Yusuf Islam / Cat Stevens Relaxing Playlist ++

Hiya!

So.. This is gonna be really, really brief.

I made a playlist consisting of five Yusus / Cat Stevens songs... A relaxing playlist. :3 Put this on a loop and fell asleep... :p Just these five songs.. 

These are his songs that I know of, so far... So, if in the future I found some other songs, I'd probably put 'em in this playlist..


Here's the playlist: 

1. The Wind (Teaser And The Firecat)

"I listen to the wind, to the wind of my soul. Where I'll end up, well I think, only God really knows."

2. Katmandu (Mona Bone Jakon)

"I sit beside the dark, beneath the mire cold gray dusty day
The mornin' lake... Drinks up the sky."

3. Sad Lisa (Tea For The Tillerman)

"She hangs her head and cries on my shirt. She must be hurt very bad-ly. Tell me what's making you sad, Li? Open your door, don't hide in the dark. You're lost in the dark, you can trust me. 'Cause you know that's how it must be."

4. How Can I Tell You (Teaser And The Firecat)

"How can I tell you, that I love you, I love you.. But I can't think of right words to say."

5. Morning Has Broken (Teaser And The Firecat)

"Morning has broken like the first morning..."

Beautiful melody, piano, guitar. Quite nice :)


Oh btw... Recently he wrote some stuffs on huffingtonpost. Here are the links:

Profile: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cat-stevens/
Blog 'Alliance of Virtue (or Get Your Bags Together)': http://goo.gl/7VxKfu

He actually wrote some good stuffs there, about peace and Islam and this modern world that we're currently living in... There's also a bit about why he became a Muslim.

"If the real intellectual and heart-cleansing message of Islam is not publicized or promoted, then the field is left to the belligerents and deadly aspirants of Armageddon."

Peace be with you :)

Musical Taste: The History (Part 1)

Hiya!

Finally I'm back. I'm back after a month and a half. Not bad, eh?

Was doing university entrance exams.. And so, wish me luck! Really hope that my fellow classmates can also get into where they want to be.

Anyway... As far as I'm concerned... It's holiday season here. Yep. And it's also Ramadhan! Oh, the Holy Month of Ramadhan... Welcome back.

Fasting season.

The cool thing is, from what I've heard... This year is quite special because, I believe, the next school year will begin after Ramadhan, after the Eid. So... I think.. No fasting while studying at school for this year..

But I'm way past that. :p

Anyway... I just wanna write about the history of my musical taste... Sort of.. Thing.

Have been thinking of writing this for quite some time... So.. Let's begin.

Introduction

Listening to songs have been a big, big part of my life... 

Okay. I gotta tell you. For those of you who have seen two of my last three posts... You probably realised that I have this weird taste for music... Yep.

Somehow.. I just can't really click with today's mainstream music.. Which is sort of a bummer, especially if you wanna try to connect with most people these days.

The only sort of recent mainstream artist whom I listen to is probably Ed Sheeran. Yeah. Even for Ed, I don't really listen to him all the time. It's just that, I believe, he's the only recent mainstream artist whose album I bought.

Besides Ed.. I do listen to new stuffs.. I bought several songs that have been played over and over again on the radio or at shopping malls... Catchy songs... Or I guess.. The fact that they are being played over and over again made them catchy? Dunno.

But mostly... In terms of "new stuffs"... I listen to not-really-mainstream-in-Indonesia songs.. Like.. Blur's new album "The Magic Whip" (2015). When Paul McCartney's "Kisses on The Bottom" (2012) and "New" (2013)  albums came out, I also listened to those.. Technically, those are new materials.. Right? I'm currently listening to Carl Barât and the Jackals' new album "Let It Reign" (2015), because I've been listening to The Libertines, again.. They are making a new album!! So that's quite cool. More on The Libertines later.

A few months ago, I was trying to explore more mainstream bands, and so I decided to start listening to the Arctic Monkeys. Bought their first (Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)) and latest (AM (2013)) albums... And in the end.. I quite like them. Though I very much prefer their first album than their latest. :p

Now... So.. What the hell do I listen to, then? And how come I listen to these stuffs instead of more-recent more-mainstream music?

Well, as I've told you before.. Today's mainstream music simply doesn't click. Dunno why. Probably since I was a little boy, I've been, sort of, accidentally "exposed" by "old mainstream music"... And then, a few years later, I developed this unconscious interest towards old mainstream music.. Dunno. Just a theory :p

Or actually... Is it because of genetics? Heard that musical taste is an inherited trait? Nah, dunno.

Okay, enough rambling. I just wanna share the evolution of my musical taste.. Sort of, what I hear, bands that I sort of follow. Yeah.

1. Bee Gees, Rod Stewart, and Queen

The earliest memories that I have of really listening to a band or an artist... I forgot which one I listened to first.. Probably the Bee Gees.

I had this VCD of one of their live appearances and I remember watching it. I also remember listening to their "Love Songs" compilation album... In form of a cassette. Yep. Old school, according to today's standard.

At the same time, I was also listening to Rod Stewart. I remember listening to "The Very Best of Rod Stewart" album. Forgot whether it was a cassette or a CD.

This was back in primary school, I guess.. I used to play them music in my (parents') car.

However, besides those two.. I remember Queen being the one which I really listened to and really follow. I had their three "Greatest Hits" cassettes, and I listened to them over and over again. I also remember that the first ever music CD that I really picked to buy.. was.. the "Queen Rock Montreal" album. I just checked wikipedia and apparently it was released in October 2007... I was in 6th grade..? whoa.

I liked to watch videos of their live concerts. I remember watching the Montreal one, and the Queen + Paul Rodgers one. 

And umm... Fun fact. One of the earliest memories of me using the Internet was actually watching this video of Freddie Mercury doing his thing before singing Under Pressure in Wembley '86. Just, wow. I mean, that was back when I had this dial-up connection thingy.

I mean, you gotta love Freddie Mercury, and Queen as a whole. Freddie was this, charismatic and funny figure on stage. And Queen's music. John Deacon's bass line, especially from "Under Pressure", Brian May's guitar play, Roger Taylor's drumming. Oh man. I just love their music and how they act on stage. The bass-lines, the guitar solos, the fast and hard drumming... The soul of it all.

This is how I fell in love with rock music.

Queen is really the first band that I ever got into. The first band where I learned to memorise the names of its members.

When I moved to France, I started collecting their studio albums... Though right now, I still haven't finished collecting them.. So.. We'll see

I remember still listening to Queen back in 7th grade... 

But actually, in 2008, I was introduced to this band...

Probably the band that influenced me the most.

And that is.....

2. The Beatles

Back in 2008, my father bought two Beatles cover album. One was this choral cover of The Beatles' songs, the other one was Jazz cover.

I actually forgot what made me decide to buy the "1" album. A compilation album of their 27 number one singles. I listened to it over, and over, and over again. In my car, on my CD player.

The Beatles.

I remember before I got that close with The Beatles... I remember thinking, "The Beatles. Yeah, have heard that this is the greatest band ever. But, naah, probably never gonna listen to it."

Well kid. You were totally wrong. You became this Beatlemania, Beatle-geek, Beatle-walking-encyclopedia back in junior high school.

I mean, wow. This post isn't gonna be enough to describe my "relationship" with The Beatles.

The first ever band-related T-Shirt that I ever bought, it was The Beatles. The first ever band-related book, The Beatles.

Back in junior high school, I started collecting all the original UK LPs or studio albums. Coincidentally, they were just releasing the remastered version of those LPs.. Wow. Just. Wow.

The first one that I bought was "Sgt. Pepper's". And from then on, during my jhs years... I tried to save up some money in order to buy new albums. And in the end, I finished collecting the 12 albums, plus the "Past Masters" album. Just. Wow. Good times.

My father went to the U.S. once, and he bought me The Beatles' "Anthology" book. Yep. That giant book. I was so. so. so. just. wow. Thank you, thank you dad.

I bought The Beatles' Anthology documentary, and have watched it for several times. I have also watched all of their movies + The Yellow Submarine. I even went on Tumblr, simply because it was full of Beatles-stuffs.

I don't know why, but back in jhs and even back in 10th grade, when I was already living abroad, I simply wanted to show my friends on how awesome The Beatles are. Frankly, looking back, I was a bit too much on being a Beatlemania.

But hey... You gotta love John, Paul, George, and Ringo. They are brilliant, funny, witty. 

From their Quarrymen-Rock and Roll years, to Hamburg, to their early U.K. success, Europe, the World. When they stopped touring and went on being this band with psychedelic and Indian influences, and then went on producing more music and more everlasting masterpieces. Their breakup, their solo careers, John's death, the Anthology session, George's death, more solo careers...

They are simply. Wow. Looking at how they have evolved and matured throughout those years. Even in the 60s, within a space of ten year, their music went through this drastic evolution. And they frickin' made masterpieces. Different genres throughout the 60s, but their music lives on. They pioneered lots of things, and really made a big influence on the music industry.

I simply can't rank which Beatle is my favourite. They are all unique in their own ways. Same thing goes with ranking their albums or their songs. When an album or a song matches your mood, you can simply enjoy it, even consider it as the best.

I thank God that I was given the privilege to watch Paul McCartney live, back in 2011. It was simply, amazing. I was also given the privilege to visit London and Liverpool, and most of the Beatles' sites. The 3 Savile Row, Abbey Road, the Cavern club replica..

The Beatles is still very important to me. And of course, I also listen to John, George, Paul, and Ringo's solo materials.

Right now, I'm listening to most of Paul's solo music, including Wings' music.

And by the way, June 18th, Happy Birthday Paul!

So yeah, The Beatles. Even the way I speak in English... I think it's sort of influenced by them. :p

3. ABBA, Michael Jackson, John Lennon and U2

Back in jhs, besides The Beatles, I also listened to John Lennon, U2, Michael Jackson, and ABBA. Yeah. Weird combo.

And btw, these are just the ones that I can remember.. sort of. The ones that I remember I really listened to, like, I have the CDs and I remember playing them CDs in my car.

I mean, not that I stopped listening to The Beatles or Queen or Rod Stewart or Bee Gees..

So, back in 2008, after watching "Mamma Mia!", I began listening to ABBA... Limited only to their greatest hits tho.

In 2009, after Michael Jackson's death, my parents bought "The Essential Michael Jackson" CD, and so I started listening to Michael Jackson.

And as for U2.. I can't really remember what made me buy that CD.. The "U218 Singles" CD thingy.

Those three are quite alright, I listened to them quite a lot back in jhs, besides The Beatles, of course.

And for John Lennon, obviously it was because I was listening to The Beatles. I bought the "Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon" album. It was good.

4. Paul McCartney and to be continued

Anyway... Summer 2011, I moved to Paris. And um... Before I moved to Paris, I remember that I started buying Paul McCartney's solo era albums.

Just before I moved, I bought "McCartney" and "McCartney II", newly remastered back then. And, like, whenever I listen to songs from those two albums... They remind me of my early days in Paris.

For example, whenever I listen to "Every Night", or "Coming Up", or "That Would Be Something".. They simply remind me of those early days.

I have mentioned about how I was collecting Queen's studio albums back in Paris. Well, I was also collecting Paul McCartney's solo era/Wings' albums, such as "RAM", "Band on the Run", "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard"... many more.

Moving back to Jakarta, it's getting hard for me to collect hard copies of those albums... I'm still looking for the newly-remastered version of "Venus and Mars" and "Wings at the Speed of Sound". :/ 

Back in 2012, I began to explore more bands, trying to look for new materials... 

And so, I started listening to lots of more bands/artists. A wider variety of genres. Decades of music. Etc2.

Just you wait for Part 2. Just you wait. 

And sorry for the bad English, like, oh no, my writing skill has deteriorated quite a lot. :o

See ya next time. Cheers.

The Beatles. Playlist.

Just another playlist. Enjoy!

1. There's A Place
2. You Really Got A Hold On Me
3. If I Fell
4. I'm A Loser
5. It's Only Love
6. Michelle
7. Here, There And Everywhere
8. When I'm Sixty-Four
9. All You Need Is Love
10. I Will
11. Julia
12. Two Of Us ("Naked" version)
13. Something

Playlists

Hello, hello.

Finally I'm in the mood again to write. Well, not really. Just wanna share two playlists which I've made and an update on things that I'm doing right now and gonna do in the next few months. Hopefully. Bismillah.

So I made two playlists recently. One is the fourth disc of Ethan Hawke's The Beatles Black Album playlist, which was included in the movie "Boyhood". The other one is... Sort of a... Compilation of soothing music.. tracks.. thing..

So, the first playlist is called "Black Album IV"... I made the first three Ethan Hawke's playlists on my iPod too and I simply call them "Black Album" followed by Roman numerals I or II or III. 

Btw, here's the first three discs: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ethanhawke/boyhood-the-black-album#.nc3bxZyNz

The songs are taken from John, Paul, George, and Ringo's solo careers. Basically he reunited The Beatles... :'

Btw... Happy Birthday George Harrison! :D

Welp, anyway, I realised that some of my favourites, solo-era Beatles songs were not included in his three-discs playlist... So... I made the fourth disc, which includes some of my fav. songs that were not included in the Black Album, plus some songs that sort of match the playlist..(?)

So, without further ado, here is Black Album IV:

1. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five - (Paul McCartney & Wings)

2. Give Peace A Chance - (John Lennon)

3. All Those Years Ago - (George Harrison)

4. Peggy Sue - (John Lennon)

5. Oo You - (Paul McCartney)

6. Ding Dong, Ding Dong - (George Harrison)

7. Coming Up - (Paul McCartney)

8. Got My Mind Set On You - (George Harrison)

9. No More Lonely Nights - (Paul McCartney)

10. Nobody Told Me - (John Lennon)

11. When We Was Fab - (George Harrison)

12. How Do You Sleep? - (John Lennon)

13. Somebody Who Cares - (Paul McCartney)

14. Rising Sun - (George Harrison)

15. Never Without You - (Ringo Starr)

16. Working Class Hero - (John Lennon)

17. Let It Be Me (Demo) - (George Harrison)

18. Here Today - (Good Evening NYC, Paul McCartney)

19. Walk With You - (Ringo Starr ft. Paul McCartney)

20. Free as A Bird - (The Beatles)

Black Album I starts with "Band On The Run", so I think finishing what we have started, we have to begin/end(?) with "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five", the last track on the album "Band On The Run".

We also got John Lennon's song, widely believed aimed at Paul, "How Do You Sleep?"... Followed by Paul's song... "Somebody Who Cares"... Which I found quite beautiful.. And somehow I sort of relate Paul's song with John, knowing that John is no longer around.

I mean, essentially, despite the fallout, they are still the best songwriter partnership that has ever existed.

From 14 to 19... It's sort of the reality, really. John and George are no longer around with us. But their music and spirit live on. The Good Evening NYC version of "Here Today" is really what makes the reality hits us. Paul is still doing live concerts, with his voice becoming more and more scratchy or strained or hoarse..(?) Dunno the correct way to describe it.The way I see it in this playlist, "Here Today" is aimed at both John and George from track 16 and 17... 

"And if I say,

I really loved you and was glad you came along.

If you were here today.

Oo-oo-oo, for you were in my song.

Here today."

And then... "Walk With You". Again, reality hits.. Two of the remaining Beatles, singing together. 

"When I walk with you.

When I talk with you.

Everything will be fine."

And finally, the playlist ends with "Free as A Bird". The first track of Anthology becomes the last track here. :p I mean, you gotta end this playlist with all four Beatles together. :)

So yeah. That's that.

On to the second playlist...

This playlist. I was sort of in the mood of making a soothing compilation of songs, all taken from my iPod. 

I was listening to "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton when this idea struck me. I mean, I put the song on repeat, played it over and over again, realised that this is a frickin beautiful piece of music/ballad/song right here.

Before we begin the second playlist... Here is Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight":

Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton

"It's late in the evening, she's wondering what clothes to wear.

She puts on her make-up, and brushes her long blonde hair.

And then she asks me, 'Do I look all right?'

And I say, 'Yes, you look wonderful tonight.'

We go to a party, and everyone turns to see.

This beautiful lady, that's walking around with me.

And then she asks me, 'Do you feel all right?'

And I say, 'Yes, I feel wonderful tonight.'

I feel wonderful, because I see, the love light in your eyes.

And the wonder, of it all, is that you just don't re-alize how much I love you.

It's time to go home now, and I've got an aching head,

So I give her the car keys, and she helps me to bed.

And then I tell her, as I turn out the light,

I say, 'My darling, you were wonderful tonight.

Oh my darling, you were wonderful tonight.'"

Aw man. Just. So simple and beautiful at the same time. It Hits it perfectly, right in there.

So yeah, listening to this song, how beautiful and soothing it is... I thought, "Hey, let's make a playlist."

I mean, it's not a proper playlist with ups and downs... Sort of in an alphabetical order, this.. If this is a proper playlist, I'd probably put ABBA's "I Have A Dream" last. Gonna arrange it soon, when I have time.

ABBA - I Have A Dream

Air Supply - All Out of Love

Athlete - Chances (Vincent and The Doctor!!)

Barry Manilow - Mandy

The Beach Boys - God Only Knows

The Beatles - Mother Nature's Son

The Beatles - Here, There And Everywhere

Bee Gees - How Can You Mend A Broken Heart

Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love

Carpenters - (They Long to Be) Close to You

Cat Stevens - The Wind

The Corrs - Runaway

The Cranberries - Linger

Ed Sheeran - Photograph

Elvis Costello - She (Notting Hill!)

Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight

The Everly Brothers - All I Have to Do Is Dream

Frankie Valli - My Eyes Adored You

George Benson - Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You

George Harrison - Let It Be Me

Johan Johannsson - Epilogue (The Theory of Everything)

John Lennon - Love

Julie Delpy - A Waltz for a Night (from Before Sunrise)

Kath Bloom - Come Here (again, from Before Sunrise.. That scene.)

Lionel Richie - Stuck On You

Oasis - Songbird

Paul McCartney - Jenny Wren

Paul McCartney - My Valentine

Paul McCartney - Somebody Who Cares (Three Maccas!)

Queen - Love Of My Life

Rod Stewart - You're In My Heart

Simon & Garfunkel - The Sounds of Silence

Sting - Fields of Gold

Wings - Mull of Kintyre (Actually, another Macca...)

So there we are. 34 tracks.

I mean... for a late-1996 born.. This is weird. Too many oldie hits, pops, and movie soundtracks... Plus. Out of nowhere... ED SHEERAN :p He's good tho.

I really need to listen to today's music. Ah well.

All those songs are from my iPod so.. I have like, over 2200 tracks on my iPod... But I believe, most probably, some of the most beautiful pieces of music are still out there somewhere... Outside my iPod I mean.

Moving on. Updates.

I'm in the process of applying to Univs. again. Studying for exams (though still lacking, really) and preparing all those documents, including a Motivation Letter.

Feels good to write again. Especially after a long hiatus, writing something similar to all those IB essays just feels good. 

Feels sad though, because most of my classmates are still struggling on their Try Outs. :( Really would like to help them. Just don't know how.

Anyway, I just hope for the best. And I hope that I have each and every requirements ready. I hope that the Indonesian system of application is... lenient..(?) I'm just afraid that I don't have all the requirements ready... being someone who graduated outside, in a private international school.

Sometimes, the information here is just not enough/lacking... I've been to the Ministry of Education several times, and it seems that they're also confused. 

Really hope that I won't have to wait for another year, simply because of a stupid mistake like.. Not being in the national database or something. 

I mean... That would suck. A lot. Like. Really. I've been preparing for the entrance exam for months and suddenly... Oh God, please no.

Bismillah. Wish me luck.

Cheers.