Recent Musical Obsessions: Memories, Bedrock, & Internationally Resounding Love

“All You Need is Love”, by 156 musicians worldwide

Take a classic Beatles song and add a bit of international inspiration. Voila! Meet this rendition that nearly brings me to tears! I love that this timeless song was used for international collaboration…

“Memories”, by David Guetta & Kid Cudi

David Guetta is one of the best deejays out there – he ALWAYS makes me want to dance. And I can relate to all of Kid Cudi’s song lyrics targeted towards the soul-searchers in the crowd. Put them together and its the catchiest song I’ve heard in a LONG time.

“Bed Rock”, by Young Money

This is the only song on the radio lately that I don’t mind hearing. I don’t like any of the rappers, though. It’s all in the beat (genius!). I only know and appreciate the chorus – Lloyd could be singing about the Flintstones, a broom handle, or Japanese anime (any number of ridiculous things) and I would still love it.

“Wonderful Tonight” cover, by the Spartan Dischords (John Abud on solo)

It helps that I love this song, regardless of who sings it. But I obsess over John Abud. He has the most gorgeous voice I’ve ever heard live (If you like this one, you should check out his version of Beautiful Girl, too!). So here’s your accapella fix, with the most ridiculous, hilarious accapella group I know of.

Recent Musical Obsessions: Mashups & Stuck Up Ivy Leaguers

“Perfectly Lonely”, John Mayer
I mentioned another John Mayer song in my last musical obsessions post, but that was before Battle Studies officially came out! Mayer captures the delicious essence of single-ness in this song. It’s carefree, a bit humorous, and ends with the temporal realization of it all – when he’s ready, he’ll want to settle down. Out of all of the songs on the new CD, this one struck a chord with me (pardon the pun), and I’ve had it on repeat ever since. Cause I don’t belong to anyone, nobody belongs to me…

“Pursuit of Happiness”, Kid Cudi
Another song about marijuana? Not entirely. I prefer to address the youthful connotations and the search for happiness. If there’s one thing I really love about Kid Cudi, it’s his topic choice for his songs. EVERYONE is on the pursuit of happiness. The background music is fantastic – let the trippy guitar chords wash over you on those 4am mornings when you’re awake and want to think about life. I think you’ll appreciate it more then.  p.s. the chorus is addictive.

“Beautiful Story” by Taylor Swift vs Akon ft Omarion (Ryson Remix)
I’ve never really been a fan of mash-ups until someone in my digital media class showed me Ryson Remixes. This kid knows how to mash songs. I never thought Akon and T.Swift could sound so good together! The songs transition seamlessly.

“I Could’ve Danced All Night”, Audrey Hepburn
Sigh. What a classic. I was reminded by watching Hollie Steel from Britain’s Got Talent. Her beautiful, darling rendition of the song prompted me to go back to the source: My Fair Lady. It reminds me of how you feel after prom, weddings, etc. Enjoy!

“Haven’t Met You Yet”, Michael Bublé
Oh Michael. Not only do you have an amazing voice, but you also will sing to us in a grocery store, or daydream about singing to us in a grocery store. I love his voice, which goes perfectly with your typical, bouncy, feel-good love song. See sample A below:

“Michael Jackson Melody”, Sam Tsui
As always, some AMAZING accapella to round off the list! Sam Tsui is one stuck up Ivy Leaguer (he goes to Yale). Since he’s too awesome to sing accapella in a group like a normal person, he made this song with 7 of none other than…himself. Yes, he’s singing all of the back-up positions a normal accapella group would have. You’ll enjoy his vocal range, which goes from Damn-that-sounds-exactly-like-Michael-Jackson to My-ears-are-experiencing-intense-pleasure.

My [Recent] Musical Obsessions: Sadly include weed and threesomes?

I like a variety of music, to say the least. Here’s what’s stuck on replay on my iPod at the moment. Disclaimer: the following songs/videos are super addictive, so don’t call me complaining when you can’t get them out of your head!

John Mayer, “Who Says”

I don’t smoke. But according to John, who says you can’t? He intermixes his defense of weed with one night stands and traveling to Japan of all things. It’s slow and oh-so-addictive, like every good John Mayer song should be.

Britney Spears, “3”

Since when is it okay to sing about your sexual encounters with three people? Apparently Britney Spears can pull it off. The beat is way too catchy. If this song had been about any other three things, I don’t think it would have had the same effect. I also really like the album design. Nice use of opaque tints! Oh, and there is no official vid for this song yet, so this is a satisfactory substitute for it, I suppose:

Italobrothers, “Stamp on the Ground”

Because I’m always looking for new workout songs, I have this newfound obsession with European Techno. Italobrothers are actually from Germany (misleading, I know) but this is a sweet song to run to. Also, be sure to check out my favorite part – the guys stomping in the background are absolutely insane!

Amanda Seyfried, “I Have A Dream”

Amanda Seyfried’s voice is just too good to pass up. And this song is so simple and beautiful. However, today I was informed that she uses vibrato WAY too much. And now that I noticed it, I guess it is too much. But I still love her voice, constant vibrato and all. This is actually a hidden track on the Mamma Mia! Soundtrack. Enjoy:

MSU Accafellas, “Happier”

Because no recent musical obsession is complete without some accapella. I found out last night that the Accafellas were almost in an accapella show on NBC! Pretty crazy. This is their version of Guster’s “Happier”, which is actually better than the original. Seriously.