so, it can be a tough thing to break into the music business - maybe not as hard as it once was when labels and contracts ruled (and when hopes disappeared when demos were tossed away without even a tiny listen), but tough none-the-less.
which is why something like strummerville: the joe strummer foundation for new music is a very cool thing.
a brief bio on the organization:
Strummerville is a registered charity that gives support to aspiring musicians and help to projects that help change the world through music.
Set up by the friends and family of Joe Strummer in the year after his death, the charity seeks to reflect Joe's unique contribution to the music world by offering support, resources and performance opportunities to artists who would not normally have access to them.
even better, strummerville has an annual free album they give away each summer to help celebrate some of the artists they're supporting. this year's album, songs for the summer 2011, features:
The Joker & The Thief // Be The Boy Bastille // Icarus Dark Moon // Blackbird The Welcome Committee // Rich Kids Shooting Star Poets // That Boy Don't Dance La Rebla Fam // A British Morning The Vagabonds // John Mellor The Lights // Mostly Water The Great Whale // Don't Lost Your Mind The Barker Band // Chapel Benjamin Folke Thomas // Thoroughly Alone
i've recently written about bastille's icarus, a song i like very much (you can read about it HERE). in addition, the album has several other standout songs, including be the boy, a folk-y homage to cat stevens, rich kids, a quasi-shoegazing throwback to 80's/90's pop, and mostly water, a sweet, catchy song ala the ocean blue (no pun intended!).
have a listen to the entire album below - and YES, it's ALL TOTALLY FREE! you can download all or any of the songs you want.
for those of you lucky enough to be going to glastonbury this year in late june, you can check out some of these bands/artists in the strummerville campfire sessions. go HERE to learn more.
want to know more about the album? go HERE to do so. then go HERE to learn more about strummerville and what you can do to help emerging musicians!
so, i am a jane austen junkie. like, a HARDCORE one. it's an illness, really. i've read all of her major (and some minor) books of hers multiple times (in case you're wondering, my favorite is persuasion...gah...anne and captain wentworth...swoon!), plus, i must watch any and all versions of any movie adaptations that hit the airwaves or theatres.
some are brilliant (oh, colin firth, you are a most excellent darcy), some are wretched (kate beckinsale, you may've been beyond fabulous in cold comfort farm, but you are a terrible emma). some are boring (that billie piper chick from doctor who as fanny, YAWN), some adorable (i don't care what any of you say - i like northanger abbey, and the recent adaptation of it was lovely).
the point here, is that if it's a jane austen movie, i've seen it. small or large, miniseries or stand alone, if it comes on the telly, i will be forced to sit and watch it because i simply can't help myself.
a couple years back, i stumbled across a modern version of pride and prejudice set in utah. yes, utah. and it was actually entertaining. it's frothy, irreverent, and fun, and while it'll never usurp jennifer ehle and colin firth'sstellar mini-series as the be-it-all go-to P&P, it certainly doesn't stink up the field.
plus, it introduced me to condition of desperation by randy porter.
this song took me AGES to find. the cd was out of print at the time and nobody was selling the album digitally. i despaired for quite awhile before finally, FINALLY stumbling across it.
and man, am i ever glad i did. because i love this song.
i don't know much about randy porter other than he's a jazz pianist (if this is even, in fact, the randy porter i think he is). but i can tell you about the song - it's sad (being called condition of desperation and all) and beautiful. it encapsulates the anxiety a person feels when they can feel their chances with another slipping away from them.
time stands still pictures fade to black feeling the chill the wind tearing up my back running scared the pavement moves so quickly that i know you must agree the remote possibility of you and me is slipping through my fingers
so i sing this song for you my heart's like a clown in the circus forever i'll be trapped in this crazy condition of desperation you're oh, such a sweet sensation
song undone forecast not yet known there is the sun it's sinking like a stone one last cry the pain it can't escape me 'cause i hope you might concede that somewhere in eternity you and me we're growing old together
and now i sing this song for you my heart's like a clown in a circus forever i'll be trapped in this crazy condition of desperation oh, you're such a sweet sensation
here's a video somebody made with the song set to scenes from the movie:
the soundtrack to pride and prejudice (a latter day comedy) is available for sale right now at amazon (one left, if you hurry!). go HERE to check it out.
so, prepare to have your heartstrings tugged on with this video. when you're done watching, go and hug someone you love and remind them that they're never alone.
buy the winter of mixed drinks, the album the loneliness and the scream is off of, HERE.
so, pretty much any gen-xer loves the pet shop boys (even if they're not willing to admit it in public), which makes sense, because PSB are, in essence, pure pop-escapist-fun. they'll never have bob dylan's or joni mitchell's legacies of being amongst the greatest poet/singer-songwriters to grace recorded music, nor will they ever reach the pop stratosphere of bands such as U2 when it comes to longevity or relevance.
but, what they do offer us as listeners are songs filled with nostalgic new wave synths, sweet lyrics, and beyond catchy beats.
formed in '81 and comprised of neil tennant and chris lowe, pet shop boys have sold over 100 million albums worldwide and have achieved 42 top 30 singles and 22 top 10 hits in the UK. they're also listed in the guinness book of records as the most successful duo in UK music history.
everybody has their favorite PSB song. mine, though, might surprise you - it's home and dry, off of their 2002 release, um...release.
of course there's a story behind it. let me elaborate.
it was the 4th of july and the husband and i were listening to this song while at the beach and we were talking about how fun PSB were. and while i was listening, i could swear i heard the phrase "macaulay culkin" said in-between lyrics, to which the husband informed me i was CRAZY, and we have, to this date, squabbled over this like the happy lunatic music obsessed freaks we are for nearly a decade.
ah, good times!
to be fair, there is no mention anywhere, in lyrics or interviews or whatever, that the PSB reference macaulay culkin. but i don't care. it's there now, at least to me, and every time i listen to this glorious song, i smile as i hear the phrase.
to which the husband is probably thinking, or even muttering, while reading this, "dammit, you're making a stretch AGAIN - the song is called home and dry, not home alone, and why in the hell would the PSBs say macaulay culkin in the song anyways?"
la-la-la! i'm not listening to the rationalizations!
so go ahead, peeps. have a listen to this slice o' new wave heaven and tell me that you can't hear that name being said now.
and if you don't hear it, well...if i can resist the husband's rationalizations and instances for nearly a decade, i'm sure to ignore yours, as well. :)
so my baby's on the road doing business, selling loads charming everyone there with the sweetest smile
oh tonight i miss you oh tonight i wish you could be here with me but i won't see you 'til you've made it back again
home and dry home and dry
there's a plane at JFK to fly you back from far away all those dark and frantic transatlantic miles
oh tonight i miss you oh tonight i wish you could be here with me but i won't see you 'til you've made it back again
home and dry home and dry
far away through night and day you fly long haul tonight come to me you know i'll be here when you call tonight
oh tonight i miss you oh tonight i wish you could be here with me but i won't see you 'til you've made it back again
so, i know i am a bit new to twitter and all (having resisted joining for a long while only to do so, like a sheep or lemming), but i was taken aback a little recently when some dude had the audacity to tell ben gibbard of death cab for cutie that he was a sell-out and that he [the tweeter] was totally disinterested in the band nowadays.
twitter is a strange creature, peeps.
today's technology brings artists and their fans closer than ever before, and while this is often a great thing, i think it sometimes allows some people to act like rude fools who know no sense of social etiquette. to some, it can feel safe to say thing behind a computer screen, where no one has to look you in the face - but my belief when it comes to social media is if i'm not willing to say it straight up to you in person, i'm not going to say it over the computer, either.
(and then there's the whole "i'm going to follow you, but if you don't follow me, i'm going to unfollow you, because i'm only here to collect followers rather than actually follow peeps i'm interested in reading tweets from," but that's probably neither here nor there. just a peeve of mine.)
anyways, back to ben gibbard. he was pretty classy about the way he finished the tweet-convo, saying, "i'm sorry u don't like us anymore. thankfully for us, others do. our old lps are always there for you if you prefer them."
and it got me thinking of the reams of music snobs out there who get bored with bands only ever sounding the same and yet hypocritical enough to torch them when they do have the audacity to grow and stretch their musical muscles. "sell-out" is a common enough term amongst the music-obsessed - i'm sure we've all used it at least once in conjunction with a band/singer we know (i'm guilty of this even just last night when i read bono & the edge are going to be on american idol). but is it really fair to turn our noses up at a band simply because they're moving in the direction THEY want to move?
i think not. because, despite the ownership fans may feel with music, in the end, it really isn't OURS. it's the BAND'S, and they get to choose the course of creativity, not us.
and if we don't like it, we can, as gibbard pointed out, stick with the older stuff or move on. we don't need to bash the band for daring to move outside of our own musical comfort zones. because, for every band that changes and moves on with or without us as fans, there are a dozen new bands cropping up that can fill their place.
life is short, peeps, to be so negative, and music is meant to instill enjoyment, not annoyance. am i right or what?
i've had a chance to listen to death cab for cutie's latest album, codes and keys, and while it's not my favorite of theirs, it is certainly a great album i know i'm going to vastly enjoy listening to over and over again. it's the sort of album that's going to translate into a pretty kickass live show (hooray for getting tickets to see them at the greek this summer!). much more upbeat than many of their previous offerings (is this due to personal contentment?), codes and keys is, at heart, the representation of a band who has grown up.
i think my favorite off the album has to be unobstructed views, which, in many ways, reminds me of a much more positive (and less stalker-y) version of i will possess your heart, thanks to a lengthy instrumental opening. gibbs sings, "there's no eye in the sky/just our love/the one unobstructed view/no perfect truth/just our love/just our love/and there's no verse/no monument of words/for my love/for they can't hold/all i know/about my love."
SA-WOON!
monday morning is a peppy ode to love and acceptance, underneath the sycamore a complete throwback to old-style death cab, some boys a delightful slice of lo-fi vocals.
for a more complete album review, head over to the husband's blog, where he beat me to the punch and did a track by track listing of each song.
here are two of the tracks, under the sycamores and some boys, to whet your appetite in advance for next tuesday's release:
and two official videos for you to watch, home is a fire and you are a tourist (which was filmed in one take and streamed live while being done so):
codes and keys, death cab for cutie's latest album, will be available to buy on tuesday, may 31. until then, you can stream it in entirety over on NPR. go HERE to do so.
so, i had a phase in my youth in which i was, while reveling in everything fabulous about 80's music, also somewhat secretly in love with music from the 60's and 70's. i had a vast record collection at my disposal, thanks to my parents, and nearby record stores that fed my habit. i spent many a happy hour locked in my bedroom listening to these albums while staring at the jackets.
i mention this because when i first heard the parson red heads, a psych-folk group from oregon/los angeles, i was instantly transported to this time, vibe-wise.
filled with sunny strains of 60's style folk rock and sounding like a love child between simon and garfunkel and fleetwood mac, the parson red heads aren't who you'd go to when you've just broken up with the love of your life and you feel like throwing yourself a pity party. instead, they're the sort of band you're going to put on during a long drive with friends or while you're relaxing. they're the sort of cheery group that makes you remember that music isn't all about doom and gloom or best day of your life extravaganzas - that it's also the soundtrack to all the other days in-between.
their music is that of sweet nostalgia.
have a listen to burning up the sky, which is delicious with its use of harmonica:
we are living, living in the new age, living in the new age kicking up the dust we are living, living in the new age, living in the new age kicking up the dust oh, we're burning up the sky oh, we're burning up the sky
hold my hand, son lead me through the forest lead me through the forest when i'm dead and gone hold my hand, son lead me through the forest lead me through the forest when i'm dead and gone oh, we're burning up the sky oh, we're burning up the sky oh, we're burning up the sky oh, we're burning up the sky
everything seems different now the world has fallen asleep somehow the world has fallen asleep somehow i will not get it back everything seems different now the world has fallen asleep somehow the world has fallen asleep somehow i will not get it back
here's an oldish video (2008) from amoeba records of time is running out:
want to see the parson red heads live? check out one of their upcoming dates:
June 1 - Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA * June 2 - Rio Theatre - Vancouver, BC * June 4 - Miss Studios - Portland, OR * June 7 - Hi-Dive - Denver, CO * June 8 - Bottleneck - Lawrence, KS * June 9 - Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL * June 11 - Rivoli - Toronto, ON * June 12 - Il Motore - Montreal, QB * June 13 - The Skinny Pancake - Burlington, VT June 15 - Space 538 - Portland, ME * June 16 - Brighton Music Hall - Boston, MA * June 17 - City Winery - NYC, NY * June 18 - Knitting Factory - Brooklyn, NY * June 19 - Iota - Washington, DC * June 20 - Kings Barcade - Raleigh, NC * June 21 - The Earl - Atlanta, GA * June 23 - The Bottletree - Brimingham, AL * June 25 - Stubbs JR - Austin, TX * June 27 - Plush - Tucson, AZ June 29 - Echo - LA, CA * June 30 - New Parish - Oakland, CA * July 1 - Henry Miller Library - Big Sur, CA * July 2 - Center for the Arts - Grass Valley, CA *
w/ Alela Diane & Wild Divine *
yearling, their upcoming LP, will be released on august 16 on arena rock recording company records. head over to the band's facebook page to learn more about the group!
so, i feel a bit foolish not knowing this until just recently, but apparently national geographic has a record label. as you can probably guess, it features world music (a label i dislike, because it pretty much is tacked onto any artist that isn't from the states, canada, or the UK and conjures up visions of tribal tunes or pan flutes) - but you may be surprised to find it isn't the kind of world music you may be expecting.
case in point, italy's indie pop the r's (or, the records).
unfortunately, a lot of people assume music from italy is the kind of stuff you'd find in an italian chain restaurant - some kind of love song ala lady and the tramp's shared spaghetti meal scene or dean martin warbling about pizza. having spent some time over there and discovering many music crushes along the way (i pathetically hunted, to no avail, for one italian rock song for a good year after my trip), i can safely assure you that, while you probably don't hear a lot of italian bands on the radio nowadays, there are a lot of great indie bands worth your listen.
the r's, a trio of guys from brescia and milano, have a really fun vibe to them. their songs come across as a mosaic of surf rock, 50's & 60's guitar lines, pop and a smidge of ska.
check out their very catchy and summery i love my family. it is SUCH a surf song!
June 14th – Brooklyn, NY – Bruar Falls June 16th – New York, NY - Pianos
de fauna et flora, the album i love my family is off of, will be released later this year. go HERE to visit their national geographic music page. then head over to their facebook page to learn more about the band.
Pearl and the Beard is three voices, one cello, one guitar, one glockenspiel, one melodica, several drums, one accordion, ninety-six teeth, and one soul.
Former strangers Jocelyn Mackenzie, Emily Hope Price, and Jeremy Styles were united in the great city of New York. Each had migrated there from a far corner of the nation with naught but food in their pockets and money in their bellies. Each had the same true love. Since then, the three have nested, and their unique brand of brightly melodic songcraft continues to blossom of its own accord.
Pearl and the Beard loves you the way you’ve always been.
while listening to their latest release, killing the darlings, i was struck by how they have such an eclectic sound. the vocal duties are shared and blended, the melodies like a roller coaster. some of their songs are such stomp/clap happy tunes that are filled with bluesy-soul. some are straight-up folk. then others are so sweet and delicate that they sound like they belong in the soundtrack of a fairy tale. and, i think, it's because of this jarring dichotomy that their music becomes inherently likable.
some highlights off of killing the darlings:
* prodigal daughter - this song absolutely enchants. it starts out sweet, with tinkly fairy sounds and then transitions into choral vocals. such a perfect example of why i love folk music: oh lovely daughter i've mistaken for a son/rest your head upon my shoulder at once/tell me all the world you found troublesome/you're my particles and sweet electrons/since you've been home
* douglas douglass - sounds like it ought to have been in oh brother, where art thou? plus, it's a stomp/clap song, and i like me the stomp/claps. douglas, douglas/sticky bun/i've a wife and that's just fun/gimme, gimme what i need/you know i gotsa plant your seed
* swimming - another sweet song with a toy piano and the perfect amount of bass thanks to a cello. for some reason, it makes me want to go make daisy chains and be surrounded by butterflies in the french countryside. swoon! you know they say/they always say/that things will get better/if you believe in love/believe in hope/believe in the way you feel/but my trouble is/my troubles are dreams
* 40K - another incredibly gorgeous song. melancholy in just the perfect way only sad songs can make lovely, 40K has some of the most fabulous harmonious blending that will leave you marveling over how three different voices can sound made for one another. you never come when you say you will/and i overstay my welcome/sitting in this window sill/not letting the spiders build
* and finally, here's sweetness, the lead single off the album. it's sure to get your foot tapping:
this isn't on their album, but the following video delights me beyond description. here, pearl and the beard are doing a will smith medley. if you can resist its charms...well, i don't know what to say. live a little?
so, perhaps one of the bands that i've loved longest and the most over the course of my life is the eagles. personifying classic rock, the group was first founded in LA in 1971. over the course of their illustrious career, they've earned six grammys and five american music awards and were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 1998. to date, they've had five number one singles, six number one albums, and were the best selling band in the 70's.
my mom loved the eagles when i was growing up, so i heard a lot of them. my love affair with the band only intensified in college to the point that my friends and i were constantly playing them on the jukebox at our local dive. they're pretty much everything swell about classic rock - killer guitar chords, catchy tunes, and memorable lyrics.
everyone loves hotel california, which is rightly so. (honestly, do you know anyone who doesn't? i don't think they exist. if they do, they're horrible freaks of nature that need to be locked into a soundproof room and shown the error of their ways with an excellent pair of headphones). i love hotel california. but i'm not going to post that one today.
instead, i'm going to share my very favorite song by the eagles - peaceful, easy feeling. this song is so college for me. i am instantly taken to hot nights (i lived in arizona then, after all, which is fitting, since the song refers to the desert), long drives, and countless stars overhead as i lay on the hood of a car.
sigh. what a gorgeous song. sheer perfection. i know it sounds weird, but i sort of don't trust people who don't like the eagles. because, honestly, i just can't understand how anyone couldn't dig this music.
i like the way your sparkling earrings lay against your skin, it's so brown and i wanna sleep with you in the desert tonight with a billion stars all around 'cause i gotta peaceful easy feeling and i know you won't let me down 'cause i'm already standing on the ground and i found out a long time ago what a woman can do to your soul ah, but she can't take you anyway you don't already know how to go and i gotta peaceful, easy feeling and i know you won't let me down 'cause I'm already standing on the ground I get this feeling I may know you as a lover and a friend but this voice keeps whispering in my other ear, tells me I may never see you again 'cause I get a peaceful, easy feeling and I know you won't let me down 'cause I'm already standing on the ground 'cause I'm already standing... on the ground
so, often dubbed "polar-pop" (man, they really do have a name for everything!), elisapie isaac's music is, in fact, a lovely mixture of french cabaret, folk melodies, traditional inuk influences, and good old-fashioned pop.
born to an inuk mother and a newfoundland father, elisapie was adopted and raised by an inuk family. as a child, she sang in her uncle's gospel group, but eventually focused more on radio and tv/film communications through high school and college. she didn't return to singing until 2000, when she formed the musical project taima with instramentalist alain auger. nowadays, elisapie is on her own, crafting gorgeous, highly-listenable to music.
recently, elisapie was kind enough to answer some questions for me:
have you met heather: many of your songs are a mixture of english, french, and inuktitut. how has your inuk upbringing influenced your music and art?
elisapie isaac: After a bit of distance from my home and after 12 yrs living in Montréal, I realise that the north will never leave me and it has become a big part of inspiration. It is a place where we find horizon and vastness, so it is only normal that I look for that to inspire me and keep me balanced in life, so therefore I need to be able to look in large.
hymh: you're also part of the group taima, along with alain auger. what are some of the differences between writing and performing solo versus being in a group that you've discovered?
elisapie: I am no longer with the group. I really decided to do my own thing. It is scary at the beginning to go in a solo career because it is less reponsibility when you have someone to work with, but the thrill is quite fun to be on your own and all of a sudden to be able to decide on your own like a big girl...
hymh: you've got some really lovely lyrics, such as the ones found in butterfly. where do you find the inspirations for your songs? what is your creative process typically like?
elisapie: I am usually moody, perhaps a bit melancolic and then I tend to look out the window, I really need the window... Take my guitar and just look for some nice chords and then the melody and then it might inspire a line or two. And then from there, I have an idea where I'm going... but then from there the lyrics might take a while... I'm a bit all over the place, so the challenge is to focus and just sit and write!
hymh: you're also an accomplished filmaker - any plans to continue making more films?
elisapie: Yes - started to get my idea going, probably a short film for 2012... And a new album maybe!
hymh: what's up next for you musically? any plans to tour once there will be stars is released in the states?
elisapie: Of course, it's all about touring. Really wanna go places like all the amazing pow wow's I've heard about in Arizona, New Mexico, then god, then US is so vast and huge, and each state is so unique, so looking forward...
thanks, elisapie!
have a listen to the french-tinged turning my back:
saangaqajairakki pigutjiqajairakki tammagutigilaurtai tigumianginnatai i wouldn't want it more than you wouldn't want it more than you couldn't carry the pain carry the pain for you piaraulauravit qilammu takusavatsutit immini qimaavit puigurumamut imisigiirivit i wouldn't want it more than you wouldn't want it more than you couldn't carry the pain carry the pain for you anuri sangusimalirtu siqini nuimmat tupalirit puigurnaru ingipalaurtait
there will be stars, the album turning my back is off of, will be released on june 7th by avalanche productions in the states (it's already out in canada). go HERE to learn more about elisapie issac. i'll have a review of the album up closer to the release date!
so, i remember the first time i heard the airborne toxic event. the fam was in the midst of a long road trip, it was (no pun intended) a little after midnight and most of us were asleep when the husband pulled us over to a small gas station in the middle of nowhere. i woke up to the sounds of (again, sorry for the bad puns) sometime around midnight and thought - whoa.
yes, in the keanu reeves way.
i loved that song from the first listen.
the band has a new album out and i sort of got the same reaction when i first heard all at once.
w h o a.
A fantastic melding of U2 and neil diamond (no, i'm not pulling your leg on that one), anthemic in nature, and building until it gets you singing and pogoing and feeling all sorts of MUSIC IS AWESOME warm fuzzies, all at once is, at heart, best suited to summer. twinging opening guitars (so ala edge - tell me if i'm wrong here) lead your ears to a melody that gallops at full speed with perfect drumming, squealing background guitars and choral vocals.
it's the sort of song where you first think, "oh, the lyrics don't matter, because it's just so bloody kickass, i'm gonna love it anyways," but then you realize the lyrics ARE, IN FACT, BRILLIANT, and it only kicks the song up twenty notches of fabulosity.
so, in case you're wondering, it's all about growing up.
gah! AWESOME. AWESOME! LOVES IT SO MUCH!
we were born without time nameless in the arms of a mother, a father and god when the world waits for us a thousand years in the crush of our eyes fearless in awe so quietly we fade in to sleep with nothing on our mind
then we look to be loved in the rush we become some things we thought we'd never be we were surprised by our how hard left weary and scared by the nights, spent feeling incomplete and all those evenings swearing at the sky wishing for one more time
all the promises we broke when we tried just wasting all our time
we get old all at once and it comes like a punch in the gut, in the back, in the face when it seems someones lied and our parents have died then we hold to each other in their place and i feel the water rising around us maybe that's ok yeah, i feel the world changing, all at once i guess it will be ok
when we all had one hope there was someone looking down when we return our bodies to each other and the ground
(mp3) all at once by the airborne toxic event (link removed by request)
check out the video for the bombastic version, which is a bit tamer. frankly, i like the wilder version better. have a listen so you can decide which you like best:
so, i'm going to be honest here - i don't know much about bastille other than a) his real name is dan smith and b) he's from south london.
but, what i can tell you is that his songs are catchy. flaws has a nice 80's pop vibe that incorporates synths and choral harmonies along with soaring vocals. check it out:
when all of your flaws and all of my flaws are laid out one by one the wonderful part of the mess that we made we pick ourselves undone
all of your flaws and all of my flaws they lie there hand in hand ones we've inherited, ones that we learned they pass from man to man
there's a hole in my soul i can't fill it. i can't fill it there's a hole in my soul can you fill it? can you fill it?
you have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve and i have always buried them deep beneath the ground dig them up - let's finish what we've started dig them up, so nothing's left untouched
all of your flaws and all of my flaws, when they have been exhumed we'll see that we need them to be who we are without them we'd be doomed
there's a hole in my soul i can't fill it. i can't fill it there's a hole in my soul can you fill it? can you fill it?
you have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve and i have always buried them deep beneath the ground dig them up - let's finish what we've started dig them up, so nothing's left untouched
when all of your flaws and all of my flaws are counted when all of your flaws and all of my flaws are counted
you have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve and i have always buried them deep beneath the ground dig them up - let's finish what we've started dig them up. so nothing's left untouched
all of your flaws and all of my flaws are laid out one by one look at the wonderful mess that we made we pick ourselves undone
so, i've got a bit of a guilty pleasure secret - i like music from bollywood movies. actually, that shouldn't be too much of a secret, because the plain truth is, most of these songs are CRAZY INSANE FUN. they're irresistable, in a way. bouncy, joyful, hyper - they're made for dancing and pleasure.
music hipsters who are turning their noses up at me, take a hike.
today i want to introduce you to uff teri adaa. this song is about about - yes! you guessed it! DANCING. and FUN. and HAVING A GOOD TIME.
fyi, american audiences may recognize it from the season finale of outsourced.
here's the chorus:
uff teri adaa, i like the way you move uff tera badan, i like to see you groove uff teri nazar, it says i wanna dance with you uff teri adaa, i like the way you move uff tera badan, i like to see you groove uff teri nazar, it says i wanna dance with you
so, yael naim's latest album, she was a boy, was released this last week! filled with lots of fun french flavors (which, as any loyal reader knows, i'm a total sucker for), it's a lovely album.
some highlights:
* come home - jazzy and light, it's impossible to resist. insane/how feeling so much shame/will only bring you pain/and i no longer know how to explain/see i'm happy as can be/and you're my family
* today - a quiet, haunting torch song. the piano in this one is gorgeous. it's been seven years since i've been looking for him/and i've been crying for more/today i'm taking back my words/'cause i've been judging everybody/so easily/instead, i show you who i am/liar, an angel, a generous egoist, genius, coward
* i try hard - my favorite off the album, it's dreamy and romantic sounding despite being a sad song. try to see the reasons why/we sacrifice and lie/the reason we continue to deny/i only hear you say/the answer is to pray/but what if that itself is lost today?
* stupid goal - a bit of rock & roll is thrown into this one, along with some bitter anger. why lie/suddenly you feel like you lose control/so you cry and cry/'till every day you're chasing after stupid goals
* go to the river - i've already blogged about this song - go HERE to read more.
here's a video of yael performing come home:
LA fans, she'll be performing at hotel cafe on monday, may 16th. interested in going? go HERE to learn more.
(thanks to blogger crashing and sheer laziness, i obviously have no friday flashback this week. it'll return in 7 short days!)
so, i am not lefthanded just released the video for their new single alone (it's not so bad). first off, the song is fantastic.
secondly, the video is adorable.
i'm not sure if it was meant to be - after all, it stars a bunch of horror movie characters (ghosts, zombies, etc...). but rather than being scary, these things are...adorable. sweet. helpful.
a ghost ready to give you some milk after a long day? a monster under your bed kind enough to give you a book to read before sleep? zombies who will clean your car? creatures from the black lagoon who'll give you fish for dinner? or a freddy kruger who'll chop your vegetables as you cook said fish? check. all here.
so looking forward to the whole new album!
go HERE to buy the single. then go HERE to read an interview i did with IANL recently.
so, there's been some buzz about in the music blog world about brett dennen's latest release, loverboy, which i'll admit to liking - but rather than talk about that (and believe me, there are several songs so worthy of posting from that album), i wanted to share an older song of brett's that is, in this opinion, pretty close to being perfect.
for those of you who aren't in the know, brett dennen is a folk/singer-songwriter from northern california who has an amazing way with words. his voice is unique - some people love it, some dislike it (i'm in the pro-camp), but there's no mistaking how it stands out amongst his peers. his melodies are typically raw in a way that convey emotion rather than gloss, and it's a combination of these things that produce songs that evoke true connection rather than superficial enjoyment.
when i first heard so far from me, i liked it. that's it - just like. it was enough to stick on my ipod, but never enough, at the time, to put into any of my most frequented playlists. but then, every so often, it'd pop up during shuffles, and the more i listened to it - really listened - the more i appreciated it. it started out, like so many things, as like - then i crushed on it until one day, i realized, i was in love with it. and a lot of that love has to do with the story brett tells.
from his daytrotter session, here's brett's explanation behind so far from me:
I never wanted to write a song about being a musician who is always on the road, far away from his girlfriend. Too many bands have songs like that. But, what can I say? That was my reality. I figured at least, if I didn't make any references to the "road" or even traveling, and just kept it about being far apart from your lover, then maybe it would feel more universal....at least I'd have more fun singing it. The craziest thing is....soon after the album came out I went out on tour and over the course of time, everything I knew about love had changed. My girlfriend and I broke up, mostly due to the pressure of being apart and the reality of leading separate lives. I wrote the song as a testament to love. To tell my lover that even though we are far apart, our love can grow stronger. Now the song has a different meaning, and it brings up a whole different set of emotions for me when I sing it. Now it is about letting go....and growing apart, and understanding that sometimes even if you love each other, it is okay to go your separate ways.
the chorus is particularly powerful, especially with the way brett sings it. it's plaintive and honest, like anyone who has ever struggled with deep emotions that they can't get a grip on. if my heart wasn't such a jungle maybe you wouldn't feel so alone, he sings, completely able to own his role in the difficulties faced. if your heart wasn't such an ocean, i wouldn't sink like a stone.
anyone who's ever been in love only to find it slip away from them can relate.
crows ravaging a field of wheat stars jealous of the moon scarecrows know their own defeat envy and the heart that it consumes
today i walked without you like an empty bottle drifting out to sea i would change it if knew how to but it don't come that easily
if my heart wasn't such a jungle maybe you wouldn't feel so alone if your heart wasn't such an ocean i wouldn't sink like a stone
if you weren't so far from me i could hold you while you're sleeping and hear you breathing softly and be there when you're waking
phone calls could not complete us letters cannot replace miles and miles and miles between us another time another place
i have yet to meet another who burns bright as you i'm not looking for any other i only want you
if my heart wasn't such a jungle maybe you wouldn't feel so alone if your heart wasn't such an ocean i wouldn't sink like a stone
go HERE to download brett's entire daytrotter session, including so far from me, for free. go HERE to buy loverboy, brett's latest release (including the very awesome song for leaving, which is featured in the video above).
so, i'm still slogging through my final edit of codename: amof before finding an editor to help polish it. it's a weird thing, knowing that the book is closing in on it's completion. i've foolishly thought this in the past, even though there were niggling doubts in the back of my mind. but this time, though, chloe and co. are ready to leave my hands. i've gone as far as i can with them before a pro editor can work their magic.
but during these final edits, i'm revisiting songs that have shaped characters and scenes. i think i've said before that i'm pretty much a music nazi when it comes to writing. i can't write without it. and it can't just be a random shuffle - nope, i have to have the PERFECT song to build a scene or character to - not necessarily lyrics wise (although that helps), but in tone. if necessary, i will take quite a long time finding each song. i build careful playlists that allow me to instantly get back into the world i've created.
one of the songs that was crucial to codename: amof is singer-songwriter polly scattergood'sheartbreaking i am strong. i was re-listening to this the other night as i was line editing and remembered just how brilliant a song it is and how it captured the desperation a particular character felt in the scene i was polishing.
technically, i am strong is a dirge for the tattered remnants of a relationship. polly sings of how she's already taken and how she can't imagine dating again, but on the other hand, she's at her breaking point and knows things are over. it's so sad, so incredibly gut wrenching in its simplicity and repetition. there aren't a lot of poetic deep thoughts here - i am strong is not an ode about crumbling love. instead, it represents what real life is like - in that moment, when you realize something is over, you sort of lose your breath and your ability to form cohesive, lengthy thoughts. the words that come out tend to be stunted because emotions overtake rather than coherency.
polly gets that right on in this song. she insists to herself that she's strong - that she can deal with this, but at the same time, she's fragile and overwhelmed. numb. her voice is soft with a tremulous edge, but it, along with the piano and drum's steady beats, move you through the scene (and uncertain future) unfolding.
it is a powerful song, friends. i think that, if i ever was so lucky to have a movie made of codename: amof, i'd insist upon this song being in it (if, of course, they ever allowed me a say in such things!).
i am strong i am not weak i'm not in a place where i can talk to you i am not hot i am not cold i am not for sale, for i am sold
i am strong, I am not weak i am not in a place where i can talk to you i am not hot, i am not cold i am not for sale, i am sold i built this house, it took quite long sticks and stones, i made it strong i locked it up, i gave you a key but you didn't come home to me
i am strong, i am not weak i am not in a place where i can talk to you i am not hot, i am not cold i am not for sale, i am sold i'm unaffected, yet quite confused in a state of non security of non security
i laugh a lot before i cry i don't understand how you could lie to me how you could lie to me
i am strong, i am not weak i am not in a place where i can talk to you i am not hot, i am not cold i am not for sale, i am sold i am not a prisoner, yet i'm not free i lost my mind, but i can see i feel a witch upon my back she stole my soul, i want it back
i am strong, i am not weak i am not in a place where i can talk to you i am not hot, i am not cold i am not for sale, for i am sold
so, on the day that i've bought tickets to go see the national(with neko case opening!! how fricking' amazing is that show going to be?!?) at the hollywood bowl, i find out one of my favorite songs by them is now free off of their bandcamp site!
about today, off of cherry tree, is so incredibly sad. listening to it is like listening in on a private conversation between two people in the wake of crumbling. it's early national stuff - way before the glory of boxer and high violet - but it's a prime example of why this band is so great. beautiful guitar work, lyrics that are emotionally dead-on, and, as always, a superb exhibition of matt berninger's stellar voice.
i honestly don't get why these guys aren't huge. are typical music listeners morons or something? is britney spears REALLY more popular than a band like the national? can anyone really claim that lady gaga or justin timberlake or whoever is the flavor of the month (sorry, don't listen to traditional radio much) are superior in any way at all than the national?
*shakes head*
on second thought - don't even bother trying to rationalize it to me. in this opinion, the national is one of the best bands out there. i'll just have be content in my knowledge that i am capable of seeing/knowing this when others aren't.
so looking forward to seeing them at the hollywood bowl.
today you were far away and i didn't ask you why - what could i say? "i was far away - you just walked away and i just watched you." what could i say?
how close am i to losing you?
tonight you just close your eyes and i just watch you slip away
how close am i to losing you?
hey, are you awake? "yeah, i'm right here" well, can i ask you about today?
...how close am i to losing you? how close am i to losing...?
and the video? HOLY HELL IS THIS VERSION AMAZING. *dies* no, really. *dies*
buy cherry tree, the album about today is off of, HERE.
so, after being dazzled by chicago shoegazers pink frost and their very excellent single the sun, i got a chance to ask the band some questions about their history and what's coming up next for them.
how you met heather: how did pink frost come to be as a band?
mark frost: Adam [Jack Frost, who, along with Busser Dave Frost, make up the trio] and I are co workers. One day in the middle of pouring drinks for people we started talking about what guitars we thought were cool and what bands we liked. We decided to get together and play some music. We ended up having a blast, so we've been writing songs together ever since!
hymh: i loved your EP. what is the creative process behind your music like?
mark: Adam and I both write the songs...we'll bring in parts that we've been playing with on our own and show each other. We always end up getting excited and coming up with a bunch of ideas, and then all of a sudden they start melting together and our song's finished.
hymh:you’re currently at work on a new full-length album. how’s that coming along?
mark: The writing of the full length is pretty much finished. We almost have too many songs! Now it's all about figuring out which ones we want to release and digging into them. We have tons of fun in the studio and can't wait to get it all finished and ready to listen to.
hymh: any plans to tour?
mark: Yeah! Once we finish the full length we plan on playing out as much as possible, although we're not entirely sure as to where the shows will be yet... Hopefully everywhere.
thanks, mark! i'm looking forward to hearing what you guys have to offer up next.
you can download pink frost's eponymous EP for free at their bandcamp site. all three songs are pretty awesome:
so, when one mentions the name warren zevon, people almost immediately say, "oh yeah! the guy who sang werewolves of london!" which is fair, because that IS the song he's best known for (and it's a kickin' song, as well). but, i'll let you in on a secret...
werewolves of london isn't my favorite zevon song.
musically a mixture of rock and singer-songwriter, zevon had a gritty voice and almost impossibly catchy melodies alongside fabulous 70's guitar work. praised and beloved by legends such as springsteen, dylan, and neil young, zevon excelled at writing satires that forced careful listeners to consider their messages.
zevon died in 2003 after suffering from mesothelioma - and he left behind a veritable treasure chest of quality music for generations to come to enjoy. he chronicled his illness in the gut-wrenching keep me in your heart (i dare you to listen to that song and not tear up - gah. i still do, every single time. go HERE to watch it and sob quietly) and earned a grammy nomination posthumously.
but i'm not going to share keep me in your heart, either.
instead, i'm going to celebrate warren zevon's musical talent by sharing lawyers, guns and money. i cannot tell you how much i love this song, friends. it's just so fun to listen to, despite being about some ex-pat who effed up and is in dire need of - you guessed it! lawyers, guns and money. this is one of those songs that, every time it comes on in the car, the husband and i sing along as loud as we can.
what a fab summer song.
well, i went home with the waitress - you know, the way i always do - well how was i to know she was with the russians, too?
i was gambling in havana you know, i took a little risk send lawyers, guns and money daddy, won't you get me out of this?
i'm an innocent bystander somehow i got stuck between a rock and a hard place and i'm down on my luck oh yeah, i'm down on my luck
i'm so far down, i don't think i'll ever get up if it weren't for bad luck oh, if it weren't for bad luck i wouldn't have no luck at all
now i'm stranded in honduras i'm a desperate man send lawyers, guns and money the shit has hit the fan send lawyers, guns and money send lawyers, guns and money get me out of this send lawyers, guns and money you know the shit has hit the fan
check out the video of warren playing it live in '94. here's his explanation behind the song:
back in the late 70's, i was working on the album excitable boy and i decided i needed a vacation. so i went to kauai in the hawaiian islands and i wrote this song late one night on wet cocktail napkins after a long day of improbable and grotesque mischief. obviously, i survived all that, but i learned something from the experience. i never take vacations.
excitable boy is an excellent album - but if you're looking to experience a smattering of zevon's greatness, go and get a quiet life - the best of warren zevon (which includes lawyers, guns and money) instead. go HERE to buy it.
so, break-ups are tough things to go through. and there are a million ways to go through one. there's the weepy way, the begging way, the disbelieving way, the pissed off way, the disinterested way, and the gleeful way.
inevitably, peeps afterwards think about their reactions, often wishing it'd been different. "if only i'd thought of saying X," they think. "if only i'd done Y."
ah. if only, right?
well, today's song is pretty much the most hilarious in kiss-offs. told from the pissed off, just found out the SO is cheating point of view, ignorant pig is pretty much just what you'd expect from such a title. what's awesome is that amy heffernan has this sweet, poppy voice that nearly masks the scornful rage behind her lyrics.
reminiscant of katy perry, heffernan is a guilty pleasure that is hard to resist. she's pure pop - all catchy melody and synths and a chorus that you'll find yourself singing to while imagining re-doing certain break-ups.
weepy? yeah, RIGHT!
i got your machine after only two rings again and the text you sent says: "i'm busy" you're not with your friends 'cuz you ain't got any did you finally get a job, baby? hmm...not likely
who are you without me? i'll tell you what i see
you ignorant pig for letting me down you think i can't tell that you're messing around you're effing up big you don't even know don't try to hold on 'cuz i'm letting you go you ignorant pig
it's best you come clean just tell me everything whatever's been happening yeah, i'm listening
oh, really? it's nothing? how stupid can you be?
you ignorant pig for letting me down you think i can't tell that you're messing around you're effing up big you don't even know don't try to hold on 'cuz i'm letting you go you ignorant pig
deep...in the next room you're as subtle as a typhoon yeah, you really pulled a fast one, baby you're so smooth
you're letting me down you think i can't tell that you're messing around? you're effing up big you don't even know don't try to hold on 'cuz i'm letting you go, you ignorant pig
friggin little know it all, the album ignorant pig is off of (which was set for release this week), has been slightly delayed. look for it soon on itunes!
so, today's song, tumble down by marcus foster, is utterly gorgeous. i really mean this. it's the sort of song that just blows you away with just how lovely it is. it starts quiet and builds and swells and then explodes and leaves you, in the end, sort of stunned by its beauty.
in a way, tumble down reminds me of U2 - not modern day U2 (and, let's be clear, i'm not saying 2011 U2 is crap, just different), but joshua tree U2. my favorite kind of U2. and furthermore, tumble down reminds me of the stunning simplicity and power of running to stand still, which, i think, makes me love the song all the better.
side note - this was how the original post on this song went: GAH, GAH, BRILLIANT, OMG, SO BEAUTIFUL, REPEAT, MUST LISTEN.
i have a sneaky suspicion this one might be on my top 10 list at the end of 2011.
in this life there’s only one man who is born, who is torn into the light he has lived and he has died and he’s the only one who’s tied to the night
he will walk through pointless danger he will go through twisted sorrow he will know that if he really saw the wall it would all just tumble down
have you ever seen the haunted ancient morning sweep the stars out from the sky? have you ever seen the dust wiped from your heart, so clear that you can see it shine? see it shine
as you walk through your pointless danger you will go through twisted sorrow but you will know that if you really saw the wall it would all just tumble down
'cuz it could hold no more truth it could hold no more dreams it could hold no more people 'cuz people, they would know what it means it could hold no more sky it could hold no more sea no more.. no more sea it could hold no more time 'cuz it would all, it would all just tumble down it would fall
stream and download this song from the soundcloud below:
so, i have a question for you all - do you ever like a song better because of the video? granted, most of us hear the song first and then go hunt down the video. and, i've got to admit, many videos are AWFUL. there are those that are basically wtf moments, those that have (in the listener's opinion) nothing to do with what the song is (assumed to be) about, and then there are those that are brilliant.
every so often i stumble across a video before listening to a song beforehand. today's song, break the spell by australian band all mankind, is just such a song.
the video is such eye candy - steampunk in nature (and i do love me some good steampunk genre books, so this was up my alley) and animated, it's a ride through a futuristic yet anarchistic world that tim burton might want to inhabit.
the band sounds a bit like a cross between temper trap, coldplay, and the white lies (musically, at least). break the spell is definitely a catchy song - it keeps you racing throughout, never letting up as it chases the end.
i like it - and i think a lot of that is because i like the video so much.
in the long, hidden past was a world just like ours once beautiful, but every flower dies
in the soul of the men was a heart, brave and red but cursed hearts can grow an ugly side
but i got you you got me got a chance i believe if love will come and break the spell tonight
only love survives, only love survives
in the land, cold and wet is a hope, and a threat it came crawling through the cover of the night
in the fear of defeat is a chance I believe to return to who we once were meant to be
but i got you you got me got a chance i believe if love will come and break the spell tonight
i got hope there's a way we can make it one more day if love will come and break the spell tonight
