On music: Five songs worth hearing this week

Discovering new music provides me with much joy – a moment of zen, maybe? – and listening to good music is a blissful, aural pleasure. Today, there’s so many different avenues for discovery, including Spotify, NPR Music, and through binge-watching shows on Netflix – even conventional FM radio. Never underestimate the value of your Shazam app to help identify new sounds, too.

Whether you’re still digging out of a winter storm or have already escaped to a sunny, warm beach on a Caribbean island, here are five songs I’ve recently discovered – some through serendipity – that are worth adding to your playlist:

1. Zero 7 - “Aurora,” featuring vocalist José González.

Famous for their downbeat jazzy rhythms, Zero 7 returns with a new single, “Aurora,” featuring Swedish vocal contributor José González. I’ve been a longtime fan of this European electronica duo, which helped launch the solo careers of not only González, but also Sía and Tina Dico.

2. Hatchie - “Without A Blush”

Stereogum described Hatchie’s music as a “cosmic concoction of dream-pop and shoegaze.” I would have to agree. Born Harriette Pilbeam, the 25-year-old Australian singer/songwriter’s music has been influenced by Mazzy Star, the Cocteau Twins and the Cranberries. “Without A Blush” is from Hatchie’s forthcoming June 2019 album ‘Keepsake.’

3. Jungle - “Heavy, California”

London soul collective Jungle (Josh “J” Lloyd-Watson and Tom “T” McFarland) caught my attention with the groovy disco-funk rhythm of “Heavy, California” from their newest album ‘For Ever.’ It’s full of excitement and guided by a funky ‘70s rhythmic and bass soundtrack. The video for the song is a must see as it’s filled with some outstanding dance moves.

4. Jessica Pratt - “As The World Turns”

“As The World Turns,” by Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Jessica Pratt is quiet and subtle, a great song to listen to while going on an evening walk or caught up in pensive thoughts. Her new album, ‘Quiet Signs,’ reflects a sense of quiet meditation and calm. NPR Music called Jessica Pratt’s music “cosmic brilliance.” Indeed, this is a very soothing listen after a hectic day.

5. Real Estate - “Darling”

It’s been said that the members of the Brooklyn-based group Real Estate look like a bunch of school teachers who decided to quit their day jobs and form a great indie band. After listening to “Darling” from their 2017 album ‘In Mind,’ their dream pop sound reminded me of great indie groups like Phoenix and Tame Impala.

A few thoughts on being a good listener

The greatest gift you can give another
is the purity of your attention.

Every day is a new day blessed with opportunities. As a social medium, Facebook affords us with an ideal an opportunity to exchange our thoughts and feelings with our family, neighbors and friends, both near to us as well as many distant time zones away. 

Part of the art of meaningful conversation, I believe, is in being a good listener -- even when we are socializing via Facebook. One friend of mine once expressed to me that I am tolerant and open minded, and for those reasons, they felt comfortable sharing a conversation with me. Mind you, we have never had the pleasure of meeting each other in person, yet there was a level of comfort and trust between us.

As I have gained the friendship of many different and wonderful people over the past few years, thanks to Facebook, I am very proud to call as dear friends those who come from many different countries around the world besides the U.S., including: several Asia Pacific nations such as the Philippines and Vietnam; India, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Brazil, and also many eastern and western European countries, such as Serbia, Great Britain and Belgium.

My group of dear friends resembles a microcosm of the United Nations. Among them, they also include many different faiths, too: Catholics and Protestants, Western and Eastern Christians, Muslims, Orthodox, Buddhists and Jews, too. I am blessed to be a part of a wonderful circle of cultural and religious diversity.

I consider myself color-blind when it comes to race and nationality, and I show the same love, respect and courtesy to all of my friends regardless of the color of their skin, their gender or their sexual preference. Because of my tolerance and open-mindedness, I have gained the trust of many of my friends, something that makes me very proud. And, as such, many come to me in confidence to share their thoughts, their hopes, their dreams and to seek my opinion, guidance and feedback. It has been a privilege to be thought of as a mentor and tutor, and I thank each and every one of you for the gift of your time.

Whether we realize it or not, each of us is blessed with the ability to be a good listener. 

“Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force," it has been said. "The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.”

Because we validate each other's lives with our attention, I highly encourage each and every one of you to take the time to listen during the conversations you have with your family, your neighbors and your friends. Each of us has the potential to be a difference maker in another person's life. After all, as it's been said: "The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention."

In closing, my dear friends, I would like to leave you with a thought about listening from the 20th century American scholar and author William Arthur Ward, whose books about religion include: Fountains of Faith and Thoughts of a Christian Optimist. 

Ward wrote:

• Before you speak, listen.

• Before you write, think.

• Before you spend, earn.

• Before you invest, investigate.

• Before you criticize, wait.

• Before you pray, forgive.

• Before you quit, try.

• Before you retire, save.

• Before you die, give.

It's what's on my mind on the first day of spring

"Daffodils that come before the swallow dares,
and takes the winds of March with beauty."
~ William Shakespeare

Today is the first day of spring.

"Spring has returned," the early 20th century Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke once wrote. "The Earth is like a child who knows poems."

And, spring conjures up pleasant memories of walking through St. James's Park in London this time of year in 2005 and 2007 enjoying the pleasant sight of daffodils.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, spring arrived on March 20 with neither a bang nor a whimper. As I look up from my MacBook Pro and glance out the dining room window of our house, I can see the sun is desperately trying to peek through the cloudy skies. Yet, there is the possibility of a sprinkle or two in today's forecast, too. Unsettled like everything else in the world these days, right?

We're expecting a daytime high of about 60 degrees (16C), which easily bests Seattle's 46 degrees (8C), and it's warmer than what we've experienced the past few days. However, our temperature and forecast pales in comparison to what my friends in Belgrade (67F, 19C) and Tunis (70F, 21C) experienced today in their first day of spring.

Spring is full of optimism ~ think baseball ~ and its annual arrival at this time of the year leaves chilly winter memories behind. Thankfully, spring has been widely rhapsodized in poetry for many centuries by Shakespeare and Wordsworth, among many poets.

Ultimately, whether sun or rain greets the arrival of spring, poetry does seem right for the occasion of celebrating the first day of the new season.

A Prayer in Spring

By Robert Frost (1915)

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;

And make us happy in the happy bees,

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,

And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,

The which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends He will,

But which it only needs that we fulfil.

Photograph of daffodils in a vase by Michael Dickens, copyright 2012.