can't please everyone

a must-see concert friday! i was so-so on the walkmen, but once i saw them live at a kgsr broadcast early in the morning a few years ago, i was hooked. they are incredible live! and, side note: dreamy, too.

"while i shovel the snow"

remain a kid

i am hypnotized by wu lyf (world untie lucifer youth foundation). the website promotes their sounds as heavy pop. it's music "for kids who have the courage to remain kids". are the kids going to take over the world?

"spitting it concrete like the golden sun god"

set you free

i am stressed out. thank god thom yorke is here to distract me.

"lotus flower"

lame... they disabled embedding the video.

download the new radio head album now! http://www.thekingoflimbs.com/

hazy time

csj has introduced me to another doozie: future islands. they describe their music as "post-wave". i'm reminded of depeche mode and new order. i love frontman, herring's, husky voice.

"vireo's eye"

exist in more than time

the dream popping indie rocking canadian band, young galaxy, makes me happy.

 "peripheral visionaries"

you like it? go and get it: peripheral visionaries

"we have everything"

get under cover

remember when we survived a torrential downpour by seeking shelter under an acl tent in order to see devotchka? well, tonight i sought the shelter of my warm apartment, and i'm listening to this new devotchka song and deciding how i feel about the video.

"100 other lovers" by devotchka

rill good

you can be mad at me if you want. but i'll admit it. during sxsw, while i was waiting for bone thugs, i accidentally saw sleigh bells... and they hurt my ears. that's why i was totally surprised when "rill rill" made it onto a npr mix and i loved it. that does not mean, however, that i can tolerate the rest of that noise and go to the concert with my friends.

here's the good song. in video form. "rill rill" by sleigh bells

i would just sing

thanks goes to beau, who shared this song with me.

mike hadreas' voice is haunting. the piano is gorgeous, reminiscent of the cinematic orchestra song i love so much. and although brief, this song stays with you. you'll find "dreem" on the bonus track version of the album, learning, on which the perfume genius, shares his learning with us. it's powerful.

in light of missing my man, the lyrics--as reported on one website--are apropos: "if you were here right now/i wouldn't have to write it down/i would just sing/and let you listen." (it's hard to make them out to see if they are correct, but i like the idea.)

i think i may like the live version best.

"dreem" by perfume genius

ooh la lia

lia ices is a face i am excited to see at sxsw. her new album grown unknown is out this week. and i am loving it! her voice is stunning.

here she is w/ justin vernon of bon iver, "daphne"

and the title track, "grown unknown"

i think this is a great little teaser: 

if you like 'em, go and get 'em: lia ices

everlasting shine

every once and awhile i like to obsess on a mashup. obsess: here's big boi vs. the black keys!

home where you feel love

the sun is out! i almost forgot what it looked like. it's already rejuvenating my allergied, wintered spirits. let's listen to something we can sit on the porch to. these musicians met at an open mic in seattle and are putting their head and their hearts into music like this... 

"down in the valley" by the head and the heart

"lost in my mind" by the head and the heart

free song download at their site: the head and the heart

mock & toof

their pseudonyms warrant a title. producers duncan stump and nick woolfson have done remixes for groups like--one of my favorites--hot chip. this song can be found on the album, tuning echoes. the vocalist's voice reminds me a little bit of karin dreijer andersson's. it might start to grate after awhile, maybe if i listened to this song all the way through... for now, a few minutes of it is head-bopable.

  

"farewell to wendo" by mock & toof

beat it, 2010!

where to begin?... how about with last year's new year's resolution: i wanted to keep track of every concert i attended so i could do an end of the year count. i have been on a concert hiatus since november, but up until that point, i recorded 72 shows (that's with lollapalooza and acl shows clumped together as one show). yikes.

my favorites of 2010:

shows
miike snow @ galaxy backyard & acl
memory tapes/washed out @ klub krucial
beach house/washed out @ emo's
lcd sound system @ stubb's
mumford & sons @ la zona rosa
gogol bordello @ lollapalooza
arcade fire @ lollapalooza
the fuck buttons @ lollapalooza
the foals @ acl
deerhunter @ fun, fun, fun fest
jónsi @ austin music hall
sufjan stevens @ the long center (tie w/ jónsi for most beautiful show of 2010!)

venues
ah, summer in new york. i love you forever: bowery ballroom, music hall of williamsburg & ps1 moma. and in austin: the long center and the parish

songs (they may not have been released in 2010, but that's when i discovered them)
"closet astrologer" by the ruby suns


"modern drift" by efterklang


"go outside" by the cults


"swim until you can't see land" by frightened rabbit


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


"i need a dollar" by aloe blacc


"spanish sahara" by the foals


"chinatown" by wild nothing


"frost" by salem



albums of 2010
mumford & sons: sigh no more ("awake my soul")


lcd sound system: this is happening ("dance yrself clean")


beach house: teen dream ("take care")


deerhunter: halcyon digest ("he would have laughed")


the walkmen: lisbon ("blue as your blood")


washed out: life of leisure-ep ("feel it all around")


to my loved ones: i have been blown away by the people in my life this year. i am so blessed. you are the music in my heart!

warm winds coming through

i would like for you to "find me where the warm winds coming through". couple dexter tortoriello and megan messina of houses know what's up, living in hawaii "in a warm house / packing [their] suitcases with the sun in [their] eyes". this song is washed out-esque, and we know i love what ernest gets up to!

"reds" by houses

their story makes me like them even more:

houses: falling in love and finding peace

palms sound nice

painted palms remind me of yeasayer, with a little touch of the rainforest. 

download the whole ep for free!:

http://paintedpalms.bandcamp.com

appropriate for the season: "winter hymn" by painted palms

i cannot wait for summer

...amen to that song lyric. (although, to be honest, it feels like summer in austin today. mother nature is being a big tease.) i love george lewis jr.'s voice. and it helps that i am a huge fan of 80's new wave. these songs make me feel like i'm molly ringwald.

"i can't wait" by twin shadow

"slow" by twin shadow

it's casual

i am still full. and lazy. cannot figure out what this song means. but it's mellow to go w/ my mood.

"casual" by here we go magic

the most natural thing

i am making our thanksgiving traveling mixes and john special requested this one from the republic tigers, which he discovered on my computer and i had forgotten about. i think my little magic friend inside of itunes recommended this to me awhile back. this song soothes me, but also keeps me going... the group blends rock and folk in the right way.

hey, enjoy your thanksgiving!

"buildings and mountains" by the republic tigers

from the tide

i want to go to where they are.

a b-side off of the new single release, "caregiver". 

"heirloom" by memoryhouse

and just because we're talking about them, my favorite remix:

"to the lighthouse (million young remix)" by memoryhouse

grrrr

hot water's turned off because it smelled like gas in my apartment. and my car is going in tomorrow for what's bound to be an expensive day.  say it with me: grrrr.

"the pills won't help [me] you now" by the chemical brothers
(w/ midlake)

that's enough from darah downer.
nothing like a little robert smith to pick-me-up!

"not in love (ft. robert smith)" by crystal castles