Amy: A Life in Music

2005 – Andrea Echeverri – Andrea Echeverri

For many of you, La Colombiana is undoubtedly Shakira. For me, however, it’s Andrea Echeverri. The lead of Colombian band Aterciopelados has a very distinct voice, but the music she released as a soloist is in a whole different boat of the singer of Bolero Falaz [1].

In her solo debut, Echeverri had just experienced motherhood. The album is a little hippie but songs like Quedate (Stay) give such a natural sexy vibe without ever being trashy or cheap or cheesy.

2006 – Marit Larsen – Under the Surface

As Julyssa may have already noticed, my Scandinavian phase begun that year. I even ordered this straight from Norway, which cost me a bit of money. Me being a big M2M fan, I had downloaded a couple of tracks online, fell in love with this folksy pop sound and just had to have it.

What I always loved about Marit was that she did such sweet sounding tracks, about some heart crashing things. She really embodied that Magic Realism aspect of things.

Runner-up: The Dresden Dolls – Yes, Virginia — this album is also awesome, you should listen to it.

2007 – Bibi Zhou (周笔畅) – NOW/WOW

In theory, I didn’t meet Bibi until those fateful five seconds on Beijing Welcomes You [MV], in which she dazzled me with her unique voice. However, it seems extremely unfair to include any of the music that I thought was best back in 2007.

Bibi’s voice fills me up in a way that only a great vocalist can. It goes beyond genre, and it did when she blew me away with her double album NOW/WOW, to this date — her best.

I know Julyssa loves Just to Meet You (为了认识你), but I just love how uplifting The Future is Now (未来就是现在) sounds.

Runner-up: Ólafur Arnalds – Eulogy for Evolution / LeeHom Wang (王力宏) – Change Me (改變自己)

2008 – Mayday (五月天) – Poetry of the Day After (後青春期的詩)

From this point on, I had already been turned to a lot of Chinese music. I was almost to eager to add other Chinese albums in the previous years, but I had to contain myself.

Half of Poetry of the Day After has that characteristic melancholic side of the Taiwan music scene, with songs such as Suddenly Missing You (突然好想你) [MV] and the Golden Melody Award nominated Best Song, You Are not Truly Happy (你不是真正的快樂). Other songs just baffle me, like Liver-busting (爆肝) [MV].

The first time I heard, and I mean truly listening with meaning and all, it was just striking.

Please, activate captioning when you watch the video~

2009 – Chang Shilei (常石磊) – Niu China (牛! 中国! 80后的红色经典)

I’m not a communist, but I loved the arrangements of these red songs so much! LOL, like literally blew me away. No one gushes over Niu China online as much as I have and the people at Layabozi.

His rendition of  Endless Waves in Honghu Lake (洪湖水浪打浪) is still one of my favorites.

2010 – Jonsi – Go

Jonsi’s solo album is just magic, making you go through your life as if the your best years are gone, and then wants you to live again.

Your turn.

Go through your life in music. It’s a hard endeavor. As you can see from my picks of albums and songs, I have very deep issues within me. LOL It takes time and it brings back all those things you thought were forgotten. Music, after all, is even more personal than films.

amy

YAM Magazine editor, photographer, blogger, translator and part-time web designer. Film junkie, music junkie… and lately series (a.k.a. TV) junkie.

17 Responses

  1. amy says:

    Okay, my shame is out there. Never has been so public, at least the people that read my blog didn’t know me. Now? Now it’s official…

    • Julili says:

      @amy, Isn’t it scary? I know my brother will get it cus I have thought him about music. But he is going to be “Where’s the Beatles on this list”

      Btw, I owe the Rebelde Way album, the very first one. I love it to death, wanted to add it to my list but I couldn’t handle the shame…….

      • amy says:

        @Julili, yours is not as shameful as mine. LOL

        But no way in hell did I grow up with GNR xD I even had to leave out Bjork’s Debut. There was a lot of “nooooooo, i canNOT take this album out!!!” going on, and it took me forever.

        • Julili says:

          @amy, Two months due. Two months and me obsessing about it everyday. I had to check every single album I own. Do you have any idea how many albums I own? JFC&M.

          GNR I didn’t get to love until I moved to Sweden but that album… gaaaah I have it hard and sloppy for 80’s glam rock. I was this close to add Europe hahahaha

  2. Julili says:

    Aw god, I also wanted to add the Dangerous album cus “Remember The Time” is also a song and MV that changed me forever. God how I love it!

    Dude, Salserin? Hahah I laugh at your shame. I did listen to them and I remember the hysteria. My cousins that lived in Peru were so nuts about them.

    • amy says:

      @Julili, I laugh at your weakness for not showing your true self xD.

      I was a pre-teen girl in a world pre-internet, any girl would be lying if they didn’t tell you that they weren’t into Salserin. Pretty sure it was at that time that Servando and Florentino got in trouble with that concert from hell they did.

      I also liked Los Adolescent’s Orquesta buahaha. I was on a cab, and the driver was listening to a salsa station, when I heard this typical thing they do in the winds section. It struck me as familiar, and then I heard it – Adolescent’s! LOL I started giggling.

      Salsa music sounds so similar to me now.

  3. Rodrigo says:

    The only ones from your list that I really wanted to use were the MJ albums, especially Dangerous.

    I knew you would use Salserín and I’m not so surprised… but Torbellino? Lulz. Greatest thing Torbellino did was introduce Vanessa Terkes. :)

    • amy says:

      @Rodrigo, Dangerous had Will You Be There – OMG, the spoken bit makes me sad more than ever! MJ sounds so deeply hurt in that.

      Salserin is sooooo obvious if you were a teen girl in South America, while I was reading about it for this, found that they apparently they did a concert last year in Lima with 10,000 people? Did you hear about it? Because I didn’t…

      I was researching music to add in the earlier years, and when I heard Torbellino – LOL, I still remember the lyrics. The other day I was cruising Miraflores, and saw an ad promoting Stephanie Cayo’s debut album? xD

  4. ghost says:

    You have… no public shame.

    • amy says:

      @ghost, oh shut up. It’s just more official now. I had blogged about my shames before, just in a more “anonymous” way. Not like my blog is any less anonymous, but no one I knew was reading it…

  5. Camiele says:

    Dude… I’m gonna beat you up! You picked like three or four of the albums that I wanted to put on my list… HaHa. Just shows that we both have great taste in music, I suppose. I guess I’ll have to get creative and out-list you… HaHa.

    • Julyssa Diaz says:

      @Camiele, You’re planning to do a Life in Music article? Osm!

      • Camiele says:

        @Julyssa Diaz, You’re next on my ass-kickin list! You picked like five albums that I was gonna choose.

        But, yes, to answer your question, I’m doing a Life in Music thingy-majiggy. :P

        • Julyssa Diaz says:

          @Camiele, I wish I could post a pic as an answer but since I can’t: *MERONG*

          And yay! Going to be interesting to read your list!

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