Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man

I've heard this song floating around over the summer and it just occurred to me, "Hey, maybe I should share this with people" It's been around the radio stations for a bit which has earned it that weird spot where it gets to be artistic but because they take that gimmeck and grind it into your ear enough that people will call into the radio stations and request it. Whatever, it's a good gimmick. You'll be humming "It was not your fault but mine, It was your heart on the line. I really Fucked it up this time. Didn't I, my dear?" Mumford and Sons are a folk rock band our of England, they've been playing for a few years and released their first album last year. I just noticed, after picking this song that it is currently the number one alternative son. Huh. Now I'm kicking myself for not sharing it sooner, better late then then never.

Holy Fuck - Red Lights

Yeah, the name of the band is a bad word. I saw them last night and they certainly drew a diverse crowd. I'm sure some of that was their naughty name. But don't ask them, they finished their set by thanking everyone for coming out to see Nickelback. There were typical hipsters and weirdly ridiculous hipsters. I'm not kidding, I overheard a conversation that went something like

I started a band, our name is Fuzzy Dice ((I don't remember exacts))
Oh cool, the name of our band is Croissant.
I thought you were in Finish.
No, that will be the next band

Wow, then on the way out another guy was saying he could do better, but at least the singer had "a good stage presence"... I also felt deeply embarrassed for the guy that was air drumming with flimsy glowsticks in the front row. Not everyone were dorky hipsters, I saw a big biker dude, bunch of frat boys, and some guy that was way too surprised to see the band offering their album on vinyl. It's cool and all, but I'm not going to announce it to the bar and jump up and down. I'm just gonna guess, but I think the last band he saw was Creed. I'm not part of the small band indie scene, either, but come on. When the singer made the uber ironic Nickeback remark I think the kid in the front row ironically jizzed in his skinny jeans

Anyway, the music is lo-fi electronica, that's just electronica with older, less mainstream stuff, no looping typically. They have a drummer and bassist, so they'll often have a familiar sound. They also try to employ some unique sounds from vintage stuff and old toy instruments. This song, Red Lights is the first track of their latest album released in May. It's got a great groove and is just screaming to be the opening song to some new TV drama, JJ Abrams reads this right? The sound in this video could be better. Check here for the entire studio album on Grooveshark.

Lissie - Bully

Lissie is an american folk singer, she just released her second album a month ago. It's fantastic, moving and original. I think it's a great piece of work. Interestingly she seems to be doing particularly well in Europe, even making a few charts with her singles off this latest album. I ran into a few problems getting videos to work for her because so many of them are blocked in the US by Sony. There's Sony, not helping their reputation as a pain in the ass record company. Lissie's style is unrushed. Her lyrics are vague yet easy to relate to. I wanted to highlight this song, "Bully" specifically because of that quality in her words. The line "Your Momma's here and your Papa too, and we are so darn proud of you." hits me hard. This is a beautiful song and worth listening to over and over. I couldn't be happier with this live video of her and the band singing on the rooftop, let's hope people will look up and listen with us to some honest music.

Here's a brilliant cover of Stairway to Heaven by Lissie. Sony's out to get it, so I'm sorry if this ends up as a dead link soon.

Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside

The album for Danger Mouse's and James Mercer's collaboration came out in March with several singles released since then. The Ghost Inside was issued as a single in June, but I never noticed what a fantastic video went along with this song. It's Christina Hendricks! She looks fantastic and fits this emotional video perfectly. All of the Broken Bells songs chill well. The entire album has been a mainstay for me this summer. They just tickle your ear and bring up some emotion that you don't know what to do with.

Plain White T's

The Plain White T's released a sweet little single last month, "Rhythm of Love". It's smooth and adorable like their big hit "Hey There Delilah". The vocals are a bit overproduced sound unnatural, but the mixture of strings more than makes up for it. The shaking rattles and twang highlights season the song well. It makes a wonderful song to end the summer with.