Showing posts with label videos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label videos. Show all posts

Friday, December 17, 2010

Jenny Owen Youngs - Transmitter Failure

Official album art, courtesy of Wikipedia
If you could know someone through music, then Jenny Owen Youngs would be the coolest person I know. She would be a sister, a lab partner, a best friend, a girlfriend, a lover, and that girl across the street you can't help but have dirty thoughts about late at night, all rolled up into one.

If you have never heard Jenny before, I encourage you to stop reading right now, scroll down, and listen to the music--there is a lot. Seriously, why are you still reading?

If you did not immediately go to Jenny's twitter page and ask her to marry you after hearing her sing, then you must not be into the ladies. If you did, welcome back; I'm sorry that she said no.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

Official album art
First off, I have to apologize for my absence this week. For the past two weeks, I have been either under a pile of work, or passed out from extreme sleep deprivation. This entry, in a way, comes directly out of that experience.

The desktop of my computer is covered with albums that I need to listen to, and I never seem to have time. This is one that has been on my desktop for a long time now. For past posts, it has been overlooked when time came to decide on an album. However, this week, the unique qualities of the music really stuck out in my lifestyle.

Under extreme sleep deprivation, sleep gets really hard for me, and even though I am tired, my mind won't let me fall asleep. This is when I turn to music, and find an amazing band such as The Low Anthem. This album always puts me in a trance state, in which my body feels asleep, but my mind stays lucid, and lost in the music. Even though I looked passed out, my mind heard every beautiful note of every song.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Artist Feature: Jen Miller

Photo courtesy of MySpace
Hey guys. I have to apologize again for completely running out of time this week. I am supposed to be doing homework, even as I type this, but I needed a quick fix of this girl, so I figured I might as well introduce her to all of you.

Jen is from my home town, and yet I am sad to say that I have never met her (Jen, if you read this--play shows!!!!). I have been following her on YouTube pretty much since she started her channel. Why you may ask: well, it's the voice. Even on Jen's old webcam videos, her voice sounds like pure jazz--sometimes I dream of her singing old Billie Holiday songs.

Another reason to love this music is that Jen writes songs about life. She writes down those small little feelings that others take for granted, and sings them to notes often picked out on the ukulele. All those little emotions show also show up in the corners of her mouth when she sings, and crack through her voice--all the more enhancing the experience of her beautiful music.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Lauren O'Connell - The Shakes

Official album art, courtesy of Google Image Search
After the last post, I wanted to go back to something that is a little closer to my roots. Even though I have had this album for a while now, I want to take the time and review it for all of you, because this girl could use all of the exposure she can get.

Lauren O'Connell became one of my favorite artists almost instantaneously. As soon as I found a link to her YouTube channel, I knew I would fall in love with her music. From then on, I have been listening to her music as much as I possibly can, both as the acoustic, single guitar YouTube versions and the full band album versions. Really, you can't go wrong with anything this girl records.

Though she may not be the seasoned musician and songwriter that everyone may crave, Lauren O'Connell manages to her own life and her own feelings as well as any of the giants in folk music. Lauren is also nothing if not creative with her music, focusing not on always having the most expensive and fanciest instruments, but rather on having the most appropriate sound to accompany her haunting and methodical lyrics, often employing familiar instruments in uncommon ways--such as playing a banjo with a bow, or drumming on a tennis racket topped with pennies with a spoon. Even though I listen to Lauren O'Connell all day long, she is one of the few artists that I feel comfortable falling asleep to, and having her melodies swim around my head as I dream.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Tallest Man On Earth - Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird EP

Official album art, courtesy of Google Image Search
I know that this is only an EP, but there is a reason I am featuring it this week. These five songs are pure poetry in sound waves. As I listen to them, I am reminded, with every syllable, why I am so in love with folk music.

The Tallest Man on Earth, the musical moniker of Kristian Matsson, pulls upon the very roots of folk music, drawing all the way back to the creator of the style. He pays attention to all of those little things that started a social movement through music all those years ago, and better yet, he makes it all seems so natural, like these songs washed up from the ocean, made from pure air and sea foam, drifting into his feet only to be projected by his vocal chords. And oh what vocal chords they are. Matsson has an unrefined, unsophisticated, unedited voice, that only carries through the experience of being alive. Accompanying all of this audible goodness are true poetic lyrics. Though they may not always fit the meter of the song, and at times, rhyming is a far-fetched concept, what really shines through is the beauty of the words.

As expected of folk music, most of Matsson's songs are accompanied by a simple acoustic guitar. However, in a rare occurrence, he has recorded The Dreamer accompanied by a heavily distorted electric, creating a rather nostalgic feel for the song. But don't just read about it, take a listen.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Girls - Album

Official album art, courtesy of Wikipedia
If the Beach Boys were forming a band today, I feel like this is the music that they would play. Girls captured the timeless California sound that we have all grown to love, but they put a unique twist to it, creating something that not too many bands have done, or even tried.

The obvious creativity of the band's name and the album's title sets up what is to be expected from its sound. Now, don't take this sarcasm as a bad thing--in reality, this is the essence of music. Album is, under any consideration, a catalog of a life in love; it says all the things we want to say, feels all the things we want to feel, and wades through the same problems we all face every day.

Every time I hear something new, I try to come up with a short, yet descriptive way to tell people what I am listening too. This is often not too easy, because everyone's perception of music is different. Regardless of all of that, Album features what I like to call "love-gone-wrong" songs. Everyone can name an endless list of love songs, break-up songs, or any such list involving strong emotions, but what is often overlooked is that strange feeling of no longer having something great--that disillusioned feeling you get when something has come to its end, and you have to move on, into a new area of your life which is not necessarily where you want to be. Well, this is exactly the feeling that Girls manages to capture so well.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Artist Feature: Hannah Hickok & Maggie Kraus


So, this is the second Artist Feature. I don't know much about these ladies, except for the fact that I really enjoy their music. Their music is very mellow and has a simple sound.

I find that I listen to a lot of music in a sleep deprived state, usually early morning, after staying up all night, when I have to do something--I usually experience a fake sensation of being energized, yet everything I do seems to be affected. I don't know if this makes sense to any of you, but this is a very particular mood that I am often in--if you have felt it, you know what I am talking about. Anyway, this mood calls for a very specific sound, which these girls deliver on.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Benjamin Jameson Morey - "Chest Songs" (or) "The Giraffe in the Fishbowl"

Official album art, courtesy of Bandcamp
This album is the second installment of Benjamin Jameson Morey's Wallpaper Series, and my first official venture into his music. So far, I am sweetly impressed.

Benjamin's entire operation is all about a guy with a guitar, somewhere in a living room or a basement in upstate New York, scribbling away songs on piece of paper, and this is reflected in his music. The melodies are simple, sweet, and catch your ear--they remain ringing long after the song has finished--and the songs feature lyrics to match. Benjamin writes from the heart, and this album is a testament to that.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Artist Feature: Orla Gartland


Hi guys and gals. I've been super busy this week with work, and have been exhausted most days, so I didn't have time to prepare anything. I'm sorry about that.

But, as it turns out, I also like listening to artists that don't exactly put out albums. However, these are some of the people I love the most, and I feel that they need to be a part of my blog. Luckily, as you may have guesses, this is my blog, so I get to do whatever I want; and so comes the first Artist Feature.

Hopefully, in the future, I will include these in addition to the weekly albums, but for this week, I hope this will make due.

So without any further pointless talk, this is Orla Gartland.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Allison Weiss ...Was Right All Along

Official album art, courtesy of Bandcamp
If anyone were able to bottle angst, it would be Allison Weiss.

I discovered this fine artist on Twitter of all places. Who would have thought? A person that I follow asked her to hang out in New York, and that message alone exerted a supra-natural power over my fingers, causing them to type her name into YouTube. The rest is self-explanatory.

I've only had this album for a few days, and yet have listened to it over ten or fifteen times. I can't quite put my finger on how I feel about it, because every time I listen to it, I catch yet another detail, completely changing the feeling that I get when listening to the music.

Though the songs are not all that multi-layered, and caution mostly on the stripped-down side, the feelings evoked by those songs are nothing if not complex.

Allison Weiss writes songs about everyday life--those little events that happen to everyone every day. Even though she is "just a girl with a guitar," her songs will resonate with just about anyone who is lucky enough to hear them. Often times, her songs even take on a personality of their own. They hold strong feeling--usually sadness or anger--and yet put on a happy front for the passers-by.