Now that I am working full time the posting will be much more sparse and I apologize. But every once in a while I remember something that is amazing and needs to be shared. Today that is Ms Mr. I originally became aware of them because my girl Marina (a la Marina and the Diamonds) recommended a song by them on her blog. The lady has amazing taste. Ms Mr's song "Bones" may be my favorite song of the year. I thought it only fitting that I make the effort to get a post about them in here [...]
I've been in an electropop craze for a while now, a few months...and with good reason. There's a ton of new electronic acts out there these days, it's the "it" genre, if that's possible. If you had told me I'd have been into electronic 10, even 5, years ago I'd have shuddered, but things are different now. When I thought "electronic" years ago it was the bleep bloop stuff, either dark and with haunting vocals, or none at all, or it was angry and urgent German dance floor music...either way, no thanks! These days there's a lot more [...]
I'm a sucker for sappy girl versions of pop and rock songs. I am also a sucker for Anna-lynne Williams and her projects Trespassers Williams and Lotte Kestner, Lotte Kestner being the name she gave her solo acoustic project. So you can imagine how happy I was to find out Lotte Kestner's new album would be entirely covers! For some this would be a let down, but for me, who loves covers, this is thrilling. She has done some amazing covers before, a few are included again on this new release, like her amazing version of Interpol's "Leif Erikson". [...]
Firstly, I apologize for the larger than usual gap between posts, but now that I am working full time I have less time for finding new music, let alone posting about it. Secondly, I should apologize because this record isn't that new anymore. Eisley released their latest album, "The Valley" back at the beginning of March. That said, the album is quite good and deserves some attention, even if it's two months later. I've written about the band previously, but for a quick recap, Eisley is a Texas-based band made up of members of the Dupree [...]
One of my newer discoveries is the Minneapolis band Dark Dark Dark. They're a richly instrumented indie-folk, which seems to be described often as chamber-folk, but that's not a term I feel comfortable throwing around myself. They use a lot of piano and accordion and are very melodic. They trade off vocal duties between male and female, but it's mostly Nona Marie Invie that does the singing, and she's certainly the one which makes them interesting to me. In that regard they remind me of early Rilo Kiley, whereas it feels like they're letting the guy sing the [...]
Previously mentioned band The Civil Wars debut album "Barton Hollow" was released today. You can download the title track from the album for free this week on iTunes. Check them out! Free on iTunes
Just a quick note that anyone who uses iTunes should definitely check out the free single this week by Young The Giant. They're a band I hadn't heard of until this past September when I looked to see who was opening for Marina and the Diamonds when I was going to see her. They played and they were really great. They remind me a lot of The Killers, if anyone. I see big things for them, and the free song they're giving out is "My Body", which is a particularly good track. Also available on iTunes this week [...]
As I've mentioned before, in the past few years one of my biggest discoveries, at least in so much as bands I can't seem to stop listening to repeatedly and have become a bit of an ear worm for me, is Dragonette . On numerous occasions I've gone in search of similar bands so I can share the love. Alas, I've not found anything that's gotten to me quite like they have, but that doesn't mean I haven't made some worthwhile discoveries along the way. One such discovery is the British pop artist Florrie. She's completely pop, [...]
I admit, the last few years have left my interest in holiday music at an all time low. I think this year I will listen to it on Christmas Eve and Day only and that will be it, if that perhaps. Working retail has ruined me. But I am always excited for new songs from The Civil Wars. They are one of my favorite new bands over the last year, having offered up a stellar EP and an even more impressive live album that is a free download. Now they offer us 2 holiday tracks for signing up [...]
Amazon is featuring a free download of the single "New York City Hotel Blues" from Margot and the Nuclear So and So's new album "Buzzard". The Indiana-based band's album was released September 21st, check it out. You can find the download link HERE .
I must say that 2010 so far has been a lot less exciting for me as far as music discoveries go. A lot of the things I've "discovered" actually came out last year, just adding a few more notches for the awesome year in music that was 2009. That said, I heard the music of The Suzan last night and I immediately fell in love and felt the need to declare them my new favorites, though I know such titles are short lived. The Suzan are an all-female rock group from Japan that [...]
I just happened upon a great find on Amazon.com tonight. I was checking prices for Rasputina's latest album and noticed that there was a download that's price was listed as $0.00. I clicked to see if this was correct, and lo and behold it was! The song is a single from their latest album "Sister Kinderhook" entitled "Holocaust of Giants" and if this song says anything about the rest of the album, I am pretty stoked to hear it! Rasputina, in case you're unfamiliar with them, is the brainchild of Melora Creager, a Brooklyn-based cellist [...]
Just a quick heads up to let people know that the single available for free on iTunes this week is by Dragonette, who are one of my favorite new discoveries of the last year. They're 80's influenced electro-pop and they're so fun to listen to. The song available this week on iTunes is "Pick Up The Phone" from their '09 album "Fixin to Thrill". Check it out, and I highly recommend their earlier album "Galore", it's really great.
One great feature of the site Last.fm is that many free tracks are available there. One discovery I made there a few months back was Tennessee musician Hannah Sheehan who goes by the moniker "No Really" (no, really!). Fun times abound with a name like that. No Really has a bunch of free songs on Last.fm, all of which are also available on her website , along with a link to donate, which is totally worth it if only for the smirk-worthiness of getting your credit card bill and seeing the words "no really" on [...]
A few years ago I wrote here that I noticed a band name trend involving using the word "Wolf" or wolves. I am starting to notice some new trends over the past few months, the biggest of which is the growing popularity of bells. Over the last few months alone I have come across music by a myriad of bands that use the word bell or bells in their names. Now, obviously some of these bands may only be new to me, but the fact remains, all of the sudden they're making their presence known in the [...]
The great Lilith Fair has returned! As announced in the media a few months ago, Lilith Fair will be making a return for the summer of 2010, once again fronted by performances by Sarah McLachlan. But until today we didn't know who else would be performing. Today they announced the artists that are confirmed for the tour as of yet. Still no word on who will be playing which dates, but at least we can get excited over the fact that some of our favorite acts will be on the tour and might be at the events we [...]
Two and a half months it's taken me to update...wow. Frankly, there's been music I've loved, but without appropriate links and enough time and motivation, I won't go out of my way, and that's been the problem. But then, last night I got in one of my "need to discover new music ASAP" moods and started going around to some sites I frequent, but forgetting the URL to one, I did a googling and instead found another site which led me to spend a good 2 hours on it and find a full desktop worth of new free [...]
I'm guilty of discovering a lot of great acts because of things like interesting album covers, and strange song titles. In the case of the Baltimore, MD band Wye Oak, I was pulled in by the attached picture accompanying a review of their new album on a blog. It made me want to hear what they sounded like, and I am always interested in male-female duo bands as it is, so even better. As it is, they are one of the bands I've been most impressed with over the last few months. Wye Oak, named after Maryland's state [...]
For a while the band name trend was anything that had "The" in front of it, but the new trend I am seeing is for bands, specifically ladies, to have their name followed by an object. The who, and then the what. I've been surprised by just how many fantastic artists I've discovered lately with this name set. I'm currently working on a mix featuring only acts with these sorts of names, and so far it's coming together brilliantly. But I thought I'd share a sampling of a few of those fantastic artists with you here. [...]
When I was younger, and right up through college, I was sure I hated country music. Of course, when the only stuff you've heard is glossy wannabe rock mainstream country music, you get the wrong impression of what country music is, or at least, was and can be. Old-time country, even as recent as the 1970s, wasn't so glossy and was much more of a down-home, back porch feel and not a "listen to this in the shiny new pick-up on the way back from the Wal-Mart" feel. It didn't take itself so seriously, it had nothing to [...]
Curiously Tasty Music
Watch: Trailer for Dave Grohl’s documentary, Sound City
Childish Gambino - "Heartbeat" (Official Music Video)
First Aid Kit – Emmylou
Hardwell Bootleg Pack 2012
James Blake – Live Album
