5 things to get you Spring-cited #1

After my pathetic rant about a listless New Years, and after a good 2-3 inches of snow fell here in the east, I thought the only way to excite myself for warmer - at least more sunny - weather is to talk about all the things that remind me of spring. And first on this list of top 5 - Florence + the Machine.

I discovered Florence last Spring -- about 6 months after everyone else as I do with most things -- and since then have had her albums on my go-to playlists; Howl is my top played itunes song with 160 plays, just in case you're wondering. There's just something about Lungs that I can't get out of my head. The songs embody spring with rose colored glasses; or they just reminded me of the California sun in a 1970's picture.

While I haven't found as deep a devotion for her new album Ceremonials as of yet, I blame that on having no time to listen to it, and even less time to blast it in the car. Unfortunately (but completely okay with me), this means all my song choices and recommendations are from Lungs.If you want to listen to the songs featured, you can hear them over here.

Listen to Raise it Up if - Every time I hear Rise it Up I think Greek mythology and early morning sunlight. It's normally my go-to first song in the car on the morning drive.

Listen to Howl if - Do you have a warewolf thing? Then this is your song. Trust me, vampires don't have an anthem like this, and they never will. And the reference to classic Wolfman? Priceless.

Listen to Drumming song if - Borgias fans - this is your song. More specifically, Cesare and Lucrezia OTPers I dare you to listen and not have an entire plot line develop in front of you. Go on. I dared you. I'll wait till you're done. ... ... ... I was right, wasn't I? 

Listen to Cosmic Love/Binding if - These are completely meant to be apart of the 'Once Upon A Time' inspired-by soundtrack. Just saying. These two certainly rival each other to be my favorite Florence song and often, I simply refuse to pick my favorite.

Listen to My Boy Builds Coffins/I'm Not Calling You a Liar if - You know that saying "Sweet; creepy, but sweet"? They were talking about these songs. Indulge your slightly morbid song tendencies with these two selections. They really are sweet...creepy, but sweet. 

“I want my music to sound like throwing yourself out of a tree, or off a tall building, or as if you’re being sucked down into the ocean and you can’t breathe,...It’s something overwhelming and all-encompassing that fills you up, and you’re either going to explode with it, or you’re just going to disappear.” -Florence Welch

a little more inspiration

A few weeks ago, I talked about inspiration; and while that post wasn't a post about finding inspiration, this one--is. My never-fail, espresso-like jolt of inspiration always comes from music. I don't think I've ever heard a song I haven't day dreamed to, and that means I have lots of story lines that bubble up the minute a familiar beat starts blaring.

Now I'm the first to admit that I never like anything when its popular: I'm almost always the first to scoff and the last the know. Which means, my songs choices, really, aren't current. But these are songs that seem to infect my soul, and certainly have set the tone for key moments in my storyline writing. And when that writing is ready to be read dear reader, you'll be the first one to know just where these songs fit.

Florence & the Machine - Howl

Not listening to Florence when she was spammed across my tumblr 2 months before I "discovered" her is one of the biggest mistakes of my year. On her CD Lungs, I've yet to get sick of a song. I've listened to the whole thing continually for at least a month, and the entire discography has reached, and far surpassed, my top played on itunes. Drumming Song is my personal anthem for Cesare and Lucrezia; My Boy Builds Coffins is my favorite; Raise it Up: my King Midas-centered song; and Blinding is the song that's really grown on me. But Howl--Howl has a very special place in my literary heart. Now I don't connect Howl with werewolves--monsters yes, but not werewolves. No, this song single-handily fed me the inspiration to pick my pen back up and start writing Wickeds (working title) again. I was driving my car and the song was playing and before I knew it, I had the scene I could never get past playing in my head. 

Rihanna - Disturbia 

If Howl got me writing Wickeds again, Disturbia was the story's conception. I can't say much about it since it would give, well, a lot away, but lets just say Mood Board 1 connects to it all. At first, I was in this whole Repo!The Genetic Opera phase, but as the words began to flow, Disturbia started making more and more sense for my main character: in her world, light does come from a city of wonder, and darkness is light...

Lady Gaga - Monster

Lady Gaga tells a fantastic story, despite how you feel about her. With Monster, I didn't have to make up so much the story, as follow the outline set by her. What if the man you loved was, in fact, a monster? Not one who changes with the moon, or burns (or glitters) in the sunlight, but just as terrifying. What if he turned you against your "smarter friend". The story that goes with this song is my guilty pleasure, and every time I hear it, I get that irresistible urge to open up the word doc and click the keys. 

Follow the link to 8tracks to listen to all my inspiration songs.