The Frames – God Bless Mom

Irish band The Frames have been quite for a bit now while lead singer Glen Hansard has pursued his side project The Swell Season but they recently stopped by Irish TV series Other Voices to throw out a rendition of “God Bless Mom.” It is a nice reminder of the more nuanced work Hansard did before getting wrapped up in the Swell Season. If you’re not familiar with the Frames a dive into their work is a journey well worth taking, particularly if you’re someone who likes incredible lyrics and a group capable of turning out a variety of sounds. Whether or not you know them you’ll definitely enjoy this.

[MP3] Listen Girl (live)

The Everybodyfields - Lonely Anywhere from Live & Breathing on Vimeo.

Everybodyfields On Live & Breathing

The Everybodyfields are one of those bands that I fell in love with right as they were breaking up which is a pain all avid music lovers are familiar with; finding yourself wrapped up in a new “favorite” band only it’s got the tinge of regret knowing that you’ll never get to see them live. While the members Jill Andrews and Sam Quinn have both gone on to fruitful solo careers but it’s just not the same as the wonderful dance Jill’s voice does with Sam’s guitar. This morning Live & Breathing (a really fabulous blog you should check out) posted a video of The Everybodyfields from their archives. “Lonely Anywhere” is incredibly heartbreaking but and comes from such an honest place it has earned a permanent spot on my “a good cry” playlist. This performance in the studio of their friends at Live & Breathing is a very tender performance and a great way to introduce yourself to an often overlooked group.

Watch This: Beet Cake By Tiger In A Jar

All cooking demonstration videos should be this beautiful. Tiger In A Jar capture the essential grace and art of a kitchen session in her food videos. We may not all be this smooth in our baking endeavors but it’s something to aspire to.

The Black Keys – Lonely Boy

This video is pure awesome. Totally the kind of smile pushing tune and simple visual that I needed today. Makes me even more excited about The Black Keys’ new album El Camino due to drop December 6th.

 

New Frightened Rabbit

There are few things that I will jump outta my skin with excitement over but Frightened Rabbit definitely holds that honor and has for a while now. They recently played a show on New York where they were handing out a new EP, unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it but a friend was super kind enough to get me a copy of the EP. Then today I came across this great rendition of “Scottish Winds” – one of the tracks from the EP.

What makes it even better is the association with Invisible Children, an effort devoted raising awareness of the child soldiers in Central Africa. Give the video a look and then check out Invisible Children and see if there is anything you can do to help the cause.

Video after the jump

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Newest Shaking Through Artist: Sweet Lights

It’s been a while since I posted something from the fine folks at Weathervane – the progenitors of the awesome Shaking Through project. It’s not for lack of awesomeness on their behalf, they’ve been doing really wonderful stuff with the likes of Hezekiah Jones and Port St Willow, I’ve just been a little slow on catching up. However, the newest release popped up over the weekend and I feel it needs to meet your ears.

The band is Sweet Lights and the single is “You Let Me Down.” It took just one listen to really pause me. The arc of this song is patient and rich telling a tender story with real musical craft.  Continue Reading →

A Tin Can & A Big Question

I am currently spending a gloriously long weekend at our family lake home in northern Wisconsin. My family and my boyfriends family are all here and we’ve been spending lazy days swimming in the lake, sipping cocktails on the pontoon boat and eating tons of delicious food.

Right before we sat down to dinner on Friday night – only a few hours after my little sister showed up from New York as a surprise – Ryan brought me out to show me the tin can phones he had made. Tin can phones are a running joke between the two of us and so I didn’t really think much of it when, left with a little extra time on his hands, he actually made some. So I gamely took my can out into the yard to have a chat. This is what happened next….

I said yes

I am beyond excited to marry this man and see what kind of adventures lie ahead.

The Mountain Goats Are Back

The masters of the jaded romance reflection ballads are back with a new album All Eternals Deck and a tour with Bright Eyes. While it’s fair to day they haven’t really evolved their sound with this album it is still a reflection of their lyrical and instrumental prowess.

The lead video from the release is for “Real Estate Sign” and features the incredible animations of Awesome and Modest. Somehow the delightful visuals paired with the woe-is-me lyrics makes for some bittersweet viewing.

The Mountain Goats – Estate Sale Sign from Merge Records on Vimeo.

[MP3] One Fine Day (Chiffons cover)

Watch This! New Joan As Police Woman

My love for Joan As Police Woman was slow to develop but I am now thoroughly entrenched in her amazing lyrics and sultry delivery. This is the first video from her new album The Deep Field due out August 1.

This Excites Me: New GRATES!!!!!!!!

Hands down one of my favorite bands to see live, especially when I feel like dancing my ass off. This new video for the first single, “Turn Me On” off of their new album Secret Rituals. The band is now down to a duo with the departure of their drummer Alana and while her sweet percussive presence will be missed I am really excited to hear this album. If the rest of the tracks are a awesome as this first one I’ll be a happy chica.

[MP3] Sukkafish