"You'd got a mouth all full of stars"-Cotton Jones

This track is perfect for laying in bed all day with the one you love. The 50s/60s instrumentation and dark lyrics greatly remind me of Jesus and Mary Chain and The Velvet Underground.

I so badly want to slow dance to "Blood Red Sentimental Blues" and pretty much anything else that has a soothing twain to it. If you are unfamiliar with the music of Cotton Jones, then I suggest you acquaint yourself with this Maryland band because their melodies are quite beautiful.


Grizzly Bear's music always has interesting melody changes that are at first a bit jarring, but at the same time make complete sense. All in all a very innovative band with gorgeous harmonizing vocals. And every single one of their music videos are worth watching more than once.

In the man-dominated music world of the 70s, sister duo, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, were quite the inspirational trailblazers for every woman in rock that proceeded them. The first time I ever heard "Magic Man" was while watching Sofia Coppola's film adaptation of The Virgin Suicides. The wailing guitars in the intro hypnotized me instantly!

The Killers cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay" is so good that I think I even like it better than the original-I blame the cover's more dance friendly beat for this preference.

Lately, when I'm in a blues rock mood I look no further than The Black Keys. I commend them for bringing back this classic sound along with it's hazy production value and singing-through-a-fan quality. You'd never guess that only two scrawny white dudes make up this band.

I am eagerly awaiting the new album from Austin based band, Explosions in the Sky. I've never been a huge fan of strictly instrumental music (I love lyrics), but these guys know how to move you without words using their intricate post-rock sound.


Back in my high school days I was quite the little metal head, which meant I listened to SLAYER...a lot, and still do when I feel the need to wile out and head-bang. Plus their melodies change so seamlessly back and forth and who can resist the guitar, THE GUITAR?!      

It's Been An Elliott Smith Kind Of Week

A very uneventful week indeed, as I couldn't do much else but lay in bed, listen to music, and haphazardly take pictures around my house. The list for this week is pretty somber and slow, which describes the last couple of days perfectly. Now I'm looking forward to an exciting weekend which includes a trip to San Antonio, a cheesy Christmas sweater party, old friends, family, and some more intensive Christmas shopping.

Sad songs will forever be my favorite because they are just so honest. After listening to this track over and over and over again I've realized that the lyrics describe a girl who is afraid to commit, while her boyfriend relentlessly tries to change her mind. "Anyone's Ghost" comes from the National's fifth studio album, High Violet. If you haven't listened to it's entirety yet,then I highly recommend you do so!

I know, I KNOW. I am pretty obsessed with the Knife, so it's no wonder why Fever Ray, Karin Dreijer Andersson's solo act (one half of the Knife), is on this list. I guess I just can't get over how odd and pleasing her sound is all at the same time.

Beach House are undoubtedly one of my new favorite bands. Victoria Legrand's vocals sound just like warm honey and I adore how this particular track drones and creeps on for entirely too long-sometimes what I criticize about a song is the aspect that I love most. Weird, I know!

If it weren't for the wasted years that the Stone Roses annoyingly had to spend in a legal battle with recording companies, then I imagine they would have been as famous as Oasis (whom they influenced). The band sprung up in the late 80's/early 90's right in the middle of the Madchester music scene (in Manchester, England of course), which mixed alt rock, dance music, and psychedelic rock. "I Wanna Be Adored" clearly is the cry of a generation.

I really had never listened to Neko Case until a few months ago and now she's constantly on repeat. I grew up listening to country, amongst other genres, in my little border town and her music simply reminds me of those roots. Plus, I'm a huge fan of modern country music with substance that doesn't sound like it's trying to cross over into the realm of mainstream pop.  

I pretty much got from point A to point B all while listening to the Crystal Castles album last weekend, it had been a while. The album reminds me of a dear friend who has been living in California for the past year, but I recently got word that he is moving back soon! After perpetually listening to it I remembered how much I enjoy "Vanished", which strangely enough sounds unlike the other tracks on the album.

The first track from their very first album, Turn On the Bright Lights-also their best album to date. Every time I need to calm my worries I put this album on and it always does the trick, especially this soothing song. And I actually did this several times through out my dreaded cold this week. As I have a deep love for post-punk I also feel the same for pretty much all post-punk revival bands. Yeah, my musical taste is easy to figure out. 

"Little Girl" comes from the Dark Night of The Soul album, which I've already ranted about in a previous post. It is sung by Julian Casablancas and unmistakingly sounds like what we love most about the Strokes complete with all the distortion. This track is perhaps the most upbeat on the record.

I first discovered this Elliott Smith song when watching Wes Anderson's brilliant film The Royal Tenenbaums years ago. The scene in which this song reigns (as if it's its own character) is when Richie attempts suicide in the bathroom. As soon as I heard the first chord I was from thereon a self-proclaimed Elliott Smith junkie and immediately bought up all of the albums my little town could offer. 

No More Work Please

Wow, this week has been hectic. I have had little to no time to post anything as I have been preparing my house for Christmas, attending concerts, and pretty much covering for three people at work this week-I'm gunna quit I can feel it! Not sure exactly when, but hopefully in the next month or two. Thankfully, I have my ever-present music, especially these nine tracks, to keep me going through all the craziness and lulls that life brings.   

The perfect song for daydreaming about traveling anywhere and everywhere...not just New York. I tend to nod off to fantasy land on a daily basis and often find myself in Spain-this will be a reality one day! Besides that, "I have nothing to do today but smile" is a beautiful sentiment.

This song slowly drives me crazy-going round and round and getting absolutely nowhere. BUT it's probably one of the funnest tracks to casually slip into temporary insanity to. Planningtorock hails from Berlin and not only writes her own music, but also creates her own maniacal music videos.

Pixies are KING! Kim Deal's brooding bass lines have this ability to zero in on your dark side and draw out a sort of deliberate, menacing confidence you didn't know existed. "Gouge Away" especially has that effect.

To me, Metric's music is the epitome of girl rock-in your face, brazen, and completely unapologetic all rolled up into tracks you can shamelessly dance to in front of your mirror. This track is from their 2003 album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?

I recently discovered Baths this week and cannot stop listening to this strangely beautiful track along with it's eerily imaginative video-the perfect visual compliment.

Neutral Milk Hotel were, indeed, ahead of their time when they released In The Aeroplane Over The Sea in 1998, undoubtedly influencing musicians like Fleet Foxes and Beirut. Jeff Mangum's painful lyrics are nothing less that true poetry. Most of the songs on this album are loosely about Anne Frank and the hardships of defining and concealing her sexuality while also hiding from the Nazis. It's evident to me that he wishes he could go back and save her from everything.  

About one month ago my friend gave me a copy of their album and I've pretty much been listening to its entirety non-stop. Miike Snow (I don't even know how your are supposed to pronounce Miike??) definitely makes me think of a modern day BeeGees, but of course far less cheesy. "Silvia" is my favorite track because of all the build-up it creates. 

The swinging 60s sound of this classic track is so infectious with its persistent one-note keyboard and wailing surf rock guitar. Certainly makes me want to dance like Edie Sedgewick all weekend long.   

This particular song is part of Tomorrow, In A Year, a musical collaboration between The Knife, Planningtorock, and Mt. Sims created for Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma's opera, which is based on Charles Darwin's On the Origins of Species. Last Halloween I had the great, GREAT pleasure of hanging out with Matt Sims (Mt. Sims) and showing him all the wonderful things about Austin while he was in town for a show. To know him is to love him-I have never met anyone more genuine, kind, and imaginative than Matt and I absolutely love his work.

Photos from Help I'm Alive, Bart Everly, Last.Fm, Ultra 8201

LifeTrax

Every Friday I'll be posting a small playlist of songs that float and flutter in and around my existence. These are the tunes that keep me going through my days as they inspire, console, and interpret my outlook on matters of sorts-think of it as a continuous soundtrack of my life, if you will. This particular set is definitely geared towards the cold weather to come and change in general.

This track from the marveled, electronica veterans' latest album, Heliogland, has gotten my attention because of its gothic nuances.

In particularly, the consistent, marching band drums give me that sense of forging through some daunting life crisis while keeping your wits about you, and the oh-so melodic vocals are the perfect soothing overlay.

Gal group Warpaint sure are turning heads with their dose of unadulterated psychedelics. To display their level of notoriety and talent-the artists opened for alt-indie rockers, Sonic Youth, in Austin as part of an after show for ACL 2010.  Actress, Shannyn Sossamon, and former Warpaint drummer recently directed the band's latest, stunning music video for "Undertow".   

Ryan Gosling (yes, the actor), his pal Zach Shields, and the Silverlake Conservatory children's choir make up Dead Man's Bones. Their one album is completely conceptual as it focuses on the supernatural. Seriously, who doesn't want to hear wee kiddos sing "My Body's A Zombie For You"?

White Dress is one of my favorite local acts. The sultry vocals and garage sensibilities will warm you to your very core-just in time for the dropping temperatures. If you're in Austin they will be playing tomorrow, November 14th, at The Hole In The Wall. You can check out more of their music here.

Air Waves just performed at FunFunFun Fest and she has also recently relocated to Austin (SCORE!). "Lightning" always brings a smile to my face and the tinkering bells make me daydream about the upcoming holidays-bells always do that to me.

I keep finding myself listening to The Kills time and time again. I love the dark, brooding rocker attitude their sound exudes along with their intuitive lyrics. The pair have awe-inspiring chemistry on stage, not to mention Alison Mosshart's rock chic style is perfection. 

www.r4nt.com

White Dress

Warpaint: www.aurgasm.us

FunFunFun in Texas

The ever-growing FunFunFun Festival kicks off today in Austin, TX and will be blaring through the entire weekend at Waterloo Park. The four year-old music extravaganza has been nationally acclaimed for its DIY, underground aesthetics and will showcase four different core stages separated by genre: Punk/hardcore, indie rock, hiphop/DJ, and even comedy scenes. Sadly I have to miss out on this non-stop musical experience, but have created a playlist of featured FunFunFun artists to keep me going through my mournful weekend.

 Fun electro-pop beats laced with smooth French vocals 
Part emo, part post-rock, these guys have been intricately developing their diverse sound for 10 years
Dreamy melodies that rest somewhere between dance and pop
Mysterious boy/girl duo from New York who dole out that 60s pop sound, while twisting sugary-sweet vocals and sinister lyrics together
Former hardcore musician tries his hand at experimental-synth (with hooks!) and succeeds admirably
Israeli garage/punk trio who pull off crazy stage antics including lighting their equipment and themselves on fire
Guitarist (even steel guitar!) and composer who repeatedly defies genres with her intriguing sound-I'm really sad to miss her.
This group really needs no description as they have been picking up national hype for their innovation-you can hear a string of their influences from The Breeders to Roxy Music
For nostalgic reasons and an uninhibited, rowdy good time...

Photo credits: www.musicfestivaljunkies.com, www.austinpost.org, www.gigulate.com, www.ultra8201.blogspot.com