London Grammar - Nightcall

One of the most amazing parts of the movie Drive was the soundtrack.  Nightcall by Kavinsky was one of the songs on the soundtrack that just stood out as a phenomenal piece of music.  It fit the movie's tone and overall feeling fantastically.  It was deeply melodic and moody and a bit broken, just like the Driver.  So what happens if you strip the electronica away from it and add Hannah Reid of London Grammar's vocals.  It changes the song into something more than it was.  It becomes even more haunting and melodic.  Hannah has an incredible depth to her vocals that just hit you right in your feels.  I cannot recommend this cover enough.

Doug Repetti - Make the Most

There's a point when music stops being simply music and becomes something more.  Something inspiring, thought provoking, something that makes you stop what you're doing and listen.  It's magic when it comes together and doesn't seem like the artist tried.  When it's effortless and easy is when you know that something great has been created.  If it's laborious and overwrought then you have to wonder who the artist was trying to prove something to.  Doug Repetti is an artist that easily walks the line between musician and artist and he does it with such aplomb that you are simply taken aback by what he's created.  I've watched this video now over and over and each time I watch it, I get a sense of the headspace that he travels in.

The message is simple and elegant.  We are only here for a brief amount of time and in that time, it is our responsibility to make the most with what we're given.  It's our free will and our own individual motivations that drive us to do what we can with what we are given.  I think it sometimes takes someone reminding us of this when we actually look at our lives and say, you know...the small things that I've been sweating so hard...aren't that important after all. Now, I'm not saying that this video has made me reevaluate my life or make broad sweeping statements about how I'm going to change to be better, but it did make me say...hmmm.  Maybe I am stressing out about the wrong things.

Doug Repetti may not have an international following but he is someone that deserves a listen.  It's guys like him that don't take themselves too seriously and create art for the sake of creating art that make this a better place.