On Thursday night, Ryan Adams showed up unannounced to open for Emmylou Harris at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. The lucky crowd got to hear four completely stunning new songs (including " Dirty Rain ") that showcase that heartbreaking sound that I haven't heard from Ryan in a while. The truth remains that his voice is one of the most piercing I know. He also performed gorgeous versions of two of my more recent favorites: "Blue Hotel" and "Everybody Knows," as well as his duet with Emmylou. The crowd reaction [...]
I rode my bike to work this morning against the winds, and noticed a yellow crocus has bloomed in my front yard since I last looked. Pretty soon I will plant my garden, and for the first time in a long time last week I fell asleep with the window opened to the sound of warm rain. For all the pristine icy clean of winter, the hearth of a fire, the months for introspection, I am thrilled at the thaw. I've been squirreling away songs for this spring mix since January, in an act of hope that [...]
Wake up kids: today is the Christmas, birthday, and Valentine's Day of the indie music world all rolled into one. Record Store Day is in its fourth year today, and you would be smart to head down to your local independent record store to celebrate the vibrant role they all play in keeping good music alive. There are also a slew of Record Store Day exclusives being offered today, so maybe break that piggy bank to take with you as well. In the spirit of celebrating everything that's right about [...]
Eric Anderson is the core of Seattle's Cataldo , and I love his music terrifically. I've written a few times before about him and included his songs on both my summer and fall mixes last year. There is something in the pointed honesty and cleverness of his lyrics, which when combined with the catchy melodies (banjo! singalongs! quiet handclaps!) reel me right on in. As he writes, the music "hopefully seems like it was composed by a hard worker with a mild taste for adventure," which is an excellent [...]
Kelli Schaefer took me by complete surprise the first time I saw her perform, at my inaugural house show back in November. Her voice is massive and swells effortlessly (and shiver-inducingly) from deep places within her, just as her piercingly smart lyrics do. One of the most immediately riveting performers I have seen in years, she has silenced the crowd every time I have seen her since then. In her kinetic, can't-take-my-eyes-off-of-you magnetism, a friend commented that she is reminiscent of The Tallest Man On Earth's live show . While their music is divergent, [...]
Some of my favorite Ryan Adams songs have always been those where he lets that soulful, bluesy wail go (see: "Hotel Chelsea Nights"). I miss that lately with the more jammy sound he's been pursuing with The Cardinals, so I was thrilled when a blogger posted this new song he performed back in October at a benefit for Dave Eggers' 826LA charity. I've made an mp3 and the sound quality is pretty dang decent. Dirty Rain (partial) - Ryan [...]
I'd heard of 22-year-old Brit James Blake for the riveting imagination he brings to his hazy, glitchy downtempo music that is currently taking the UK (and beyond) by storm. The songs I had heard were glazed, breathy, blissful. When I was in Los Angeles last week, my friend Garrett played me this Joni Mitchell cover that Blake did on BBC1, and we just sat sprawled on the couch and listened about ten times on repeat in the growing darkness. Neither of us moved to turn it off. It was nothing like [...]
Seven Swans Reimagined is a whole album of excellent Sufjan covers from indie artists including Joshua James, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, and a band called Unwed Sailor that I once saw in Nashville (and bought their tshirt for an unwed sailor I know, as marketing). All profits benefit breast cancer research, also a worthy cause we can support. Go check it out and donate $10 for some beautiful tunes. That doleful cello is so rich on Joshua's version: To Be Alone With You by On Joyful Wings [...]
I woke up bright and early in San Diego this morning to take the train back up to Los Angeles, where I am enjoying the weekend. For the record, the early train leaves at 7:39, not 7:49. Always double check. So I went walking on the Del Mar beach instead and sang this song under my breath, over the sound of waves. It was, in a word, a pretty perfect morning. Eyes - Rogue Wave
A few months ago I was in Florida with the fam (and we may or may not have been wearing matching DisneyWorld shirts that my mom made but that is BESIDE THE POINT , okay? Shut up.) and we were passing the time driving along by playing one of those conversation-question card games like "If you could have any superpower, what would it be?" and "What would your ideal birthday party celebration look like?". I was answering the latter and found myself describing a birthday party with a ramshackle house on a beach, filled up with [...]
Honest Truth - Typhoon As one of the four readers who have written to me in the last week to recommend that I listen to Typhoon said, "Imagine a band like Arcade Fire, only they actually make good use of having 12 people playing at once." Typhoon is from Portland and they've all just stormed into my life these last few days, leaving a glittering wake. If junior high orchestra was this fun, you can bet money that I would have joined - everyone [...]
Honest Truth - Typhoon As one of the four readers who have written to me in the last week to recommend that I listen to Typhoon said, "Imagine a band like Arcade Fire, only they actually make good use of having 12 people playing at once." Typhoon is from Portland and they've all just stormed into my life these last few days, leaving a glittering wake. If junior high orchestra was this fun, you can bet money that I would have joined - everyone [...]
When I was somewhere other than on Red River outside Stubbs last week in Austin, the four guys from Walk The Moon were playing their stupendously joyful song "Anna Sun" and a David Bowie cover under the yellow streetlights. You can feel the Texas warmth radiating even in the night. [ via San Francisco's In The Open live session series ] Walk The Moon is announcing some tour dates today, for those of you who are as keen on them as I [...]
Two weekends ago on a sunny Saturday afternoon, we recorded the very first Fuel/Friends Chapel Sessions in an empty stone church sanctuary, something I have been wanting to do for years now and never had the help I needed to make it happen. The Head and The Heart and Kelli Schaefer filled those colossal stone halls with a sound that was so huge that I kept feeling like I was drowning. The Saturday afternoon before the house show, I rousted Jon, Josiah and Charity from my couch and coaxed them [...]
Welcome to the agony of what I call "The Post-SXSW, Just-Discovered-That-Band!" blues. This happens every year, where mere days after I get home I figure out the new loves that I missed like an oblivious ship passing in the night. If the ships were holding Shiner Bock. I objected to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. on principle of naming, really, which is stupid. I was all, hey now I don't like NASCAR. Now I see that it is their trick to guard their secret because holy heck this is terrific pop music, all [...]
On Wednesday night, as we braced ourselves for the marvelous musical onslaught that was churning ready to release onto the streets of Austin, somebody told me that the SXSW Festival was 40% larger this year than last. I have no idea if that is true because I am terrible at estimating numbers of anything, but I can certainly believe it, as SXSW continues to grow and draw so many acts down to Texas that I always leave feeling like I've been through a musical washing machine. Or maybe I feel like that episode of [...]
I'm freshly home from the radiant heat of Austin, feeling simultaneously drained and energized, emptied and full. As I drove home from the airport today on a suddenly warm spring day, all the windows in the car open and the plains wide around me, I played this song on repeat for about an hour (because I do that). For as many times as I have heard this song, it hit me fresh today; it sums up everything I am feeling right now, a celebration of long days left to breathe and breathe deeply. It explodes with an [...]
There was a very nice feature in The Denver Post this weekend about the house shows we've been putting on here in Colorado, with some words also from David Bazan who will be playing for us on Wednesday night. I was in Austin and didn't see the article, but my awesome dad texted me a photo, after warning me, " give me fifteen minutes " when I asked him to. It takes a while, this technology. Read the full article here , and get [...]
This weekend was drenched full of soul-refreshing music, to the point of overflowing. In the span of 24 hours, I got to see The Head and The Heart combust their second sold-out show at Moe's in Denver before a happy, sweaty crowd (including them dedicating their encore song "Gone" to a very blushing me), record my very first two acoustic Fuel/Friends Sessions in an empty stone church ( stay tuned! ), and then host a joyous house show for a packed crowd of about a hundred enthusiastic [...]
One of my favorite reader/commenters Adam beat me to compiling a Springtime mix, so completely loaded with terrific songs from artists that I had not yet heard much of yet, but fit this nascent springtime glow I am feeling lately. I am reveling in his selections from folks like Hooded Fang, Lemolo, James McMorrow, New Animal, Andrew Belle, and Seryn. The Seryn song he chose was instantly my favorite on the mix, because it builds up that same type of barely-contained, loosely chaotic joy inside me as that Matthew and The [...]
I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS
Avicii – Two Million
Scissor Sisters’ “Baby Come Home” Video: Watch The Band Get Animated
Yellow Magic Orchestra edit from Chrome Canyon
Beck – I Just Started Hating Some People Today
