[cover] the eraserhead’s “with a smile”

I spent the most amazing day at DLSU’s #ArtofCosplay yesterday all dolled up in an outfit to pay tribute to NANA’s Serizawa Reira. No pictures just yet — cosplaying is just like performing on stage so I wasn’t able to pull out my iPod to do a bunch of selcas. My group was assigned an official photographer though, so as soon as those go up on the event’s official webpage I’ll share them up here (oh geez, I hope I looked good).

But I’ll reserve another post for that day. Today, I’m back in the workshop with something new to share with you guys. This is my second take of this song while airplanes arc in the sky above my house and little kids play hide-and-seek as best as they can outside in broad daylight.

February tends to be the awkward month in the whole bunch — it goes by quick and yet manages to pack so much of a punch that you wonder where the time went. In places that have more seasons than the country I live in, it’s still wintertime, though spring is just a little over a month away.

I can imagine that the wait for warmth can be a bit nerve-wracking and maybe that’s why over the last couple of days, myself and some of my friends have felt the need to reestablish ties with each other all over again;  clasp virtual or physical hands in each other’s to say: Hey, not going anywhere. Will just be right here, okay?

I wanted to share this particular take — awkward pauses and all — so that we can pretend that you just came over to my place to hang out with me while I rest my aching feet from yesterday’s event, my fingers curled over Rufio’s keys.

I’ve no one to spend Valentine’s Day with — not in the traditional sense, but that’s okay. Today isn’t just a day for couples the way love isn’t just for people who are in love.

So good morning, good afternoon, good evening to wherever you are. It’s a pleasure for me to share my second song of the year with all of you.

—N.

Source: SoundCloud / sheisnoelle

  • 30 Plays
  • Sunrays and Saturdays (Vertical Horizon cover)Noelle Pico

[cover] vertical horizon’s “sunrays and saturdays”;

Sometimes, I get really nervous when I’ve had possibly too much time away from a place. It’s usually because when I come back, I’m not entirely sure where to put myself.

It kind of reminds me of how it was when I still did the handful of lives I did before. The location is the same, you have your designated cheering squad scattered around the room — but there are a few unfamiliar faces in the crowd.

That element of “newness”… that can be a little nervewracking.

(Okay fine, a lot. ;p)

That seems a bit silly when we consider that this space is supposed to be my little slice of the Internet, but I think that sometimes it’s only human to want to get a feel of things. So. Hello, let me reintroduce myself:

My name is Noelle. My friends call me Noey. I love to sing.

—-

I usually ramble about the covers I do in conjunction with people in my life and things that go on in my life. This is because each song that I pick up and learn usually resonates with me and my thoughts and certain events that happen.

But sometimes songs “get” to us not because the situation is exactly the same. Sometimes, it’s because something in the song speaks to us of where we are now.

Vertical Horizon’s “Sunrays and Saturdays” is a song about two people going their separate ways. They were in love, but they aren’t anymore. Or at least, not the way that they thought they ought to be. But it’s not just about: “Hi, I love you, goodbye now.”

It’s more: ”Things didn’t turn out the way we both wanted it to, but that doesn’t change the fact that love was there and still is, and that’s perfectly okay at the end of the day.”

And also, it’s… I suppose it’s also about how while starting fresh is really scary and not always easy, it is vital that you learn to to trust that everything is going to be okay.

Because it will.

All you need is a little faith, enough courage to ask for hugs when you really need them, and all the good things that will remind you to you smile.

#upstairs in the workshop, vol. 1


So after all the gifts have been opened and all my holiday loot has been put away, I come back to Tumblr because I want to thank all of you who have shared the last year (the last few months especially) with me. This shout-out goes to old friends, new ones, both near and far.

When I started thinking about doing weekly covers again, I was pretty nervous. I knew I wanted to do it, to try to commit and see where it went, but between work and all the other things that pretty much rule the hours in my life, I wasn’t too confident that I’d be able to sit down, record and commit to this once-a-week thing.

But now we’re here, and I did manage to accomplish what I set out to do. I sat down and sung other people’s songs (and even one of my own) and shared these with all of you. And then you listened and you shared these songs with others too. So I want to take this time to say: Thank you. So, so very much.

For each like, for each reblog, for all the beautiful words. But most especially, for taking time out in your busy day to listen to me sing. I can’t do lives the way I used to. Haven’t quite gotten that 36-hour day approved by the Universe just yet. But when you load the tracks I post here on Tumblr, I like to think of it as me inviting you over to my little workshop so that Rufio and I get to do what we love best.

And then I’ve been overwhelmed by the fact that I’ve had people ask me for mp3s and have been told by friends that they’ve gone through the whole process of figuring out how to extract copies of the songs from Tumblr just so that they could take these songs with them to listen to wherever they are. I wish I could tell you all, how much it means to me; to hear this kind of response towards something that I just really, really love.

So in the spirit of gift-giving, this is my gift to you.

At the top of this post is a downloadable link containing a mini “album” comprised of the six songs that I’ve shared over the last six weeks. For more information and links to the original posts, you can click the link on my sidebar entitled Concerning Music. The link to this post will be up there shortly as well.

Again, I just want to say thank you so much. I hope you’re having a fantastic holiday, and I’ll see you with some new tracks in 2012!

Stay shiny my lovelies. Remember that I love you.

—N.

[cover] OLIVIA’s “a little pain”;

wherein i… try something different.

this video has been sitting in my drafts since the 21st, which is the day that i actually posted this up on ニコニコ動画 (nico nico douga) as a first offering.

a bit of a backgrounder on this song and what it means to me:

i first discovered the singer OLIVIA sometime after i found out that the manga NANA by yazawa ai (which a college friend had recommended after she’d found out that i was a songwriter/musician myself) had been adapted into an anime.

i’m sure a bunch of you know about NANA — have read it, have seen the live action movie, etc — but for those of you who have never picked it up, it’s a story about two girls with same name who are the same age who meet by sheer chance when they sit beside each other on the bullet train to tokyo.

one aspires to catch her big break; the other, to find love.

it’s a story about relationships, about desires, about dreams. it’s inspiring… heartbreaking, too.

now from the first moment i heard this song, i was hooked. it happens sometimes with some songs even if you don’t know the language. the music just resonates with the core of you. it speaks to you, tells you a story — and maybe… maybe it’s because it reflects a story you’d like to tell yourself. something you could never find the words to because sometimes words aren’t enough.

songs like this… they take you away; they bring you home.

and i wanted to share my take on it (after much lollygagging out of sheer nervousness) with the rest of you.

shoutouts: to my darling zyn, you think we can consider this something of your directorial debut? thank you for the last minute tweaking for the text. it made a world of difference to the video. to mama len, thank you for being the first person to plug this on tumblr and for idk, tag-teaming me with zyn to push through with this. to ruby, thank you for your enthusiasm. there are no words to express just how happy i am over you telling me, repeatedly, that you love this rendition. to the usual suspects who tell me “oh noey just shut up and do eeeeet”. you know who you are; you know how much strength and courage you lend me.

finally, i want to give a special shout out to the lovely dana martinez (a.k.a. LAMBCHILD) whose beautiful art is featured in the video above. remember always, that i love you.

—-

p.s. please help add more views? via NND | hosted on tumblr

Source: nicovideo.jp

  • 40 Plays
  • Kiss Quick (Matt Nathanson cover)Noelle Pico

it was your voice woke me
and the absent touch of your hand

—from Poem Of Absence, Frances Horovitz
  • 60 Plays
  • The Middle (Jimmy Eat World cover)Noelle Pico

[cover] jimmy eat world’s “the middle”;

i was supposed to have this up a few days ago, but recording at home in the dead of night can be tricky—

—especially when everybody and then some drives through the streets going vroom vroom prompting the dogs in the neighborhood to wake up to howl at the moon right when you’re on the final verse (i swear, i would either like a mute button for the world or for a sound-proof room, either will do).

i’ve been riding something of an emotional roller-coaster this week, so getting this song down just right was very important to me not just because this was a present i was working on for someone very special, but because i wanted this to be encouraging and happy and hopeful — something that can be hard to convey when you’re not sure of where you stand.

it’s good to know though, that in our lowest of lows, the people who love us best will be there to remind us that they are there and that they love us, even when we don’t feel like we love ourselves very much.

so this song is brought to you by the first december rain from over here in the otherwise sunny manila, philippines. and i would like to dedicate this to my big sister, cyn.

happy belated birthday, my love.

  • 81 Plays
  • Shape I Found You In (Girlyman cover)Noelle Pico

[cover] girlyman’s “shape i found you in”;

this song came by special request. a very good friend of mine, who has known me since my freshman year of high school, introduced me to the original version of this about a year or so ago.

i always thought that it such a beautiful and yet, somewhat poignant song, especially given the subject matter.

often, we hear talk about how love is something that startles you out of silence; like fireworks lighting up the night sky. it takes you by surprise and sweeps you along, filling your vision with all that brilliant, bright light.

but there are rare times that it comes a different way: tentative and hesitant in the deep dark; careful, not out of fear for you, but for itself. because love can do that, creep inside of you and find a place before you are even aware of it.

  • 189 Plays
  • To The Moon And Back (Savage Garden cover)Noelle Pico

[cover] savage garden’s “to the moon and back”;

i think it’s been over a year since i posted any covers, so you’ll need to forgive me for being a little rusty. live-recorded at home, in the dead of night with my trusty rufio and the ipod touch.

this song goes out to a couple of my friends. you all know who you are.

  • 40 Plays
  • The Scientist (Coldplay cover)Noelle Pico

[cover] coldplay’s “the scientist”

do you like this? [reblog] [download]

resharing this cover because this week has been all about remembering why i enjoyed the whole process of doing covers. tomorrow after my shift i am going to go home and have a proper sit-down with my keyboard. “bonding tiems” with my partner-in-crime is overdue. :)