Four Songs to Listen to Forthwith - 07/25/10

Cee-Lo Green is the face of modern contemporary soul. He has a instantly recognizable unique voice, flawless crafted delivery and insatiable productivity. He has contributed to dozens and dozens of collaborations. By finding time for himself, he has treated us to look deeper inside his emotions, instead of helping others to express themselves. He’s been the face of Gnarls Barkley providing glorious hits like “Crazy. The song “What Part of Forever” made a trip around other music blogs because of its inclusion in the new Twilight soundtrack (squeezed in a little before the end of the credits). Ignore all the preteens and middle age moms listening for a second and enjoy the song... except the best video I found was a twilight tribute... I'm gonna switch to his appearance on Lopez.
Imagine eternity doesn’t seem that hard
They say nothing lasts forever
We'll have to prove them wrong

Mark Kozelek is a talented, true-to-self singer songwriter. His music takes time to listen to, figuratively and literally, his songs often go 6 minutes plus. He doesn’t force himself onto with hooks, choruses and melodies. He’s harmonious and haunting. The songs on his latest album, Admiral Fell Promises, are very simply mostly consisting of him and his guitar. The vocals have a slight echo to add greater ambience. The song “You Are My Sun” I find especially appealing because of it’s incredible steady hand when the track changes so much, the music moves around and his volume changes. It creates a powerful buildup to the center of the song where he feels that now he can play with the song more and is free to leave breaks in the verse. And hey, check this out, since at the time of this writing I couldn’t find anyone else’s take on the lyrics, here’s what I hear for the first lines of the song. Let me know what you think!
You are my life, Dark City
You fill the lost of the day
You are my love, radiant and pretty overseas
You find ways of bringing hope on lonely nights

I don’t have a good system for picking the last two songs of this blog, I just sort of wing. Sometimes I look through other old blogs, sometimes I examine old playlists, or maybe I just scroll through my tens of thousands of songs hoping for something jump out at me. This time I was looking through old playlists. I saw two old favorites in separate lists, Elefant – Misfit and the next song you’ll read about in a minute. I was looking up some info on the songs, apparently this band had a song highlight a season finale of Scrubs and the next song was picked for the end of the series. Totally coincidence. It’s also a coincidence that Elefant broke up last month :( Oh well, they were a solid indie rock band out of New York City. Here’s a great song that’s catchy and relaxed. “Tell me your name, tell me your story, cause I’m into it. Running through life, like a misfit.” It’s so hip. Get the single version of this song, the video version here seems a bit off.

There are some songs that can really surprise when they show music is capable of. Peter Gabrial did a cover a song by The Magnetic Fields in 1998 called “The Book of Love” it is an amazing piece of art. Gabrial sings in a way that it seems like he’s sang this thousands of times and still finds ways to make it better. He's like your grandfather telling you for the umpteenth time how he met your grandma. It’s a humble song about something very powerful. Here’s a wonderful tribute video to this song. My favorite line, well…
The book of love has music in it
In fact that’s where music comes from

Four Songs to Listen to Forthwith - 07/18/10

Janelle Monae is a beautiful up-and-coming pop R&B artist. Her first full length studio album which came out in May has done extremely well. I love it, it’s absolutely packed with experimental artistic pieces. I am just really surprised by the variety on this album. The song Come Alive sat extremely well me. There’s a few killer things that I liked about this song. It’s got a catchy back beat/melody that’s carried through the bass, lead guitar and lyrics. It’s all woven together well. But she doesn’t just pick a winning melody and let it carry the song, there are breaks, strange solos, and impromptu screams. It’s full of the fun swing that made a furious come back in the late 90’s. I believe this song would make a killer addition to a wedding reception, (wink wink, nudge nudge)

Local Natives are an Indie Rock band from LA. Why do I mention LA so much? because it’s noticeable in their music. LA artists have an air of extra relaxation, smooth, easy-going, “Why does everyone look at me funny when I show up an hour late?” kind of feel to them. So the album came out last year but I’m just learning about it and this band. The song Airplanes is simple and really enjoyable to listen to. It’s recorded faux-live, something that I like when it’s done well. The song has harmonious vocals from… I don’t know… apparently everyone but the drummer does vocals. Either way, it’s a great song. The lyrics and simple and to the point “I keep those chopsticks you had from when you taught abroad in Japan; I love it all; so much I call; I want you back, back, back, you back;”

Time to take a trip back for the last couple songs of this foursome. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists have been around for a while and are still putting quality indie music. I’d like you check out this tracks, its fun, poignant and that string of lyrics in that are repeated just after the middle of the song… wow. “I asked Jerry, he told Terry, Terry sang a song just for me, Lynvall gave a message to me, Rhoda screamed and then she asked me, Where have all the rude boys gone?" That relentless string of he-said, she-said just grabs me. It’s a great band and I hope to see them some time in concert. From the video they just strike me as full of energy and enthusiasm for their music. I like songs without a beat, and I like songs with a beat. I just need to categorize things and this fits nicely into the “has a beat, you can dance to it, or don’t” drawer.

Why are you hear? Want to find new and interesting bands? Open your awareness of music? Well here’s what you want. Miyavi – Survive he’s from Tokyo. I’m drawing a blank about what else to say about this guy, I’m excited to show you this song, it kicks ass. The song is all Japanese. So I have no decent lyrics. Here, let me attempt them for you.

Hello World
Yeah! Whoo! Ha!
Cat a cigarette, all that ashes, let me see The Nile
Who the fuck is this, fugging monkey, flying a new dato
Mama, where my key move all the time, dammit find a hero
??... ??? ... ??? ?? ??? LOSER!!
Yeah, I’m sorry, I’m serving
Said sorry, yeah, I’m serving.
And you won’t! Why my Whizzo (x3)
Go! Whew! Yeah!
You need a mirror, look around, and now you get a Sega
Back when the show was new never, it’s a Nintendo
Here’s to looking new bright and anthem as an Adder
Now don’t give away an ostrich my life
Hey correct, I’m guy a screaming Alec where’s my soda?
Keith’s new dalec in a piece I love these pills in water
I so hip I show no coat my shows almost ending
I’m gonna brag all month do that LOSER!
Guido’s won’t! grab my wizard (x6)

Four Songs to Listen to Forthwith - 07/11/10

I’ve been a huge Ratatat fan for a long time. Their music is metallic and sweet. It’s like eating a brownie with flecks of iron tossed, you know, for flavor and texture. They released their forth album last month, LP4. It was made around the same time as their previous, LP3. LP3 was alright, as a diehard Ratatat fan I found it easy to like and appreciate, but I could also see the truth in many of the negative reviews. As far as Ratatat goes, it was non experimental and it seemed to lose some originality. Remember, I’m talking about Ratatat so I’m hoping you keep some perspective that this band is in my opinion, an absolute must-hear. LP4 has blown away that previous work and restored my faith in these two musical mad scientists. The entire album pulls the back of your head forward and then pushes it back with the greatest ease. You won’t know what you’re listening to, but you’ll like it. This isn’t musical that you hum to, this is music you absorb. I grabbed “Ratatat – Party with Children” because it’s a great song, simple video, and just had a party on Friday with, you guessed it, lots of kids running around.

Fol Chen are an Indie Pop band from LA. They recently released their second album. Not the stuff I normally listen to, but this song sits really well with me. Fol Chen – Cable TV. I’m not sure how to compartmentalize this song, it’s clearly trying to be pop, low synthetic base, catchy loops and generally simple lyrics. “Won’t you come away with me; The carpet’s filthy but the ice is free” This song excels at shaking off clichés. It’s like someone that hasn’t grown up in the USA is thrust into LA for a week, then this talented foreigner is asked to make their own pop song.

I dwell on contemporary bleeding edge stuff, but I grew up listening to the classic rock of my parents. Most of the arena rock was and is garbage, but along with that are strong genres about art and self expression. Psychedelic, folk, and progressive rock were doing some great things in the late 60s, early 70s. Emerson Lake and Palmer were an English supergroup, they did arena rock right, selling out ridiculously sized concerts and filling the time with beautiful, creative music that pushed rock to new places. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer – Lucky Man, it’s a sad song about a rich young man dying in war, a popular topic during 1972. The three sing the chorus with their distinct, eerie harmony. Twelve string acoustic guitars blend into rolling drums and one of the earliest songs with a moog synthesizer. One more quick fun fact, it was written by Greg Lake when he was 12 years old.

Let’s bring it down. Here’s some honest acoustic folk. I was afraid that I couldn’t find a decent link to the song Irving - Crumbling Mountain Tops. Irving has very modest popularity. I really have no idea where I first heard this song, maybe it was off a station on Launchcast or Pandora, maybe it was a Pitchfork review. I don’t know, but it’s simple and beautiful and exquisite. I love that I was the third person to see this video on youtube, not a video, just album art. There’s some artsy fan video, but I’d much rather stare at the cd jacket than whatever that other guy was doing. Where’s all the other uploads?

Rachel Rocks the Review - 7/6/10

So some music this week, how about we start off with some local guys...Standard of Living. I first heard of them a few years ago and have followed them since. Their music is upbeat and poppy and when you combine it together with some local hometown lyrics how can you go wrong. Plus since a bunch of the guys went to my high school and I know the family of one of the guys in the family...I have to plug them a little. Here's one of my favorites from them:

Next up is The Joy Formidable with The Greatest light is the Greatest Shade. I don't know much about this group other than this song. I heard it on a song of the day podcast and listened to it on repeat for most of a work day. It has a great beat and the beginning is fun and different. I look forward to seeing what else they have to offer, I feel like this is one of those groups that I really should have known for a while...in the mean time I'll leave you with this great song:

I decided a little late in the game that I was going to this years Warp Tour so I've been playing catch up on the bands that will be performing and came across You Me At Six through once again Paramore. I believe they toured a little with them in Australia for the Soundwave dates. I immediately got their most recent album, Hold Me Down, and got hooked on a bunch of the songs. They remind me a bunch of Paramore, but with a male lead. This is a great album to listen to for a quick pick me up or a running mix (as I also use it for). Some of my favorites are Hard to Swallow and Liquid Confidence but I'm going to leave you with my favorite song to listen to while running and just in general:

And finally this week I'm going to leave you with a Paramore song...why you ask...I say why not! Seeing that it's one of my favorite bands out there, it's amazing that it's taken me this long to include them into this blog. I know most people know them as that Twilight song band, if that's you then you really should take some time and look into their catalog more. Decode was a great song, don't get me wrong, but they have a lot more to offer. They've released 3 albums, their second album Riot! is certified Platinum in the US and Gold most everywhere else and their 3rd album Brand New Eyes is their highest charting album so far. As someone who's seen them live a few times (and got engaged at one of the shows) I recommend EVERYONE go see them. The spirit, sound and pure energy that they bring to the stage every night is amazing. I could go on and on about their shows and my favorite songs both live and album version but I don't want this blog entry to be 2 pages long. So I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs (both album and live) off the new album: