janelle monae and james brown

As I think you all know by now, I'm a lover of soul music. And who's the godfather of soul? Why James Brown of course. So you can imagine my delight when I came across Janelle Monae. An indie pop and soul singer, signed by Sean "Diddy" Combs in 2007, she has a great voice and even better dance moves. But what I love about her the most is her blatant reference back to the good old James Brown days. As you can see in the above Letterman performance, she works the moves (though no one is as smooth as the man) and even has cape placed on her shoulders before she drops the the ground on her knees. As you've seen here before, this is all James Brown. I've reposted that video here for you enjoyment. (be sure to watch the end of both videos).

Of course this means she is nothing new, but how refreshing to see this young artist refuse to be placed into the young black woman musical artist categories (as she says in a few interviews). And to harken back to James Brown, well thats way cooler than the Madonna reference that is getting a bit tired with Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera. No wonder P.Diddy said this was the most important signings of his career.

Newport Folk Festival

I am so excited to go to the festival this year! There are perks to being in New England! I think I'm most excited to See Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, but Andrew Bird, Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros, the Avett Brothers and The Swell Season certainly have their draw. I hear the venue is right on the water, and if the weather is nice, its going to be a great time. Checkout the teaser below:

Newport Folk Festival 2010 from Mike Anderson on Vimeo.

For a line up click here (we are skipping Friday).

listen: Jakob Dylan: NPR Tiny Desk Concert

NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts, my new favorite thing.

james and aretha

I encourage you to get funky this weekend. Enjoy!

listen: Declaration of Dependence

Kings of Convenience (an old favorite from Riot on an Empty Street) has released a new album entitled, Declaration of Dependence. Though my precious Imeem has been purchased by Myspace, I can offer a link to this full album on their myspace page here.

I would also suggest listening to their NPR interview. I particularly enjoy how the interviewer continually references the fact that the two of them have trouble getting along. There are also quite a few live ditties.

I hop you enjoy as much as I did.

Listen: Laura Veirs

I can't stop listening to this album so I thought I'd share it with you. Laura Veirs has just come out with a new album entitled, July Flame. My first thought was that she was a more upbeat, and female, Fleet Foxes, with a dash of country. Here is what NPR's Bob Boilen has to say:

"Exclusive First Listen: Laura Veirs
December 21, 2009 - Laura Veirs' latest release, the stripped-down July Flame, uses atmosphere and tension as the connective tissue for its songs. Veirs, who's been setting her observations to song since 1999, says she was in a writing slump going into this record, so she challenged herself with odd tunings on her nylon-string guitar. She dug deep inside for inspiration, did away with her full band for most of the album and wrote many of these tracks in her barn in Portland, Ore.

The sounds on July Flame were created with Veirs' producer, Tucker Martine; this is their sixth record together. Martine is known as the producer for records by The Decemberists, Laura Gibson and Thao Nguyen, among others, as well as a collaborator with guitarist Bill Frisell.

On July Flame, you'll hear her beautiful finger-picking, vocals by Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and gorgeous string arrangements by Stephen Barber. There are songs about subjects as seemingly innocuous as summer peaches ("July Flame"), as well as a tribute to legendary studio musician Carol Kaye.

Although Veirs has been on Nonesuch Records for her past three albums, July Flame will come out on her own label, Raven Marching Band Records, on Jan. 12."

You can listen to the whole album on NPR here.

Where the Wild Things Are: a good listen.

I went to see Where the Wild Things Are over the weekend and had mixed feelings. I think I was expecting something else. I expected to feel nostalgic maybe, or even happy. I felt the opposite. Not because the movie wasn't good- it was very good- but it was disturbing to me and very sad. I wanted a cathartic scene between Max and Carol. I wanted Max to change somehow. I think he was glad to be home- but I also think he's going to flip out again the next chance he gets.

What I really found interesting was that the wild things were not scary because they were monsters. They were scary because they were so child, no, human-like. Their relationships were broken. They were selfish, moody, and prideful. They could love, but at any moment they could snap and eat you, or worse, disappoint you.

Anyways, I really love the feel Spike Jonze was able to portray. It was very dreamy, but not unrealistic. I think the movie was greatly helped by the soundtrack, something I can't stop listening to at work. I thought I would share it with you. Enjoy Karen O And The Kids.

Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack

new from Coconut Records, "Microphone"

I can't lie... I have such a crush on Jason Schwartzman

Listen: Phoenix

On April 6th I watched Saturday Night Live with Aaron (a favorite activity of his) and saw Phoenix perform. I had never heard of them before, which isn't unreasonable considering they are fairly unknown French band, and since that time I've had their song "Lizstomania" in my head. I really like them so I though I would share from their nicely titled album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (see the SNL performances here). What do you think? 

PHOENIX

Listen: First Aid Kit

This morning a friend sent me a cover of the Fleet Foxes song "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" by sisters duo from Sweden called First Aid Kit. I was instantly a fan and had to investigate further. I love the folky/country sound, the plaid and fair isle garb, and their enchanting voices. 

Below find an excellent little piece about these young Swedes, and two videos of songs (including the cover that brought me to them in the first place. 

“Blessed with the voices of plaid-clad angels” The Guardian 

The Swedish duo First Aid Kit comprises sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg (born 1990 and 1993, respectively), hailing from Enskede, a suburb south of Stockholm. Yes, they are very young, but the pure music they create speaks of bygone times and old souls. The emphasis is on narrative lyrics accompanying playful melodies with intense, dense harmonies. 

The musical journey of Klara and Johanna began with singing along to the pop songs that leaked into their childhood home, radio hits by Britney, Christina and so on. However, it was not until happening upon the music of such venerable artists as Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, that the sisters discovered how music that could touch them in a way that those radio songs could not. 

Klara describes her first encounter with the song ‘First Day of My Life’ by Bright Eyes as a revelation. With authenticity and honesty having struck a deep chord within, this is what came to characterize the music of First Aid Kit. It has the feel of forest folk songs, full of enchanting storytelling, and as on EP highlight ‘Jagadamba, You Might’ a sense of compelling, ancient mystery. Their music has much in common with artists like Vashti Bunyan, Devendra Banhart, Bright Eyes, Joanna Newsom, Karen Dalton or The Carter Family. 

At 13, Klara was given her first guitar, and the sisters started playing music and composing songs together in the spring of 2007. The first lyrics, melodies and harmonies came quite quickly. Then came another song. And another. And another. 

The warm ember glow of ‘Tangerine’ was recorded at home and sent it to a Swedish radio hoping it would get attention. It immediately went on air and was listed as one of the best songs of the summer 2007. In April 2008, First Aid Kit’s 7 track debut EP ‘Drunken Trees’ was first released in Sweden on The Knife’s label, Rabid Records. 

Wichita Recordings is re-releasing ‘Drunken Trees’ with a bonus track, the sensational and much You-Tubed cover of Fleet Foxes’ ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’ http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=HMrqBldlqzA, along with a DVD with 3 songs performed and recorded live in the Swedish forest. 

Added keyboard and an autoharp to their live set up, First Aid Kit has already performed at high-profile gigs and festivals in Sweden. A full album is set for release in September 2009. The confidence, wide range of obvious natural talent and exceptional promise of these songs is undeniable. 

The future for First Aid Kit feels star bright.

justin david cox

Wow! How cool is this poster artist. I definitely wouldn't mind having this Andrew Bird poster. Check out more Justin David Cox posters and photography here. 

if I could see anything...

You know that question, "If you could go anywhere at any time in history, where would you go?" Well I think the usual answer is to insert yourself at some historical moment that shaped the world from that point on, like the Last Supper, the "I have a Dream" speech, or the Kennedy inauguration. These are good answers. I wouldn't mind seeing these things. But I think the place I would most want to go is the Stax-Volt concert in Oslo, 1967. You get Booker T and the M.G.'s, Sam and Dave, Otis Redding and more. Otis died not long after this show, and he is definitely a favorite of mine. Oh to have been at that show. Luckily, someone thought to film! Enjoy...

Sam and Dave, with "Hold On"

And Otis Redding with "Satisfaction" and "Try a Little Tenderness." Its a little long but totally worth the encore. 

damien rice = nostalgia

I was at work the other day and we were trying a new station on the sirius. It was a great station, and it kept playing Damien Rices songs. I'm usually someone who goes through a phase with a certain artist, and then it retires for a while. I hadn't listened to Damien Rice for such a long time, and when I heard his songs a rush of high school came back to be and my relationship with Aaron at that time. We cuddled to Damien Rice a lot. I think its important to remember those things from time to time to remind yourself of your history.  

Enjoy Rice's album 'Cannonball' from his album O, a favorite from the past.

Canonball (acoustic) - Damien Rice

listen: Matt Thompson

My good friend Matt was featured in a local paper recently, I thought I'd share. Sometimes his songs make me sad. Sometimes nostalgic. Normally this does not shy me away from music in the least bit, but when this is produced by someone you know and love it has a different significance. I must say his two most recent songs show that his time since graduation has not been spent in vain. I think they're his best yet. You can find them here ('Morning' and 'Holy Ground').

Anyways here is the article:

Elgin man seeks space for his music

Sufjan Stevens. M. Ward. Elliot Smith.

The musicians Matt Thompson lists as his favorites all are one-man bands. They're multi-instrumentalists who write and record their own songs.

So is Thompson.

The 23-year-old recently moved back to Elgin, his hometown, after graduating from DePaul University in Chicago, and he's looking for a space in the Watch City to perform in his jazzy baritone.

"I'm willing to play my songs if I can find the right venue for it," Thompson said. "I know there are lots of bars in town for rock bands. I'd have to play at, like, a coffee shop."

Meantime, he's posted six songs he's written on MySpace.com, the social networking site for friends, bands and other groups.

"I put them up on MySpace. I send them to friends. Sometimes I play them for whoever wants to listen," he said.

"Went To Your Hometown," featured on both Thompson's and The Courier-News' MySpace profiles, caught your Readers' Reporter's ear. The folksy guitar and melancholy vocals are reminiscent of Tom Waits or early albums by Sufjan Stevens, the wildly popular singer-songwriter responsible for two albums entirely about the state of Illinois.

The idea for that song, which begins with the line, "Went to your hometown and you weren't there," was simple -- he went to a friend's hometown, and his friend wasn't there, he said. From there, he crafted a story, then a song.

"I think with a lot of my songs, they've been inspired by things in life, but I take them somewhere else," he said.

The things that inspire the subjects of Thompson's songs are as varied as the artists who have influenced their sound.

"I listen to a lot of stuff," he said. "I take what comes to me. I don't know what I'd say my music sounds like."

He throws out the name of singer-songwriter (and the Him of pop duo She & Him with actress Zooey Deschanel) M. Ward, but "the only reason I would compare myself to him is he has more of a lower voice."

Thompson has had plenty of time to pick up that inspiration: He grew up listening to his dad's expansive record collection and started playing the saxophone in fourth grade. He moved on to the guitar, bass guitar and drums in high school; studied saxophone in college; started writing songs on piano; and now also plays the piano, flute and clarinet -- although "not very good" at the woodwinds, he added.

Now he's using his time to focus more on songwriting. He hopes to record those songs and put out his first album soon, and he's inspired by those one-man bands that have gone before.

"I think if I have the motivation and really do it, I could get something going like that," he said.

- Staff reporter Emily McFarlan, 29 January 2009

Andrew Bird... Noble Beast

Andrew Bird will always have a special place in my heart. I first started listening to him in high school with aaron and Jon when he was primarily playing in Chicago with the Bowl of Fire. I fell in love with their 2001 album The Swimming Hour. 

For some reason I never got into his first solo album The Mysterious Production of Eggs. Noble Beast on the other hand has been on repeat. Despite the fact I always want to call this album "Noble Feast," I really love it! Andrew Bird did not disappoint with his most recent album. If you don't have time to listen to the whole album (below), definitely listen to #1 or #9 right away. 

one evening

oh Feist you know I love you.

Fleet Foxes

Have you listened to Fleet Foxes yet? The answer to this question is probably yes. They have been all over the place recently, but I can't get over how much I like this album. The tone almost reminds me of folky war protest music in the 60s. 

Here is what Rolling Stone has to say: 

Indie rock is undergoing a folk renaissance, which has spawned some great harmony singing. Case in point: Fleet Foxes' debut opens with a woozy a cappella that's part sacred-harp-choral tradition, part Beach Boys, and it resolves into a Celtic-flavored march with a searing Richard Thompson-style guitar line. The 11 songs are mostly pastorals — the sun rises, snow falls, spring comes, birds fly and, on "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song," the "tall grasses wave/They do not know you anymore." (Dis!) This style is what critics used to label "freak folk" before the term became verboten, though plain freakin' lovely is more to the point. A lower-dosage Animal Collective, the Foxes stuff their free-form songs with rich, swirling melodies; billowing clouds of organs, tom-toms, bells and assorted stringed instruments cloak group vocals whose secular-gospel, suede-fringed precision owes plenty to Crosby, Stills and Nash (check out the gorgeous intro to "He Doesn't Know Why"). The lyrics are haunted by mortality — one song finds the singer "staggering through premonitions of my death," and another's narrator finds a drowned child on the banks of a river — but the exquisite voices thrum with life.

-posted by Will Hermes on June 12, 2008

Have a listen and enjoy:


Fleet Foxes

some awesome things...

-I made an awesome split pea soup tonight. so yummy. 

-I was reminded of how aaron and I connected over ben harper.

-I sold my first ebay item and am on to the second!

-I found out I am not behind my cohort in thesis progress/ job search. In fact I'm ahead of some!

-I'm knitting so fast I had to take a week off so as not to spend too much on yarn.

holy cow! hype machine, you rock!

So I have really been enjoying the inevitable best music of '08 lists that have popped up over the new year. I love to see what's new out there and what has caught friends' and critics' ears. But let me tell you Hype Machine has gone above and beyond. They have posted the top 50 songs, artists, and albums, Music Blog Zeitgeist, and are streaming them all for free! Go here and be amazed! I have been loving Fleet Foxes so am so glad to see they made #1!

...ok so I just saw Matt has already blogged about this when I linked him, taking away my cool. But whatever. I'll post it anyway.

She & Him

I have been loving She and Him. This two person band has Zooey Deschanel (you may remember her from Elf or Almost Famous) as its lead singer and M. Ward as its guitarist and backup vocals. The songs have such a vintage feel and so does she. I love the who thing. Her crooning voice is sometimes off but it gets me every time. 

Here is a performance of 'Change is Hard' from the Ferguson show, but there are also great performance segments on YouTube from MTV Canada

From their website: "Ward’s unique arrangements and virtuostic guitar playing paired with Deschanel’s affinity for vocal harmony give Volume One its characteristic sound . Ward and Deschanel share a mutual affection for the songs they grew up hearing on Los Angeles radio stations - and keep in their hearts the records that most DJ's aren't playing anymore: Les Paul and Mary Ford, The Ronettes, Nina Simone, Chet Atkins, Linda Ronstadt, the Carter Family and about a hundred others. Aiming to achieve the warmth and charm of pop and country records from the early and mid part of the twentieth century, Ward, who also produced the record, and Deschanel, who wrote most of the music, called upon the help of a number of extraordinary musicians including: Rachel Blumberg, Adam Selzer, Mike Coykendall, Tom Hagerman, Peter Broderick, Mike Mogis, and Paul Brainerd. Without whom this record would just be two people with no drums, bass, strings or pedal steel."