30 Day Song Challenge - Days 28, 29 and 30

Having skipped several days, I have decided to merge the last three themes into a single post and only have a single track for each theme.

Day 28 - a song that makes you feel guilty

"Summertime" by Billie Holiday



I can honestly say that there is nothing that I feel guilty about, and certainly no song that makes me feel guilty for anything I have done. The track above though makes me feel guilty for liking it, because I can think of no good reason to like it beyond the fact that I just enjoy listening to it - pure hedonism.

Day 29 - a song from your childhood

"Shoplifters of the World Unite" by The Smiths



This song always reminds me of two people, my eldest brother, and my best friend from primary school, who I haven't see since I was about 13. The Smiths were one of the first bands I liked, and still like to this day.

Day 30 - you favourite song this time last year

"Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit



Something of an unusual choice for me I am sure, but this time last year, having had my driving license for but a few months, I would drive around town listening to this song and generally being happy with life.

So there we go. All done.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 27

Given that I can't play any musical instrument, today's theme of "a song you wish you could play" is pretty pointless. However, I wish I could play some form of bagpipe, so these tracks showcase a form of pipe.

Track 1 - "The Dreaming of the Bones" by Davy Spillane, featuring Sinead O'Connor



Davy Spillane is one of the world's leading uillean pipe players, a master of the ethereal wail which is so haunting.

Track 2 - "Gabriel's Oboe" performed by Carlos Nunez



Originally composed by Ennio Morricone for the film The Mission, this version is played on the gaita - a form of bagpipe from Galicia in Spain.

Track 3 - "The Three Pipers" by Carlos Nunez



Another Carlos Nunez track, in which he blends the sounds of the Breton pipes, Great Pipes from Scotland and the Uillean pipe.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 26

Sorry, sorry, I was working in a brewery yesterday and was wiped out before watching Doctor Who. Today's theme is exceedingly easy, "songs I can play on an instrument". The reason it is so easy for me is that I don't play any musical instrument, unless you include strumming mindless chords on a guitar.

So, I can't give you any songs for today's theme, so I'll just put three clips from an artist song I have been listening to a lot lately - Cecile Corbel

Track 1 - "La Fille Damnee"



Track 2 - "Je Vous Pleure



Track 3 - "Corpus Christi Carol"

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 25

Our theme for today is songs that make me laugh. Again I skipped a day, but as I was brewing with my favourite brewpub, I think I have a valid excuse.

Track 1 - "Nightboat to Cairo" by Madness



If you've been following this challenge, you'll know that I like Madness a lot, and most of their songs are kind of the funny. "Nightboat to Cairo" is very in the usual Madness vein, quirky lyrics, daft video and just fun to listen to.

Track 2 - "Lucille" by The Corries



A parody on country music by the legendary Corries which never fails to make me laugh, and I am sure many of us have told tales of broken hearts over pints in the pub.

Track 3 - "Rabbit" by Chas and Dave



Perhaps it is just me, but music these days seems so tiresomely earnest and meaningful. Thank god then for Chas and Dave.

I think Chas and Dave take the accolades today, fun music that brings back lots of memories of childhood.

Track 3 - "

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 24

Songs I want played at my funeral is the theme for today. I really don't go for the whole "celebrate my life" thing any more than I want people to wail and gnash their teeth. What is a funeral at the end of the day? Saying goodbye and going to the pub for a booze up? With that in mind, let's go.

Track 1 - "The Parting Glass" as performed by Sinead O'Connor



What better way to say goodbye than to recall the many fine people and great experiences I have had?

Track 2 - "Asleep" by The Smiths



There are times when I think this song is the apogee of the Morrissey and Marr partnership, and when I am gone, "don't feel bad for me".

Track 3 - "Sae Will We Yet" as performed by The Corries



If there is an afterlife, I hope it is like Valhalla from Norse mythology, laden with drinking and generally living it up.

All great tracks, so I'll have them all thanks.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 23

The theme for today's collection of ditties is "a song you want at your wedding". As I am already married to the immeasurably lovely Mrs Velkyal, I guess I should choose some of the musical highlights from our reception - which was held in the downstairs bar at our local pub in Prague. Mrs V and I have some disparate tastes in music, and so we just put all our favourite tracks onto my laptop and turned them into a playlist.

Track 1 - "El Palo Pinto" by Cahornega



This track was actually part of the pre-reception selection, while Mrs V and I were having our pictures taken by the insanely talented Mark Stewart of Black Gecko Photography. Cahornega are one of those bands that I found through Myspace.

Track 2 - "You Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer



What can I say beyond, it was Mrs V's fault! But I guess it was her wedding as well (and I am really rather fond of her!).

Track 3 - "Svítá" by Jaroslav Ježek



Taken from the soundtrack of one of my favourite Czech films, Tmavomodrý Svět (Dark Blue World for those unversed in Czech). This song was one of the few that Mrs V and I danced to during the reception - dancing not being something I enjoy, however both of us love this kind of big band and swing thing.

Taking the choice by a short nose is Svítá, so mellow and beautiful.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 22

Day 22, songs that I listen to when I am sad. I really don't like dwelling on sadness, so I listen to music that will either cheer me up or take my mind off things.

Track 1 - "Thunderchild" by Jeff Wayne



I love Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the Worlds, and this is one of the most uplifting songs on the album.

Track 2 - "Here I Stand" by Iona



Usually sadness for me is when I feel homesick, which may be slightly nuts for a guy who hasn't lived within 200 miles of the place he calls home for more than 15 years. When I listen to this track, and the instrumental piece that immediately follows it on the album, I can close my eyes and am back in the Hebrides.

Track 3 - "Song for Whoever" by The Beautiful South



One of the best songs by one of my favourite bands, "Song for Whoever" - a sweetly melancholic song, just love it.

Of the three, it is Here I Stand that I listen to most when I am sad, mainly because sadness of longing for the islands on the edge of the world go hand in hand in my life.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 21

I took a day off yesterday, preferring to sit in the pub and drink several pints of a dark lager that I helped brew at my favourite brewpub. Suitably hungover, erm refreshed, let's kick on with today's theme - songs that you listen to when you are happy.

Track 1 - "Chinese" by Lily Allen



There is something about the every day in this song which is so charming and laden with whimsy.

Track 2 - "God Bless the Child" by Billie Holiday



Happiness for me is usually a very mellow state of being, and Billie Holiday as long been the soundtrack to mellowocity.

Track 3 - "Caravan of Love" by The Housemartins



More mellowocity, more happiness.

Of the three, I think my favourite is Lily Allen, love listening to that in the car.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 20

Theme de jour is songs you listen to when you are angry, this is quite easy really as I have a go to band when I need to let off a little steam - Rammstein.

Track 1 - "Ich Will"



Track 2 - "Amerika"



Track 3 - "Sonne"



Ah, I feel better already.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 19

A song from my favourite album is the theme for today, and I guess most people will be thinking that my favourite album is by my favourite band, but not so. Just a quick aside, in these days of iTunes and downloads not many artists make albums anymore. Sure they might put 10 or 22 songs together on a single disc, but few actually create a thematic or artistic whole. Any way, my favourite album is "Dog, Man, Star" by Suede, and here are my 3 favourite tracks, in order of third to first, with no commentary necessary.

Track 1 - "Still Life"



Track 2 - "The 2 of Us"



Track 3 - "The Asphalt World"

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 18

Part two the most difficult themes for this 30 Day Song Challenge, songs I wish I heard on the radio. Actually this isn't as difficult as yesterday's theme because when I do listen to the radio I often find myself muttering about the parochial nature of the music choices, or the obviousness of the music when there is a show that I listen to vaguely regularly. Our local NPR station, which I mentioned yesterday, has a weekly show called Thistle and Shamrock that I try to listen to most weeks, so here are some tunes I would like to hear on that particular show.

Track 1 - "Brave Foot Soldiers" by Wolfstone



A song about a march organised by the Scottish Trade Unions Congress in 1993 in support of that most "basic human right: the right to work".

Track 2 - "Black is the Colour" by Cara Dillon



I first heard Cara Dillon when I found her profile on Myspace, and just fell in love with her beautiful voice, and this song in particular was a favourite. It still sends tingles up my spine.

Track 3 - "Bean Pháidín" by Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola



Another case of hearing her stuff on Myspace, but in this case I went and bought her album into the bargain.

Of the three, the one that would most impress me being played on the radio is Bean Pháidín.

30 day Song Challenge - Day 17

I think today, and possibly tomorrow, poses the most difficult selection when it comes to this 30 Day Song Challenge malarky. The theme is a songs that "you hear on the radio often". Hmmm, I don't listen to the radio much, unless it is the BBC World Service, and when I lived in the UK over a decade ago, I was a convinced Radio 5 listener, with the occasional dash of Radio 4 thrown in for good measure. As you can imagine, I am very much out of touch with modern chart music.

Given that I listen to our local NPR station here in Virginia, WVTF, I do get to hear quite a bit of classical music, so here are some of the highlights of recent listening.

Track 1 - "Song to the Moon" from Rusalka by Dvořák, sung by Gabriela Beňačková



Not only does Beňačková have a beautiful voice, but this aria from Rusalka is simply haunting.

Track 2 - "Papageno" from The Magic Flute by Mozart



The Magic Flute is my favourite opera, and I have no qualms in admitting that I love to sit and listen to whole thing at work, and have been known to sing along to myself - where I know the words.

Track 3 - "Land of Hope and Glory" by Edward Elgar and A.C. Benson, from the 2009 Proms



A wonderfully stirring ditty and lyrics that make my want to sing loud and proud, in as thoroughly an unBritish manner as possible of course.

Oh what the heck, I have to choice the Elgar/Benson stuff, even listening to it now has me thinking about cricket on the village green, maiden aunts cycling to church, oh god, I think I'm going to puke.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 16

Day 16 sees the theme of songs I loved by now hate, so join me on this walk of shame...

Track 1 - "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer



I wish I could give you a reasonable excuse for my hating of this song, especially as for a few summers in the early Noughties I loved it! Perhaps it is a vomit inducing lyrics? The bubble gum sweet upbeatness? Whatever it is, this song just makes me want to puke.

Track 2 - "Lovefool" by The Cardigans



To think I went and bought an entire album on the basis of this song! What was I thinking - actually it was probably because the lead singer is hot. Still, that is no basis for a long time musical relationship, and I soon fell out of love with this tripe.

Track 3 - "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve



Ok the song a decent piece of music, but it went through a phase of being played and played until the lasers had worn a groove into the CD. If absence makes the heart grow fonder then this is definitely a case of familiarity breeding contempt.

The worst of the 3 there is Kiss Me, what dire, washed out crap that was.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 15

Here we are at the half way point, and today's theme is "songs that describe you". This should be weird, so let's dive on in....

Track 1 - "Driving In my Car" by Madness



I only got my driving license in 2009, mainly because Prague has an incredible public transport system and so having a car was completely pointless. However, moving to the States made it a priority to learn to drive, and so at the age of 33 I finally took the plunge and did so. The exam itself was a bit of a joke really, a ten minute spin round the block and hey presto! Admittedly I failed the written exam first time round, mainly due to getting confused between metres and feet - the sooner the world goes metric, the better.

Track 2 - "Fields of Anfield Road" by The Kop



I love the original song, The Fields of Athenry, but being a Liverpool fan, I prefer this version.

Track 3 - "Wild Rover" by The Corries



Since I left home at 19, I have lived in England, the Czech Republic, Belarus and the US. As a kid I lived in England, Scotland, Wales and Germany. Even now, I am sure there will be other places to live and experience before I finally find a place to stop and put down some roots.

Of the three, it is Wild Rover that I think best describes me and my life.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 14

I have fairly strong opinions about most things, well you need to be opinionated to write a blog, let alone three. Our theme today is songs that no-one would expect me to like. In the interests of objectivity (if it exists of course), I asked Mrs Velkyal for some songs that she never expected me to like.

Track 1 - "Young Hearts Run Free" by Kym Mazelle



I think Baz Luhrman's interpretation of Romeo and Juliet was excellent, and snooty pillocks who complain that "it just isn't Shakespeare" clearly have no idea about reader response theory. A curse on their houses!

Track 2 - "Holding out for a hero" by Bonny Tyler



Mrs V is sitting aghast as I play this track whilst writing the post. Honestly, you have never see such a look of incredulity.

Track 3 - "Deeper River" by Dusted



Again a track from one of my favourite movies, A Life Less Ordinary.

Well that was fun, unless you are Mrs Velkyal! If I were to choose just one, it would be Deeper River, especially this remix.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 13

Day 13 is a Friday! Is it unlucky? Is it bollocks! Anyway, the theme today is songs that are a guilty pleasure, which is a slightly weird concept because one thing you learn in permissive Prague is that not to feel guilt for your pleasures. To the songs though....

Track 1 - "Can't Get You Out of my Head" by Kylie Minogue



Always reminds me of the old joke "what is the difference between driving a Skoda and putting your hand in Kylie's top? You feel a bigger tit in a Skoda!". This song though is fantastic!

Track 2 - "The Final Countdown" by Europe



Hair band, 1980s, what's not to hate? The fact that Europe were playing when I first kissed my wife? I guess it helps to know what a Friday night in Lucerna means!!

Track 3 - "Oh Diane" by Fleetwood Mac



Stevie Nicks is apparently something of a distant cousin, but driving the country roads around Charlottesville listening to Fleetwood Mac at full volume is such a great way to feel happy, and this song just tops the drive off to a tee.

If I can only pick 1 of the three, the Europe have to take the biscuit. So much wrong with it, but I love that song.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 12

Doing an about face from yesterday, the theme for day 12 is a "song by a band you hate". As you can imagine for an opinionated git like me, there is an extensive list of musical crap out there. Here are three, each from a band I hate. No words are necessary, the horror of the music speaks for itself.

Track 1 - "Blue Monday" by New Order



Track 2 - "Fields of Gold" by Sting



Track 3 - "eSeMeS" by Lucie Bílá



Goodness me, I feel physically sick right now.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 11

Day 11 sees the theme "a song from your favourite band", finally a reasonably simple theme. I have many bands that I like, but when push comes to shove, there is one band that simply stands head and shoulders above all the others. The Smiths. The three tracks I present here are in order of preference, from 3rd to 1st.

Track 1 - "Hand in Glove"



Track 2 - "Girlfriend in a Coma"



Track 3 - "This Charming Man - New York Vocal"



There we go, that was easy.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 10

A third of the way in and time for a rest, or at least some songs that make me fall asleep. When I was a kid I had a German made wall radio which I kept next to my head when I went to bed, and so I would fall asleep listening to something or other. It was a habit that continued pretty much up to the time Mrs Velkyal moved in with me. A lot of my favourite music comes from Ireland and Scotland, I love folk music, Celtic music, whatever you want to call it, so naturally these dominate this category.

Track 1 - "Beyond These Shores" by Iona



Iona have long been one of my favourite bands, ever since I picked up a copy of Book of Kells on cassette and would listen to it on my walkman whilst going to sleep, despite the opinions of some people I knew then who regarded it as New Age music as thus intrinsically evil - one of the best things I ever did in life was reject that way of thinking. This track comes from the album of the same name and is inspired both by a Psalm and the Journey of Saint Brendan, one of the most fascinating stories from medieval literature.

Track 2 - "Winter, Fire and Snow" by Anuna



I really like listening to choirs, the human voice is so majestic and awe inspiring. Anuna are an Irish choir that I think make some of the most achingly beautiful music possible, this song is simply heart wrenching.

Track 3 - "Maria Solina" by Carlos Nunez



When you think of Celtic music you think of Spain don't you? Well, if the answer to that question was "no", then I seriously recommend you start looking into the music of Galicia, and in particular Carlos Nunez. I can't remember the name of the woman singing this song, but I think she has a beautiful voice and has sung me to sleep on many a night.

Of the three tracks above, "Beyond These Shores" holds a special place in my world. Whenever I hear this song I am reminded of the Atlantic ocean, which was just a mile or so from the house I grew up in on the Isle of Benbecula. Home, a place of peace, a place of rest.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 9

As I surveyed the list of topics for the 30 Day Song Challenge, I immediately knew that day 9 would be one of the most difficult. Not for reasons of too many choices, but rather because I really do not like dancing. When I do out to a club or a disco it is usually a case of going out with mates and enjoying the music and being the keeper of the table/space at the bar and drinking whilst watching everyone else dance. I can count on three fingers the number of times I have danced in the near 6 years I have been in a relationship with Mrs Velkyal; the night we met, a friend's birthday a few weeks later; the wedding. It is then with trepidation and wishing foot shuffling was regarded as dancing, that I offer these tracks.

Track 1 - "Beyond the Sea" by Bobby Darin



It may come as something of a surprise to some that I like the occasional bit of Big Band and Swing. I first heard this song when I was at college, when I went to see the film "A Life Less Ordinary" - still one of my favourites! I have actually been known to "dance" (if you can call my uncoordinated attempts at movement thus) to this track with as much abandon as can be mustered. In the privacy of my own room of course.

Track 2 - "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega (DNA 12" Remix)



Mrs Velkyal reliably informed me that this is one of the songs we danced to at my friend's birthday party in 2005 - if I remember rightly it was her 25th. Naturally I defer to the wife's greater knowledge of my dancing inability.

Track 3 - "Baggy Trousers" by Madness



Back in the days of my uninhibited childhood, before I discovered the immense power that the opposite sex can have on your self-esteem and confidence, I liked to bounce around the living room while watching Top of the Pops, and this is one of the songs I most remember dancing round to, while pretending to play the saxophone.

For pure nostalgia reasons, Baggy Trousers has to be my track for today.