Another week, another Mercury music section to read while you submit photos to your new favorite website . Bruce Jenner, you're a mess... Bundle up for the chilling whisper-folk of A Weather , whose debut long player, Cove , is one of the best releases of this young year. MP3: A Weather - Spiders, Snakes Let the praise begin for the bouncy melancholy pop of Thao & The Get Down, Stay Down . Plus, if I had my way, [...]
A few nights ago, Carcrashlander's Cory Gray told me Shelley Short (who sometimes contributes to Carcrashlander recordings) possesses his "favorite girl voice ever." And it's not hard to see why: Short's lofty, slightly twangy croon embodies a whole lot of subtle, curious nuances while maintaining a delicacy that fits her off-kilter country arrangments perfectly. For one, she's able to come across cute and wise all at once, which is no easy feat. On "How Grand," she employs coos that might seem campy or twee in another songwriter's hands, but Short comes across more like a gentle owl [...]
portland, or folk singer shelley short recorded a hinah session during her recent trip to france and the songs are available now for free download . hinah seems like a pretty rad set-up. they organize gigs for and feed musicians traveling through france (and possibly germany). there are five acoustic songs posted from that evenings show, including the excellent song "swimming," from her new album water for the day , and this one from that same record: shelley short - godamn thing (hinah session) [...]
Roy Davis and the Dregs record Deadweight is not on any of the release lists that bloggers comb for new music to write about. And that's a shame since this new record highlights one of the best new voices on the roots rock scene. The title song puts much of the emphasis on Davis' deep, rich, but wavering, vocals. They're packed with emotion and the moribound lyrical content lend them even more severity. This sophomore effort is a keeper; add it to your collection by clicking here . [...]
(as featured on This Week's Finds , Mar. 23-29) "When Water Comes to Life" - Cloud Cult Offbeat, earnest, eventually anthemic chamber pop from one of indie rock's quirkiest outfits, the Minneapolis-based Cloud Cult. Assembled in the middle of the '90s to support singer/songwriter Craig Minowa's ambitious songs, Cloud Cult solidified into a band through the end of the decade and began, with the new century, to record regularly--the new CD, entitled Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) , is the band's seventh of the '00s. [...]
Shelly Short is a little like Birdie Busch . A little like Rachel Ries . A little like Jenny Lewis' solo stuff. Shelly leans on the folky side with hints of alt-country and a peppering of psychedelic. Her melodies begged to be sung along to. And her lyrics resonate with the human condition. The album title came from a dream. Shelly was talking in her sleep, kept repeating "Water for the day!" This little gem drops on April 22nd. It is perfect music for driving down a windy country road on a sunny [...]
I find that Shelly Short's near inaccessibility is one of the things that draws me to her music. She has a wonderful voice and very good ear for creating both the lyrics and the music to compliment it. But she's not content to create something that is easily digestible. On the surface her music is very listenable but just under the surface there are subversions and distractions that lend it an air of mystery or an ethereal quality. On her forthcoming record Water For The Day the pedal steel languishes just [...]
I first mentioned Ag-Rock in this post about Adrienne Young. If you are too lazy to click the link and scan the post for my definition, here is what I said: "Adrienne Young plays ag-rock. That is short for agriculture… Ag-rock is a meshing of Celtic, Appalachian, Bluegrass, Country, Rock and Folk. Earthy lyrics. Young's voice reminds me of Barbara Cohen, another purveyor of Ag-rock. Maybe I should do a post of Ag-rock tunes." And here is that post. Here are some songs that capture the feel, sound, emotion, instrumentation, etc. of this genre. [...]
"I like singing sad songs. I feel like most songs in the world are sad. Uplifting but sad. Hopeful but kinda sad." - Shelley Short This record flew completely past my radar when it was released earlier this year, but thanks to a recent post from Dave at The Rawking Refuses to Stop! , I am now aware of the wonder that is Shelley Short. Falling somewhere pleasantly between folk, pop and country, she writes sad songs and then sings them to you in a voice [...]
You'd be pretty stupid to miss the Hush Records showcase Nov. 1 at the Living Room In NYC. Sure you'd miss Casey Dienel, Laura Gibson and Shelley Short but you'd also miss out on Jeff London . The two songs below are taken from Jeff's new record Harm's Way that he will be releasing himself sometime this year (or pick it up at the showcase). While the production is circumspect (but we like that right?) the songs are concise bits of poetry accompanied by piano, cello and guitar. [...]
About six months ago, I strayed from the path of writing this blog. I weaned myself off quite quickly, and within... oh say... an hour, I was finished and felt alright about my decision. I had built a nice team of 20 or so writers. Then we all departed ways at the end of the academic year. We had all planned to continue, but it proved so difficult, and I wanted to simply just lie in the sun, pretending I didn't exist. Whe time came to head back to the campus we werent heading [...]
Glistening with reflections of an older, unpopulated American Midwest, Shelley Short’s Captain Wild Horse is sometimes somber, sometimes playful, and consistently impressive.
End Hits
LocalCut
anyone's guess
songsillinois
Fingertips
The Late Greats
Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands
Collective Music
Harmonium
Sleeve: “1991″ by Azealia Banks
Loreen - Euphoria
Video: Chromatics – “These Streets Will Never Look the Same”
