12-07-11 - "Somebody That I Used To Know" ~ Gotye (ft. Kimbra)

Belgian-Australian singer/songwriter Gotye had a bad breakup, and out of his misery came an internationally charting tune.  Collaborator Kimbra (a Kiwi, by the way) was not the subject of the song, but her vocals add depth to it.  The song has a somewhat odd and unsettling feel to it, but I definitely like it.  The minor chord progression and xylophone riff set the stage, and the unique voices and dynamic shifts paint the picture fantastically.


Speaking of painting, the music video features some bodypaint and tasteful nudity (you don't see anything you wouldn't at the public swimming pool).  But if you prefer not to watch that, or even if you do watch that, check out the recent live performance from KCRW's studios in Santa Monica, CA.

"You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness..."

9-23-11 - "Hold On" ~ Angus and Julia Stone

This one has a haunting and ethereal vibe.  Sounds like she loved someone whom she thought loved her in return, only to have her heart broken... yet she still holds on to hope that he'll come through in the end... or something to that effect, anyway.  Give it a listen; I think you may enjoy it.

"Hold on, what do you take me for?"

8-3-11 - "Perth" ~ Bon Iver

In honor of several of my friends who trekked to various locales over the past few days to catch Bon Iver in concert, here's the epic leadoff track from the recent self-titled release.  I wasn't able to make one of the shows, but NPR did the world a solid by streaming last night's DC show live and leaving it up for us schmucks who missed it to catch later.  Definitely worth your time, some evening when you can just sit back and soak it in.


The song features rolling percussion, reminiscent of a drum corps from the Civil War, muted horns creating a surreal sensation, and of course, Justin Vernon's soaring falsetto.  Lyrically, it's pretty cryptic, yet beautiful.  Vernon said in a recent interview that the song was inspired by the happenstance of working with a close friend of Heath Ledger's when the actor died, and the town from which Ledger had come.  The emotions of loss and the conceptualizing of a town form the foundation for the rest of this amazing album...

"in a mother, out a moth
furling forests for the soft
gotta know been led aloft..."
_______________________________


EDIT 8-6-11: my friend Jake, who attended the DC show on Monday, posted a video of this song from the show!  Check it out on Youtube (embedding not so much working right now)

7-21-11 - "Shadowlands" ~ Rebecca St. James

Rebecca St. James might have been my first crush.  Pretty face, pretty voice, doesn't take much more than that.  But seriously, this Aussie songstress may be off the market, but I still enjoy her music.  This one has a lilting Celtic feel in 6/8 time, and is all about hope and faith that although we go through dark times, there is light ahead.


The title stems from The Last Battle, seventh in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia .  One of my favorite authors, and possibly my favorite book of the series.  The final chapter in the book, called "Farewell to Shadowlands" describes the end of the world of Narnia, and the journey of the main characters of the series "further up and further in" as the "shadowlands" of Narnia are destroyed and they discover that there is a bigger and better Narnia within and they are to stay there with Aslan.

"There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly.  "Your father and mother and all of you are - as you used to call it in the Shadowlands - dead.  The term is over: the holidays have begun.  The dream is ended: this is the morning."

"The shadowlands surround me now
but You walk with me through the cloud
into the sun..."


* - (Shadowlands is also the title of a 1993 film about Lewis starring Anthony Hopkins)

7-12-11 - "Need You Now" ~ Cut Copy

So on a whim, I decided to check out a band I'd never heard of because I saw they were playing a show in Pittsburgh last night.  I didn't go, but I did look them up, and this track is just an earworm.  I have probably listened to it (or one of several remixes on soundcloud*) about 50 times in the past day or two.  It's a trance-y, catchy tune that pretty much expresses desire for a lover.


Cut Copy hails from Melbourne, which is a pretty sweet place from what I've heard.  Definitely on my list of places to go someday.


The video is pretty ridiculous.  Check it out; let me know what you think:

"There's a beauty in the waking eye,
there's a memory in the waking eye,
But it's never gonna reach you..."


* - by the way, has anyone heard of / used SoundCloud?  I hadn't before this, and I'm not sure what to make of it, but it seems promising for getting music out there, just like BandCamp...

6-20-11 - "Big Jet Plane" ~ Angus & Julia Stone

Are you in the mood for a mellow song about fleeting love?  If not, come back to this one when you are and go listen to something more depressing, or catchy, or just plain silly.

For the record, Angus & Julia are siblings, not lovers... so the song is about some other girl.  There are some husband and wife artists out there, but this is not one of them.  Score another one for wikipedia...

This one's just about wanting to take your lover on a trip to see the world.  Which is something I plan to do at some point in my life.  Because the world is awesome, and must needs be explored!

"She smelled of daisies, smelled of daisies
She drive me crazy, drive me crazy..."

4-14-11 - "Blood" ~ The Middle East

Found this one by Facebook stalking... by which I mean, my buddy Dustin posted it on my buddy Andy's page, and it came up in my feed, and knowing that these two buddies have exquisite taste in music, I had to check it out.  It's a beautiful and haunting tale of three generations of a family and the various tribulations and heartbreaks they face.

"and you'll find somebody you can blame,
and you'll follow the creek that runs out into the sea,
and you'll find the peace of the Lord..."

3-30-11 - "Forever Man" ~ Newsboys

The Newsboys were one of my favorite bands growing up.  The Aussie rockers (well, the original members, anyway) have been around almost as long as I have, but their prime (in my opinion) was 1994 thru 2003.  Like many bands, longevity has been achieved by adapting and evolving their sound over the years, as well as member turnover.  In fact, I just checked wikipedia to confirm, but at this point, not a single founding member is left in the band - which, in my book, ought to mean they dropped the name and started fresh... unfortunately, that's not what happened, but we're not here to talk about the present.  Suffice to say the band had a good run, but even though I do love new frontman Michael Tait from his time in DC Talk, and the other three current members were around for The Good Old Days, it's just not the same as it was in the Golden Age of frontmen John James + Peter Furler + Phil Joel.


Anyway...

2-9-11 - "Don't Fight It" ~ The Panics

Here's one from an Aussie band.  It's been in my head all day.  A simple, keyboard-driven verse/chorus with some horns dropped in for the tail end, it's just a catchy groove.  But there's more to it than that... the singer grapples with apathy, with giving in to the path of least resistance, going with the flow, joining the rat race, being overcome by the brainwashing of society and allowing himself to become just another zombie, going through the motions of life and believing the illusion that happiness is found in being just like everyone else.  He knows he's contributed to the problem, but he struggles to find the willpower to break free.  Yet he hasn't given up hope; the bridge shows he's still searching for answers and escape from the apathy...

"Where has my light gone?
Where has my fight gone?
What keeps us burning
when the fire is long gone?
When I can't relate 
to that voice without a face,
should I be afraid or
is it just a voice I did create?"