Today's DailyOM Offerings...
July 29, 2008
Rockferry
Duffy
2008
Part of the wave of neo-soul chanteuses crashing upon the pop music scene in the first decade of the 21st century, Welsh singer Duffy differs from her contemporaries in the spooky atmospherics she brings to her songs. Blessed with a nimble, aching, sometimes childlike voice, Duffy stands in a great line of British female soul singers that harks back to the glory days of Dusty Springfield. At its best this tradition has always found a fresh twist to spike its soul, adapting a homegrown American style into something a mite European, retaining the music's earthiness yet gracing it at the same time with a touch of British class. Across Rockferry, Duffy's 2008 debut disc, one hears classic '60s soul but also the sweeping European pop tradition. At its finest, this combination proves breathtaking.
The album opens with one of its standout tracks-and surely one of the best contemporary soul compositions-the slow-burn ballad "Rockferry." A striking, echoing piano pattern opens the song, drawing us into the hazy ambience of the titular setting. "I’d move to Rockferry / Tomorrow," Duffy sings in a sharp, seductive voice. "And I’d build my house, baby / With sorrow." When ringing guitar comes crashing in, and the melody begins building to its lofty climax, the track takes on the feel of a modern epic. Most of the songs on Rockferry deal with the trials and travails of finding love and security, and "Serious" picks up on this thread with a groovy, light-stepping beat and melancholy lyrics. As Duffy implores her lover to share his real feelings, the song reaches to the sky, curving and arcing like a rocket.
The album's big hit single, "Mercy," arrives late in the disc-a clever, if daring, maneuver. With its sultry opening whispers, swinging keyboard line and sing-along "yeah yeah" backing vocals, the song is an immediate winner. Its sharply compressed lead vocals and big dance-floor chorus-"You've got me begging you for mercy / Why won’t you release me?"-recall the golden age of '60s soul, even as the smartly mechanized elements of the production sound succinctly modern. Throughout Rockferry, Duffy and her producers pull off this neat, effective trick, delivering classic soul for modern times.
July 29, 2008
Communicative Awareness
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
You may be asserting your authority in your business or personal matters, which might make you appear intense and commanding to others today. Although it is important to know what you need to take care of, you might wish to think about how your ideas come across and try to bring a greater level of awareness to your interactions. A simple way to do this could be to focus on your throat chakra, or energy center, since this is the area where all of your communicative efforts emanate from. Bringing your attention to your throat, think about how you wish to convey your ideas, reminding yourself that it is also crucial to take into account how your ideas will be received. Opening up your throat chakra today could bring more sincerity to your words without making you appear too authoritative.
Communicating our needs is best done when we are aware of the force of our message. When what we have to say has a certain amount of intensity behind it, it is easy to lose sight of the ways in which we say things-our message may seem too strong or inflexible. Using the energy of our throat chakra to channel our ideas, however, allows us to bring more consciousness to our interactions, saying only what is most important but with compassion and awareness. Being more cognizant of your needs and how to express them in a healthy and considerate way will make your interactions much more successful and your message all the more powerful today.
July 29, 2008
Knowing Our Heart’s Desire
Feeling Jealous
Jealousy is one of the toughest feelings we come up against in our lives. There is not much worse than this aching sense that somehow life has been unfair to us, while amply rewarding someone else. It’s even worse if that someone else is present in our daily lives, making it difficult for us to get the space we need to feel and heal our pain. We may be jealous of a sibling, a dear friend, or even famous personalities. We may even face the challenge of feeling jealous of our spouse, our child, or one of our parents. Whatever the case, we can normalize our experience by understanding that, as painful as it is, jealousy is a common human feeling.
Nevertheless, it is important that we not revel in our jealousy for too long, feeding it with inner talk or gossip with others. If we do, we run the risk of losing ourselves to its negative power. Jealousy has something good to offer us, though, and that is information about our own heart’s desire. When we are jealous of certain people, we want what they have, and if we are to be conscious, we must acknowledge that. In this way, we discover what we want for ourselves, which is the first step to getting it. It may be a certain kind of relationship or a career. Whatever it is, it is possible that we could create it for ourselves, in our own lives, if we are able to honor our own desires.
Of course, there are times when we cannot heal our jealousy in this way, and then the lesson may be about acceptance and the understanding that our path is different from the paths of those around us. It may be hard to see now, but perhaps it will eventually be clear why our life has taken its particular path. In the end, the best cure for jealousy is the recognition that the life we have is full of its own meaning and beauty, utterly unique to us-a gift that could never be found in the life of another.
Rockferry
Duffy
2008
Part of the wave of neo-soul chanteuses crashing upon the pop music scene in the first decade of the 21st century, Welsh singer Duffy differs from her contemporaries in the spooky atmospherics she brings to her songs. Blessed with a nimble, aching, sometimes childlike voice, Duffy stands in a great line of British female soul singers that harks back to the glory days of Dusty Springfield. At its best this tradition has always found a fresh twist to spike its soul, adapting a homegrown American style into something a mite European, retaining the music's earthiness yet gracing it at the same time with a touch of British class. Across Rockferry, Duffy's 2008 debut disc, one hears classic '60s soul but also the sweeping European pop tradition. At its finest, this combination proves breathtaking.
The album opens with one of its standout tracks-and surely one of the best contemporary soul compositions-the slow-burn ballad "Rockferry." A striking, echoing piano pattern opens the song, drawing us into the hazy ambience of the titular setting. "I’d move to Rockferry / Tomorrow," Duffy sings in a sharp, seductive voice. "And I’d build my house, baby / With sorrow." When ringing guitar comes crashing in, and the melody begins building to its lofty climax, the track takes on the feel of a modern epic. Most of the songs on Rockferry deal with the trials and travails of finding love and security, and "Serious" picks up on this thread with a groovy, light-stepping beat and melancholy lyrics. As Duffy implores her lover to share his real feelings, the song reaches to the sky, curving and arcing like a rocket.
The album's big hit single, "Mercy," arrives late in the disc-a clever, if daring, maneuver. With its sultry opening whispers, swinging keyboard line and sing-along "yeah yeah" backing vocals, the song is an immediate winner. Its sharply compressed lead vocals and big dance-floor chorus-"You've got me begging you for mercy / Why won’t you release me?"-recall the golden age of '60s soul, even as the smartly mechanized elements of the production sound succinctly modern. Throughout Rockferry, Duffy and her producers pull off this neat, effective trick, delivering classic soul for modern times.
July 29, 2008
Communicative Awareness
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
You may be asserting your authority in your business or personal matters, which might make you appear intense and commanding to others today. Although it is important to know what you need to take care of, you might wish to think about how your ideas come across and try to bring a greater level of awareness to your interactions. A simple way to do this could be to focus on your throat chakra, or energy center, since this is the area where all of your communicative efforts emanate from. Bringing your attention to your throat, think about how you wish to convey your ideas, reminding yourself that it is also crucial to take into account how your ideas will be received. Opening up your throat chakra today could bring more sincerity to your words without making you appear too authoritative.
Communicating our needs is best done when we are aware of the force of our message. When what we have to say has a certain amount of intensity behind it, it is easy to lose sight of the ways in which we say things-our message may seem too strong or inflexible. Using the energy of our throat chakra to channel our ideas, however, allows us to bring more consciousness to our interactions, saying only what is most important but with compassion and awareness. Being more cognizant of your needs and how to express them in a healthy and considerate way will make your interactions much more successful and your message all the more powerful today.
July 29, 2008
Knowing Our Heart’s Desire
Feeling Jealous
Jealousy is one of the toughest feelings we come up against in our lives. There is not much worse than this aching sense that somehow life has been unfair to us, while amply rewarding someone else. It’s even worse if that someone else is present in our daily lives, making it difficult for us to get the space we need to feel and heal our pain. We may be jealous of a sibling, a dear friend, or even famous personalities. We may even face the challenge of feeling jealous of our spouse, our child, or one of our parents. Whatever the case, we can normalize our experience by understanding that, as painful as it is, jealousy is a common human feeling.
Nevertheless, it is important that we not revel in our jealousy for too long, feeding it with inner talk or gossip with others. If we do, we run the risk of losing ourselves to its negative power. Jealousy has something good to offer us, though, and that is information about our own heart’s desire. When we are jealous of certain people, we want what they have, and if we are to be conscious, we must acknowledge that. In this way, we discover what we want for ourselves, which is the first step to getting it. It may be a certain kind of relationship or a career. Whatever it is, it is possible that we could create it for ourselves, in our own lives, if we are able to honor our own desires.
Of course, there are times when we cannot heal our jealousy in this way, and then the lesson may be about acceptance and the understanding that our path is different from the paths of those around us. It may be hard to see now, but perhaps it will eventually be clear why our life has taken its particular path. In the end, the best cure for jealousy is the recognition that the life we have is full of its own meaning and beauty, utterly unique to us-a gift that could never be found in the life of another.