Pulling on a Line - Great Lake Swimmers

This song makes me wish I could play the banjo. The video also makes me wish that when I ran around in the woods, there were lamps with funky lampshades on them.

This is the song "Pulling on a Line" by Great Lake Swimmers. They're folksy-indie rock Canadians. I can't find the lyrics already posted online, but the lyrics aren't hard to pick out.

white as diamonds : alela diane

I am getting so ready and excited for spring. I'm done with winter, apparently winter isn't done with me though.
I was recently at the LVC mid-year retreat, and started thinking of songs that remind me of spring. This is one of my recent musical acquisitions, Alela Diane of Nevada City, CA. This song is off her new CD "To Be Still" which was released this February.
She reminds me a little of Joanna Newsom. Her voice doesn't really doesn't like Joanna Newsom's, but her music does.
This particular song reminds me of watching snow melt and fall off pine trees like rain while geese fly by overhead.




I’ve known mornings
white as diamonds
silent from a night so cold
such a stillness
calm as the owl glides
Our lives are buried in snow

Ouuuuhh whooooa whoooooa (2x)

I was sifting through the piles
in my hand a tangled thread each patient tug upon the snarl
is a glimpse of what has been

Ouuuuhh whooooa whoooooa (2x)

Burdened bands gain strong hands
gaping holes where diamonds should be
must have been morning that stole them
a glint of white in the pocket of winter

Ouuuuhh whooooa whoooooa (2x)

And some hearts are ghosts settling down in dark waters
Just as silt grows heavy and drowns with the stones

Some hearts are ghosts settling down in dark waters
Just as silt grows heavy and drowns with the stones

Ouuuuhh whooooa whoooooa (2x)

I’ve known mornings
white as diamonds
silent from a night so cold
such a stillness
calm as the owl glides
our lives are buried in snow
our lives are buried in snow

her morning elegance :: oren lavie

My song of the day comes from a singer songwriter playwright artist Oren Lavie's album "The Opposite Side of the Sea." He sounds similar to Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake without sounding like he's merely copying Cohen or Drake and without sounding like an angsty teen. Oren Lavie was born in Israel. He moved to London, then lived in New York where he wrote many of the songs for "The Opposite Side of the Sea." He then moved to Berlin where he recorded the album. As a side note, I wish I was able to do stuff like that.

Anyways, I was introduced to his music through youtube video, for his video "her morning elegance." It's a very well done stop motion video with a really interesting concept. His website is also a lot of fun to look through.



Sun been down for days
A pretty flower in a vase
A slipper by the fireplace
A cello lying in it's case

Soon she's down the stairs
Her morning elegance she wears
The sound of water makes her dream
Awoken by a cloud of steam
She pours a daydream in a cup
A spoon of sugar sweetens up

And She fights for her life
As she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain
As it pours
And she fights for her life
As she goes in a store
With a thought she has caught
By a thread
She pays for the bread
And She goes...
Nobody knows

Sun been down for days
A winter melody she plays
The thunder makes her contemplate
She hears a noise behind the gate
Perhaps a letter with a dove
Perhaps a stranger she could love

And She fights for her life
As she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain
As it pours
And she fights for her life
As she goes in a store
With a thought she has caught
By a thread
She pays for the bread
And She goes...
Nobody knows

And She fights for her life
As she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain
As it pours
And she fights for her life
Where people are pleasantly strange
And counting the change
And She goes...
Nobody knows

Galaxies :: Laura Veirs

I stumbled upon Laura Veirs a while back when I got "lost" on youtube. Galaxies is my quintessential "sad song." Everyone has one, right? I'll be listening to Laura come that dreaded day: 2.14.2009. Yipeee!

At any rate, Laura Veirs is a Seattle based indie folk artist. If I weren't so tired, I'd probably pretend to be more of a blogger and write something. But I am tired.

Have a listen!

LAURA VEIRS - GALAXIES
Uploaded by huntylch

When you sing
When you sing
Stars fill up my eyes

Galaxies...
Pour down my cheeks
Galaxies…
They flood the street
Galaxies...

When we dance
When we dance
Eels and sea grass float on by

I’m ten thousand leagues...
Beneath the sea
I'm ten thousand leagues…
Beneath the green
Ten thousand leagues...

When we kiss
When we kiss
Bears and boulders vibrate through the air

Gravity...
Is dead you see
No gravity…
All I need...
Is beating red
No gravity…

No gravity (no, no, no, no, no, no, no gravity)
No gravity (no, no, no, no, no, no, no gravity)
No gravity (no, no, no, no, no, no, no gravity)
No gravity (no, no, no, no, no, no, no gravity)

Rachel Harrington

Today I'm straying from the theme of local music, and instead sharing some really excellent folk/bluegrass from Oregon. Rachel Harrington is a really excellent singer-songwriter, and I'll let her website bio speak for itself.

"Reared among the Pentecostal pines of Oregon, Rachel Harrington has been doing things in the wrong order for quite some time. She’d had extensive radio play before performing her live show, and she was opening for Grammy winners and nominees before releasing her first record."http://www.rachelharrington.net/home.html

My housemate and I were washing dishes last night and she played some songs off of Rachel Harrington's second cd, "City of Refuge." You can listen to some of those tracks at Rachel's myspace page. I highly recommend listening to the track Karen Kane over on myspace.

Her voice reminds me of a little Lucinda Williams, a little Gillian Welch, and a little Pieta Brown. Videos on youtube mostly feature her and the talented mandolin player Zak Borden who sings with her as well. So here are three enjoyable videos I found on youtube. I also recommend checking out her myspace to hear some of her songs that are a little more fleshed out musically, including some really tasteful use of panning if you're using headphones.

Imperfect :: Jen Wood

I love watching movies, especially after a night like last night! Happy 2009! I spent the day recovering on my couch, watching old movies including one of my personal favorites, "But I'm A Cheerleader" circa 1999. This time watching it, I was particularly struck by the films theme song, "Glass Vase Cello Case" by Tattle Tale. So I went exploring for the song online and found Jen Wood, one half of the Tattle Tale duo, and local Seattleite. Upon further exploration of her music, I feel like I've found a gem in Jen Wood!

So, in the spirit of celebrating local music, LISTEN TO JEN WOOD! Musically, I think she's somewhere between Brandi Carlile and Maria Taylor. Jen has Maria's calm vocal styling, but sings about love and life in the same honesty as Brandi. (And yes, we know each other on a first-name basis).





Here's one of my favorite songs: Imperfect, released on her second album "No More Wading."

Enjoy!
-Vincent

p.s., She's makin my gaydar go off. thoughts?



Lyrics:

I love my words
that have spilled into song
all of my words
that have come out wrong
I often lose my grace and spit it aloud
I often lose my face and put my foot in my mouth
sometimes it seems easier to leave everything unsaid
but it only gets worse if it stays in your head
and I look back and listen to the words that I've said
and yeah, I must admit I disagree with some of them

So don't peer over my shoulder as if I'm hiding a flaw
I never said I was perfect
so, why don't you back off?
so, don't peer over my shoulder as if I'm hiding a flaw
I never said I was perfect
so, why don't you back off?

A Night in the Box

Local music. So I reached really deep into my musical library, and I found A Night in the Box. They are a really energetic indie bluegrass/rock/folk group that puts on really great live shows. They're actually playing tonight at the 331 Club New Year's Party. Or you can catch them at the Acadia on January 23rd, The Kitty Kat Club on January 30th, or at the Cedar on February 8th.

If foot stomping, hand clapping, guitar driven, banjo and violen laden music is your thing, A Night in the Box delivers pretty excellent electric bluegrass. Most of the songs are catchy, and make me feel like putting on my best button up plaid shirt and singing along.

I couldn't find much of their stuff, even on imeem, so I recommend checking out their myspace page. In particular, I really recommend listening to "The Hustle" on myspace.

A Night in the Box

I Want You To Be My Love :: Over The Rhine

Again, apologies for a missed week last week and for a short posting this week. I'm a graduate student. It's the end of the quarter. I feel like tearing my hair out. And then taking a nice nap.

At any rate, my song for the day is a beautiful, simple song called "I Want You To Be My Love" by a band called Over the Rhine. They're actually originally from Ohio, my current state of residence, which is where I first heard them, as the opening act for the Ani DiFranco concert I attended last fall. They're a simple three-piece band - a keyboardist, bassist and lead singer Karin Bergquist, who has a stunning voice and who also occasionally plays guitar. They had fantastic stage presence at the concert I attended and all of their songs were excellent, so if you ever have a chance to see them live, jump on it!

For now, enjoy this little song.



With peace,
sumner.

I Was a Daughter :: Basia Bulat

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the DeVotchKa show in Minneapolis. I am a DeVotchKa devotee. And I had been told that DeVotchKa puts on an incredible show. This was no lie. It was probably one of the most sweepingly fantastic shows I have ever seen. It was magic. I may have to write another post just to review that show.

Two big surprises for the night:
1. The beautiful and costumed Slavic Sisters doing crazy contortionist gymnast tricks Cirque du Soleil-style on large cloth strips hanging from the ceiling. This happened DIRECTLY OVER MY HEAD during DeVotchKa's first encore. I say "first" because there were, in fact, two encores. I'm telling you, this show was unspeakably amazing.
2. Basia Bulat

Who, you ask?

The crowd was loud, drinking PBR and Grain Belt and whatever else you drink for cheap at a First Ave show. Then suddenly, this strikingly beautiful woman comes out on stage alone, and just starts singing a cappella, earthy and deep. Wow. It was amazing, and captured attention like I haven't seen in a long time.

This woman was Basia Bulat, a Canadian musician with an awesome name, a soulful presence, and an endearing smile. Then Basia picked up an autoharp, and out came the rest of her band. A ukelele! A viola! A cello! Drums (Basia's brother, aw!)! Ay yay yay, they stole my heart. There is something old-fashioned and romantic about Basia and her band beyond the folk-rooted sound, and I like it. This is honest music. And they rocked. Basia broke a guitar string in their lost song, for goodness sake. So many great songs.

I am featuring "I Was a Daughter", which was one of the last songs they played. The band had us all hand clapping at rapid-fire pace, and this song had incredible energy and grace. Now reading the lyrics, I like the song even more - idealism, sweet and salty, and imagery that reminds me of childhood stories.


Listen:


Lyrics:
If you call tomorrow I will dream I was a daughter
Weavin through these brand-new silver streams
Turned into dusty roads that we both wandered on
We prayed to perfect Avalon
We wished for anyone to take us home

If you want to build this house with me
Oh what a story
This is how they'll all remember me
We were the lucky ones that would survive the flood
With potted flowers in our blood
Pretendin that we don't know where we bleed
All the pretty fall

We fell asleep but we couldn't hear their little words
We swam in the rivers, sang with the birds
Gave away our hearts before we knew what they were
What a pretty fall
(don't sing too loud, they are asleep)
Didn't even know
(don't sing too loud, they are still dreaming)
We sang out with the birds
(don't sing too loud, they are asleep)
Gave away our hearts before we knew what they were
(don't sing too loud, they are asleep)
What they were
Oh what they were

Bonus song! This is "Little Waltz", and it is beautiful.


If you want to find out more, check out these things!
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/basiamyspace
Her website: http://www.basiabulat.com/
Daytrotter - FREE DOWNLOADS (if you've never checked out Daytrotter before you must - it is a GOLDMINE and I'm hooked):http://www.daytrotter.com/article/1202/basia-bulat

XOXO
Kim