
Like Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah , which was transformed in the popular imagination by Jeff Buckley's haunting version of John Cale's cover, there is a plurality of high-profile, popularly dominant sources for These Days , Jackson Browne's melancholy yet ultimately optimistic tribute to the general malaise and lonesome depression that characterizes the soul after a long relationship has come to an inevitable end. But where in the case of Halellujah the versions which rose to obscure the original were recorded long afterward, in the case of These Days , [...]
Song obsessions are those songs that we listen to on repeat. I noticed that my obsessions are often a week long. I also thought that other people might have similar obsessions. I've collected a panel of a few like-minded individuals and gotten their "song obsessions of the week." Quite often it's easy to explain why the song is good; it's much hard to explain why we're obsessed. Maybe you'll become obsessed with one of these. - Adrian ( me ): J Tillman - Jesse's Not a Sleeper [...]

Mmmmmm. Cookies. My 4-year-old and I baked those Rudolph cookies last weekend. There was sugar and M&Ms everywhere, and don't even get me started on how hard it was to bite those pretzels into antler shapes. Unsanitary, but it gets the job done the only way I could figure out how. The end result was fantastic, and we've been delivering (what I now realize are little saliva-contaminated) batches to our good friends all week long. While we baked, we listened to my new Christmas mix for 2007 that I've been tweaking and perfecting for weeks. I think I'm [...]

Alright, I gave in. I swore I wouldn't succumb to the Christmas mixtape pressures of the season. But alas, I am mereley a man of weakness. Enjoy. -- Capt. Obvious SIDE A 1. The Pixies - Holiday Song 2. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Cold White Christmas 3. Adam Acuragi - The Christmas Song 4. The Get Up Kids - Holiday 5. Jesse Malin - Xmas 6. Kevin [...]
This only my first post today—I'll be back in a bit with some country-flavored tunes. But to hold you over until then, here's fifteen songs, making up for my silence the past few days. Enjoy—and Go Elf Yourself, San Diego. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – Andy Williams Agreed with Andy Williams on this one. Mistress for Christmas – AC/DC In hindsight, I suppose this song was kind of

Rarities Denison Witmer is sort of like the Tim Duncan of singer/songwriters.. fundamentally sound, disciplined, and predictably good. I'd probably rather watch Denison Witmer play basketball than Tim Duncan though, so they obviously don't have the boring-factor in common. While Witmer may not exhibit the flash of other songwriters, he consistently releases quality material and has been doing so since 1995. The Pennsylvanian has put together a respectable catalog which includes five LP's, a cover album, and two EP's. His 2005 album, Are [...]

So, I figured in all the Peace on Earth related holiday cheer, it would not be right to go without a Christmas post that is free of charge. Granted all the charge from Peace on Earth is for charity , but maybe you just don't like the lineup (though I don't see how that is possible). I've always been and always will be a lover of Christmas. Regardless of religious affiliation, disgust of consumerism, etc. I simply enjoy this time of year. Whether you like it or not, Christmas comes in 50 days! [...]

I'm headed to Pygmalion Fest for the weekend, first thing in the morning with a friend. Hopefully I'll snap a lot of pictures and have some reviews for you when I get back. In the meantime enjoy some mp3's from a small sampling of the artists I'll be seeing this weekend [mp3] Andrew Bird - Scythian Empires [mp3] Denison Witmer - I Won't Let You Down [mp3] Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Attic Room [...]

Resting (in the past) dream are you a dreamer? are you a dreamer? do you dream? sleep are you a sleeper? are you a sleeper? do you sleep? when your brown eyes close do blue skies open up? and when your breathing slows [...]

This is the debut post of our debut weekly feature. Every Wednesday we'll highlight the music of an artist as interpreted by his peers. So dive under the covers – they're ready and waiting. Soft, warm, and bed-bug free, we guarantee only sweet dreams and lullabies. That's right – once a week The Canals will be your personal tooth fairy, delivering glorious sounds straight to your deserving ears. And best of all, we don't even ask for a tooth in return – just your unwavering [...]
Sweet intricate melodies and the male and female vocals of Solon Bixler and Rachel Stolte playing counterpoint to one another soak through this album from beginning to end. Behind them are waves of lush orchestrated sounds that weave in and out providing a large, loud but crystal clear backdrop. Welcome to Trading Twilight for Daylight , the debut album from Great Northern . Solon and Rachel, long time friends from Silver lake, CA who had both played in separate bands previously, formed the nucleus of the band, and later brought aboard drummer Davey Latter [...]

(Photo Cred.) We all have a special place in our poor battered old hearts for sad songs. There is a spot in us that secretly gets pleasure from aching sometimes. I guess it's built in, maybe I just have an unhealthy obsession with the melancholy (but I don't think that's the case, I'm a pretty happy guy). These songs are priceless for your next slightly bummed out, rainy, seratonin deficient day. Obviously by no means definitive so please let me know what would you add. I'm always looking for more sad, sad, songs (2 points if [...]

(...) ' Look through time and find your rhyme Tell us what you find We will wait at your gate Hoping like the blind. Can you now recall all that you have known? Will you never fall When the light has flown? Tell me all that you may kno w Show me what [...]
SVB is off to SXSW. See some of you down there. In the meantime, here's some stuff from around the dials and some more SXSW hotness. Gimme Shelter - Patti Smith Coral Den - Midnight Movies (friends of Alexi Murdoch!) People As Places As People - Modest Mouse Speak To Me Bones - Land Of Talk No One Would Riot For Less - [...]

Denison Witmer , one of the most seriously underrated artists currently out there, embarked on a new tour starting today, and ending in a few appearances at SXSW. I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you to listen more to Denison. You would think that being a good friend of Sufjan's and having the current "indie god" appear on your last album would automatically put Denison on people's radars, but apparently not. Listen to him, folks. Also, if you want to win an original hand-knitted handbag from Denison, go to his website [...]

Despite a majority of these tunes being all over the internet already, this is what we've been listening to lately... MP3 | The Arcade Fire - Intervention MP3 | Regina Spektor - Fidelity MP3 | Maximo Park - Our Velocity MP3 | Klaxons - My Love (Justin Timberlake Cover) [...]

Paste had a party in New York last night (Joseph Arthur, Son Volt and Brandi Carlile played!), so our Decatur, Ga. office feels pretty stranded. I wouldn't mind the alone time if it weren't so beautiful outside-there's plenty to do here, but I can't stop looking out the skylight and daydreaming about parks and birds and patios and margaritas. And when I take my laptop outside, I can't really see the screen. Enjoy this list of songs about being lonely. Come back Nate, Jason, Caren, Tim, Jared and Reid! Woe is me, [...]

(Photo Cred) I suffer from Insomnia alot. I very routinely wake up every hour on the hour from 2 am until whenever I decide to get out of bed, this is what I listened to last night/this morning in an attempt to remedy this problem. The crazy part is it actually worked so I figured I should share it. Even if you don't share my problem these songs are all fantastic [mp3] Explosions in the Sky - Day Eight [mp3] Denison Witmer - Everything [...]

On April 4th, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, TN. Several days later, on April 7th, Nina Simon e performed at the Westbury Music Fair. The following three songs, performed that evening (including Why? (The King of Love is Dead) , which was a special tribute penned by Nina's bassist Gene Taylor, for the first time) were later dubbed the "Martin Luther King Suite." With the exception of Mississippi Goddam , these songs can be found on Nina's album 'Nuff Said , although they're edited and the [...]

I think a lot about the concept of home. It's hard to say whether your home is where you were born, where you grew up, where you ended up, where you are at the moment, or just your favorite place. Some people have been sure of their home since childhood, and others spend a lifetime trying to find it. The songs below are about going home, leaving home and trying to find a new home. Most of them are pretty bittersweet. If you have a minute, click here to read a gorgeous poem called [...]