fanfarlo - finish line

I discovered Fanfarlo a few weeks ago and then received an email stating you could buy their new album, Reservoir, from their website for $1. That's a great deal for some really good music. Check it out, and be sure to make the purchase this week. The offer is through July 4.

Here is an acoustic video performance for Finish Line and some other album tracks. Enjoy!

jeff buckley

Yesterday, Friday, May 29, was the twelve year anniversary of the extremely premature passing of Jeff Buckley. He was so young and talented. Such a sad moment for the world to lose this amazing talent. I can still remember when i discovered his debut album, Grace. I remember thinking then it was one of the greatest albums I had ever heard and today this album still resonates for me. If you do not own it, get a copy as soon as you can. You will not be disappointed. Actually, get all of his albums. Grace though is definitely one of the ten albums I would take if I was going to a desert island or could only have ten albums for the rest of my life. Yes, it is that good!

Below I have included his version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah from this album. This is probably his most well known song, but there are many many more worth exploring. The stark video shows the heart-wrenching beauty of his delivery and the depth of another musical talent lost way too soon.  

Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley

doves, live at the wiltern

I saw Doves last night at the Wiltern and they were GREAT! Sounded incredible and honestly rocked out pretty hard for such an atmospheric band. 

This morning there were already videos on Youtube.  Thought I'd pass along some of the goodness. These were two of my favorite songs they did. 10:03 is a much more intricate song live than I imagined. Enjoy.

jon hopkins - "light through the veins"

When I first saw this video I was a bit mesmerized. It isn't overly flashy and to some may be boring, however for me the simplistic marriage of the art, the colors and the music is perfect. I love that the form changes from what looks to be animated folding laundry to sea animals especially an octopus and a whale. Plus, I really like the song. Too bad the video is not for the nine minute version, which is available on iTunes as a free discovery download this week, or you can download it here as well. Get it while you can. 

Jon Hopkins, who started playing the piano at age five and by twelve was studying at London's Royal College of Music, has worked with many artists including Brian Eno, King Creosote and if you are a Coldplay fan, you might recognize this song. He was the co-producer on their latest release and part of this song was used as the intro to Life in Technicolor.

sigur ros - "glósóli"

I love Sigur Ros. They are easily one of my favorite, if not, the favorite band in my life. The first time I saw them live I was mesmerized. It was a religious experience for me. They have many great videos, but this one seemed very relevant in my life today so I thought I would share it with you. I hope you enjoy.

Sigur Rós - Glósóli from sigur-ros.co.uk on Vimeo.

doves - "kingdom of rust"

Doves, another excellent Mancunian band, released their fourth album this week, Kingdom of Rust, and I haven't been able to stop listening to it. 

I discovered Doves at the same time I discovered Elbow. Fitting since the lads seem to be great pals! I even got an email from Elbow promoting the album, and saying they believed it to be a bloody masterpiece. I might have to agree so far. Doves makes albums you need to listen to a few times and then I am sure it will get under your skin just as it has mine. I literally woke up this morning singing "Kingdom of Rust" in my head. The driving backbeat and effortless hook just pull you in. All of their albums are good. I loved The Last Broadcast, but this may be the best yet.

Another treat, they are playing live in Los Angeles at the Wiltern on May 16. I saw them a few years back at the Mayan. It was a great show, Doves and My Morning Jacket.  Interesting combo, and both were great live.

Enjoy the video and pick up the album. You will not regret it. Cheers!

elbow - "one day like this"

One of my favorite bands in the world is Elbow. These lads from Manchester, England make what i like to call literary music. Every song tells a story and is soaked through with meaning. Many of their songs hold influence in my work and my life. They were (finally) awarded the Nationwide Mercury Prize in 2008 for the best album in England, The Seldom Seen Kid. It has been on constant play in my life since it came out last April. I encourage you to pick up a copy and actually get the entire back catalog. You will not be let down. I have been following them since they released their first album, Asleep in the Back, in 2001 and they just keep getting better. And live... let's just say, it is PERFECT! See them for sure if they come to your town. Recently, they performed the entire latest album live on the BBC. You can see the individual songs on youtube.

I chose "One Day Like This" because it is a beautiful day here in Los Angeles. The video was shot here in my fair city. I think the story goes the original video idea was having some scheduling issues so they went out and found a moment that was as poignant as the song. A song about the day after discovering love. The joy that ensues. That feeling of freedom.

Enjoy!

el guincho - "palmitas park"

Here's a great song to get you in the mood for spring. El Guincho, aka Pablo Díaz-Reixa, hails from Barcelona-via-Canary Islands and is a one-man band. You should check out his entirely addictive self-released album, Alegranza.

Find yourself some sun, maybe make a nice tropical drink and dance away.

oreka tx

The Basque duo known as Oreka Tx perform on a percussive mallet instrument made of cedar called the Txalaparta. I discovered them on KCRW a few weeks ago. It's really cool, especially if you like world music or percussion of any type, and after you realize it is usually an instrument made of boards of differing types of wood. Enjoy.  

múm and pitchfork tv

Yesterday, I discovered Pitchfork TV. This was a good thing, but it also took about three or four hours away from my day because I was having so much fun. It's great! They have lots of music videos and live shows from some wonderful bands. I'm sure I'm late to the game, but I was happy to find another outlet to explore music.

I watched a múm show from the Brooklyn Masonic Temple that I loved. If you don't know múm, they are an Icelandic band that incorporates analogue and digital technologies while playing an assortment of instruments including violin, cello, melodica, harmonica and even kazoo. Not your regular band. Well maybe more so today but they started off working like this as teenagers back in 1998. I'm sure influencing some of today's converts. The sound is definitely unique, and fun. Orchestral in many ways. You can see the full show here, part one and part two. There are great performances of "Guilty Rocks" and "Marmalade Fires" in part one.

I've included the song "They made frogs smoke 'til they exploded" below. Yes, they have interesting song titles as well. It definitely shows their playful side. The aspect ratio is a little off here, but it's fine on Pitchfork's site. Enjoy.

beirut - "flying club cup"

Another discovery I made in 2008 was Beirut. Zach Condon, the mastermind behind this band, is pretty damn amazing. He quit high school and college (on the first day) deciding he could get a better education traveling the world. After soaking it all in, he landed back in New Mexico scooping ice cream and making Eastern European gypsy music in his bedroom. Finally, he ended up in Brooklyn, New York putting together a wonderful band to bring his compositions to life. 

La Blogotheque and Beirut got together to make live videos for the 2007 album, "The Flying Club Cup". If you follow the link and select the videos book, you can watch a performance for each song on the album by selecting the photo for each track number. It's great music and lots of interactive fun.  I would come back to the track selection page after each performance as I am not sure the feed after the videos plays them in order.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did, even if it does take maybe an hour or more of your day. Make a pot of tea, find a relaxing spot and just enjoy while these musicians and artists play a great intimate show. 

These totally make me wish I was living in a place where I could do this every day especially seeing as how I played the trumpet and French horn growing up. 

 

BEIRUT - Nantes - from The Flying Club Cup by flyingclubcup

bon iver - "skinny love"

My best discovery last year in music was Bon Iver.  His album, For Emma, Forever Ago was a revelation to me. Every nuanced sound, verse, moment seemed quietly screamed from his soul. Cathartic, expansive, truthful.

If you don't know the story, he went off to a cabin alone in the Wisconsin woods to basically reclaim his life from all the "stuff" that had been happening over the last few years. He created this elegy to that life and a space for hope for the future one. I have listened to at least one song, usually the whole album, at least once a day since I got it last August.

I selected the video below for it's quiet power and while it may seem an odd choice for Valentine's Day, I'm sure it will resonate with some.

You should also go to concerts a emporter on La Blogotheque to see some more videos done in Paris.  They do these great live short films of bands performing songs in very different, often impromptu locations like someone's living room, walking the streets or maybe even the tour van. Really intimate. Check out Bon Iver's, Part I and Part II. The a cappella section of the title song is fabulous. Enjoy.

free download - today's top tune

KCRW, the independent radio station here in Los Angeles, offers a free song download Monday through Friday. I have discovered a lot of great music this way and I applaud them for promoting often under-heard artist. Imagine my glee, when Today's Top Tune was Animal Collective's "My Girls". So if you like the song and video I posted Saturday, you can download it for free today only, I think until 12:00am PST. Go here. 

I check it every day, but you can also subscribe, listen in itunes and delete what you don't like. Enjoy.

more music - broken social scene, "churches under the stairs"

This is another song I can't get out of my head. I love this band. Another great Canadian art rock collective. Check here for more great videos and songs by them.

Also, this has to be one of the greatest collaborations and performance ideas ever. The Godfather of Soul and Luciano Pavarotti... no joke. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!

introducing music - animal collective, "my girls"

I grew up surrounded by music. My parents played a lot of Motown, a lot of shag music and my sister and I loved it all. We, of course, went on our own journeys and after growing up on The Godfather of Soul himself, playing in the marching band and wind ensemble, I am not embarrassed to say the following... yes, I embraced Prince wholeheartedly as a thirteen year old and I own every album today. What thirteen year old boy wouldn't like songs such as "Do Me, Baby", "Jack U Off", "Lady Cab Driver", or "International Lover"? That's a cornucopia of hormonal bliss even if I had no idea then. I saw Breakin', Beat Street and Krush Groove probably more times than anyone in my small southern hometown far removed from New York City, and I know way more about b-boying than any of you who know me now would imagine. Let's just say many battles were had and won. I became the Grandmaster Flash of my small town, and I loved deejaying... holding sway over the crowd, making mixtapes, and yes, that does mean I know the beauty of vinyl and scratching. Certainly, I am not Grandmaster Flash, but I was pretty good back in the day. There were many times when my childhood pals, Johnny, Chris and I would drive the streets of our small town firing away our parts to "No Sleep 'til Brooklyn".  Me... I was Ad-Rock. 

At college, I deejayed at a bar and while I discovered all types of new musical genres, I never stopped loving the old school music and rhythms of my youth. The Kid-n-Play kick step with Keith and Vince was a mainstay in the dorm and on the basketball court. Then of course, there is the jazz education. I didn't really know jazz before college. I discovered I LOVE JAZZ. Coltrane is a god. Miles... miles ahead, what else can you say. Honestly, I could listen to Kind of Blue every day for the rest of my life. And of course, there's Mingus, Monk, Ornette, Bill, Chet, Cannonball, McCoy, Wayne, Herbie, and many many more.  I have embraced so many types of music I even enjoy bluegrass now which I was surrounded by in the hills of southern Virginia growing up. I wasn't so keen then. Prince, early rap, and bluegrass didn't really mix. Now it all sounds great. I imagine the mixtapes I could have made had I only known then what I know now.  

So why am I am telling you all of this? I miss introducing music to people on a broader scale. My close friends get to hear me talk about all kinds of new music finds. I decided to share them here. My taste is pretty much everything, and I don't think myself some highbrow music-know-it-all that only listens to the most indie music I can find. Some of it is, and some isn't. I like what I like. If you like it great, if you don't, then you know you don't. Fine by me. Today's heavy rotation often includes extensive amounts of world music, jazz, Sigur Ros, singer/songwriters like Bon Iver and Alexi Murdoch, the British clans of Elbow, Radiohead and the massive similar, but rarely equaling bands, all sorts of film score music and classical. Oh, and Wilco, certainly can't forget them. Checkout the roadcase section of their site to listen to live shows online. I wish more bands did this. Seriously, I'm everywhere. It is a broad spectrum mostly based on my emotion of the day just like my art. 

Right now, I LOVE this song and can't seem to get it out of my head.  It just makes me happy and think of spring which is just around the corner here in Los Angeles. Although, being from the east coast and growing up with seasons, it often always feels like spring in LA. Plus, these guys are from Baltimore, where I lived ten years ago before moving here. So I'm supporting the pseudo-hometown in some ways. Enjoy the video and if it doesn't sync well, go here. Its much better if in sync.

Animal Collective "My Girls" from Chad von Nau on Vimeo.