Valentines Playlist

It's been a while since I did a music post, so here goes (all links go to Youtoob) :

First up, I blame this song for giving the idea for this post :-) I listened to the Alisha's Attic Illumina album yesterday and The Incidentals is the opening track. And what an opener. If anyone's looking for that special Valentines track, look no further.

Second one is much newer, from Paramore's latest album. It's The Only Exception. Now in official video with decent (not a concert phone recording) sound to do it justice !

Number 3 is a classic by Seal. Come the future, may we all live in a Future Love Paradise.

Hopefully there will be a few people out there lucky enough to see The Look Of Love tonight.

Or maybe that special person is your Number 1.

Hopefully you don't have a stalker like how Lily Allen is going in this Who'd Have Known video :-)

Seventh is an old one from the Making Movies album. Love the video, it's Romeo and Juliet.

Can I be someone's Man In The Moon ? I probably talk even less :-)

I've been run aground .... Oh to be washed ashore at Martha's Harbour.

Finally (for the positives!), if you end up in the Dog House, sometimes that's not so bad if you're The Man Of The Hour. (Norah Jones)

On my own tonight for Valentines, like most nights for the past few years. I'll console myself by diving into game later (Hawaii 5-O and munchies for now) where I'll see what the guild is getting up to. Thinking of the Swedish, time to close on an Anti-Valentine :-)

I wrote a week or so about the distinctive accent the Swedish Girls in the guild have. That's not a negative, it's more of a contrast to how native English people speak. Whereas the natives will slur and blur the syllables together and generally mangle the language, the Scandinavian accent introduces distinctive clipping and intonation. It's a much purer form of English. I have an iTunes Originals collection album for The Cardigans, with the introduction to And Then You Kissed Me being read by Nina Persson. One sentence is "it builds slow and then it's like someone creeps up behind you with an Axe". That Swedish accent really puts bite into that Axe.

Hopefully your Valentines evenings turn out better !

Actually, I'd argue for spending the Valentines as a quiet night in with your loved one. What happens when you hit the restaurants ? They're packed with other people doing the same ! Why be a slave to 21st century corporates telling you what you should be doing. Share your Valentines dinner with a crowd or save the night for when it can be Special. For that matter, why is this night special and not all the others ? Is it important for a reason specific to you or your's or is it following the crowd ?

If your loved one needs a bit of TLC or some spoiling, you shouldn't need Valentines day as an excuse. Treat 'em when they need it. A day labelled "special" shouldn't be the only one in the year where you make someone feel special.

PS Wonder if that Scandinavian accent is why I like bands and singers like the Cardigans, Lisa Miskovsky, Bjork, Lene Marlin and ABBA. Sometimes different is not just good, it's incredible.