music creating good vibes

chris and i took a water taxi to governor's island to see edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros at a venue called "the beach". heck, yeah. it was awesome! the show was magical. does alex ebert always wear that white jacket and scarf? he is iconic. however, i was a little perturbed when he said after three songs, "we're gonna take a little break." what the hell?! then after 30 minutes they returned to the stage and starting playing again without an explanation. not cool, guys, not cool.

"janglin" by edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros

not sure if it was henry wolfe or aaron embry of we are each other i was hearing, but someone sounded exactly like the lead singer of fleet foxes. and i liked it. henry wolfe's folk music definitely has a sweet sound.

"someone else" by henry wolfe

shimmer like you do to me

sometimes you just need to plop down wherever you are and be lulled into relaxation by a song or two. since gregory alan isakov was introduced to me by one of his fellow coloradoans, he has made it on to every mellow mix i make. tonight i am tired. and gai is just what i need.

(warming me on a brisk night last november)

"stable song"

 

"all there is"

one tiny move is all i need

my brother has me obsessed with this song, and intrigued by arthur russell, a musician most recognized after his death from aids. after reading about him on wikipedia, i have respect for the intensity of and devotion to his work. it said: "[russell's] quest wasn't really to do a finished product but more to do with exploring his different ways of working musically".

i like the idea of cranking this one up, letting it pour out of the windows and fall onto our ears as we bbq. that might happen... now. 

"this is how we walk on the moon" by arthur russell

can you hear my heartbeat?

thump, thump, thump. i think of heartbeats when i listen to this one.

 "voicething" by goldfrapp

stumbled in the darkness

it's hard to decide if the highlight of the mates of state show was the tom waits' cover, or the pre-show hoopla. i walked in to "donny vomit" shoving a balloon animal sized balloon (or perhaps a blown up condom?!) down his throat. he swallowed. and then you could hear it pop inside of him. next up was comedian, nick thune. i thought for a minute this opening entertainment might rival knuckles, the eels' drummer, trying out his stand up at la zona rosa, which is to date, one of my favorite concert experiences! it was not quite knuckles and eels' caliber, but close enough. 

here they are at the piano in the driskill!
"my only offer" by mates of state

i truly enjoyed the rendition of "long way home," thanks in particular to how well the the husband and wife duo harmonize and the trumpet accompaniment.  but no one can trump the man himself.

"long way home" by tom waits

concert fail

last night i hated new york city. my iphone (or own stupidity) got me on the wrong train. when i realized my mistake, i wandered a subway station trying to figure out which way to go. and it is hot down there. eventually, i surrendered to a cab and when i got there i had already missed beach fossils (and i'll miss them in august in austin, too). drats! fortunately, i was able to catch small black. but then afterwards, a subway success dropped me near my brother's in a torrential downpour. and walking in the rain on these streets sucks. failure.

i became enamored with small black during sxsw when they backed washed out as ernest's band. 

i like the way artist wikipedia describes the sound, "bedroom synthpop that sounds fuzzy and woozily suggestive". exactly. here's one i like from that collaboration:

"you'll see (washed out remix)" by small black

i agree with the poet who was standing next to me and kept repeating this eloquent observation: "great beats." great video, here, too:

"despicable dogs" by small black

consider them all

did i ever tell you how much i love npr? loving the songs on "new music..." on 'all songs considered' today.

here's panda bear with a new one, "tomboy"

if you click on "more on npr.org," it'll take you to the article, and you can listen to some others. try the bjork/dirty projectors song (a chance to hear a song full-length), mountain men (great harmony), and bands that i have never heard before called, hey rosetta! and miniature tigers.

go on ahead and have one

i wish you a lovely day.

even better, have a love-ally day.  "lovely day" by bill withers

while i'm at it... it's a jungle out there & i know you're trying not to lose your head, but it's still lovely.

grandmaster flash "the message" vs bill withers "lovely day"

i like how the day sounds

i have so much to say about the greg laswell, cary brothers, and harper blynn show. what endearing mellow show. we missed harper blynn, formerly, pete and j. but i can imagine they were fantastic, considering they played with laswell and brothers and are excellent musicians. (and funny to boot!)

some highlights: greg laswell going into a laughing fit, trying twice to sing a sad song, but then asking for his guitar back so he could do an upbeat song first to get rid of the giggles. cary brothers (just one guy, no brother, who knew?!) likes to drop f-bombs. for instance, when talking about the song we all know from the garden state soundtrack, "blue eyes," he said the girl he wrote it for told him she thought he was talking shit about her and he said, "how the fuck could you hear those lyrics and think that..." i like him. and how about when cary brothers & co. played tears for fears?! too good!

greg laswell has found himself onto my mellow mixes for sure. 

"how the day sounds"

he played this one acoustic and it was gorgeous:

"high and low"

here's the song from pete and j that i like:

"runnin round the world"

cary brothers' voice can carry. ha!, no pun intended. 

(is it just me, or is that mary-kate olsen?!)

"ride"

you didn't think i'd name-drop tears for fears and not indulge you?!:

"everybody wants to rule the world"

outdoor day rave

i am officially obsessed with the ps1 moma's warm up series. my day spent at the museum was a highlight of my trip so far. the outdoor installation, "pole dance," was reminiscent of the beach and i spent most of the day in the sandy area in my happy place. there were also misters, a kiddie-sized pool, netting above with medicine balls inside, a hammock room, and if you shook the poles that held the netting up, sound came out from the speakers (supposedly you could adjust the sound by logging into a website on your iphone and pressing + or -). not to mention, the museum is fantastic!

by the time delorean took the stage, the dance floor was jam-packed. delorean's sound is described on the ps1 site as: "a fus[ion of] their native spanish balearic beat with mediterranean influences and sunny indie rock". i think i could sum them up as spanish passion pit without the high-pitched squeak voice.

crowd pleasers!
they jammed hard for the whole set!

here is a single off of subiza: 

"stay close" by delorean

moving much too fast

my "austin mom," jane, told me, "you know sarah, it's all right to take some time off". she's right.

this is what summer is going to mean to me: books, iced coffees, yoga, sidewalk eateries, and enjoying "the breeze." 

by dr. dog

and since i'm relaxing by day, i might as well "stay out all night".

by bent

rocking northern soul

it's true, bowery ballroom is magnificent, too! i saw delta spirit there yesterday. i found their "take away shows" online, and to be honest, i like the way matt vasquez sounds on the train and in the fine rug store better than how he sounded at bowery. last night his voice grated. maybe it was too loud?

"trashcan"

"strange vine"

and seriously, if you haven't checked out the "take away shows," do it! i could spend hours on there!

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