Year 8, Day 250

Hey guys. Today's song is Like A Prayer by Madonna.

Photo by: Chris Weger

So I've mentioned before that I'm doing a book journal this year, but I can't remember if I told you that one of my goals is to read a classic novel each month. So far I've read 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (which I hated) and The Odyssey (which requires good concentration but was pretty alright). This month I've been reading Dracula... or more accurately listening to a reading of it on YouTube. I thought I knew the story of Dracula because I'm really into fantasy stuff so I consume a lot of vampire content, but it was not what I expected it to be. Dracula is less a character than a sort of boogeyman throughout, you probably see him the least out of everyone, which is a unique way of writing it, but I like it. Van Helsing was kind of a let down as I'm more used to Hugh Jackman's warrior Van Helsing than doctor/professor/semi-madman Van Helsing, but interesting to see what the character started as. I need to know why though everything I've ever seen shows Mina as a meek victim? Sure she wasn't out there fighting, but she was the MVP of the whole story. Without her nothing would have progressed...ever. Spoilers warning, but Mina wrote the letters that led Van Helsing to her, Mina decided to pull out the journal from her husband again, Mina put together all the information so it followed a full history of events, Mina is the reason Renfrew talked and Mina was the last why and how they tracked Dracula. I would argue that she and Dr. Seward are the main characters over anyone else. An argument could be made for the others, but this is just my opinion. If you're curious you should give it a listen, the narrator does a great job of giving everyone a unique voice and making you feel like the characters actually are the ones talking. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it, maybe you will be too.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 249

Hey guys. Today's song is Nothing Else Matters by Tulia.

Tulia is a Polish folk group active since 2017 and currently made up of Dominika Siepka, Patrycja Nowicka, and Tulia Biczak with a previous member in Joanna Sinkiewicz. They started with posted covers of some songs, which went viral, followed by their first album in 2018. In 2019 they were chosen to represent Poland in that year's Eurovision contest, coming in at number 11. That same year was when Sinkiewicz left the group for personal health reasons. They released two more albums in 2021 so they are still around. If you like what you hear, keep an eye out for more.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 248

Hey guys. Today's song is SOLD by Lana Lubany.

So no official bio again so bear with me. Lana Lubany is a Palestinian-American artist, but is based out of the UK where she moved to when she was 17. She's an independent artist, and like many others seems to have mostly built her fan base through Tik Tok. She released a song called The Snake which went viral, and featured her singing in both English and Arabic, which she followed up with this song which was released this year. She talks about her career and viral status through the internet in an interview where she says that her viral status on Tik Tok gave her more independence and more power, and I would assume leverage when meeting with record execs. Gone are the days when people had to depend on the labels, now those record guys have to actually work for it. I think most artists would agree it's a welcome change. Anyway, Lana is a new artist to me, but definitely has potential so check her out.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 247

Hey guys. Today's song is Dirty Thoughts by Chloe Adams.

Chloe Adams is a British musician active since at least 2013 which is when her YouTube went active. She started with posting covers, then in 2017 started to self publish her own music with producer Matt Lonsdale. Some of her songs went viral on platforms like Facebook and YouTube before she switched to TikTok, posting her music there and gaining an audience in 2021. This song became huge through that platform, although I did find it on YouTube because personally I don't use TikTok. I tend to play hour-long YouTube videos while working on other things instead. But I'm glad that there is a platform that seems to work well for artists to showcase their work to the masses. Anyway, enjoy!

Peace.

Year 8, Day 246

Hey guys. Today's song is I LUV U by Mia Rodriguez.

Mia Rodriguez is an Australian musician active since 2019 when she started posting on TikTok. She signed later in the year with a label and released her debut single at the end of the year. She released another single in 2020, earning millions of views on YouTube, and performed live as support for Lime Cordiale, another Australian group. She released another single, this one produced by a member of Lime Cordiale, and then was a presenter at the virtual ARIA Music Awards in 2020. She released another single in 2021 and won a Rolling Stone Australia award for Best New Artist. She released three more singles in 2022 with this song being her most recent release. I haven't heard much since then, but I expect we will in the future so keep watch for that.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 245

Hey guys. Today's song is If I Died Last Night by Jessie Murph. 

Another one with no official bio so bear with me. So Jessie Murph is an American musician, and has been active since at least 2015 since that is when her YouTube went up. Despite that though, she actually rose to fame through TikTok which she started in 2019. She has done lip syching videos, shared songs of her own, and done covers all of which raised her popularity. Increasingly over the last year she has been making and posting music videos for her original songs on YouTube so I see that only continuing and her getting even more recognition. So give the song a listen and if you like her stuff, go check out more and spread it around.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 244

Hey guys. Today's song is Pretty Little White Lie by Sally Wallick.

So Sally Wallick is another artist with no official bio so I can't tell you much about her yet. She's been around since at least 2011, which is when her YouTube channel went up, and she does have her stuff up on Spotify with most of her listeners being from Canada which is also where she's from, based out of the Okanagan in BC. It looks like she has mostly been a performer at weddings and parties, but I guess we'll see as time goes on about if she branches out from that. In the meantime, enjoy!

Peace.