FRENCH HOUSE IS SO TROPICAL

Working in retails during the holiday means constant blaring of holiday music in the ears. The night is not so silent now if Rudolf can't decide whether "his" Christmas blue is caused by over-laboring or gender confusion. Beside, it's so damn cold outside baby, I can't wait to roast your chestnuts and go fah la lah la lah all over your face. And no, you are not all I want for Christmas, I also want your lovers and all your lovers' revenge, maybe an iPad too. Yes, they manage to throw in a Lady Gaga song once in a while to change the mood. Amen to that. Whether or not you work in retails, you need to break away from an overdose of holiday music, unless you're one of  those people who listen to O Tannenbaum in May just because you can (e.g. my sister.) With that in mind, I offer you a mix of very tropical French house for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

DOWNTEMPO LOVE

I present to you a mixtape of melodic rhythm, cool vibes, and provocative lyrics to make it easy for you to drop 'em down low, keep it intimate, and get your groove on. You are guaranteed to have up to an hour of pure audiorgasm. Well, I'm starting to sound like a bad infocommerical here, so please excuse me and enjoy the music!

An Ode to a Pin-up Girl

Alright, It's Betty Page, y'all

Betty Page was such a bad ass. She dropped the devil's horns and put on the angel's halo, yet her leaving the dark side didn't offer much peace to her. I wonder what should one do to be happy? To do what her heart desires or to restrain herself from natural instincts for a higher purpose? I may sound like a hedonist, but I don't advocate the exclusive choice of either self-deprivation or indulgence of any earthly pleasure. What we need is a fine balance between indulging and abstaining. This leads to the concern of what guideline there is to help us achieve this equilibrium.

For Betty, she chose Christianity, which obviously doesn't endorse indulgence in its teaching. After all, it is entirely up to the person's own judgement, whether there has been responsibility and mindfulness when an action is done. If Betty had loved what she did and her action harmed nobody, she wouldn't have had to rely on a higher entity to justify herself. However, people sometimes lose trust and hope in themselves. When the mind and heart are weak, their vulnerability is easily taken advantage of, all in the name of love and salvation.

What exactly happens when a person is saved from being lost, what does she realize when her blind eyes suddenly start to see? The awareness of her own self and the discovery of a meaning for her existence in the world are the answer. Religion can be a mean to this end. Sadly, the person has to avoid such realization in worship of a higher being that her lowly self wouldn't dare to match. Again, I want to stress that if you don't regret your choice of dedicating your life to god, then you are doing the right thing. That is how you define your identity and your place in this world, I respect your intention. However, always keep your mind open. Even if there is guidance, you can close your eyes yourself, fail to see, and ultimately become a lost wanderer in this monstrous confusion called life.

Anyway, enough indoctrination, it is time for some music. This mix offers a refreshing interpretation to the classic repertoire, some vintage inspired pieces, and a bit of old school goodies near the end. Enjoy.

Tracklist:

1. It Don't Mean a Thing - The Puppini Sisters
2. Mambo Italiano - Club de Belugas ft. Dean Martin
3. Soul Bossa Nova - Quincy Jones and His Orchestra
4. Rum 'n' Coca Cola - Tim Tim
5. We No Speak Americano - Yolanda B Cool
6. Whipped Cream - Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
7. The Mambo Craze - de Phazz ft. Pat Appleton
8. Maria Elena - Xavier Cugat

The Ultimate Music for Studying

Well, instead of studying, ironically I've been compiling music to help me study. I can't study if I make music, and I can't study either if I don't have music. Whatever, my procrastination has reached a higher level. My test is coming on the second of September, yay! I even turn down my sister's invitation to go to the beach so I can study. Ugh, that means I'll be really pale. My friend Lauren told me that I look sick and pasty last time, what a tramp!

Many of the songs here come from my favorite movies. Classical music has this tendency to make a scene become more classy, probably because of its timeless quality. Even though many songs in this particular mix are neo-classical, the same effect is achieved. 

Oh yeah, I assume you are here 'cause you've been stumbling instead of studying eh? This music mix may help, trust me, after I'm done posting this, I'm gonna listen to this and study like a boss and ace it like a Brain god! 

Track List

I'm smokin 'cause the music is so good

1. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance - Yeong-wook Jo
2. Dark Chariot - Peer Raben
3. Yumeji's theme - Shigeru Umebayashi
4. Bolero - Zbigniew Preisner
5. Rachmaninoff's Vocalise - Itzhak Perlman 
6. Adagio from 2046 - Rolf Lovland
7. And Just Like That - Abel Korzeniowski
8. To Zanarkand - Nobuo Uematsu
9. Sposa Son Disprezzata - Cecilia Bartoli
10. Les Marionnettes - Zbigniew Preisner
11. Georges Watlz (Take 2) - Shigeru Umebayashi
12. Ombra Mai Fu - Philippe Jaroussky
13. Meditation from Thais - Sarah Chang
14. Ruhe Sanft - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
15. Song to the Moon - Stjepan Hauser
16. Lascia Ch'io Pianga - Philippe Jaroussky
17. Meeting - Roman Rewakowicz
18. Song for the Unification of Europe - Teresa Salgueiro

Tango Mix

I love listening to tango while studying. I have made a mix on 8tracks, which I am showing you right below. Normally, the site won't let you download the music directly, so I think it may be a good idea to find another way to share music with you.

Yes, I own these tracks, and if anybody gets offended by my non-benefit sharing here, please let me know so I can remove the download link. Remember, my blog doesn't host the music files, and I am totally broke so don't sue me, thank you very much.

I really love the music, and so will you.  You can thank me by keeping me in your thoughts and sending me some positive energy so I can study well. Oh, you can also check out another related post about tango right here.


Track List:

It's the Tango, yo!

1. A Media Luz - Trio Pantango
2. Peliculas - Demoliendo Tangos
3. Malena - Sexteto Mayor
4. L'ete Indien - Quadro Nuevo
5. Fruta Amarga - Lidia Borda
6. La Comparsita - Villurca
7. El Choclo - Maria Grana
8. Oblivion - Astor Piazzolla

Alright then, Peace, love, and sexy rhythm.

Coloratura

It's Coloratura

Coloratura: A soprano or tenor voice of great range, agility and delicacy. Famous coloratura roles include The Magic Flute's Queen of the Night, many bel canto heroes and heroines and various opera lyrique female role (notably by Gounod and Thomas.) This is verbatim from the fourth edition of Rough Guide to Opera. One of my classes at Goucher required the book, which is currently listed at Amazon.com up to nearly a thousand bucks!

I don't include the notoriously difficult Queen's aria though, yet I throw in Figaro  from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Sivigliato, just because it's awesome!

Baroque Arias Mix

Oh so Somber

I made this mix ages ago. I enjoy the very well-structured measure of Baroque music, yet sometimes I dread the numerous recitative in the company of the oh so somber basso continuo characteristic of operas at the time. Personally, I prefer listening to some Bach or Vivaldi when I study as I focus more, and my emotions don't stray too far from the desk as in the case of music in the Romantic period.

In this mix, you will get to hear two of my favorite artists - Cecilia Bartoli and Phillipe Jaroussky. I've heard people criticize the former for not having a strong voice and the latter for being too commercial. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a dime.

You can also check out my other jams here at 8track. 

Dubstep your mom

This is a very nasty dubstep mix I put together from some of my favorites. For some reasons, it only works with Firefox.