first aid kit

I'm fairly certain I first heard of these girls years ago, and thought they were just fine but nothing really struck me. Then I saw them mentioned on another blog today and gave them another listen. And another and another. The first song I chose to listen to, Emmylou is just beautiful. Their voices are sublime.

And then I listened to a few more which again were just fine but didn't strike me. And then this. With the perfect grungy dusty '60s sound. It made more sense when I found out it was produced by Jack White.

And an extra. A cover of Johnny Cash's I Walk The Line. 

new tunes

So it's been nearly a month since my birthday and I'm just now getting around to sharing some most excellent new records that I got for the occasion. I go through record buying spurts sometimes where I just need to have them in my life. I don't necessarily think this is one of those spurts, rather, these two albums happened to come out at roughly the same time and this is how I choose to support my favorite bands. I refuse to purchase MP3s. I just won't do it. And what's the point of owning a CD anymore? Records are prettier and come in limited edition colors (I am such a sucker for colored vinyl) and  they come with a free digital download most of the time, so it's a win/win situation.

I have been holding out on listening to the She & Him Christmas album, but I have to admit I just put it on my iPhone today. So. We all know where this is going. Christmas music for the next two months! Yeah!

my night in photos

Yes, I could have already seen Mates of State weeks ago here in DC. But. They just happened to be playing on a Wednesday night and the mister has class on Wednesday nights. When I first realized this, I was kind of devastated. I don't even know how many times I have seen Mates of State at this point, but suffice it to say it will never be enough. But it was not to be. 

Until.

I heard that they would also be playing Baltimore. Just a little while later. On my birthday.

So, yeah, I could wait.

 

I think it was pretty much meant to be. The Ottobar is a cute little venue, with an odd little balcony that puts you just at top left of the band. You could probably reach through the beams and touch Kori's head (if that weren't a totally creepy thing to do). And for some reason I thought I had read an article that indicated they would be playing almost exclusively new material at the shows, but was so absolutely thrilled to find out that was not the case! Not that I don't love the new stuff, but they played so many of my favorites that I was totally not expecting to hear. I kept thinking well I'm sure they're not going to play this one. And then they did. 

Fluke

 At Least I Have You

For the Actor

Goods

True Love Will Find You in the End

And then some. I was also surprised at how many songs they played from Re-Arrange Us, given that it was largely disliked by critics. I liked it, but I'm a little bit biased. And I'm still waiting to see Mags on stage. That's what people are really there for, right? No? Just me? Ok.

Oh and whatever you do, don't forget to enter my giveaway! There's still time!

Click here

You and Me House

Every time I look out into the back yard and all of those trees, I can't help but think that it's just begging to have a tree house built in it. There's lots of unusable space back there right now, with years of leaves, branches, and other waste covering the ground. It will take some serious work just to clear out a path to get back there, but the desire consumes me. To be able to sit out there and read on a nice fall day, to have little picnic lunches, and, well, to dream of the day when little ones will play up there. I loved playing in my treehouse when I was a kid and kind of feel like it's a necessary part of childhood.

And for your listening pleasure:

and I will take you back

I have heard this band described as something like a punch in the face with a fistful of candy, and you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. Mates of State, I will always take you back.

I have been listening to this album pretty much non-stop for a couple of weeks now. I mean, sure it was only released last week, but... I bought it on limited edition white vinyl when it did come out! And I cannot wait until we meet again, in concert... on my birthday no less.

Oh and I am getting so so close to my 500th post. By the looks of things it might land right around my birthday and all the stars will align to bring you a very exciting giveaway event! Stay tuned for details. ;)

merry little

You guys, I cannot appropriately express to you how excited I am right now. Last night I'm sitting at a red light in traffic and checking my email (what, you don't do this? It's not like I'm actually driving.) and I see some very special words flash across the screen. A Very She & Him Christmas album.

I can think of almost nothing better than this. The only negative is that the rest of my Christmas music collection might not get as much airtime this season. But, for serious, it's She & Him. It's going to be perfect.

I should stop gushing. It's out October 25. It will be mine. Christmas is coming early this year (sorry to anyone who might be forced to ride in my car during this time).

Flashback... Sundays

So there's this thing I used to do when I was in high school. I used to stay up late on Sunday nights watching 120 minutes (remember when MTV played music videos?) Yeah so the good videos only played in the middle of the night so I would record them. I had the system down. If it was a video I had never seen before, a band I had never heard of, I would just hit record. If a few seconds went by and I wasn't into it, I would stop it, rewind, and record another one over it. If it was good, I kept it. Sometimes I fell asleep in the middle of recording and end up with a bunch of random stuff on the tape. Hey, it was late and anyway I have a tendency to fall asleep watching TV/movies. And for those of you familiar with my tapes and the content therein, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'll own up to some of the randomness of those tapes, but not all of it. Ok.

I randomly came across this video tonight (BWE posted a video of Maya Rudolph (who used to be in The Rentals? How come I never knew that?) performing recently with her band Princess (?) at a That Dog show). My mind was blown. That Dog. (that dog. if you want to be all proper about it) I haven't even heard mention of them since high school. I immediately asked the mister to download some for me because I Need. It. In. My. Life.

Tennis

I've been feeling sorry for myself lately because I don't feel like we have taken full advantage of the summer and those lovely summer days are going to be over before you know it. Like, we haven't gone swimming even once. Haven't gone to a park. Only had one (or two?) BBQs. No Kings Dominion. Etc, etc. I could sit here and make excuses like my work schedule is crazy and the mister and I only have 2-3 days off together most months and when that happens we end up having to do things like clean and run errands and buy groceries. It's not very exciting, but that's what it is. But I am very much looking forward to next weekend at the cabin, and all of the summertime leisure that takes place there. Thank goodness for that.

Oh, and here's a little video that's pretty much what summer is all about. The band's name is Tennis. In case you were wondering.

Marathon from Oncle Spike on Vimeo.

Wedding Recap Part 2: the music

Oh  hello there! I know, I know, it's been a while. I mean, it's really only been a few days but the posting has been so irregular lately (after all I did start this thing with a once-a-day commitment) and I feel awfully guilty about it, really. But I just didn't want to force it. I wanted to wait for the inspiration and the mood to strike.

Today feels right.

But what I came here to talk about is a little music inspiration by way of my wedding playlist. Please note this is only my half of the wedding playlist. We never could find the time or the patience to sit down together and nail down a playlist so we each created two: one for pre-ceremony, one for the reception. Then we stuck them both together and hoped for the best. I think I remember hearing two of my songs actually get played at the reception, but oh well. Uh, it's the thought that counts?

So here it is, complete with lots of links to music videos. You're welcome.

Processional

Erasure- Jacques Coustea

Bride's Entrance

Fanfarlo- Good Morning Midnight

Recessional

Karen O and the Kids- All is Love

Pre-ceremony

The Concretes- Chosen One
Belle & Sebastian- If You Find Yourself Caught In Love
Blondie- (I'm Always Touched By Your)Presence Dear
I'm From Barcelona- Treehouse
Iron & Wine- Such Great Heights
Lucky Soul- Add Your Light To Mine, Baby
M. Ward- Never Had Nobody Like You
M83- Can't stop
M83- We Own The Sky
The Monkees- A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
Old 97's- Question
Peter Salett- Heart Of Mine
She & Him- I Was Made For You
Simon & Garfunkel- Cecilia
The Sundays- Wild Horses
Fabienne Del Sol- Mr Mystery
The Beatles- She Loves You
The Beatles All You Need Is Love
The Beatles- I Will
The Zombies- This Will Be Our Year

The Bird And The Bee- My Love

Reception

Mates Of State- For The Actor

Chairlift- Bruises

Beth Rowley- A Sunday Kind Of Love

Bouncing Souls- Hopeless Romantic

Death Cab For Cutie- I Will Follow You Into the Dark

Detroit Cobras- Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand

Fanfarlo- The Walls Are Coming Down

Georgie James- Aftermath

Jukebox The Ghost- Good Day

Kate Nash- Do-Wah-Doo

Lauryn Hill- Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

Les Breastfeeders- Funny Funiculaire

M83- We Own The Sky

Madonna- Crazy For You

Madonna- True Blue

Mates Of State- Goods (All In Your Head)

Me First & The Gimme Gimmies- Stand By Your Man

Pet Shop Boys- I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing

The Pipettes- I Love You

Pixies- Here Comes Your Man

Prince- Let's Go Crazy

Paula Abdul- Forever Your Girl

The Rentals- Please Let That Be You

She & Him- Sweet Darlin'

Stellastarr*- My Coco

Voxtrot- The Start Of Something

Architecture In Helsinki- Heart it Races - YACHT's I Should Coco Remix

Firefox AK- Love to Run

The Walkmen- All My Life

Best Coast- When I'm With You

Talking Heads- This Must Be The Place

 Keep in mind this is only my half of the wedding playlist. Perhaps the mister would like to put together something for his half one of these days, but this will have to do for now. Someone once told me I'm really good at putting together mix tapes. Sadly this is a lost art. Playlists just aren't as satisfying and I don't care for them on a day to day basis, but clearly there is a time and a place. Listening to these songs makes me ridiculously happy and lots of them will hold memories of the wedding for me, regardless of whether or not they were actually played. That's just a funny thing about songs and their associations. They don't always have to make perfect sense to be perfect.

amazing weekend part 2

On Friday night, the mister and I headed out to see one of his current favorite bands (I think this is an accurate statement, though it changes frequently) The Joy Formidable. We had seen them once before last year and had a great time so we figured why not. They're getting more popular by the second so we might as well get the most of it before they start selling out 9:30 Club (last time we saw them they played the small downstairs stage at Black Cat, this time they were on the main stage. It's only a matter of time..) 

Don't know who they are? Let me give you a little taste.

 

They put on a great show. Lots of energy, lots of rocking out, a sprinkling if bashful grins and sweet remarks, and more crazy eye than I quite knew what to do with. She must practice in the mirror, because she's got the crazy eye DOWN.

 

It was also just nice to be out and about with the mister and enjoy each others company (and people watching, that's one of the best parts about leaving the house). I hope to be doing a lot more of it in the near future.

Good Day

Chris reminded me of these guys and I just had to share. Their music makes me so happy, and makes me want to drive around with the windows down and sit in the grass without shoes on. The weather is not quite ready for these activities, but I can get ready for them in my mind, right?

One of my personal favorites.

 

Best part is they're based in Philadelphia so they come to DC all the time. Like April 23 at Black Cat. You should go.

From their recent album.

So much love for these guys

Mates of State: True Love Will Find You In The End from Amplified on Vimeo.

Where are you Christmas?

I was on a mission to find this version of this song (not the Faith Hill version, ick) which would allow me to share on my blog, and this is what I came up with. Look, I was desperate. This song is magic, and I just adore it to pieces.

These aren't so bad either, if you're into that sort of thing (and I am, I really am).

 

What's getting you in the holiday spirit?

Fort Christmas

And here is where I promote the new album from the fiance of one of my favorite bloggers, chronicling the start of their relationship (a collective awww here, please). This Jeremy Larson and Elsie Flannigan are just too cute and too talented for words. So enjoy. And you're welcome.

Cloud Cult

 

I love a good stop motion paper craft video. Enjoy!
via Puddlegum

need some new music?

Perhaps I can interest you in some Parenthetical Girls. At first glance you might assume that they're just like any other indie-synth band out there, but upon close inspection you'll find something a little warmer, more emotional, more authentic.

This song actually reminds me a bit of Fanfarlo, which you might recall I posted about a while back and just love love love.

Parenthetical Girls "Evelyn McHale" from judesays on Vimeo.

I stink at really talking about music because I have very specific tastes and yet I find it impossible to put them into words. I am often stumped when someone recommends a band that they think I will like and I hate it and I can't figure out why they think I will like it, or they say "well you like this one band and this other band is similar" but while they may try to have a similar style they are lacking in talent and just aren't very good. I'm picky about singers' voices,.I have an extreme distaste for songs that feel flat to me, or that lack emotion (two very different things in case you are wondering). I have specific memories tied to lots of different songs from different parts of my life. I wish I could listen to more music sometimes, but it looks like my commute time to work just doubled so maybe I can do that. Just don't ask me what kind of music something is. I hate that.

I discovered Parenthetical Girls via RCRD LBL, offering up free music downloads every single day and a great source of inspiration for those of us needing new favorite bands. Download "Young Throats" here.

It's just another Music Monday

I've been working on the wedding playlist which means hours of listening to music and being inspired and remembering songs I love and had almost forgotten! This song by Fanfarlo is one of those songs. It's one of those songs that I just can't find fault in, it's so beautiful. Please give it a listen!

As far as the wedding playlist goes, I'm famously avoiding the large tasks and focusing instead on the more manageable ones. Which means I can't bear to choose any Beatles songs yet because the task is just so huge and important (I Wanna Hold Your Hand, I Wanna Be Your Man, Till There Was You, All You Need is Love, Love Me Do, Can't Buy Me Love, All My Lovin, She Loves You, PS I Love You... get the point?) and instead I am going through all the lesser bands to find the one or two songs I want to pull. What? I want to make sure I can dedicate the proper amount of time and to The Beatles! That's it, I swear!

This will be our year

There is so much that I want to accomplish this year, and it is halfway over. But instead of being discouraged by this, I am motivated. It's time to act. Make plans. Do things. Make things. Be happy.

I Like The Like

 

It's a good thing I'm stubborn. I saw this album cover posted over at Rogix's eyes and I wanted to like The Like. So I headed on over to YouTube to see what I could find.

I didn't like this (aside from barefoot drumming and synchronized swimming).

And I was rather bored by this (although I dig the striped walls).

But this made my feet tap uncontrollably. I officially like The Like.

More like this please?

I heart Stellastarr*

I could literally listen to that second song on repeat for at least a half hour at a time. I know this because I have done it. Because that was the only song that could get me pumped for the work day. Because it makes me happy.

Chris and I saw Stellastarr* play last year in DC, and I was unprepared for the awesomeness. The rolling around on the floor, knocking over mic stands kind of awesomeness that manages to come out sounding even better than the album. The kind of awesomeness that compelled me to stand right next to the stage, something I (sometimes regretfully) haven't really done in years (call it getting old). The kind of awesomeness that I need in my life right now... When are they coming around again??

Some photos from that show: