagnið búið
Mig langar að skera
Og rista sjálfan mig á hol 
En Þori Það ekki
Frekar slekk ég á mér
Aleinn á ný

All kind of cool and stuff, but what do they really sing? Prepare to sob violently:

Barbwire stapled in my bleeding mouth
Locked in a cage
Naked animals beat me
A liberator knocks
An untamed inserts new batteries
And charges once again
And charges once again
And charges once again
And charges once again
We set off
Into the unknown
Until we destroy everything and are dominant
Once again
Once again
Once again
Once again in the back where we ride
The barbwire returns
In my mouth, ripping up an old healed wound
My soul has grown rusty
The electricity is gone
I want to cut
And slice myself to death,
But daren't risk it.
Instead I turn myself off,
Alone again.

Can you hear the pain when Jonsi sings this? Did you feel how emotional the song was, even before you read the English lyrics? I could. This song has literally blown my mind. 

I hope you enjoyed this Icelandicness, 

Love,
Mia

More on Sigur Ros here 

Sixpence None The Richer and Christmas

Hey there!

We're getting really close to Christmas now! I'm super excited!

Today I'd like you to listen to Silent Night by Sixpence None The Richer and Jars of Clay.
This song is really beautiful because their voices sound perfect together and the things Dan Haseltine (Jars of Clay lead singer) sings fit perfectly in the song.

Also I absolutely adore the video!

I hope you have a terrific week,

Love,
Mia

Jars Of Clay Christmas

Hey internet!

It's finally December! Now I don't feel guilty about posting christmas songs anymore!
I am extremely excited for Christmas and I've been counting down for a while now.

Today I'd like you to hear my favourite songs from the Christmas album Christmas Songs by Jars of Clay.

My absolute favourite is Little Drummer Boy. It's a well-known song, but this version touched me the very first time I heard it, and it still does.

A song that has been written by Jars of Clay themselves is Love Came Down At Christmas and it's a lovely song with beautiful lyrics. The video is also very cute:

I hope you have a wonderful time awaiting Christmas!

Love,
Mia

PS: Check out this Doctor Who Adventure Calendar by the BBC, it's so cool!

Christmas and not Christmas

Hey!

Today I have two different songs. I wanted to post Christmas songs until Christmas every week, but I have such a beautiful song that I want you to hear. Therefore I just put two songs in one post (it's my blog, so I make the rules!)

Firstly, I wanted to let the world hear this song. It's called Your hand in mine by Explosions in the Sky. It's an instrumental song and I love it. Also I love the title, it's so romantic!

Secondly I have a christmas song!

This song is by Relient K, a christian punk/rock band I've loved since I don't know how long. The song, Twelve Days of Christmas, is probably a very familiar one. This version, however, is a rather funny and interesting one!

Have fun listening to the songs, and don't forget to check out other songs by these bands if you liked them!

Love,
Mia

Sufjan Stevens & Christmas

Hey there!

Yes, you read it right: I'm going to start with Christmas songs!! Hooray!
Since I only do a song once a week, I might as well start early with the christmas songs or I won't be able to post all of them!

We start of with Sufjan Stevens. He released two sets of christmas CDs, each set with about four CDs filled with lovely christmas songs.

Here are a few of my favourites:

Also I wish it was christmas earlier because of the Doctor Who Christmas special!
Watch the trailer!

Have a great week!

See you on Wednesday (probably)

Love,
mia

Switchfoot

Hey everyone!

Today I'd like to share some music by Switchfoot; a band that I've loved for years and years. 

Switchfoot is a rock band from San Diego, consisting of five surfer dudes who never finished their school but are the most poetic, musical guys I've ever listened to. Also they are christians and their music is very deep and inspiring. I've seen them live twice and absolutely loved them. I kind of grew up with their music, so here's an old song that I've loved forever and their new album. Have fun!

Love,
Mia

Saeglopur

Hi guys!

I will not bore you with the facts about Sigur Ros again, you can read this if you want to know stuff about them.

I do, however, want you to listen to a new song I discovered. It's not a new song at all, but for me it is. Here it is, have fun. Although, the video is quite sad.

Love,
Mia

Halloween

Hello world,

So october is filled with festivities based on the fact that autumn has really arrived and that it's Halloween of course. Unfortunately I live in The Netherlands and Halloween is really not a very big deal here. In America, and probably more other countries, Halloween is for everyone; young people and old people. It's a time to have fun, dress up and eat sweets with your family.

I think it's fair to say that Europe doesn't do Halloween. I think this is such a shame. I've never had a Halloween party or Halloween decorations. Since I've started to get really involved with the internet and learned about cultures around the world (that sounds weird, but the internet taught me a lot) I have become more interested in Halloween. Here are my tips for people in Europe or other countries where Halloween hardly exists to have a nice 31st of october after all!

First of all, you need a spooky film to watch. Some trailers:

Sleepy Hollow

The well-known Nightmare Before Christmas

I don't want to be stupid and name all the Tim Burton films, but try Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd. I don't like horror films, but if you want a hardcore Halloween, any horror film will probably do.

Secondly you'll need Halloween food and drinks. These are basically scary things. Chocolate in the shape of a spider, or you can make things yourself, like in this video:

Decorations. Now in my country there are only a few shops that sell Halloween themed decorations. Our country is focussed on a different holiday which I will explain an other time. I have found some videos to make the decorations too, not only if they're difficult to get your hands on, but it's also cheaper (probably):

These decorations are pretty cute, but the video is rather long. Still, worthwhile if you want these adorable mummy jars on your table!

If you do have a Halloween party (or you throw one yourself) and you need a costume, here are some ideas:

(I love Bethany, check out her other videos, they are so professional and fun!)

Hold on, I have a lot more

Do you love Kandee already? There's more:

I couldn't help but crack up watching this one, hahaha!
This link will bring you to her entire playlist with all her costume videos! Have fun!

Lastly I have a song that reminds me of Halloween.

Well, have fun improvising your own Halloween party! 

Next week I will tell you all about our Dutch tradition which is kind of replacing Halloween. 

Oh, and does anyone have some extra tips for me or other readers to make this halloween a success? Please let me know, thanks!

Love,

Mia

Good morning Sunshine

This morning I woke up with this song in my head.
All that needs to be said about this song is that it makes you happy and that is the main purpose of my blog.

Have fun!

Love,
Mia

Deas Vail

Hey everyone,

For at least an hour now I've been listening to every Deas Vail song I know. I still can't decide which is the one I want all of the internet to listen to.

Every song has it's own way of being perfect and amazing to sing along (if you can get to the extremely high notes).

Yes. High notes. I know that men don't usually write, let alone sing, the higher songs, but somehow I always end up absolutely loving the songs in which they do. This is another case of this weird habit of mine. This guy, called Wesley Blaylock, is a very good singer and his extraordinary notes are never out of tune. There is no better combination of voices than the voice of Wesley combined with Laura Blaylock's.
The band members are christians and their lyrics are based on their faith in God. I have to say it's very poetic and therefore it's not specifically christian music. It's kind of like Switchfoot; it's not praise but the lyrics are deep and very touching.

I have now decided which songs I will post. Have fun!

Sunlight
Sunlight is falling again,
But it never touches us
Because we cover our eyes and cover our fragile skin,
And we are comfortable with this.
How can we hide ourselves like this?
It doesn't seem like we all know where we belong.

Puzzles and Pieces

So stand in a world that seems to be built

On pillars and numbers

Or dance with the hopes of falling in love

Before we have learned to love ourselves 

Don't forget to check out the rest if you liked these!

Love,

Mia