5 fabulous songs I've been humming along to the past week

And so it's apparently Monday again! How time flies - and how I wish I could just stop it, take a very long break and THEN study for my religion exam this Thursday. Unfortunately life is not that easy so here I am. Yet again. Trying my best to make sure I get a decent grade. Yay.

Since the weather is so great today (19 degrees celcius and sunny - has been a long time since it has been like that here in Denmark!) I don't want to bore you with a long post (okay, also because I really need to pull myself together and get some studying done - I'm one big procrastinator), so I want to link you to a few musical songs I've been humming along to the past week! Yay!

Magic To Do from the new musical Pippin which won a whole lot of 'em Tony awards! This song is just so uplifting and I love everything about it - we sure got some magic to do! Booya!

Kinky Boots won best musical at the Tony's, but I haven't watched it yet. However I've listened to this song quite a lot! Yay for History of Wrong Guys! (Also, Annaleigh Ashford is THE BEST and funniest human being on this planet. Period.)

Scott Alan's song Say Goodbye sung by the wonderful and extremely talented Willemijn Verkaik! (I would've linked this his song Surrender as well, but can't find my favorite version with Melissa van der Schyff... it's on Spotify though, so you can always check it out on there! And the rest of the album. It's quite phenomenal acually.)

It's Possible from Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella - a little reminder and motivation is good now and then (especially in these dreadful times of exams!)

And last but not least, 

Raise a little hell from Bonnie & Clyde! I love the aggression and the context where the song is from. It's perfect listening to when you're tired of everything and just want to sleep the day away (let's not talk about that, okay?)! 

Yay for good songs! 

I hope you have a WONDERFUL Monday filled with everything you'd like it to be filled with. I gotta get back to 'em books! 

See you next week - if I survive this Thursday's exam, that is.

Lots of love and jazz hands,

yours truly - Rebecca! 

Eurovision love en masse

In honor of Denmark winning the Eurovison Song Contest this Saturday night and just because I love everything Eurovision so dearly I've decided I wanted to talk to you about my favorite part of the year and present a few (okay, a lot) of my favorite songs in a playlist on Spotify I've compiled just for you (or well, also myself but whatever):

Click HERE in order to see and listen to the whole playlist!

I can't believe Denmark actually won. Last time we won was back in 2000 with the Olsen Brothers and their song Fly on the Wings of Love - something I did not experience since my love for Eurovision was born the year after when Denmark was to host the big finale. I remember being extremely fascinated by the hostess big, pink princess gown and not being able to keep myself awake. Which was a shame since AQUA performed while people were voting.

After that experience it has been something I've watched every year and obsessed quite a lot over. I can talk about it for hours without getting tired of it and there's just something so incredibly amazing about so many countries coming together to sing, dance and party. I like the way it brings people together despite differences such as language and cultural views. There is no barrier when it's about music.

Sure, Eurovision has its bad sites - for example when they held the show last year in Baku and they tore down several of buildings in order to build the big arena, but also the contestants coming from corrupt countries - but it is also, as mentioned before, something that brings joy and happiness and unity. It shows how a lot of people can work in collaboration in order to get the best show possible.

Talking about the best show possible: If I had a top three over my absolute favorite shows Sweden's would definitely be in the top! I loved their funny features (especially with the EBU-woman going around showing the world Sweden - and a bit of Copenhagen as well) and the wave of goosebumps that washed over me when the grand finale started. The song "We write the story" and the people walking with the flags were a perfect combination and a perfect start to a perfect night with a perfect result.

So yeah, as you can tell, I'm quite passionate about it and I will proceed to watch it every.single.year. It's - after all - the best night of the year and every year when the last bit of credits roll over the screen I start getting excited for next year. Which will be held in Denmark! Fingers crossed it'll be in Copenhagen! But whereever they decide it's going to be held I'm sure going to be there. I wouldn't want to miss it for anything.

Love,
Rebecca

No day but today

Ever since I spent a whole summer listening to the soundtrack of RENT, watching the movie and shedding thousands of tears it has been one of my favorite moviemusicals (yes, I have only watched the movie - shame on me) and soundtracks. I'm not sure why I didn't mention it on the list of my favorite musicals, but as you might can tell already, I forget things easily and I tend to like way too many things at once.

RENT is the story of a group of friends living in New York City. It's the early 90s, a lot of them are broke (heart and money-wise) and AIDS and HIV is suddenly a part of their world.

Following their ups and downs in a year we get introduced to what a life could be and how unexpected it can turn out; but also how we should live our live and simply enjoy it. It's too short for anything else.

There's just something beautiful over RENT and every time I watch it, I have an urge to go in there and hug the heck out of all of them. And yet, they are so, so inspiring; finding joy in what they are doing and trying to seize the day even though it might not want to be seized. It makes me happy. Simple as that.

The stories of each character are unique and yet they are all alike. It's a beautiful portrayal of how a life can turn out and how quickly things can change; how opportunities needs to be seized now and not tomorrow. There is, after all, no day but today. 

Companied by songs en masse it sets the standard for future musicals, makes you want to dance and aspire to live as if you were to die tomorrow. It's so full joy for life and I cannot recommend it enough. Also, Christopher Columbus movie is extremely pretty cinematic and it's simply a joy for the eye to watch. Definitely a musical that can cheer up a gloomy day despite its serious topics - just try and listen to two of my favorite songs:

Seasons of Love

Finale B

Until next time - keep smiling and let the sun shine in! ;)

Alt to the J ∆

As funky as my title may sound, as funky the subject! Or almost.. Because it is not quite funk I want to talk about today, but instead my favorite band at the moment: Alt-J (∆).
If you do not know Alt-J, you may wonder what their name means. It’s actually kind of cool!

If you know your Macs, you would know that when you push the “Alt” and then the “J” key, it is a shortcut for the ∆ sign. (I must say I did not know before I got interested in Alt-J, since I don’t own a Mac). Also; if you know your mathematics, you will know that the ∆ sign is called “delta” and means change or difference, which can be either positive or negative.

Photo from AOTY

To say a little more informative about the band, I can tell it consists of 4 English men, who play guitar, bass, keyboard, drums and of course sing.  

The first time I heard them was on the radio (of course, too much radio). Their song “Tessellate” was played a lot for a period, and I fell totally in love! Their sound are kind of indie meets rock meets alternative… ish. They are such an artistic band, with a great talent of timing, experimenting with sounds and the singing is nothing but amazing!

Where the wild things are

But the thing I love the most (besides the amazing sounds) is their lyrics. Every piece of lyric contains so much emotion, history and feeling. They make their own universes, sometimes by lending a piece of others. For example Breezeblocks, where they are referring to the children’s book Where the wild things are by singing "I’ll eat you whole", or in Matilda, where they refer to the movie Léon throughout the song.

Matilda from Léon

They have gotten a lot of critique for their song Fitzpleasure though, because the song is about a gang-rape scene from a rather harsh book called Last exit to Brooklyn. I think the critique is absolutely unfair. Such a subject as taboo as rape should definitely be discussed! I think it is very noble of them to make a spotlight on the very serious subject, and I do not believe that they praise the horrible subject; they rather make it a subject for discussion, which is the way forwards.

But since I could talk about and analyze all of their songs to death, I think I’d rather stop that talk here.

To end with some positive energy and good karma, here’s a picture of me with a necklace I got from one of my best friends at my birthday. She bought it in Alt-J’s merchandise, and it is of course their ∆ sign. To top it, I have made their hand-sign, which I believe they have invented themselves! (That just confirms how well thought through the band is, doesn't it?). 

I hope you enjoyed my post, and if you thought that at least some of this sounded interesting, you should check out their debut album An Awesome Wave – it is definitely worth it!!

Loads of love!

Freja