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: 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

11-12-13

So its been 2 months, almost to the day, since I last posted on my blog. I'd like to day it's just cause life got busy, which it did, but it also was because I succumbed to a sense of ennui that had been attacking my productivity, and this blog was a place where I felt little accountability to continue once my effort evaporated.  And like Newton's second(? or was it first?) law that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, blogging just fell out of my life.

Well I'm back! And while I can't guarantee any sort of schedule (I'm bad at those, remember the blogtember that never was?) I'll try to keep up with Musical Mondays and Foto Fridays and maybe instead throw in some "Say What!?" Wednesdays or Thinking Thursdays or some other alliterationally appropriately titled posts.

So at least for the moment, I'm back and while I'm here I'll point you to some of the music that's gotten me through the fall so far:

Great Music Finds of Fall 2013:

HAIM: Days Are Gone

One of their older songs but it's still one of my favorites on the album.
I've featured this sister act (plus one unrelated male drummer), currently touring Europe with Phoenix, numerous times here. You Me & Charlie has championed them from the beginning, and Rolling Stone has an article on them this month. The album is solid and anyone with a penchant for 80/90s era rock, pop, and R&B will like their sound, filled with guitar riffs and infused with a millennial smoothness enhancing the throwback sound.

Oh Land: Wish Bone (full album streaming below)

Oh Land is spectacular. The end. Also, Green Card is an AMAZING song.

Gossling: Never Expire

I discovered Gossling the way most people did, as the singer for the hook on 360s Boys Like You, but have become a fan through listening to the evolution of her own sound. This single is one of her latest and has a deeper, more electronic, heaveir sound than her previous work but it works well complementing her airy voice.

Musical Monday: Rocking Mellow-dies for Summer

HELLO AGAIN BLOGWORLD! I took a month off of blogging with a busybusy July, leading up to vacation, but now I'm back and ready to blog about the songs of my summer.  Expect a lot of songs in this post except, since I'm a bit rusty there will be less info about

Summer is a time for laid-back, beachy, rock. Kick back in the sand with a cool drink and vibe along to this week's (for the most part) mellow Musical Monday selections:

(If you want to listen to the playlist straight through, find it HERE)

Cayucas: Cayucos

With a beachy-tone and a rocking drum-beat, this song is perfect for a summertime barbecue.

The 1975: Chocolate

Another band I first discovered on You Me & Charlie, this British band is picking up some well-deserved radio time for their latest single.

HAIM: The Wire

The latest release from the LA-based sister trio is somehow even better than their previous stuff, which I've already praised plenty of times on past Musical Mondays, so you know this is saying something!

The Neighbourhood: Sweater Weather

Sweaters in the summer? I guess I'd wear one if it meant listening to this song a bit more =) Or maybe this California-based band get's chilly in the evenings.

The Postal Service: A Tattered Line of String

One of my favorite musical acts from High School, their recently released 10th Anniversary Deluxe album features remastered versions of old favorites along with some new tunes.

Caveman: In the City

A chill song for nights spent lounging under the summer sky. Coincidentally, I found a video of the the song with the a time-lapse sky.

Josh Pyke: Leeward Slide

An Australian singer-songwriter, Josh Pyke's latest CD impresses as always. I couldn't find the album version on Youtube but here's an acoustic performance.

Bastille: Pompeii

I'm pretty sure I discovered this awesome jam by the on Bastille Day, and even if I didn't that's my story and I'm sticking to it! While not so much mellow as jump-tastic, I just had to add this to my summer-jam list.

What songs have you mellowed out this summer? Tell me in the comments below or on twitter @itzbizr

2013 Spring Songs Preview

Sorry for the brief hiatus. I had some posts planned but every now & then I just feel compelled to get off the interwebs, that combined with a bout of perfectionism meant posting just didn't happen the last 2 weeks. Well now that I'm back, here's my Spring 2013 Preview of Songs and artists I'm excited about.

f y f e: Solace

f y f e is the newest project of Paul Dixon, who used to perform under the name David's Lyre. I've highlighted some of his tracks before which you can find here. Solace is the first song he debuted (that looks funny for some reason but spell check is saying it's OK), under his new moniker and while it's definitely distinct stylistically from his previous work (with a heavier sound, more distinct beat and use of an electric instead of acoustic guitar), it still keeps the same introspective lyrics

He also just dropped a new single this week:
f y f e: Lies

While David's Lyre was a little lighter sounding with more introspective lyrics, these new songs show f y f e is evolving into a more-radio friendly artist, with some heavier hooks, some electro-pop experimentation, and in the case of lies a free download if you "like" it on Facebook. Hopefully this translates into success across the pond for him here in America. I'd love to hear more and am looking forward to the EP release.

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

The teenager in me is superexcited for the FOB reunion (Chicago Is So Two Years Ago takes me back to early high school everytime I hear it) plus fire is just awesome to watch in slo-mo, so the video satisfies my inner-pyromaniac. This song is definitely a bit harder & heavier and darker sounding, more reminiscent of Infinity on High than Under the Cork Tree (which along with Foile A Deaux are my favorite albums of theirs)

Vampire Weekend: Step

This song had its debut at the recent SXSW festival in Austin & all the music bloggers basically exploded with how awesome Vampire Weekend is and how much their all anticipating the next album. After hearing the track, I too am pretty excited for the next sounds from this lyrically-confusing, creative, hipster-before-hipsters-were-a-thing band.

San Cisco: Fred Astaire

I saw this young Australian band in concert last weekend at the Rock & Roll Hotel. They were a really fun band to hear live, they have a great 60s-beach-pop vibe and you could see they were having fun which always makes a show better. My friend described them as a "poor man's Bombay Bicycle Club, who is in turn a poor man's Vampire Weekend."  While I definitely see similarity in the sounds of the lead singer's voices & some of the songs, I really don't think that comparison is quite appropriate, it's probably more like San Cisco is a high-schooler's Vampire Weekend (seriously I was a good 10 years older than about 80% of the audience & the lead singer even helped a boy ask a girl to prom,which was adorbs but highlighted the fact that I might've been too old to be there & maybe too old to use the word adorbs) with a sassy lady-drummer named Scarlett (if that's not a perfect Rock&Roll name, I don't know what is).

Hey Marseilles: Heart Beats

Another KEXP find, so I'm linking the video to the live performance recorded through KEXP . I can't even count how many songs I like are named Heartbeat or Heartbeats or something similar but add this to the list. Basically, gimme some existential/introspective thought on hearts beating, add an epic beat and in this case a violin/cello melody line and I'm all about it. I think this band is poised for a breakthrough, I've been hearing their name more and more lately and I can't wait to see what they do next.

Haim: Falling

I cannot say enough about how much I dig Haim's music. I also am calling them out as the next big thing in US music (although, as I said before, I'm not the first to say this: they received the BBC's Sound of 2013 award) Also, while I never officially made this claim for other artists, I recognized the same sort of of potential in the songs from Mumford & Sons, Gotye, Of Monsters & Men, the Lumineers, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis after discovering them from Triple J, KEXP, You Me & Charlie) in some cases almost a year before they became popular in mainstream media. Although for every Mumford, there's a Laura Marling (an amazingly talented musician who the critics all agree is great, but who just hasn't found a much success or radio play in the US). Anyway, this is in no way to toot my own horn, just to say: START LISTENING TO THIS AWESOME BAND and maybe you can be cool like me ;)

Musical Monday: Women Who Rock!

Did you know March is Women's History Month?
Neither did I, until I needed a theme for my first Musical Monday in March.

I actually though of this post after Tina Fey and Amy Poehler ROCKED hosting the Golden Globes  (I mean seriously, I rarely bother with award shows except for the Red Carpet looks but was so thoroughly entertained by the hostesses that I watched the whole thing), thinking the celebration of women in film & television deserves a celebration of women in music, it has now worked out perfectly as the first post for March. In honor of Women's History Month, we're gonna get some great tunes from Women who Rock!

Metric: Breathing Underwater

Metric has always been wonderful, and their latest single is no exception. Singer Emily Haines is all that is cool in rock and roll, like an indie-new wave Gwen Stefani minus the Harajuku obsession. This was the one song that I somehow forgot when compiling my Best of 2012 post, so I had to find a way to get it into a post this year. I just wish the US radiowaves would finally give this band their due. I would love to hear them on the air A LOT more (DC101 is one of the first stations in the mid-atlantic to realize how awesome Metric is, so they get a shout out).

HAIM: Don't Save Me

I introduce to you (if you're not cool enough to know them already) the next generation of women rockers/ The winner of the BBC Sound of 2013 award, HAIM is poised to take over the charts worldwide. The trio of sisters from LA bring's back some 90s R&B sounds in a very millennial way. I got the chance to see them at the Gentlemen of the Road Stopover in Bristol, TN/VA and have been hooked on their sound since. I also like them cause I am one of three sisters and I can pretend they are our LA alter-egos

M.I.A.: Bad Girls

Basically one of the baddest music videos of 2012. Back in 2008 M.I.A.'s album Kala was a fixture in the locker room pre-game pump-up mix for my college soccer team and so I was so glad to hear her making more quality music in 2012. I'm also glad to hear the full length album she's been working on will get released sometime this year.

Dum Dum Girls: Bedroom Eyes

Again, not a brand new song, but I figured I'd mix it up with some 60's-sounding pop/rock. I like to think of them as the real life Josie and the Pussycats, only much cooler.

Spice Girls: Spice up your Life

You can't celebrate Girl Power without some Spice Girls. Sorry not sorry.

Shania Twain: Man I Feel Like a Woman

Shania owns my middle-school and early high-school days. She still can do no wrong.

Which female musicians rock your world? Tell me about it in the comments below!

Musical Monday, err Thursday: Oppa GOTR style

Forgive me for the bandwagony style title, but I just had to find a way to nod to one of the most interesting pop music hits of the year, Gangnam style. I also need to apologize b/c whoops, it's already the 13th and I've not posted yet this month... That's 2 Musical Mondays I've missed. APOLOGIES! 

Now that that's over with the real theme behind today's post is the Gentlemen of the Road Stopover Tour. Basically this summer, Mumford & Sons coordinated 4 awesome music festivals nationwide, highlighting the musical history of the four cities. I went with friend to the Bristol, TN/VA Stopover, heard great music, went antiquing, saw more mustaches than I could count, and had a great time!

They even had lovely little photo-shoot opportunities set up, and a mustache on a helicopter!

I'm also doing something new and using only live versions of the song, since that's how I experienced them-slash-now have them on the compilation CD.

HAIM: Go Slow

I was able to see part of their performance at Bristol, but unfortunately not this song. So I'm super stoked to have the live-recording version from the compilation CD. I actually like the live version better than the recorded one, there's a much more 80s synth-tastic vibe and the vocals intertwine into an awesome tapestry of awesomicity =)

Dawes: A Little Bit of Everything

I was also lucky enough to see Dawes play at Bristol and they were great! This is a nice mellow jam about an attempted suicide, regret-fueled binge-eating, & the power of love, you can close your eyes and sway to.

The Very Best: Kondaine

Now after that downer, it's Super-party-dance-time! They look like they're having so much fun and its hard not to catch their infectious smiles and let the beat carry you to at least a bit of shoulder dancing.

Gogol Bordello: Start Wearing Purple

An oldie but goodie. They weren't at Bristol so I can only imagine what this was like live. Seeing the footage from this 2007 concert I'm sure it was pretty crazy!

Mumford & Sons-Below My Feet

One of their newer tracks. I can't get enough of the lyrics "keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn." While their chord progression remains predictable by now (you can say that about most any rock/pop artist though), it is predictably wonderful and one of my favorite things is shout-singing along to the "Ahhhs," creating and weaving in my own version of harmonies, so it's different every time. Their music also makes me happy in a way few other artists can. Also, this has a brief intro by Joseph Gordon Levitt so if it's not your type of music you can  just watch the first 3 seconds on repeat for awhile =)

Did you go to any great live shows or music festivals in 2012? Or is there any concert that stuck with you for awhile, I'd love to hear about it in the comments, or follow me on twitter for more music updates: @itzbizr