on the lake in late december

For the past few days I have been up at Spencer Lake with a great deal of my family relaxing alongside the still ripples of the lake, under the majestic heights of the the towering Olympic mountains to the west.

In between laughing fits over Apples to Apples and my slow but sure chipping away at Eclipse I have found myself immersed in the Kings of Convenience's latest endeavor - Declaration of Dependence.

Kings of Convenience are like a great pairs of shoes...

the ones that aren't necessarily your favorite but that often are your saviors in a fashion crisis....

....one of those pairs you've had forever that are always comfortable and never seem to go out of style.

KoC are Steady. Reliable. Dependable.

Now I know, this makes them sound a little boring, predictable at the very least. But I've gotta say, I continue to love the stuff they turn out. Their harmonies are always gentle and smooth, their guitars perfectly complementing each other.

And they always seem to tuck a little groove under it all.

Me In You - Kings of Convenience

"holiday cheer" series - peasant pheasant

So I know, I totally dropped the ball with this series. As soon as the holiday break started it was family 24/7. Not the most conducive for blogging.

As a little "after-Christmas-gift" I offer up to you the holiday music stylings of my friends over at Peasant Pheasant.



http://www.myspace.com/peasantpheasant

It will bring warmth to your heart, I promise.

I hope you all had a wonderful winter holiday and here's to the last days of 2009!

"holiday cheer" series - Song #3

I'm not going to say much about this song. There isn't so much a singular memory that draws me back to this song - I just ALWAYS get excited when it comes on the radio in December.

So here you go, song #3

Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses

"holiday cheer" series - Song #2

When I first entered kindergarden, school seemed like a huge place. The 8th graders looked like freshman in college (one even cornered me against a wall at recess and burped in my face which was traumatizing, to say the least), everyone wore the same thing, and there were multiple buildings. I warmed up to the place quite fast and by October I was double-dutching with 2nd graders.

In December I was introduced to advent and all the catholic traditions surrounding it. Every morning before school started, all 186 students - ranging from kindergarden to 8th grade - piled into the cafeteria and unveiled the day's teaching on the advent calendar. A reading was read, the candles on the advent wreath were lit, and we would all join in in singing "O Come, O Come Emmanuel".

So here you go, #2 on my "holiday cheer" playlist:

O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Sufjan Stevens

gonna use my side-step

As I was running out the door this morning, late for work as usual, I quickly perused my cd collection in hopes of finding something either a) super old that I hadn't heard in ages or b) something new that I never really given a chance.

What did I grab? Was I happy with the result?

Pretenders by The Pretenders. Yes.

I bought this album on one of my many Amoeba trips and mainly got it because my dad had suggested it. The minute I put it into my cd player I immediately skipped to track 10 - Brass in Pocket - and listened to it a couple of times before shelving the poor thing.

See this is one of my problems.

When I'm first introduced to an album I have to be in an "album-listening- mood" otherwise I get way too impatient and ditch the thing before I've had time to give it a real chance.

Anyhoo, as I was driving to work this morning I instantly fell in love with it. It's right up my alley... it has that totally late 70's/early 80's feel. It falls somewhere between brit punk and new wave sharing space with the likes of Elvis Costello.

Enjoy - just as I have all day long!

Precious - The Pretenders

The Wait - The Pretenders

Oh, and for a gold star, can anyone tell me what the Glee connection is?

emergency exits

I'm very excited to tell you that one of my best friends has just recently had one of his essays posted over at ThisIBelieve.org. So go check it out and while you're at it hit up his blog.

ps Hopefully I'll have a music post up later today!

holiday cheer series

This is the first "series" I am attempting here at The Clear Spot. I started to compile a list of my favorite Christmas songs - based on musical merit but mostly based on sentimental value. I'm going to space them out which will hopefully give you incentive to check back regularly.

_________________________________________________

Maybe it's growing older. Maybe it's not having family around. Maybe it's LA. These past few years December has not felt nearly as Christmas-y as it once did.

However, I have high hopes for this year. I will spending a good two and a half weeks at home.

This means I'll get to go skiing. I'll get to help at my aunt's bakery during the holiday rush. Who knows, I may even be compelled to stop by St. C's.

So before I get too carried away here you go, the first installment of my Holiday Playlist.

Christmas Time Is Here (instrumental) - Vince Guaraldi

I decided, against my best judgement, to start out with my favorite Christmas song of all time. Now I know, it's like eating dessert before dinner but I figured this way it would give you all the maximum amount of time to play this lovely gem.

So yes, the obvious sentimental reason for loving this song is it's connection to A Charlie Brown Christmas. However, it's more than that.

The brushes dance along the top of the snare sounds like snow softly falling... each piano note acts as footsteps through a winter wonderland... the bass hums at the opening of the song as if fueled by carolers.

It captures that bittersweet taste of Christmas.

So go forward and be merry. And if you don't have the whole A Charlie Brown Christmassoundtrack you must put it on your holiday to-do list!

ps Check out the song Skating... in 1996 me and my brother used it to choreograph a floor exercise routine. That was the same year I used tape to create a balance beam in my living room...

I was setting my sights on becoming the next Bela Karolyi.

emusic

So right now, if you sign up for emusic (which requires a subscription) you get 45 FREE DOWNLOADS! That is 20 more than usual.

If you buy music on a regular basis or are finally ready to support bands you love, I highly suggest you head on over there right now and get a subscription.

Could We

So a couple of weeks ago my friend Pat sent me the most wonderful link. It was to an article on the Los Angeles Times Blog about the couple of LA Swell Season shows in November. Now, you may be thinking I'm going to spend the rest of this post talking about The Swell Season and how I loved the music in Once and yada yada yada.

Well, I'm not! So ha!

For me, the highlight of the article was when the reporter started to talk about Jason Segel's appearance at Wednesday's show and how, at the end of the set, he waltzed out on stage, sat down at the ivory keys, and proceeded to play an original tune.

So of course, I HAD to call that number..... and to my pleasant surprise, Jason's voice greeted me on the other line - MY HEART MELTED!

So here it is, a playlist dedicated to that feeling.

That feeling of interest and desire.

That feeling of excitement and butterflies.

That feeling of euphoria.

1. Could We - Cat Power

I absolutely love the simplicity of this song. It's carefree. It's wispy. It's exactly how I want to feel these days. For whatever reason it really pulls me back to the beginning of this century. Now that might be a kind of weird thing to say seeing as though we have yet to close out this decade. But unlike most songs this one feels very "present".

2. Can You Tell - Ra Ra Riot

Now, I have yet to write about the music collective known as Ra Ra Riot (a Barsuk act! yay Seattle!) but I am a huge fan of The Rhumb Line. I was lucky to catch them when they opened for Andrew Bird a few months ago (thanks to my friend Hillary) and ever since have been in love. Butterflies. This song is all about butterflies... and anticipation... and wanting.

3. Roslyn - Bon Iver & St. Vincent

Twilight. Need I say more?

4. Help Me - Joni Mitchell

I love Joni Mitchell. My mother does not.

Unlike her undying love for Carole King, my mom "can't stand" Joni's voice - it's "too whiny". I love my mom. To her credit, it took me a while to warm up to Mitchell. But once I did, it was over. She has some of the best lyrics when it comes to writing about love. Don't even get me started on "All I Want" - hmmm, maybe I should have added that to the list.

5. One Day - Bjork

Bjork's Debut album is absolutely fantastic. It always reminds me of the trip I took to San Francisco my freshman year of college. It was an interesting journey to say the least. In fact, it marked my first Amoeba experience (I bought a used copy of Debut at the Haight-Ashbury location).

To get the full effect of this track you have to blast this in your car as you drive fast, in the dark of night. Magic!

6. Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups

Slow build. Musically. Lyrically. Slow build.

I've been waiting.

7. Day Break - Chet Baker

Chet Baker only sung about love. Maybe because it perplexed him so. Maybe because he never seemed to be able to hold onto it for long. The perpetual heart-broken heart-breaker. Like on most of his tunes, he brought - in equal parts - the power of his trumpet and the spell-binding softness of his voice. I will forever be mesmerized and in love.

i'm a gene kelly girl myself

when you don't know what you want to listen to....

www.viva-radio.com

I'm an avid follower of the guys over at artdecade.blogspot.com so I'm partial to their sets. Still, there is a little something for everyone... and for the most part, the tunes are pretty groovy - groovy enough to get me swinging from side to side as I sit at the old 9-5.

color me katie

So this has absolutely nothing to do with music but it made me smile. We all know how much of a sap I am - case in point, I watched "Twilight" for the first time this weekend and totally fell in love with it.

This video is no different.

So take from it what you will.

Like I said, it made me smile :)

weathervane music

As I was perusing the world wide web today, trying to get more information regarding some of the panelists I'll be hearing tomorrow (I'm attending a seminar on "The New Rules of Indie Marketing" at AFM) I stumbled upon on all these really great organizations that are trying to do a little bit of good for the world.

I'll admit, I haven't delved very deep into the works of Weathervane Music but from what I've gathered their aim is to support indie artist in today's complicated and often heartbreaking state of the music industry.

www. weathervanemusic.org

Music for Money - Nick Lowe

i'm a runnin', i'm a runnin' from you...

So this morning at work I was pleasantly surprised when my boss called from the other room, excited that I was playing "Poses" by Rufus Wainwright.

Yes! Another Rufus fan!

It got me thinking and quickly I remembered on of my favorite songs by Mr. Wainwright.... a song from the movie "Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveler"!



If you haven't had the ultimate joy of watching this movie I highly suggest you immediately add it to you Netflix queue.

Even at 12, Rufus was all the rage at the local Canadian mall. Go figure.

i think i've heard this before

So if you know me at all then you know how much the Talking Heads mean to me. Perhaps my second favorite band of all time (after The Beatles), the Talking Heads were able to do what I find to be very hard in the world of music; retain your musical voice and style while continually progressing as an artist/band.

So as I was listening to Grizzly Bear's latest effort Veckatimest I was immediately struck by the song "Cheerleader". It only took a few seconds for my ears to perk up. I had heard this before. The lonely drone of the drums followed by the sedated pitter-patter of the bass was something I was very familiar with.

WARNING SIGN!

Take a listen.

Cheerleader - Grizzly Bear

Warning Sign - Talking Heads

The musical similarities between music's past and present on Veckatimest didn't stop there. As I continued to listen I was transported back in time again. This time, back to 1967, back to the last 30 seconds of The Beatles' "A Day in the Life". Grizzly's Bear's intro on "Dory" held the same essence of this Sgt. Pepper song's outro.

Unfortunately I don't have the proper software to easily cut out the first chunk of the song, so only the truly interested with be able to live through the first 5 minutes. However, if you are too impatient to listen to "A Day in the Life" you have bigger issues :)

Dory - Grizzly Bear

A Day in the Life - The Beatles

My third and final example of musical influence comes from the Dirty Projector's "Two Doves" - off of their truly wonderful album Bitte Orca - and it's tie to Nico's "These Days".

They both open with an acoustic guitar that is quickly accompanied by whimsical strings. Enter the sweet yet haunting female vocals and.... VIOLA!

Two Doves - Dirty Projectors

These Days - Nico

Now don't get me wrong. I don't find fault in either Grizzly Bear or Dirty Projectors. Bitte Orca is one of my favorite albums to come out of 2009 so far and I can't stop listening to "Fine for Now". In cases like this it's nice when the history of music seems to connect.

Just don't try and convince me that Flo Rida's reworking of Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" is a good thing..... because it most definitely is not!

so who is this "Emma" girl anyways?

I have been meaning to write about the weekend of September 25-27 - also known as the weekend Bon Iver took Los Angeles by storm.

So let's recap for a second, shall we?

On Friday, September 25th, a group of us were lucky enough to catch their sold out show at the Wiltern. I had seen them at Sasquatch back in May, and like then they didn't fail to deliver a stellar performance.

We got there just in time to catch 2 songs from the opener Megafaun. Listening to a few snippets online before hand I really wasn't expecting much. However, my general rule when it comes to music artists is that it really takes a live show to either solidify whether or not I am completely in love with them or not (I suppose with the exception of Passion Pit whose live show really leaves something to be desired). By the end of their set I wanted to be hanging out with them at some dive bar watching a Lakers' game.... and I don't even like the Lakers.

Bon Iver came out to a very receptive crowd to whom they played songs from both their LP For Emma, Forever Ago as well as selected tunes from their Blook Bank EP.

At the end of the show Megafaun came out and joined the boys of Bon Iver for two very sweet songs. The first, a Loudon Wainwright III cover "The Swimming Song", was a swinging tune with the lead vocals jumping around the stage. For the second and final song of the encore, the band of folk brothers offered up an acoustic version of Megafaun's "Worried Mind". Here's a little visual treat thanks to my friend Debbie.

On Saturday night/Sunday morning, Justin Vernon (the heart and soul behind Bon Iver) thought that a sunrise show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery would be the appropriate way to cap off their For Emma, Forever Ago tour.

Uh, totally!

I was in Seattle during the concert but I had a number of friends that were lucky enough to experience the magic of music at dawn. How nuts!

Thanks to Debbie (the eternal Bon Iver fan), again, here is "Wolves (Act 1 & 2)":

Bon Iver - Sunrise Show from Debbie Formoso on Vimeo.

If you ever have the pleasure of catching these boys on tour, I highly recommend you get as close to the stage as possible. That, and when Justin asks you to sing during "Wolves" you best belt "What might have been lost" as loud as you can!

where the wild things are

So most of you already have watched the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are but here is another little video you may have missed the first time around.

It features a song composed by Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and The Kids (collaborators ranging from members of Deerhunter to The Bird and The Bee). She was enlisted by Jonze to provide the original music for the motion picture.




Check out the entire soundtrack here.

from one romantic to another

Last night I was lucky to finally catch Sondre Lerche at the Troubadour. I have been a fan for years and for some reason or another I always was successful at missing him.

Last night he was in top form, presenting a one-man show with nothing to hide behind other than his electric blue jazz guitar and boy-ish Norwegian charm.

Now Lerche, whose 5 LPs span the time period of 8 years, has tried his hand at various styles. He began by releasing two indie rock, string-infused albums that catered to the tales of the heart, to the romantic feelings of the woods, a sound that harkens back to simpler more beautiful time.

He then branched out and found solace in the studio with the lovely fellows of the Faces Down Quartet producing a jazz album - quite reminiscent of Chet Baker but without the bittersweet taste of a man eternally forlorn and love lost.

Phantom Punch provided just that. A punch of gritty guitar riffs and an explosion of hyper-energy.

His latest effort, Heartbeat Radio, is more like his first two albums but with more of a bubble-gum glaze coating each song.

Still, the thread that runs through everything Sondre Lerche does is an undying romanticism. He believes in love and isn't afraid to tell you that. Last night, to introduce his song Words & Music he prefaced it by warning all those cynics that this next one was their cue to throw up in their mouths. He knows his underlying sentiment is slightly cheesy. However he's self-assured enough to know that that same sentiment is rooted in a heartfelt truth.

And that's why I eat it up.

So here you go. I've posted the Words & Music mp3 as well as his music video for Two Way Monologue.




Words and Music - Sondre Lerche

Have a splendid weekend <3

andrew bird.... will you be mine?

So I had to follow up that last entry with this video.


The last 10 minutes are absolutely mesmerizing. You can feel the chemistry between the two. Man!

If only Andrew Bird would look at me that way.

st. vincent

So I have this really big problem... well two problems I guess.

1) First problem - I tend to always find myself completely and utterly angry months after I've been to a music festival. I always, ALWAYS, miss some act that I later would give anything to see live. Now, I suppose I shouldn't be so hard on myself. I mean, you are given three days - 4 to 6 if you're lucky enough to catch something like Bonaroo or All Tomorrow's Parties (in an insane year that is) - and in my most recent case, 78 musical acts.... and that doesn't even count the Comedy Tent.

So who, you ask, am I rambling about this time?

St. Vincent! St. Vincent! St. Vincent!



Now, I had heard about her months ago floating around the blogosphere. In fact I did some investigative reporting on myself (because of problem #2 which I promise to get to) and found that I had downloaded the leading track from Actor on May 21st - 2 whole days before I embarked on my great music journey of 2009. And maybe I should back-peddle my previous statement. Technically I got to see her at Sasquatch. On a break to get food, I casually stumbled over to the Wookie Stage and probably caught a whole 2 minutes.

So anyways, recently I was on EMusic perusing the goods when I came across St. Vincent again. I hadn't given the album an actual listen. I did, and subsequently, fell in love with it.

So here ya'll go. Two wonderful tracks - the first one full of moxi, the second one, very "lazy Sunday"-esque.

Actor Out of Work - St. Vincent

Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood - St. Vincent

And, if you are still interested...

2) Problem dos. I have the worst memory in the history of the world. In revisiting my memories of Sasquatch I found it very difficult remembering which Sasquatch Festivals I had actually attended. So I went back in time via my fave, wikipedia, and found that I attended in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2009.

AND to bring things full circle, I actually did see St. Vincent at the Sasquatch back in 2006 when she played as Annie Clark in Sufjan's back-up band. Go figure.

The Archive

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

Please go out and buy a record... even if you don't have a record player. You are buying a piece of history people!

I, myself, am heading out to Amoeba tonight to catch an in-store performance of Elvis Costello - maybe I'll pick me up a 45.... among other things ;)

This is going to be an issue.

Contest: "Lightning" Round Edition

So when I was at the gym this morning I had a strange internal moment. As I plugged away on the stairmaster, listening to Lightning Seeds' "Change", I looked up at the TV and saw an ad for Bally Total Fitness.

I was in a 24 Hour Fitness.

It was weird.

Change - The Lightning Seeds

First person to tell me which movie "Change" was in gets a whole dollar from yours truly ;)

the love language & here we go magic

I'm getting ready for it.
Easter is tomorrow.
Spring is knocking at the door.
And summer will be here before you know it.

So, in the spirit of sunshine and bonfires, camping trips and music festivals, hot dogs and popsicles, I offer up to you this lovely head-bopping number. It's groovy, it's rockin', and it's telling us all to just let go and have fun!

Sparxxx - The Love Language

This next song I haven't been able to stop playing on repeat.... over and over and over again. In a lot of ways it reminds of Simon and Garfunkel's "Cecilia". I suppose it has something to do with the percussion and vocals.

However there is something here that "Cecilia" lacks. There is a subtle sadness in the melody. It's not there for long; escaping by the close of each verse. But it's there.

And don't even get me started on the break. As the bass is plugging away, my heart skips a beat every time that guitar riff comes in ala David Gray circa White Ladder.

Fangela - Here We Go Magic

the water

So I love all things Feist.... I guess that kind of goes without saying. This week, and for one week only, Pitchfork is showcasing "The Water", a 15 minute short film directed by Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene and stars fellow "Scenester" Leslie Feist alongside Cillian Murphy.

***The video has been removed from Pitchfork so I as such must also remove it***


Also, thanks to my friend Debbie for this one, you must see Feist's visit to Sesame Street. So adorable!

the north wind blew south

The North Wind Blew South from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

I was so confused at first. I totally thought these were stop-motion miniatures. Crazy!

things the grandchildren should know

So I just finished Things the Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett (aka EELS). Now this is not a long book - something like 240 pages. But because it's me, and apparently I have a really hard time reading when I'm in LA, it took me 3 months to complete.

You see I started this book back at the beginning of January when I was in Phoenix helping my friend Chelsea shoot her documentary. Partly because Chelsea goes to bed so freaking early, and partly because she also happened to get sick while we were there, I had a fair amount of time to get a jump start on this musical memoir of sorts. However, when I returned to Los Angeles, I put it on my shelf and there is sat for a good 2 and a half months.

So last week, inspired by my friend Alina - the eternal bookworm - I grabbed it off the shelf, blew off the dust that had collected, and finished the sucker.

And I'm glad I did.

If you have any interest in either music history or I suppose biographies in general, I highly recommend checking out this book (if you live near me you may even be able to pester me into lending it to you ;) I'm not much of a book reviewer so all I can really say is that "E" (as you soon come to find out is what Mark tends to go by) has a simple voice that allows for his story to be telling in and of itself. He is just so human. That's really all I can say about it.

That, and when I was at the gym reading it I was on the verge of bursting into tears.

In the spirit of the book, I have a nice little tune in the same vein.


Make Right With You - Luke Temple

point juncture, wa and u.s.e

I'm failing you all horribly. I apologize for that. And while I would like to think I have many readers that are just hanging on my ever last word, I know that this is not that case, and in that way I slightly feel better about the situation.

Okay, so here it is, I have two Pacific Northwest bands I would love to share with y'all. Let's start with some indie rock, shall we?


Point Juncture, WA - a four piece indie rock outfit that oddly enough hails from Portland, Oregon, not Washington state - released their 3rd album titled Heart To Elk this past February.

Now I'll admit, I was first tipped off to this band through it's showcase as one of KEXP's song-of-the-day picks (which if you haven't checked out KEXP, please please do). Number 9 on the album, Melon Bird, with it's commanding bassline and trash can drums, opens slowly. It's a whole minute and 20 seconds before you hear Amanda Spring's voice glide into the mix. My first impression was how much it emotionally sent me back to the 90's. Something about it transported me back to 7310 16th NE. It was as if I was 11 on a Saturday afternoon and my dad had 107.7 The End turned way up as I played Where In The World Is Carmen San Deigo? on his laptop - something that almost always required his assistance. I don't care what the box said, that game was way too hard for a 4th grader!

Once Tasted Ever Wanted summons the likes of The Cardigans with it's candy sweet female vocals and horn clad chorus. This album feels open, it has a spaciousness to it that allows for all the weird and not so weird sounds to find room. Recorded in the basement of their house, you can hear the damp, rainy cold seep into the songs. That's not to say I think that this album feels dark because it doesn't. And maybe I'm saying this because I grew up in the Emerald City, but there is a peaceful element to all that grey.

That's exactly it; Kings Part II feels like a rainy day. The drums sound like rain pattering on the roof, the slow strumming of the acoustic guitar call upon Spring’s simple yet silky words. Nothing left to do but stay inside and read Presidential Ambition ;)

Melon Bird - Point Juncture, WA
Once Tasted Ever Wanted - Point Juncture, WA
Kings Part II - Point Juncture, WA




Okay, now switching gears completely, let’s talk some U.S.E – aka United State of Electronica.I don’t what it is about Seattle but apparently we like to foster bands that feel compelled to incorporate our country in their name (i.e. Presidents of the United States of America). How patriotic. I think…..

At a cursory glance U.S.E. is just another Daft Punk rip-off. Kids jumping on the bandwagon of what Thomas and Guy-Manuel started 10 years earlier.

But as I delved deeper into their album shades of Tahiti 80 - Climb the Wall (Umbrella of Love) - and VHS vs Beta - Open Your Eyes - began to shine through.

And what separates them from the pack is the sense that it’s just this group of kids that love a good dance party who won’t let the gloominess of the typical “Seattle sound” - enter Kurt Cobain, Elliot Smith, even Death Cab to some degree –get them down.

I can only imagine what one of their shows would be like. I’m super jealous that they played one of the christening shows for the new and improved (well I still need to see about that) Crocodile Café. Sometimes I really hate LA.

I still have some reservations concerning U.S.E.’s self-titled album. It has some pretty cheesy moments. Take Emerald City. I’m completely in love with the chorus (even if the lyrics are a bit amateur) but the verses are something to be desired. And while some of you may think I would love any song that chants “Emerald City” over and over again (punctuated with “I love it”/ “We love it”) may this prove you wrong.

But than again, I am the master of well-crafted cheese. The next time you see me cruising down the 10 I just might be pumping my fist in unison with my fellow Seattleites.

Ultimately I can’t deny a band trying to make something just plain fun.

Climb the Walls (Umbrella of Love) - U.S.E.
Open Your Eyes - U.S.E.
Emerald City - U.S.E

If you like what you hear head over to mannheimworldwide.com where you'll find their entire album for free/by donation.

wanna dance?

See you May 23rd ;)

Oh, and if you want to see the official music video here ya go:

I'm still partial to the knock-off, but maybe that's just me.

carrie fisher = music muse?

That's it. I'm moving to Africa. 

I thought that maybe I wanted to give New York or London a try but no, I can hear the other half of my heart calling me to Kenya.

...Or at least that's how I feel as I'm driving south on the 405 at 9am while Paul Simon's "Crazy Love, Vol. II" blasts from my car speakers.

Now, even as a wee 2 year old I loved "You Can Call Me Al" (I remember watching that video along with my personal 2 year old fav, Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"). But now, as a 23 year old, as I listen to Simon's Graceland album, it has new meaning. Being relatively fresh to the "real world" I find companionship in Simon as I musically travel through these 11 tracks from 1986. It's an album about rebirth, about new beginnings, about starting over. And it's all done through a flowery filter.

Like I mentioned before, I can't stop listening to Crazy Love, Vol. II. After having pried into Simon's background (something my older readers probably wouldn't have had to have done seeing as though in this song Paul sings "it's all over the evening news, all about the fire in your life") I found that much of Graceland was written while he was going through his second divorce, his divorce from Carrie Fisher. 

It's strange though. Considering the subject, I would have either guessed it to be overtly sad and filled with sorrow or dark and angry oozing with hate. While the lyrics are about the end of a once lovely relationship the melody seems to suggest something else. It is light and airy, hopeful and sunny and I can't resist it.

Crazy Love, Vol. II - Paul Simon

The title track also has crept into my veins and has inspired this somewhat buried side - my adventurous side. As Simon declares "I'm going to Graceland, Graceland, Memphis Tennessee" I immediately am heading east as the whole United States races past me (oh how I wish). Plus who doesn't love his little Lou Reed moment as he recites "whoah so this is what you mean".

Graceland - Paul Simon

Short people are so awesome ;)

And if you still aren't convinced, there is just something to be said about those bass lines from the 80's. That, and the use of the flute. But more on that later.

perfect media player where are you?

So I'm here at work waiting for a freaking hour and a half video to stream over from Washington DC.... what better time to research how to embed audio into my blog.

I have been researching for the past hour and a half while the "Confess" episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County blares in the background. Sadly I'm not as far along as I would have hoped. I'm trying a new method but am going to be constantly on the hunt for better, prettier methods to give you all a chance to listen to all the songs and artists I write about here at the clear spot.

So bare with me.

ps I hate Vicki!

Oh, and here is something for you to snack on:

Virgin Mountain - Loch Lomond

simply pop

So check it. I have two wonderfully smooth and punchy tracks sung by two wonderfully smooth and punchy female vocalist. The first being "Somebody's Baby" by El Perro del Mar. 

At first glance it may look like some latin band's cover of the fairly dated Jackson Browne tune. Instead it's a Swede's fresh take on good old fashioned bubblegum pop. How did I stumble upon this toe-taping, head swaying song you may ask? Well, you may or may not be familiar with La Blogotheque's Take Away Shows series (if you haven't seen any of these you MUST go there immediately), but as I was perusing the videos I came across this one featuring El Perro del Mar and Lykke Li. 

You see my friend Richard had sent me a link to Lykke Li's music video for "Little Bit" and I was on my usual internet rampage to get more info about this girl with the beautifully layered video so when I saw this I was intrigued to get a "live" taste of what this artist had to offer. Instead, I was tipped off to El Perro del Mar - the music project of Sarah Assbring.  So take a listen to both her live version - here - and her studio rendition.  

Now for lady #2. 

Okay, so technically the next song comes from a duo (one part female, one part male) but the vocalist is a woman so I think it still counts. Inara George has one of my top ten favorite voices of any modern day female vocalists (Leslie Feist being number one, of course) and Greg Kurstin's cool and quiet ways make him a man of mystery and intrigue - not to mention the fact that I find it so cool that one of his major musical influences is Burt Bacharach. I first fell in love with this band when I saw them at the troubadour for the release of their self-titled debut, "The Bird and The Bee". Since then they have put out a number of EPs. However, last month they came out with their second LP entitled "Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future". The track I can't seem to get enough of is "My Love".

Somebody's Baby - El Perro del Mar

My Love - The Bird and The Bee

As a side note: The Bird and The Bee get extra points for being so kind to me. You see, two years ago, when I was trying to figure out who I wanted to record for my junior project I thought I would just shoot for the stars and ask them to come in to my class so I could record them. So I sent them a message through myspace and to my complete surprise a few days later Inara responded with the sweetest message. She was so appreciative that I had thought of them for this project but was sorry to turn it down seeing as though they were traveling around the country on tour. Now whether or not this is completely true is not the point (I doubt they would have come in even if they were in LA) but the fact that she even responded will forever insure that The Bird and The Bee will always hold a special place in my heart.

the sea and cake

So I didn't want the weekend to end without sharing my song of the moment. All weekend long I've been playing Weekend by The Sea and Cake over and over and over again. It really has a bounciness to it that makes your stride just a smidge longer and a sunniness that makes it feel like summertime, even if it only lasts 2 minutes and 42 seconds. 

So check it out.... you have a whole 76 minutes left before the working week starts again (which reminds me of a nice little Costello tune ;)

Weekend - The Sea and Cake

Hello.... to anyone that is listening.

I have always struggle with intros.... introduction paragraphs for research papers, introducing myself to new people at parties, even those 30-60 second intros on albums that usually consist of some instrumental orchestration used to sonically open you up and bring you in.... in some way or another the "beginning" usually succeeds in making me nervous. 

I'll tell you right off the bat I'm not a wordsmith (I have friends that are) and I'm not particularly gifted at being articulate (I talk a lot with my hands, which, on the internet really does me no good). But I have an undying love for music and random things in life. 

I suppose at times I'm a walking cliche.... a young twenty-something looking to learn about life and love among the confusing and sometimes ridiculous happenings of young adulthood with the backdrop of the big city - cue b-roll of Los Angeles - shadowing over her (wow, this girl is cheesy). But seriously, if nothing else I'm hoping that this web log (yep, I totally had to google "blog" to figure out where the heck that word came from) will serve as a virtual record of my life's musings as well as keep those I don't get to see often enough (I'm talking straight to you Ooka clan) in the know about my life. Who knows, we may even start a conversation or two ;)

So here goes.....