Music Monday (118): Bree Runway, Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Wyclef Jean, Ashanti, and more...

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: My pick this week is one of my favorite songs by Bree Runway: All Night.

Andrea: I haven't had the chance to post for the past few weeks, so I hope this post finds everyone safe and well. My song choice for this week is Wake Up Everybody (2004) by Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliot, Wyclef Jean, Ashanti & Various Other Artists. Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes originally released this song in 1975. Although the original song was released over 4 decades ago, it is so relevant to today. I look forward to finding out what everyone is listening to this week.

 Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes-Wake Up Everybody 

Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliot, Wyclef Jean, Ashanti & Various Other Artists-Wake Up Everybody 

What are you listening to this week?

Short Stories I Read In April

Today, I’m here to talk about the short stories, miscellaneous posts, and podcast episodes I read and or listened to in April.

Go Fish by Ian Rogers (Tor.com, April 15, 2020)

One of the first short stories I read in April was Go Fish by Ian Rogers. It was a pretty entertaining story. At times, it was spine-tinglingly scary. It also read like an episode of Xfiles. Instead of extraterrestrials though, there were ghosts and a number of paranormal and horror elements.

An Explorer’s Cartography of Already Settled Lands by Fran Wilde (Tor.com, April 22, 2020)

This story was the first one I’ve read by Fran Wilde. It was about a navigator who was mapping a landscape that was already inhabited. This story was an absolute treat. It was enthralling, somewhat haunting, and atmospheric. The Navigator’s perspective was fascinating, and I enjoyed the different sections of the story where each “map”—or landscape/people—were described. This one was all around an enjoyable story.

From around the web…

• Illustrating Flyaway: Kathleen Jennings on Creating Art and Prose Together (Kathleen Jennings; Tor.com, April 1, 2020)
• Short Stories and Sad Endings: A Conversation with Martha Wells (Arley Sorg; Clarkesworld, Issue 163, April 2020)
• Now Is the Perfect Time to Sit Down and Watch Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Emmet Asher-Perrin; Tor.Com)
• Printrun Podcast Episode’s #127 and #128
• Science VS Science Fiction: Not The Solar System We Grew Up With (James Davis Nicoll; Tor.Com, April 24, 2020)
• The Power of Equine Names (Judith Tarr; Tor,Com, April 20, 2020)

Sketchbook: Watercolor...

  

Comments: Like most people, I currently have more time on my hands. So I did a couple of random watercolor sketches in one of my smaller unfinished sketchbooks. The reference photos I used were ones I took of the faux plants around my house. My use of watercolor (Sakura Koi) here was mainly to block in the general shapes before I went in with colored pencil....

Music Monday (117): Hayley Williams, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: While searching for more new music, I realized that Hayley Williams released a new album. I like the work she does with the band, Paramore, so I was excited to give Petals For Armor a listen. One of my favorite songs from it is Pure Love.  

Andrea: This week, I was browsing through the new releases, and I noticed that Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande released a new song. You can listen to Rain On Me below.

What are you listening to this week?

I listened to Shadow Works by Kerli

Recently, I finally sat down to listen to Shadow Works by Kerli in full. It came out last year on February 22nd and I was super stoked for it. However, I never got around to it. Looking back now, I wasn’t in the mood. But, I was still listening to Savages and Where the Dark Things Are. Slowly, but surely I started branching out into other songs. First was Mimicry, then Giving Up the Ghost, and then before I knew it, the entire album. I felt like I re-discovered something I was missing out on. 

There are darker tones and hard hitting sounds in Shadow Works. Yet there are also the softer, more emotional ones –like Better, Giving up the Ghost, and One. I want to focus on One for a second, because it was the track that really pulled me into the album. After listening closer, and I mean really listening, I felt like I understood the album a little more than before. 

The Opening of the Way (Intro), Purification (Interlude), and Shadow Works (Outro) are all vocalized tracks that are simply ethereal (well the entire album is). I often find myself putting them on repeat. At the end of the day I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Shadow Works. 

Thanks for reading. 

Do you have any albums that you revisited and totally loved?