AUDIO JUNKIE: Dishing out some acoustic lovin’

Ed Sheeran (AP)

‘Love Acoustic’ – Various Artists

Ah, love and its permutations! There’s the groovy kind that makes you feel like your floating a few feet off the ground; and there’s the nasty type that leaves you all forlorn and wanting, it should be illegal.

Whatever you’re having, it’s probably covered in the 36-track double CD compilation, “Acoustic Love.”

There’s the give-it-all-you’ve-got kind of lovin’ like the one Jason Mraz is singing about in “I’m Yours;” to the hey-I’m-here-as-a-shoulder-to-cry-on type that Ed Sheeran is putting across in “Lego House.” Or maybe you’re just reminiscing about a failed one, like Katy Perry plainly sings about in “The One That Got Away.”

If you’re the sensitive type, then maybe a track or two from the likes of Damien Rice or James Blunt will be more to your liking. It depends and the mood varies as the playlist does. One moment you’re cool and thoughtful humming “Fix You” by Coldplay; next you’re imagining yourself at the other end of the phone line declaring yourself vulnerable, country ballad style, a’la “Need You Now” (Lady Antebellum). There’s more songs in here that you can shake a stick at.

Just check the mood you’re in, and dial the appropriate track.

The label that thought up this compilation originally planned the CD for Valentines Day 2014. That time’s come and gone, but as it turns out, “Acoustic Love” works for any given season.

Bruno Mars (AP)

‘Acoustic Rain’

If there are people who live for summer, there are also those who seemingly can’t wait for the wet season to begin. Because rainy days mean staying longer in bed, tucked in and warm. Or sipping hot coffee or choco, while looking out the window hearing the rain beat out a gentle rhythm.

There’s music appropriate for this kind of moody weather, compiled in “Acoustic Rain.” As a sticker label declares, it’s a collection of “pop songs for your dreary, sentimental day.”

Thing low key, relaxing and a little blue, starting off with Bruno Mars’ “It Will Rain,” and UK singer Gabrielle Aplin’s “How Do You Feel Today.” An overcast sky and James Blunt singing “Goodbye My Lover,” and bam, you’re emoting by the window.

A touch of guitar here and some piano over there make for a mellow trip. Enter American singer MoZella with “Light Years Away.” Then there’s Vangelis’ 50′s music feel on “One More Kiss, Dear,” that really kicks in those old-timey flashbacks.

Some of the names here might not ring a bell right away but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good. “Saturdays,” by Holly Brook, “Rainy Season,” by a country tinged soulster named Hunter Hayes, and Charlotte Gainsbourg’s spare but heartfelt rendering on “In The End,” keeps it interesting. A personal favorite is LCD Soundsystem’s epic “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.”

It’s music to mope to.

AUDIO JUNKIE: Dishing out some acoustic lovin’

Source: Mb.com.ph (March 29, 2014 at 02:25PM)

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