Rocking mellow with an edge.
That's how I'd describe the latest album from sibling duo Angus & Julia Stone. The self-titled album, which came out Friday August 1, is their third release together after taking a hiatus to pursue solo careers following their sophomore Down the Way. While they are both solid artists in their own right, when they combine their sibling powers, their music goes to a whole-nother level.
So you can get a feel for it, here's the album preview on Soundcloud:
In this album, they take what's always been their strengths: dual-vocals singing emotionally charged lyrics, from both the male & female perspective, but their sound has matured and evolved in a more dramatic way. In other words, they've grown up. It's like after your much younger cousin who was always a precious kid goes off to college for a few years and you realize the next time you see them they've become a fully-realized person. The break, exploring their own sounds through solo careers, and the reunion, based on the insistence of producer Rick Rubin, turned the sweet sibling indie act into a musical powerhouse.
They open strong with the rocking "A Heartbreak" and the statement "I met your parents, they were lying about falling in love" which sets the tone for the wry, insightful and usually cynical realism which is prevalent throughout the album. In most of the songs, they both adapt a speak/singing that gives them a disaffected too-cool-for-school delivery. Julia leads "My Word For It" almost entirely in spokensong, with a sleepy sexuality she developed in the years since Down the Way. In this new sound, they play around a bit with being slightly out of tune/tempo, but in a way that showcases their mastery of the genre, while hearkening back to other singer/songwriter folk acts of the past and putting them in a league with the best of the present.
After "A Heartbreak" the highlight of the front half is "Heart Beats Slow" when their off-tempo, almost off-key voices blend together. They're at their best when the achingly earnest emotion highlights the feeling of love lost, love thrown-away, love yearned for. The second half of the album slows quite a bit after Julia's "Death Defying Acts," an anti-love song. The cleverly minimal "Other Things" takes the moment before a fight and in the way it never develops musically beyond the introduction created the tired here-we-go-again familiarity of well-worn arguments between intimates (whether family or lovers).
Where A Book Like This was somewhat minimal in the instrumentalization, and Down the Way added a depth of sound, Angus & Julia Stone has an edge and polished sheen that wasn't quite there before, it leans a little more rock on the scale of indie pop/rock. Additionally, in their past work they penned their songs separately, where in this album they co-wrote the songs for the first time, which plays off by melodies and lyrics playing to both their strengths.
If you get this album, you have to buy the Deluxe Edition as my personal favorite track is actually one of the three bonus tracks. "All this Love" stands in sharp contrast to most of the album, in that it is a complete 180 from the cynical realism permeating most of the tracks and is simply a happy, uplifting, feel-good track, reminding us listeners that "there's all this love if you need it." Call me a sucker for earnest, sugary-sweet joy but I had this one all repeat all weekend.
Got the album? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below or on twitter: @itzbizr
After a fun weekend, sometimes the thing you need most on a Monday is another weekend! However, since that normally is not the case, the next best thing is Musical Monday, and in this case a Yoga-themed Musical Monday. This week I'm posting songs you can use for a yoga session to bring you peace, or as we yogis like to say: Shanti.
The following are songs that are incredibly popular on my yoga playlists, for my own practice, back when I used to teach, or that I've discovered from attending other instructors' classes. I've created a playlist below that can get you through about a 30 minute practice with an additional bit of time for savasana at the end.
If you're not a yogi or even sure what yoga is, these songs can be great songs to listen to when you want to mellow out or have some nice ambient noise for work. Just be sure not to listen to it once you're already tired, because some of these songs just might put you to sleep!
Serifs: Calligraphy
Music: I downloaded their EP for free back in 2011 and the gentle ambient rock is perfect for some ordered background noise to begin your practice. Yoga: Starting either seated or lying down take a few deep breaths from deep in your belly, thinking about the feeling of your breath moving through your body. After a few minutes of that, hug your knees into your chest, make a small circle with them, and rock forward to transition onto your hands and knees. Jonsi and Alex: Stokkseyri
Music: I've used the album Riceboy Sleeps as the entire soundtrack to numerous classes, and if you like this type of music I recommend you buy it, and just hit play your next session of yoga/relaxing/meditation. If you like ambient rock (as I do) it can be a great background but I have had people in the past let me know it wasn't their cup of tea. I like the surprising ways they incorporate certain sounds (like horses or rice being poured into a cup) with other musical sounds (like wind chimes and a piano) with a soft undertone to create their music (and apparently you Friday Night Lights fans might recognize some of this album from the shows soundtrack). Yoga: Here, with every inhale come to Cow pose (bring your chest forward, dropping your belly & arching your back), and on the exhale Cat pose (press through your shoulders, hunching your back and pretending someone is pulling your belly button up to the sky one a string). You can also do some twists, or a vinyasa through Hero's pose or Child's pose, just make sure to warm up your core & back.
Angus and Julia Stone: Paper Aeroplane
Music: Gotta say "mmmmm, mmhhhmmm" as you vinyasa along to this fun and mellow tale of an meandering paper airplane carrying a love note. Yoga: Transition through down dog, rocking your hips back & forth or making a pedaling motion through your feel. Walk your feel up to a forward fold, slowly roll up and from a standing Mountain pose we'll do some sun salutations. Inhale reach up; exhale Forward Fold; inhale right foot back into a lunge; hold your breath into Plank; exhale lower down knees, chest, chin; inhale Upward Facing Dog; exhale Downward Facing Dog; inhale right foot forward into a lunge; exhale Forward Fold; inhale slow roll up to stand.
Repeat with the left leg leading
Temper Trap: Sweet Disposition
Music: A great song for when you start getting into poses that become a little more taxing, heighten your heart rate, or a vinyasa that involves constant movement. I find the driving beat helps me stay up and focused on moving forward. Plus I can always flash to the montage from 500 Days of Summer in my head, to take me to a happy place. Yoga: Here, you can start a vinyasa between Warrior 1, Head-to-Knee pose, Warrior 3, and Toppling Tree on each side. If you have some extra time you can also do a balance in Tree pose.
Phoenix: Rome (Neighbours Mix)
Music: Neighbours takes this rocking french band's song and slows it down, cutting some lyrics to turn what was an upbeat nostalgic love-song to past youth, into a melancholic reflection that "I never loved you. And if I loved you, I wouldn't say it. I'm sorry." The melody and beat are calm enough not to pull you out of whatever you're doing but interesting enough to give you something to focus on if you need a distraction from the poses. Yoga: Here we can get into plank pose, then rotating first to your right arm on the ground, left side & arm extended up; then switch sides. Next lie on your back and lift your legs up as high as possible, supporting your back in Shoulder Stand. Hold here for a minute, then you can bend your legs slightly, bring them over your head and get into Plow pose, if you want (make sure to protect your back here). Slowly roll down and then do either bridge or wheel for a back bend.
Matt Corby: Coloured Stones and Walls
Music: I've posted on this song before but it's just such a wonderful song to with either start your practice or listen to as you get into some of the deeper, less taxing stretches, like pigeon or supine twist (lying on your back, arms spread, bringing your knees to one side then the other) bringing your heart-rate back down and preparing for savasana. Yoga: Here I like a nice sequence staring in pigeon, then sitting up and rolling down onto your front hip, bending the back leg into a quad stretch (you can do bound pigeon here if you want instead). Release the back leg, swing it around to the bent front knee for a hamstring stretch. Then bend the straight leg bringing that foot to the outside of the front knee for a hip stretch. Hug the knee in & twist the opposite way for a back stretch., Transition through hands and knees to the other side. After that, lie on your back and try some supine twists to prepare for savasana.
Yogini: Bliss
Music: This has been my favorite music for savasana after a good workout, and at around 11:00 minutes you can go through the full 10 minute savasana without having a change of music jolt you out of your thoughts (however, at $9.99 for the single track on iTunes, I will continue to use YouTube to listen to this one). Yoga: As you return to your deep belly-breathing, focus on what worked for you in the last bit of time spent practicing yoga, did you feel especially flexible, strong, balanced, or centered? Think about how you can apply that to the rest of your week. You can also use this time to inhale a positive value into your heart center through the crown of your head, maybe Patience, Determination, Kindness, Empathy. Once you're so full of this value you might burst, exhale it to the world around you, or wherever you need it most, or to a person you want to share it with.
After a little less than 10 minutes, wiggle your toes and fingers, come back into wakefulness and slowly transition to a seated position. Take a moment of gratitude for the fact you were just able to physically do something not everyone can, and bring your hands into your heart center.
Hopefully you now feel fantastic and ready for whatever the next moment brings! Namaste, Bitzy
So I find a lot of my covers on Like a Version, a feature on the Australian radio station Triple J where the musicians come and play one of their own songs and then add a twist to a song by someone else. Last week I highlighted Josh Pyke's cover of the Jezebel's Endless Summer. I felt inspired to create a list of some of my favorite covers. Here's what I came up with:
Matt Corby: Lonely Boy (the Black Keys cover)
This performance is so heart-achingly raw and wonderful. The slowed down tempo, stripped to acoustic guitar allows Matt to create such a dynamic vocal performance that gives a new twist to the song.
Missy Higgins: Heart's a Mess (Gotye cover)
This is already one of my favorite songs so it's safe to say not only will I love any version, but I will also never think any comes close to the original. This cover is one of my favorites because Missy has such an emotive voice and stripping it down to just her and the piano adds more than it takes away. It's also interesting to hear the lyrics and imagine the original scenario flipped on its head to a woman's perspective. Another cool thing is that I saw Missy Higgins tour with Gotye in September so it's cool to see her play his stuff before the whole tour happened.
Jimmy Eat World: Last Christmas
Now I love T. Swift as much as the next guitar playing gal, but Jimmy Eat World has my heart when it comes to covering the song "Last Christmas." Something about this version captures the more hopeful side of the song, while still conveying the original hurt behind the lyrics.
Angus and Julia Stone: You're the One that I Want (Grease cover)
For some reason it seems most of the covers I like are slowed down, moody versions of songs, maybe I'm more emo than I'll admit but I do really like this cover sung by Julia Stone of the Grease hit. Also, one of my favorits SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance) contestants did one of her 30 second solos to this song so I always see that in my head when I hear "I got chiiiiiillls".
The Rocket Summer: Hey Ya (Outkast cover)
I can't yet find a good quality video that shows Bryce looping all the instruments and the full song but I'll update this post as soon as I do. What makes this cover cool is that I saw it performed live in the His Instruments Your Voices tour. The Rocket Summer is basically this really talented musician/composer/singer/performer named Bryce Avary who plays basically any instrument. It was really neat to see the whole song slowly built piece by piece, and finally figure out what it was.
There are other cover's out there that I like, for example Anya Marina's Whatever You Like (T.I. cover), or any Karmin Music cover but I needed to cut off the list at some point or else this post would never end.
Do you have any favorite covers? I'd love to hear about them in the comments section! I LOVE sharing music and I'd love to hear what you'd recommend!
As half of America sojourned across this great land for one last summer adventure this Labor Day, I figured it's be the perfect inspiration for this week's Musical Monday selection: Songs With The Names of Places.
Shovels and Rope - Birmingham
First off is the newest song in the playlist today. The band is called Shovels and Rope and they're a married duo with heart and soul bursting through as they belt out harmonies, in this case with gospel roots and a southern kick. Their 2012 album is called O' Be Joyful and you be hard-pressed not to tap your foot and smile along to this tune.
Bon Iver - Calgary
Bon Iver is awesome. Calgary hosted the Olympics once. You should watch Cool Runnings.
The Weeknd - Montreal
Since we're already in Canada, might as well find another song that plays tribute to that country. The Weeknd made both of his albums freely downloadable from his website although I'm not sure if that was a limited time thing. Some of the songs are NSFW but unless this one says something inappropriate in French, you should be fine but I might wear headphones in case anyone within hearing space is sensitive.
New Navy - Zimbabwe
Well, fancy that, a song about vacation and travelling. How appropriate. This track was named #67 on Triple J's Hottest 100 Countdown for 2011 (a post you can read about here). The catchy tune really makes my want to visit that country in southern Africa, I could use another holiday.
Angus & Julia Stone - Santa Monica Dream
Well, now let's return the the good ol US of A, and have some Aussies sing about their California Dreamin (see what I did there). A mellow brother/sister duo that have since split to pursue their own sounds in music, Julia Stone with her album By the Horns and Angus Stone recently released Broken Brights, yet their collaborations remain my favorites.
The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
Matt Berninger's baritone holds a special place in my ears. Off the album High Violet released a few years back, Bloodbuzz Ohio reminds us that try as we might we can't go home again. Or at least thats part of my interpretation, what do you think?
Hopefully you found some new music and maybe even a new place to vacation on your next holiday!
So the big dilemma I have every time I sit to type a blog post…what to write about? I never can quite commit to just one topic so I end up with multiple half composed blog posts in my head that never make it to the blogosphere (a big reason that I average only 1 post per month). But since I'm already about half-way through this post I might as well just use this as my own personal soapbox to talk about some awesome music that's out there.
I don't know if she's done it on this medium yet but Pinky likes to give me a hard time about my alternative taste in music… and then one to three years later come back and say, "Wow, you were right. This band is pretty good." But to her credit, I give her a hard time about listening to Britney Spears but then dance along to it when it comes on in a club.
Anyway, the musical artist I've become obsessed with since I discovered him around March of this year is an Australian act Gotye (pronounced, oddly enough: "Gore-ti-yeh"). He recently (as in last week) won 6 ARIAS (like an Aussie Grammy) his single "Somebody That I Used to Know" which has gone viral on YouTube and features an amazing artist from New Zealand Kimbra. While this album actually isn't available in the States yet (unless you buy it from his website and pay to have it shipped) you can buy his earlier album Like Drawing Blood which is fantastic as well (highlight "Your Heart's A Mess"). He also recently announced a show in NY in february (YAY) but tickets sold out so fast today I missed out on getting a ticket (SOOOOOOOOOOOO BUMMED, YOU have NO IDEA!)
There's the AMAZING Somebody That I Used to Know video:
And the two of them performing the song live at the ARIAS:
Before this becomes a full-fledged advertisement I'll suggest a couple other acts/songs which deserve a look on YouTube or vimeo and can help broaden your musical horizons (if nothing else, checking them out will give you a little break to your work/studying):
Kimbra - Two Way Street (super-talented vocalist, I also recommend the videos for Settle Down and Cameo Lover)
Dawes - When My Time Comes (out of CA, toured with Mumford and Sons, similar sound)
Apparat Organ Quartet - 1,2,3,Forever (Icelandic group of four organists and a drummer, fun claymation video)
Oh Land - White Nights (Swedish former ballerina who looks like the younger sister of Heidi Klum, Molly Simms, and Gwenyth Paltrow)
The Love Language - Heart to Tell (throwback 60s vibe of the music as well as the stomping)
Angus & Julia Stone - And the Boys (Aussie, brother and sister duo off their latest album Down the Way)
Sia - Clap Your Hands (another Aussie, used to sing with Zero 7, has collaborated with Xtina, a fun an crazy video for a song that's easy to jump around to)
