Musical Thursday! Long Playlist Edition

So unfortunately this past Monday I was unable to post because I spent most of Sunday & Monday comforting my mom who had to put her dog down =(

But I do have some music to share.

I tried to make a playlist for someone on spotify and sharing seemed impossible cause whatever avenue I attempted seemed to fail. So I'm gonna try to embed the player here w/ the html embed code and my frustration is your luck because now everyone will get a chance to hear the awesome playlist:

Skip the Ramona Falls track (the first one), for some reason it wont stream



The purpose was to share music we didn't think the other person had heard, so frequent blog visitors might see some of my frequent favorites, Matt Corby, HAIM, Bombay Bicycle Club but even then, I hope you discovered something new =)

Musical Monday: Don't Be Afraid

So rather than highlighting a particular band or style, the theme this week is "Don't Be Afraid." Basically life is full of hard decisions, rocks and hard places, giving up things we want for other things we want more, but with the right perspective and the right support, a bit of courage, a belief in something greater, and a willingness to try we can find ourselves where we want to be, or need to be and there's no point wasting time in worry or fear... at least that's what I'm attempting to tell myself through these select songs.

For the Spotify Playlist, click HERE!(I tried to embed the playlist here but couldn't figure it out in time)

Or continue on in our usual fashion (but note, I haven't watched these videos all the way through to approve they're SFW, so you might need headphones on the live performances)

CHVRCHES: Strong Hand

A bonus track off of The Bones of What You Believe, it makes be happy to have the deluxe version because I dance to this all the time in the car.

"When the pressure's building for a great white hope, do you give up the things you love?"

"Will I be the strong hand, keeping you safe? Or will I break you in half?"

Lucius: Two of Us on the Run

A magnificent Christmas gift from one of my best friends, their 2013 album Wildewoman is a great pop album that deserves your attention.

"So run and tell the story of how we made something of ourselves now"

"There's no race, there's only a runner; just keep one foot in front of the other."

"1, 2, 3, even when you get tired, just keep one foot in front of the other."

Bombay Bicycle Club: It's Alright Now

The new album from Bombay Bicycle Club is a great sophomore effort, showing a more mature, polished sound. THis track in particular reminds me of late band The Middle East's Blood (but mostly cause of the oh-ooos)

"It's alright now oh-ooo-oh-oooo-oh-ooOOOoo"

"Let me be your fortress"

San Fermin: Daedelus (What We Have)

San Fermin has such a great sound, and with so many instruments and different vocalists, their 2013 self-titled album was one unique sounding track after another.

"Don't you know it's awfully hard to dream"

"It's hard to talk about, when inside you're freaking out, when it's going quickly and you doubt you're anything"

Yellow Ostrich: Don't Be Afraid

The closing track on Yellow Ostrich's recently released album Cosmos basically gets the whole message of the post across in one song (which is how it inspired this whole post to begin with). However, it's too new & unknown to even make the YouTubes so I definitely recommend spotifying it just to hear the album and this track!

"Don't be afraid, don't be so hard to find"

Musical Monday: My 2013 Triple J Hottest 100 Votes

It's the most wonderful time of the year!



We JUST had Christmas and New Years and right now is a magical time before all the optimism fades and you realize that it's the middle of winter, you don't see the sun anymore, and the S.A.D. sets in causing all sorts of melancholic ennui. Right now, the Triple J Hottest 100 happens.


Now what it this magnificent musical moment, you may ask?
How can I join this delightfully democratic delineation of the years best music, you want to know?
What's so special about this popular perennial poll to cause such annoyingly awesome alliterations?


Short Answer: Check out my past posts on 2012 (votes and recap) and 2011


Long Answer: Every year the Australian radio station Triple J hosts a worldwide poll of the greatest music released (in Australia) that year.  This means you not only can make sure artists you love get recognition, but you can also find great music that also puts you ahead of the pop culture curve. The top songs of years past have all gone on to be huge hits in the US the following year, yes that's right, our own musical culture is influenced by this vote and the Aussies who run it (wait, the US isn't the center of the cultural universe?!?!... well, it's still pretty close as last year Thrift Shop by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis was one of the first #1 songs to be big in the U.S. when the poll was happening, and those Haim sisters seem to be picking up momentum in Australia at the same time (but maybe slightly faster) as in the U.S.), example: Gotye, Kings of Leon, and Mumford & Sons had the #1 songs in the Triple J Countdown the years before they exploded across the US.

You can listen to the eligible songs here through spotify (might take a few days, but oh! what days they'll be)

Once you've heard enough, you can get instructions to submit your own vote here

But HURRY, voting closes in 6 DAYS!

My Votes:

*Matt Corby- Resolution*

*Gossling- Never Expire*

*Chvrches- Gun*

*Haim- Let Me Go*

*Daughter- Youth*

*Local Natives- Heavy Feet*

*Phosphorescent- Song for Zula*

*MS MR- Fantasy*

*The Postal Service- A Tattered Line of String*

*San Cisco- Get Lucky {Like a Version}*

Voting factors/explanations:

• Exposure for some lesser-known artists
• A solid track regardless of artist infamy
• I want my vote to make a difference so rather than write-in a few favorites I stuck with songs I thought had a chance to get into the top 100, but not necessarily what I think will make top 10
• My own arbitrary selection process

Unfortunately Triple J is no longer on Pinterest which means no cool icon/graphic for each song this year =(

But here's a spotify playlist of my selection (minus Gossling and the San Cisco cover of Get Lucky, both of which are currently unavailable in the USA).

Tune in online on January 26, 2014 to hear the whole countdown (it takes literally the whole day). Actually, scratch that, if you're in the US tune in January 25 since they're ahead of us on the whole time thing. If you're someone like me who needs sleep at night, never fear, they break it down into internet streamable chunks afterwards so you can listen to the beginning, sleep, and then wake up to finish the top 10 and then later fill yourself in with songs 80-11.

And don't worry, I'll be recapping it here after it all goes down.





Musical Monday: Best of 2013

So the arbitrary standard for "Best of" is that I craved listening to a song, and it came out in 2013.  There are plenty of earworms this year that happened to come out near the tail end of last year or even earlier. And there are plenty of other songs that were fantastic this year and are on everyone's "Best of" list (i.e. Vampire Weekend) That I just didn't connect to in the same way as these.

I divided them into categories as best as I could with maybe a tiny bit of fudging, just so every song had a category.

If you just want to hear the music, without my explanations you can catch the Youtube Playlist of (almost) all the songs HERE 

Upbeat Dance Jams
I am all about music that makes you jump up, bob your head, or dance with your shoulders (I do that a lot when driving and grooving) and these songs all got me moving, even if in completely different ways to the different genres.

Avicii: Wake Me Up

Memory Tapes: Sheila

Fall Out Boy: My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark

Zedd: Clarity (feat. Foxes)

Pharrell Williams: Happy

MS/MR: Fantasy

Love is Complicated
Really I could include almost any song on here, love is the songwriter's ultimate muse.  However, from the aggressive entreat of Fey Moth to be "conquered," Phosphorescent waxing a slow regret, the ladies of Haim venomously pleading to be let go, Gungor's take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and Oh Land's metaphor of love as passport, these songs all show how something so universal can be such a unique experience, as experienced through song.

Fey Moth: Alexander
There is no video for this song and the embedding code isn't working so head here to a past post highlighting this song

Phosphorescent: Song for Zula

Haim: Let Me Go

Gungor: Beat of her Heart

Oh Land: Green Card

Hits from Down Under
I love me some Australia. In fact, I;ll be posting on my favorite global music survey next week (as well as posting my votes) The Triple J Hottest 100. Two of my favorite Aussie artsts with new tracks this year make the cut, Matt Corby and Gossling both taking their sounds in a new direction in 2013. New Zeland gets a shout out too this year with the world's new favorite teen Ella Yenich-O'conner, AKA Lorde. New band FAIRCHILD also joins with a song that I almost put in the "Dance" section with Dancer. Their video inspired a lot of pretending I knew ballet.

Matt Corby: Resolution

Gossling: Never Expire

Lorde: Team

FAIRCHILD: Dancer

UK Beats
From the other side of the world The 1975, CHVRCHES, and Bastille show that HRH Baby George wasn't the only awesome thing to come from the Kingdom this year.

The 1975: Chocolate

CHVRCHES: The Mother We Share

Bastille: Sweet Pompeii

Close Your Eyes and Sway
Sometimes, you just need a slow jam. Whether it's about making it out of this world and into the presence of the Creator or needing your girl, music has a way of expressing longing, hope, expectation, loneliness, and "all of the feels" in a way that no other medium can. Also, inexplicably after the slow build through the bridge, the banjo and subtle beat drop at 3:36 was my favorite moment in a song all year.

Gungor: Finally

The National: I Need My Girl

What were your favorite songs on 2013? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter: @itzbizr