Where the food sounds good, and the music is pretty tasty too.
Hot off the press! Check out the “Simple Song” 7″ B-Side “September” by The Shins. It is a beautifully somber affair, and it only further whets our collective appetite for the March 20th Port Of Morrow LP release.
You can get The Shins Simple Song 7″ release next week (Valentine’s Day) at your participating Record Store Day dealer. Peace. Continue reading “The Shins // September (Simple Song B-Side) Video”
The Dø is French/Finnish experimental pop-duo Olivia Merilahti and Dan Levy. I strongly suspect they’re not be from this planet. Which would explain quite a lot. No matter their origins, the they create music is an incredible sound treat to your ears. I reviewed this band way back when their Both Ways Open Jaws album dropped mid-November on this side of the Atlantic. I particularly loved the first single “Dust It Off” as it’s still playing on loop inside my head. However, I’m making room inside my skull for the band’s additional sweet rendition of Janelle Monáe‘s song “Tightrope,” it is gonna really tickle your fancy place. And if that doesn’t do it for you (it will), then check out The Line of Best Fit session of the song “Slippery Slope” and I think the brassy horns will blow your hair back for you, in a good way. Peace. Continue reading “The Dø // Tightrope (Janelle Monáe Cover) Video”
Music is a funny thing. And more often than not music chooses you and not the other way around. What I mean is, although we are constantly inundated with tons of music. An almost endless deluge of sound, some voices rise above. Revealing, only certain songs, or bodies of work, really reach and speak to us in tomes of soul-speak. And, if you approach music with any degree of discernment you’re not easily seduced by trends, or by what someone else claims is the next big thing.
With singer-songwriter Natalie Prass the music reaches you by cutting through to the heart of what makes a song special. Delivery and emotion. When Ms. Prass open her mouth listeners are rewarded immediately by the two most important elements of song writing; song structure, and delivery, and in this case a beyond beautiful singing voice.
Funny thing, I came to know how Natalie Prass by way of a serendipitous occurrence. No lie. Recently, I was provided with an advance copy of songs to review by a band I (Cherub) really respect and like a lot. And one of those songs on their forthcoming album features Ms. Natalie Prass. And although I imagine there were a lot of people who could have potentially sung the lyrics on their song, these guys had the good sense, and taste, to pick the best person for the job. Because, what Natalie brought to this particular song was a large bit of tenderness and an ethereal voice. Which turned my heart into a pool of melted reddish jelly. I played the song over and over, at least 3-4 times before I snapped out of it and performed a Google search on her name and hit the jackpot; I found her Bandcamp and Facebook pages, then her website natalieprass.com.
First, I came upon the song “Earth Angel,” and just as soon as it pricked my ear like the soft muzzle of newborn foal, I was seduced. This sweet revisitation of an old classic is nicely done(understatement). But then I listened to the song “Bird Of Prey,” from Natalie’s Sense of Transcendence EP (2011) and I’ve been playing it pretty much non-stop. The song really comes alive when she plays an acoustic set on the video below after the jump.
What a perfect song for our Sunday Best pick and an ideal song to unfurl the morning. My advice, Get your ears on any and everything associated with Natalie Prass. She can do no wrong, musically speaking that is. Song birds are a dime a dozen, but birds of paradise are a rare breed. Peace. Continue reading “Natalie Prass // Bird Of Prey (Video) Our Sunday Best”
From the pop culture bad boys over at Adult Swim they’ve recruited the alternate reality guru of all things not right in the universe Lifuchs to conjure up titillating visions for Neon Indian‘s Era Extraña’s far-out groovy “Fallout” video. And don’t you just love animated cartoons of the adult variety? I do, and boy oh boy is this something you’ll not soon forget. Definitely not safe for work and just shy of an R-rating. And for all those reasons it is sure to garner loads of interest. And yeah, just in case you’re wondering the song is pretty good too, even if the visuals are literally stealing the limelight from the audio. In this case the song “Fallout” is the supporting cast for the scene stealing video and not the other right way around. Peace. Continue reading “Neon Indian // Fallout (Video)”
I reviewed the Italy-based band A Classic Education back in November and their latest release Call It Blazing is an album you’ll want to play over and over again, no lie. Now, the band has released a video for the song “Baby, It’s Fine” and it is a sweet bit of black and white cinema for an equally sweet song. Thanks for watching. Peace. Continue reading “A Classic Education // Baby, It’s Fine (Video)”
His official press release, reads as such, “The most striking thing about Florian Lunaire, is how difficult it is to place him.” But for me, it’s easy: place him on your heart and pull the soft woolen afghan of his songs up close.
You will listen to these songs and you’ll notice a stark simplicity. As if perhaps the songs started off adorned with all manner of gaudy accouterments, but in the end everything unnecessary was shorn away. Leaving only raw glistening bones drying in the sun of our collective audience. I would like to imagine, things like the need to categorize songs is a dying practice. Wishful thinking for certain, but still I dream. Perhaps, that is the bane of the majority of the music industry: its constant pursuit to market and label the commodity of song. I’ll use a universal signifier here, by simply saying Florian Lunaire writes beautiful music and it is “good.” By proclaiming something is good cuts through all the bullshit. No need for further explanation, or having to defend your musical taste. Because already, by hearing or reading that something is good, sets the stage of positive expectation. So, if you’re a fairly well-adjusted bloke or lass, then I suspect you’ll like the music on review. If you’re a lover of life, and not a warmonger or tyrant, then you’ll have heart enough to let your guard down and let the music in; and listen to the melody of this young singer-songwriter’s raging heart. Peace. Continue reading “florian lunaire | a year’s worth of song | dramamine | video”
I am of the belief everything without exception contains a soul. Every living thing. Yes, the nonliving too, mountains and molecules alike. But more to the point. I especially am of the belief that even songs carry within them life-giving energies. These energies manifest in varying degrees of influence. For some, a song can encourage. Yet, for others the same exact song can caution. The songs of Jesse Boykins III are radiant and flush with an intimate feel-good vibe. Without a doubt these songs are living and breathing, and at times even kicking and screaming too.
The music of Mr. Boykins is much like meeting an old friend anew or akin to encountering someone you never met before, but for untold reasons ya’ll just click. These songs are much like the latter. Some say soul music is dead or dying. I disagree. Upon listening to “Way Of The Wayfarer,” you know as well as I do such proclamations are untrue to the point of lunacy. If you haven’t heard of Mr. Boykins it’s alright, better late to this sound party than never attending, right? Let’s just say you’re fashionably late. No matter, just enjoy what this young man is putting out into the universe and just chill. Peace. Continue reading “Jesse Boykins III & The Beauty Created // Way Of The Wayfarer (Video)”
It all started many moons ago, way back in 1978 when The Kick Inside was released, and a then 19-year old Kate Bush came bursting onto the music scene. And now, here we are, the year is 2012 and boy has it been an impressive career for Ms. Bush. Long before Björk, Tori Amos or more recently a Florence and The Machine, there was this scrappy, albeit eclectic, force of nature with her soon-to-become trademark voice, and a penchant for literature, modern dance and the color red. Finally, after so many seasons, (her last previous release was Aerial (2005) the wait is over. With the release of 50 Words For Snow (November 2011) we are given the usual gifts we’ve come to expect from Kate Bush, and we are more than happy to have them. The latest single “Eider Falls At Lake Tahoe” has an accompanying video directed by none other than Kate Bush herself. In a nutshell, it illustrates the tale of a faithful dog missing its master who has recently passed. Like so many, I am an adoring fan and with good reason, hers is the stuff of angels’ breath and utterly melodious meditation. Although you never know what to expect from Kate Bush, you can always count on her sense of beauty to win out over all else. Kate Bush, brings together the universe in the tiny, yet potent capsules of her songs. Her oeuvre is dotted with an array of star-lit odes, which make up a dazzling constellation. So, cock your ear to the heavens and listen, her stars are falling beautifully; all around. Peace. Continue reading “kate bush // eider falls at lake tahoe + video”
You have a tendency to perk up your ears when such a reputed indie label as Rough Trade describes a band as follows, “The band’s (Pulled Apart By Horses) self-titled 2010 debut was a sonic maelstrom of screamo and hard disco riffage; here was heavy music that you could shake a tail feather to, pop music at its most corrupted. Dance music played by wiry punk weirdo’s.” Such an introduction surely got my attention. So, get in touch with your inner ruffian and see if you can blow your speakers out playing PABH cranked up to 11. To get you up to speed, as a primer check out their 2011 release Until My Head Exploded: Greatest Hits. I gather you need no explanation on what you do with this one, but don’t be surprised if the neighbors call in 5-0. And that’s not all, I also have the band’s latest video for the raucous mosh pit ready single “V.E.N.O.M.” I warned you! Peace. Continue reading “Pulled Apart By Horses // Until My Head Exploded: Greatest Hits // V.E.N.O.M (Video)”
Forgive me. When I first heard the London-based duo Alpines I thought Kate Bush and Siouxsie Sioux had somehow cloned themselves into one supremely gifted entity, but alas ’twas not the case. What was the case? Well, I had chanced upon none other than the lovely Catherine Pockson and the musically stalwart Robert Matthews all up in my ear space! And the more I heard, I more I grew curious for more. What nerve! I’ve no idea how such groove splashed sounds could have escaped me, but I’ve reconciled my shortcomings with this posting. By the way, I’m enamored to the gills with the Pop/Operatic vocals of Ms. Pockson. So much so, I find myself constantly clicking repeat as I raptly listen again and again. The song Cocoon is an August 2011 release, for which the Hope directed video appears below. And the track Why was released this past November with a little help from the dynamic Mary Jane Coles. Enjoy and as always. Peace. Continue reading “alpines // cocoon + video) + why + maya jane coles + carly simon cover”
