Shiva Rea - Yoga Shakti

After many MANY months without yoga, I’ve started practicing once again. Since I can barely keep track of my right and my left in English, doing Vinyasa (flow) yoga in Danish is definitely not an option. So I’m grateful for Shiva Rea - Yoga Shakti.

Centered around various combinations of the sun salutations, the DVD offers the perfect practice for not-still-a-beginner but not-yet-a-yogi practitioners. You can choose from several pre-set practices, most of which are 30-45 minutes log. But the really great part is that you can also use the ‘yoga matrix’ to create your own practice. It’s easy to choose from a collection of poses so one week you can do sun salutation, standing poses, and shoulder openings. Then the next time you can do backbends, twists, and warrior series. The instructions are clear, the pace is well measured, and Shiva Rea offers the more challenging poses in different stages so you can advance as you get stronger and more flexible. The video is shot in India, mostly on the coast, with the sound of the tides and shot only in natural light. It’s beautiful, satisfying, and will hold your interest for many practices to come. Today’s Flavor: Gettin’ Strong and Flexible.

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After a certain age, you just aren’t musically hip anymore, you know? I’m still trucking out my Indigo Girl’s CD’s and Paul has an embarrassing penchant for all things George Michael. When the clothing of your New Wave youth show up in 80’s vintage shops and as Target knock off’s (leggings anyone) you know you’ve crested over the hill.

Still, I need new tunes. So I did something my teenaged self would never sink to — I Googled all the TV shows I like that have good music. And what do you know? I found some good stuff. Here’s my recs for this week:

Ingrid Michaelson (Grey’s Anatomy and theOld Navy.)
Her solemnly perky little tune (The Way I Am) about giving her love her sweater is just so …catchy. You can’t download it on the subscription service from Zune, but maybe you can download it from ITunes or pick it up here.

Iron and Wine (Grey’s Anatomy)
Okay, I am SO in love. This is a songwriter dream – beautiful lyric and moody tunes for the grey season. My favorite line from “Love and Some Verses” is “Love is a skirt you made long to cover your knees. ” I’m not sure I know what that means, but I’m pretty sure I need to carry it around on a little scrap of paper in my wallet. Find your favorite lyric Our Endless Numbered Days“>here.

Will Dailey (CSI: New York) Why is Gary Sinise suddenly playing the bass in a NYC club? Who knows, and as long as he’s on stage with Will Dailey’s gritty, folksy voice, who cares? The single Rise (which also appears on Back Flipping Forward) is well worth the purchase.

Feist (Ipod commercial) 1,2,3,4…how many times have you seen the new IPOD ad? Not enough to find out who the quirky little gal is dancing on the new screen. Welcome to Feist and the 1234 single off “The Reminder”. Maybe she and Ingrid could do a little duet together? Buy “The Reminder” here.

What tunes are catching your ear lately?

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Loudon Wainwright III
Strange Weirdos: Music from and Inspired by the Film Knocked Up

Paul and I are one of those couples who stay in the movie theatre until all the credits have run. We got into this habit because the kids always think there is going to be some funny little extra at the end of the latest feature length cartoon if you just wait long enough. (Remember when Ferris Bueller would tell you all to go home if you hung around long enough after the movie?) But even when the kids aren’t with us we hang around so we can find out who performed what songs in the movie. It’s a great way to find new music to love.

This madness of this method lead us to discover a beautiful song at the end of Knocked Up (a sleeper hit of a movie– but that’s for another review). The tune that plays over the credit is Daughter from Loudon Wainwright’sStrange Wierdos. I instantly fell in love with this sweet tune, which seemed to be written just for my daughter Eden. I snagged the whole album and was presently surprised to find that I liked most of the songs on the rest of the album CD well. Grey is LA captures the zietgiest of the area perfectly; X or Y is a funny take on the random nature of babymaking; the honkytonk vibe of Feel so Good will get your toes tapping, and Valley Morning is just…nice. All the tunes have that nice storytelling aspect that can only come from a practiced singer-songwriter — are rare gift in this radio pop world. Check ‘em out and let me know what you think.

Today’s Flavor: Folk pop meets the honkytonk blues

Bitter Sweet: The Remix Game

This band came pre-loaded onto my Zune at Christmas, and they’ve been consistently growing on me ever since. It’s sort of dance club dj meets Austin Powers. Most of the songs are heavily re-mixed with looping rhythms and female vocals reminescent of a the songs used in vintage James Bond films. I especially like The Mating Game and Bittersweet Faith. Most of the songs have a swaying groove that melds into you subconcious and gives it a nice little massage.

Todays Flavor: rum and coke meets the jagermeister generation

Corinne Bailey Rae

There aren’t many albums as perfect for Summer as Corrine Bailey Rae’s self-titled debut. I first fell for Corrine when I saw her sweet self singing on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. By the time she guested on Saturday Night Live I was in love! My kids love to sing along to Girl Put Your Records On and Momma loves to get her grove on with I’d Like To. Even the sentimental Butterfly makes you think of your grandmamma and captures your heart. You’ll put this disc on repeat until the dog days of Summer drift away.

Today’s Flavor: sweet crooner for nights on the patio.

Back to Black

I love this debut cd by singer Amy Winehouse. Put it on and you’re instantly in the golden age of American Bandstand….but wait! Is she singing about going to Rehab? Track two, You Know I’m no Good, will make you want to tango with its sassy brassy horn section. By the time you get to Me and Mr. Jones you’re ready to put on some tassels and do the shimmy. Swaying on a lantern lit patio in the Catskills? Try tuning into Love is a Losing Game. And wait…is that the Solid Gold dancers ready to make an appearance during Tears Dry on Their Own? Go ahead, buy the whole album.

Today’s Flavor: vintage shows a little cleavage.

This band of rocker boys know how to groove. According to my sometimes-seventeen-year-old, Maroon 5 is too Pop, but I think they have funky R&B meets disco thang going on that really works. Songs About Jane is well worth purchasing just for the cover art, not to mention all the great tracks. The chart topper Harder to Breathe is a regular on my MP3 player (my kids love that one), Sunday Morning makes me want to reach for the Stevie Wonder and if someone wrote She Will Be Loved for me I would gladly roam the country on tour in the band’s smelly van.

It’s pretty hard to cut a second album that holds up to a debut this good, but It Won’t Be Soon Before Long is a close second. Take a listen to Little of Your Time and try not to dance. (Great for your workout!)

Today’s Flavor: funk gets updated

I think I’ll make Friday a day where I recommend something great that’s absolutely free. So here’s my first Friday Free Day Suggestion:

Get thee to a park with a large swath of grass. Spin around with your arms held out and your face to the sky until you can’t spin anymore. Flop down on said grass and watch the sky spin. Recapture Youth.

As a teenager, I used to see those commercials for “dry cracked heels” on daytime television and think; “What? This is a problem that’s sweeping the nation?” Then I hit my thirties and suddenly sprouted feet belonging to a bedouin. Now, I think the obession our culture’s obsession with perfectly smooth feet is about as silly as our new-found passion for blindingly white chompers. Still, the cracks in my heels are beginning to resemble a scaled down version of the Grand Canyon. My sister’s are so deep that her podiatrist is threatening to close them with stiches if she doesn’t stop wearing flip flops! I want to avoid that particularly nasty sounding fate, and since my local cheap pedicure place was recently shut down for being a front for a prostitution ring, here’s my surefire at-home recommendations for passable heels during sandal season. (You can order the whole kit and caboodle from Amazon by clicking on the images and tossing the stuff in your shopping cart.) Read the rest of this entry »

There are very few albums where you like EVERY single track on the CD. The Verve’s 1997 release Urban Hymns is one of them. Sure, Bittersweet Symphony has been played to death by all the animatronic dj’s on the radio, but you’ve still got 12 other great tunes to groove by. I especially like the mellow second track, Sonnet, for it’s backyard-with-white-wine groove; and Catching Butterflies is one of my odes this Summer. Plus, what kind of urban abbess wouldn’t like an album called Urban Hymns? Listen in, then order some hymnody for your city-fied self!

Today’s Flavor: a little bit psychedelic