So I am way behind the curve on this one (apparently this single was a big deal in February), but any group that samples Kid Cudi and Iron and Wine on the same track is worth a listen. Barbara is an electro-pop group, based out of LA, that has both a sense of humor (this cover was the result of some late night drinking/creativity) and a love of hip hop, with a folksy twist of course. Their cover of Kid Cudi’s Pursuit of Happiness is honestly pure brilliance, sure it’s no original, but Barbara’s surf town spin leaves us fat and happy. This cover is beach meets streets. So open up your ears and let Barbara drop a little heat your way…don’t worry, this tune is more pleasant warm breezes, not Dubai sandstorms.
She’s back. Yup. That’s right, the one and only Marion Mauran. TGIF.
Not wanting to pigeonhole myself as the Listen Up Trackstar’s resident advocate for Blue Eyed Soul, I have chosen not to follow up my Michael McDonald column with a post about Steve Winwood – let’s save that track for another time. Instead, as it is mid-August, I tried to choose a song that fits the late summer mood, and no band – I think – is summerier or moodier than Fleetwood Mac. Tusk, their follow-up album to 1977’s blockbuster, Rumors, is filled with the kind of atmospheric, slightly melancholic, sometimes manic songs that remind me of that feeling you get when summer starts to wane. “Over And Over,” the opening track, is beautifully realized with Christine McVie’s ethereal voice and hypnotic lyrics. It makes me want to drive off into the sunset.
And P.S: Many thanks to Miss Henderson for giving me such an incredible introduction, and for throwing James Taylor a shoutout, and for letting me post a song by Michael McDonald.
I just love Yeasayer. There is just not much else to say. So you can imagine my joy when I came across this track on the most buzz worthy compilation of 2009, Dark Was The Night. For those of you who all aren’t familiar with Dark Was The Night, it was a compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, a well known international charity raising funds for HIV and AIDS awareness. This compilation is comprised of 2 discs full of the best indie pairings and solos of 2010….obviously with production by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, I would expect no less. So some of my all time favorite obscure songs come from this compilation, but nothing compares to the Yeasayer track,Tightrope. It’s beautifully catchy and just won’t quit. It’s a masterpiece and has a sense of hopefulness that demands more than one listen five listens. So you know what that means. Get started.
LISTEN TO IT!
Tightrope, Yeasayer, Dark Was The Night
And do the right thing people, buy this whole album, it’s AMAZING music for a most worthy cause.
It’s finally here. What you might ask, what is finally here?! That would be Beachcomber’s Windowsill, Stornoway’s newest debut. I can imagine not a lot of you were anticipating this album as much as I have been, but that’s just because you haven’t been educated properly. I covered their single, Zorbing, weeks ago, and their entire album was released yesterday. This British pop-folk group did not disappoint to the slightest, the album is both carefully arranged and it’s acoustic tilt focuses the ear on both the creative lyrical banter and pitch perfect harmonies.This album does feel a tad pastoral, but to me that’s not a bad thing, they have produced the kind of track list you would want to accompany you on a journey through the Irish shire. Additionally, with each song comes a fresh usage of musical device, featuring barrelhouse piano, jazzy horncharts, banjo plonking, chamber strings and Celtic fiddles…I do believe I hear an organ mixed in their somewhere too. While it seems this pack might overwhelm, the round-robin harmonies and instrumental diversity hold hands in one of the most pleasantly perfect unions. In short, Beachcomber’s Windowsill does not fall short, it’s wistfully whimsical and cunningly clever and while I still believe Zorbing to be the stand out track, please check out the trio I have posted below…its truly breezy pastoral pop.
LISTEN TO THEM!
I Saw You Blink, Beachcomber’s Windowsill, Stornoway
We Are The Battery Human, Beachcomber’s Windowsill, Stornoway
Here Comes The Blackout, Beachcomber’s Windowsill, Stornoway
The Baths remix of Fol Chen’s “In Ruins”is beautifully eerie. It’s disconcerting how much I like this spooky tune, but the haunting nature of it’s synthy and breathy chorus is truly stunning. BUT this isn’t so shocking coming from a band that has literally tried their damn-dist to stay anonymous. That’s right, the members of Fol Chen offer the perfect description of their music: “You know that mysterious black object that the creepy family is staring at on the cover of Led Zeppelin’s Presence album?” they ask. “Fol Chen sounds like that.” Fol Chen is dramatically mysterious and that’s why it’s so fantastic. Leave it to a group of no-names to make quite the name for themselves on the indie electro-pop scene. This particular track is the perfect combination of breathy vocals and bizarre arrangement of horns, strings and other electronics and the Baths rendition makes it all the more vibrant.
So it’s Monday, and I didn’t blog a thing all weekend. Instead of coming up with a bevy of excuses, which I could do, I’m just going to try and make up for it with bringing you my some of my absolute favorite tracks….
Lately, I have been having a hard time picking songs to feature, honestly I think I am going through a sort of a musical schizophrenia period in my life. I can’t seem to listen to a whole song all the way through…bouncing from track to track….with no clue what it exactly I am looking for. Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened, and usually how I handle it is going back to basics, centering myself around the tracks that I love best. Through this therapeutic process, I realized that I have never featured a track by literally one of my most favorite bands….Band of Horses. I have listened to their album, Cease to Begin easily every week since it’s realease. I am truly a fanatical about BOH and I don’t believe I can say enough of about this talented collective and thus I will always say to little, so I would rather just let the music do all the talking…so here are my top four favorite BOH tracks. Enjoy….
The Funeral, Everything All The Time, Band of Horses
No One’s Gonna Love You, Cease To Begin, Band of Horses
Islands on the Coast, Cease to Begin, Band of Horses
This was a random remix I found from a SXSW Best of All Worlds Showcase CD, and I can’t seem to get it out of my head. I was pleasantly surprised by the unlikely duo that is Outasight and Asher Roth and Outasight. Outasight’s brilliant retro jam, Catch Me If You Can was first released in November, but this remix adds Roth for a guest verse, which to me was an upgrade. The production is flawless, and the old school rock vibe is only enhanced by the bluesy undertones. Outasight’s heavily stylized vocals and Roth’s emcee skills work together in a way that begs the question, when will the next remix drop?
With the recent release of Ra Ra Riot’s new EP, Boy, I thought it was necessary to 1. acknowledge that I LOVE the new tracks but 2. post my all time favorite R³ song. Sure, Ra Ra Riot’s frontman Wes Miles took a few years off to pursue a collab with Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij (they worked on a project that I’m sure you’ll see creep up on track-star soon) but he has never sounded better and these new tracks have never been more in tune with the sound Ra Ra Riot has become famous for on the indie circuit. Boy is three pitch perfect tracks that are all sure to turn up on The Orchard, release date = August 24th, and each song exemplifies the whimsical, lofty, elegant and bittersweet orchestral music that I crave from these guys and gals. I know I’m gushing, but I can’t help it, this collective just get’s it and to be honest this new album is most certainly worth the wait and maybe even worthy of they hype.
Wednesdays always make me think of Way Back Wednesdays on Austin’s Kiss 96.7. When I was a kid, I HATED Way Back Wednesdays because I never knew any of the music, but now as I get older (tittering on 24), I understand why this was a valid marketing campaign. Sure 96.7 canned the WBWs eventually, probably due to brats like me, but it still stands that there is something oddly comforting about revisiting those songs that you’ve lost touch with over the years.
Sure this track isn’t exactly from my generation, but it’s one of those songs that I listened to growing up. Jimi Hendrix and The Experiene’sRed House will always have a seat in my musical rotation. This track incorporates the cornerstones of blues and rock music, Hendrix paired that famous roaring electric distortion with the down-home soul, resulting in true euphonic perfection. So humor me and take a trip down memory lane – maybe this will inspire a personal Way Back Wednesday for all you dedicated listeners.
So please don’t call me lazy, but today I am literally going to post directly from another blog. I know that this must be breaking the blogger code in some form or fashion, but Levi’s Pioneer Sessions do such a great job of explaining and describing the beauty of their musical revival project that I just can’t paraphrase. So today I am going to just let them do the work. The Pioneer Sessions were devised to give current rock, pop, country and blues artists the chance to give thanks and celebrate the musicians that inspired their sound. Levi’s set up recording sessions for contemporary artists to remaster the songs that paved their way, giving a shout out to the greats that inspired them in their own endeavors. I am posting Raphael Saadiq’s session, but all of them are worth a listen….
Raphael Saadiq is enjoying the third act of a distinguished R&B career. As part of Tony! Toni! Toné!, Saadiq (back then he went by Raphael Wiggins) turned out numerous chart-topping R&B singles in the late ’80s and early ’90s, several of which – including “Little Walter” and “It Feels Good” – ended up on the pop charts. He then turned his attention to Lucy Pearl, a supergroup he formed with En Vogue’s Dawn Robinson and A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad. But Saadiq truly found his visionary voice when he struck out on his own. Released in 2002 his album Instant Vintage was, in its title alone, a statement of purpose. With one foot firmly planted in R&B tradition and another kicking forward, Saadiq offered the genre a direction apart from the tired New Jack sounds. Six years later he’d release a modern masterpiece with The Way I See It, a recording deeply influenced by classic Motown, with a lush modern production and topical lyrics.Saadiq grew up during an amazing time for R&B. It seems likely that the Spinners’ “It’s a Shame” was heard often when he was a kid. Hailing from Detroit the ensemble perfected a smooth, fluid vocal approach and released complex songs that would help define R&B into the ’70s. Saadiq chose to re-craft the band’s pop hit “It’s a Shame,” a precise and concise plea to a wrong-doing woman co-authored by the great Stevie Wonder. Saadiq runs his velvety voice through the song, updating the iconic jingling guitar and bubbling bassline of the original.
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