TWO WORDS

Two words, used independently of one another are all right... but strung together in the right order they're even more remarkable. The words? ‘Day’ and ‘Off’.

That's right folks...I've taken the day off. I kicked the weekend off early, by taking Thursday and Friday off. Given the stress of the last several months, it was the least I could do. I thought it was an outstanding idea. So my good friend, Ruan and I had steak for lunch and went to Fro-Yo for dessert and shopped more than you could shake a stick at. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the hours stretching out in front of me but I know one thing for damn sure - I won't be working. Not even a teensy weensy little bit.

Maybe I'll catch up on some of my favorite blogs. Maybe I'll learn the ancient and traditional art of ninja fighting. Maybe I'll hop over to the Middle East and work on that whole peace thing. Or I can just sit on my ass. Also thanks to the folks at Nokia India, I won't be thinking too much about it while I'm spending quality time with my new Nokia X6!

I wade through the usual music sites about a couple of times a week and it’s fairly rare that anything really catches my attention. About once every other while, however, I am pleasantly amazed by a message from a friend that contains a little musical gem.

This cover of ‘Ayo Technology’ (originally performed by 50 Cent, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland) by Belgian singer-songwriter, Milow, turned out pretty good I think. To be fair the remainder of the album ‘Milow’ (2009) is decent, but it’s nowhere near the level of this cover.

Thank you to everyone who has stopped by or is currently following EC. And, as always, enjoy the music.

Crash Kings.... Considered Harmful

I sometimes imagine what it would be like to work in a profession I truly love and am passionate about. Now add in spending time with bands that play awesome music and then writing about it. And since I’m not really a conventional, uninteresting kinda girl (but you knew that already, didn’t you?) it’s going to be about hanging out, then telling the story. Which is good for me, for the bands, and for anyone reading my stuff (do we really need yet another outbreak of mind-numbing, done to death, cookie cutter info about a band, keyed in by folks whose main aim seems to be establishing that they know more than you? No, we do not).

So all that’s swell. But my imagination gets better: because not only will I get to watch bands I already know are great, I get to find out valuable bands that I didn’t know a friggin’ thing about, then tell everybody who will pay attention and check them out.

And that starts here, now, with Crash Kings.

This was one of the only albums that I heard this year where I knew right away that it’d be a year-long listener. There are so many moments of rock goodness sprinkled across the album that I thought my ears were going to explode and I’m so happy to join in the cult-like group of Crash Kings fans.
Seriously, I’ve never heard a better Alternative Rock band out there. Add that with amazing guy – Tony Beliveau on vocals (who can actually sing) with a range at his disposal, including a bassist with style powered riffs and layers of piano sounds. Their incredible sound ties everything they do together in a way that’s so perfect you can’t help but smile. “Mountain Man” and “You Got Me” - the album’s most delightful and addicting tracks, with a glisten of the piano and heavy bass backing an incredible vocal hook, are tracks that pack a huge punch.

If someone asked me to define listenable and pleasurable Alt. Rock in an album this certainly would be nearing the top of the list of albums I’d give them. It really delivers a very full listening experience, whether you want to just float along to the musicality or examine closely the brilliance of the band’s lyrics. One of the most richly satisfying albums you’ll hear in your life. It’s just that damn good.

Beliveau’s vocals and the band’s huge sound ought to keep you entranced.



In short, one of the most talented and significant bands to emerge in our era. It’s not for nothing I’m considering on changing my surname to Beliveau. ;)

What to look out for: Tony Beliveau rocks one of the coolest Clavinets I’ve ever seen (see video above for more on that) just makes the whole thing better.

It’s moments like these that really define for me the universal power of great music and it makes me excited to share those moments with others. And for that I am eternally grateful.

Whatever I put up on EC are the tried-and-true songs that have stuck with me for months and years filling my days with elation and my CDs, playlists with, uh… songs. These are the ones that I love more than steak and beer. The video listed here is the one that I found to be the most visually interesting, uniquely executed, superbly edited, and just in general, a wonderfully awesome video of the band (although having a good song attached to it didn’t hurt it’s chances either). If you like the video, the band and the music, make sure to let me know in the comments. Enjoy!

Crash Kings with 'You Got me'. Pete, thanks for the heads up on these guys!

I Am So Worn-Out These Days

What is the deal? I KNOW you think it’s just a symptom of the weather, but does it have to be that? I figure my being so worn-out all the time is just due to the hurt of living or whatever. Life went gangrenous at some point in the past year, with the extra money and the football and the online dates-a-thons. It’s a lot for one person. It’s a lot for all of us.

On top of which, there’s never been so much to stay up for! The interwebs! Facebook is a nightmare calling my name every minute of the day. People have statuses: attention must be given. Someone’s posting pictures to their galley on Flickr: I need to be there to offer encouragement. Guys I like are posting links, for real, like EVERY DAY. What happens if I don’t click on them? I don’t want to find out, and neither do you. It’s a wonder I get any time to sleep. I should be applauded.

My key to staying awake remains to be tea. I find now that one cup a day is about all my body can handle, but that’s sufficient to get me through most of the morning. Awesome! Good job everybody, let’s go home. But what’s this? There’s more to the day, turns out. Is Facebook to blame, somehow?

So it’s been with great interest that I’ve turned to getting out of the house more lately and trying to limit the online activity. But I’ve realized I’ve done more shopping in the past three days than I would in a month. I think I like the latter the least. So the point is I’m here, exhausted after work and the gym but updating my blog. Playing a part in the online discussion. Creating content. Presenting all of you who are sitting in front of your computer screens a good reason for doing so. I am now free of my responsibilities for the evening; who knows where the blogospheres will take me next. My ass is numb, my bed cold but my laptop is affectionately warm. There’s a playlist queue to organize. There’s media pouncing on a male actor struggling to hold on to some slice of self-respect as he paints his face white for a red carpet event. There is music to reach out to, and high-resolution photographs of dishes I’m not interested in eating. I’m awake, let’s friggin’ do this.

Zero 7: noun – a kickass electronic/power-pop styled musical duo.

Oh, and the track by them 'In The Waiting Line' features vocals by Sophie Barker. So play it, turn it up, and stay still, because they’ll be sure to bring the noise.

If anyone would like to contact me, send me freebies, or just say how awesome I am you can reach me at evelinerajan@gmail.com

Keep reading

First, an apology....

..... if I haven't visited your blog lately, I'm sorry. Life has gotten Busy. That's Busy with a capital B. Please don't think I'm ignoring you.

This week has been much better than the last. For one, I haven't worked my ass off. I checked. It's started to grow back. This week I've been much more hopeful about my verdict for good days. Granted, it's been gloomier and colder and harder to get out of bed but once I'm dressed and out of the house, I'm good to go. A good cup of tea at work might start the day right, maybe a nice comment from one of you when I check my mail in the morning. But sometimes, it just takes a little more. I need a sign.

I was on Facebook the other day, and a friend of mine posted this video from the rock 'n roll fable ‘Almost Famous’. I love the way Billy Crudup sings this verse in the movie -

“Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
you had a busy day today.”

And in a odd moment of lucidity, I try to imagine myself as the kid from that movie, holed up, like me, for reasons he’d probably rather not talk about; only in his case, he’d bring his older sister’s record collection circa 1970. I liked to imagine me out in a dark studio, smoking weed and spinning records, seemingly at random — or, like me, according to his own, seemingly directionless, barely under control.

‘Almost Famous’ is easily one of the straight up films ever made, and it somehow manages that without treading on over sentimentalism even for a minute. It’s one of my all-time favorite movies. And when it was released I got a copy for myself. Totally worth it.

Elton John with Tiny Dancer gracing this post on EC. Going out especially to the birthday girl, Natasha.

The past week has been busy. Very busy. I was stuck between work and the hospital. Mom had a high fever and it rapidly went downhill. She was taken to the hospital for a check-up but after getting there, Dad was told to admit her. Which he did. She was given IV immediately and then our family began freaking out. There's nothing quite so bad as not knowing what the problem is. The next day my mom was diagnosed with Dengue and her blood platelet count had drastically reduced. So everyday this past week I’ve been heading to the hospital after work and sleeping on their very uncomfortable beds. I had very little sleep but every time I looked at mom in bed taking all those breathing treatments, cords and tubes running into her, I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. Then, right away, I felt thankful. Thankful that it wasn’t worse.

She’s now, finally back with us. Thank god, home. Sleeping in our own beds under the same roof. I love my mom. Without her being around, my world almost came to a serious standstill. Moms are the most courageous, most devoted kick-ass people who walk among us. To my mom, thank you for being so awesome.

'Fields of Gold' is easily one of my favorite tracks ever layed down by Gordon Sumner aka Sting and I was blown away upon hearing a cover of it. That’s why I can boldly state my love for this rendition by one of the best musicians out there; that being the legendary Eva Cassidy.
Everything about this track is perfection. The nature of this song perfectly complements her elegant flow. Artists today wish they could drop it like Cassidy. This track is so good I’m tempted to simply stop now and publish this post. In the most basic sense this cover simply works. Enjoy.