Giant xylophone?

Saw this on Facebook today - was totally amazed. Had to share. :)



p.s. 4 exams finished, 7 to go in the next 2 weeks. :)

Daniel Barenboim plays Chopin Op.9 No.2 in E flat major

This is what I listen to when I get completely stressed out before an exam. I put this on repeat for the half hour or so before I go in and I can feel my heart rate dropping. There's something about the deliberation and precision of each note falling that I find extremely soothing...

My new musical obsession: Dala

I first heard about Dala in my Canadian literature class, when my T.A. played "Hockey Sweater" for us before our weekly discussions. At the time I wasn't super impressed; it's still not my favourite song. But a few weeks later he mentioned that he had met one of the singers at a party in Toronto, and had remarked to her that he'd played their music for his lit class. I think he said it was Sheila (right) and that she went "red and white at the same time". Then he played "Sunday Dress" for us, and I had to hear more.

Dala consists of Amanda Walther (left) and Sheila Carabine (right) who met in high school in Scarborough, Ontario. Their vocals are amazing; to me they sound a little like a modern Sarah McLachlan or a poppier Norah Jones, but generally they are classified as singer/songwriter or acoustic/folk. Recently they released their newest album, "Everyone is Someone" which I adore. My favourite song on the album is probably Horses, which was written about a man who was wheelchair-bound after a serious accident (I saw horses from my window, they were watching all the cars go. And they don't care that I am broken, close my eyes and run beside them through the valleys and the pastures and I know you'll never find me cause I'm already free. So don't look for me here cause I run in my dreams). I challenge you to listen to this song without having to use the chopping onions excuse.

"Everyone is Someone" is made up of more than just tearjerkers - the first single from the album, "Levi Blues", is a bubbly toe-tapping tune you'll want to sing along to. Check out the video below, or Dala's MySpace page or official site to hear more.



Update on April 19, 2010:

The music video for Horses actually came out a few months ago, but it only occurred to me now to add it to this post... just in case.