Madrugada’s “Majesty” has been a constant companion in my life. First of all, the accompanying album Grit (2002) is a rock masterpiece. It sways between the melancholy beauty of songs like “Majesty,” and also storms on to thrash about with tracks like album-opener “Blood Shot Adult Commitment”. It’s a behemoth of an album, straying from blues and Krautrock over to alternative and industrial rock.
Second of all, when I need a second of peace, “Majesty” soothes the fuck out of me. The song tells a sad tale, with the slow, melancholy guitar accented ever so slightly with tender drum work and subtle key strokes. And the lyrics, too, describe the painful process of losing someone you love. In spite of all this sadness, the instruments and vocals are really tender. The song gives me the same feeling I have when I’m in the mountains. Absolute calm and awestruck admiration.
Julia knows two main passions: Music and writing. From an early age she has been making music after a fashion. When she was 13, she sat herself down and decided: “I will be a music journalist. Because I love music and writing.” After a brief intermezzo in New York City working for the music boutique agency Girlie Action as a digital marketer, she moved back to Germany. This experience helped her build her know-how for her content marketing client, the business intelligence software CoffeeCup. She still writes for several German music and tech magazines and is working on launching her own blog, amps on ears.
Find out more about Julia and her projects:
Let me tell you why this song belongs to one of the few perfect songs out there. It has to do with three components: Melody, emotion and arrangement.
The first one is simple: The melody of the song, so wonderfully melancholic, yet so simple. Singer Jenn Wasner basically just sings up and down the scale, of course sometimes skipping a halftone or so. It brings you back to childhood memories,…
Here in Germany, the temperature finally has moved above freezing. Sun’s out, weather is starting to be pretty great, finally we’ll be hiking the mountains again…
This makes me feel quite motivated to do things, so I’m celebrating my spring motivation with “Wide Awake” by the extraordinary Parquet Courts. It’s a simple song, but IT’S STILL SO GOOD…
A couple of weeks ago, I completed the “30 Day Song Challenge”. Basically you’re given instructions to pick a song for the span of 30 days. Some – “a song about drugs and alcohol,” or “a song that’s a cover by another artist” – were easy. Some, like “a song by an artist with a voice that you love,” were harder…
Julia knows two main passions: Music and writing. From an early age she has been making music after a fashion. When she was 13, she sat herself down and decided: “I will be a music journalist. Because I love music and writing.” After a brief intermezzo in New York City working for the music boutique agency Girlie Action as a digital marketer, she moved back to Germany. This experience helped her build her know-how for her marketing client, the IT company .objective Software. She still writes for several German music magazines and is working on launching her own blog, amps on ears.
Find out more about Julia and her projects:
•juliamaehner.com
•ampsonears.com (coming soon!)
•objective.de
