ooh la la

 

so excited to see sweet sufjan stevens at the long center next month. his sound is hard to describe. electronic? folk? a bit little of everything. mix it up, sufjan, i like it. download his new album, the age of adz: sufjanstevens.bandcamp.com/album/the-age-of-adz

equally as excited to check out a musician at the long center. so fancy.

here's one from his new album: 

"i walked"

young and movin' fast

besides giving a shout out to the home state, there's one thing i have to say about the black keys: rock and roll (on the playground).

"tighten up" by the black keys

lakes, paddling, and sinuses

maria, kim, and i went paddle surfing this weekend. it was so peaceful. we paddled in a quaint quarry up north. next time: lake austin. here's a band called lake. today, this song is soothing me and my sinusitis. 

"bad dream"

it's the weekend, party people

i love to put leftasrain.com on shuffle at work. here are two fun ones i discovered today:

"youngblood" by the naked and famous

"moneygrabber" by fitz and tantrums

music themed gifts

oh, how i love music-themed birthday gifts. not only did i get itunes gift cards (shout out: chris, mals, courtney & fred!), but katy gave me 50 blank cds (subtle, i think she wants a mix), maria gave me a headphones necklace, and scott made me a killer mix!

rock out to some new tunes from scott...

"lewis takes off his shirt" by owen pallett

"falling without knowing" by tilly and the wall

"bruises" by chairlift

dirty, dirty

guess how old i'm going to be?!

twenty-nine was by far my best year. so, as jeanie would say, "i ain't scurred" of turning thirty! thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with me on saturday. to those of you that couldn't be there, you were missed.  please check out our fun:

http://photos.trevoray.com/Photo-Booth/Sarahs-Birthday-at-Scoot/13447682_HERNN#979179667_aKFWm

i think this song is appropriate to blare as i exit my third decade.

"ooh la la" by the faces

party time

three day weekend! you feel me? i think it is party time!

i'm finally feeling transitioned back into my life and home.

 "home" by glasser

one adjustment is getting back into the swing of my long work commute. but i am a lucky girl, for the second year in a row i can say i am excited to be back at work! all i need on my drive out to the burbs is some good musical accompaniment.

how appropriate: 

"sprawl ii (mountains beyond mountains)" by arcade fire

breakafootapalooza

lollapalooza, bryan--that's his hand--loves you!

instead of slamming any musicians--well, i might do that, but just lady gaga--i figured i would share songs from the shows that i liked best.

but first: lady gaga is a nut job. i opted to see her instead of the strokes (regret 1) but only because i will see the strokes at acl, and figured i would never ever pay to see her live again. i'll admit it, she was entertaining. she talks too damned much, though. and frankly, i don't particularly like her voice. and when she screams it's scary. the set and costumes were wild and fun to take in, but after awhile i felt like i was at a musical and let's be honest, i hate musicals. and now, on to what i don't hate...

(for my gypsy loving friend, jacqui.) gogol bordello and his gypsy punk band are awesome! he got us dancing even in the direct heat of midday. gogol brings the party and i thought it was cool how many countries are represented in his band. check his energy here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128111544

one of my favorite shows was the fuck buttons. really?!, just two guys?

"flight of the feathered serpent"

the walkmen were the first band we saw during our lolla weekend, and they were a nice transition in.

"canadian girl"

what i remember about cut copy is a colorful flashing light backdrop and a lot of bouncing.

"lights and music"

and, now, for the show i was most excited to see: the arcade fire. they did not disappoint! in fact, they impressed. i even noticed that a certain someone, who thinks their most impressive record was funeral, was beside himself with rocking. it's hard to describe how incredible they are live.

it's true, funeral is fantastic. "rebellion (lies)"

i had so much fun at lollapalooza, that my best friend broke her foot! some other noteworthies to see if they come your way: the black keys, the national, yeasayer, the dodos (we missed them, but we did hang out with them), devo (for real! oldies but goodies), raphael saadiq, and edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros (but only if you haven't seen them before, every show is the same).  other regrets: hot chip (conflicted with the black keys) and empire of the sun.

ticked

bummed the lcd sound system and hot chip tour is not coming to austin. i like the sound of that party. at least i can watch this video and crack up.

"i feel better" by hot chip

back to reality.

i'm baaaack. it's bittersweet. 

lollapalooza report in the works.

in the meantime, the knife.

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