So last year, I did a series called "12 Days of Christmas Music" and it was great! Very much a lot of fun! But this December was kind of hectic, very much a lot of busy. So I'm going to have to make you wait until next year for a comprehensive, 12-day tour de force of Christmas music. But you didn't think I'd leave you empty-handed, did you? Coal in the ol' music blog stocking? Instead, I put together Knox Road's very first Christmas Mix! It's seven songs long, so it's more of an EP mix, if you will. [...]
#15 - Jill Andrews EP by Jill Andrews 2009 was really a big year for Knoxville's Jill Andrews. Her long time band the everybodyfields split up, she became a mother for the first time, and she released her first ever solo project. Jill's self titled EP was released in October and reads as a deeply personal record that stands up to any of her previous work with the everybodyfields. When I asked her in November how it felt to have a record that [...]
Here's our Holiday Hash Vol 2 for all of you hipsters out there who like to listen to bands with names that cause your parents to stare blankly when you first mention them, then repeat the band name slowly back at you before shaking their head and saying "how do they come up with something like that?" Mind you, this is only 12 of the 24 songs I have queued for this holiday genre, so keep checking
I'm not a big fan of Christmas songs that go on and on about snow and whatnot because it's summer here now and it doesn't snow here in winter, let alone summer! The problem is though that whenever someone attempts to write an Aussie Christmas song, it's so tryhard and embarrassing that I can't listen without cringing and feeling an urgent need to stuff a barbecued shrimp up my nose. Still, I try my best to put my prejudices aside in favour of providing you with some halfway decent Christmas songs and so you may find a few [...]
Well today is a snow day in my part of Colorado, bringing everything outside to a deadened, frozen, thickly-blanketed crawl. It's gorgeous and quiet, and perfect weather for putting the finishing touches on my annual Christmas mix. I do love Christmas music, as you might remember from past years , but I also have a picky palate and am always amazed when I turn on the radio (as I did last night while we played cards) at how many many Christmas songs should have never been made. If I have to hear "Wonderful Christmastime" again, [...]
Its here! The 2009 Music Playlist for Christmas! Now I wish I could take credit for this awesome compilation of chill songs but it was really the guys from Indiecater Records that made this possible! After their success with their first Christmas album last year, they decided to step it up a notch and improve their selection for 2009. Most of the songs on this collection were written especially for the occasion and even includes bands we had previously covered like Adam and Darcie You can stream the songs [...]
As you can see by the title of this blog post that I am jumping on board with the whole "theme" playlist due to the time of year. Well as corny as it sounds (and it does sound corny) without at some point embracing this time of year you can't really sit and judge those that are actually in the spirit. I am not necessarily saying that I am IN the spirit now, but what I am saying is without being "into the season" how can you assume that it is all a load of malarkey and start quoting [...]
Sexy Baby Christmas Mine mp3 Morphine from Morphine: Best of 1992-1995 This track is so haunting... it's almost too creepy to be a real Christmas song. (click on the album name to buy it on Amazon) No Christmas While I'm Talking mp3 The Walkmen from Bows + Arrows And really, I'm not sure what to make of this one either, but the more I listen to it, the more I love it. But, I'm weird like that, you [...]
I last wrote about Boca Chica a little over a year ago. They are back with a new Christmas song called Snow Angels for the Indiecater Records Christmas compilation called An Indiecater Christmas . Check it out and also be sure to check out the album here , and order if you like what you hear. Snow Angels MySpace ## CD's ## MP3's [...]
My favorite folk rock group from Pittsburg has a new holiday single out. After listening a few times, I started jonesing for a blizzard. Listen: Boca Chica ∞ Snow Angels
Don't forget the Kristofferson Kontest ... I'll draw the winner tonight after work. Now... a couple of quick hitters to clear a few tracks out of my "to blog" file. First up is the upcoming release from rocker Chuck Prophet. Let Freedom Ring! is set for release October 27th from Yep Roc records, and promises to deliver the same style of genre-bending rock that made me such a big fan of his 2007 release Soap & Water . It's the [...]
I always find that songs of this ilk work best on a Sunday, frosty mornings or at any time during the 12 days of Christmas. That's because despite the sparseness in the instrumentation Hallie Pritts (she is Boca Chica) weaves a warm reassuring blanket through her vocals. 'Pins and Needles' is especially brilliant though because it builds up a gentle head of steam in such an organic way you won't even notice how you've abandoned everything else to concentrate on its dynamics. The track is taken from Boca Chica's superb sophomore 'Laced Up Your Workboats' which was released just this [...]
The above photo is not me, but just someone who I might just look like after this weekend. I have been a bit remiss in my music blogging the last couple of days on this past labour day weekend - a long weekend without a music blog playlist!?!? What was I thinking, a long weekend always calls for a playlist of sorts, but yes, there was family stuff (lots of family stuff and driving around the city every day) and you know how it is. So while driving around the city, I use my 1st generation iPhone with a FM [...]
You know I got this thing for female singer/songwriters. And musical collectives. And folk music. So, it kinda figures when you put all that stuff together and toss it in the oven, the finishing product will be nothing less than delicious. I get Boca Chica; Boca Chica gets me. Led by Hallie Pritts, Boca Chica is a revolving pop/americana/freak folk collective out of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The enemies have become one! Pennsylvania power! Jamie would be proud. Pritts is joined on vocals by the lovely Susanna Meyer, and a wealth of instruments from various others are [...]
Now that the weather is getting more Spring-like, songs like these tend to resonate a little stronger. Listen: Boca Chica ∞ Blackberries Apparently, Boca Chica are from P-burg and have a nice little following out there on the "left coast" of PA. They play alt-folk . The P-burg Trib says they are "…a mellow, golden glow—think Neil Young circa "Harvest" crossed with the hipster cool of Neko Case." Further Study: Website Myspace YouTube [...]
Boca Chica , the pretty alt-folk assemblage, straight out of Pittsburgh (in the vein of Great Lakes Swimmers and The Weepies), offer up a pair of free downloads for new listeners. Voted one of the city's best bands by the Pittsburgh City Paper poll, Boca Chica has been haunting around since 2004, carrying with them a lovely, homey collaboration of melody and instrument. Blackberries Beasts
Boca Chica are head and shoulders above most of the alt-folk stuff doing the rounds and that makes this a hard post to write. Just trust us when we way you'll like it. Think layered indie folk with a country twinge and a big heart. Led by singer/songwriter Hallie Pritts, they make a gloriously winsome and loping left-field racket and it's a treat to hear a female voice in such an ordinarily bearded arena. Listen - Boca Chica - Cobblestones Listen - Boca Chica - Big [...]
Pittsburgh's Boca Chica plays a brand of music that shifts between lush, string-laden indie folk, quirky and wistful alt-alt country jams, and the occasional beery retro-country romp. Boiled down to its core, Boca Chica is singer/songwriter Hallie Pritts. Pritts' loping, occasionally surreal songs are best compared to other genre-bending artists such Sufjan Stevens , Iron & Wine , and Bright Eyes . Transform into Beasts , Boca Chica's first full-length effort, employs lush strings (Megan Williams), layered accordion riffs (David Bernabo), and tasty electric guitar (Greg Dutton) with Matt Miller (percussion) and Susanna [...]
Every summer, when we were all younger, my family would pick blackberries. In the wilds behind our house, sitting on several acres of what was then a rural area but is now a neighborhood, several healthy bushes camped out, ready to sustain our annual assault. Though more of them ended up in our mouths than in our buckets, enough blackberries were always left over for cobblers and pies and jam. I remember my idyllic childhood in so many ways, but none comes to mind more vividly, or in such a Proustian sense, than every time I eat a blackberry. [...]
Knox Road
A Fifty Cent Lighter & A Whiskey Buzz
Guilt Free Pleasures
It All Started With Carbon Monoxide
I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS
The Music Ninja
Slowcoustic
Love Shack, Baby
Music For Humans
The Late Greats
mp3hugger
Instrumental Analysis
lonesome music
Local Vertical
blogs are for dogs
The National - The Rains Of Castamere [Game of Thrones Soundtrack]
[REMIX] Dragonette – “Let it Go (Faustix Imanos Remix)”
Video: Beach House on Jools Holland, pt. 2
