Better than an alarm clock!

Need a little help getting up in the morning?

I know I do. What with this incredibly gloomy MONTH of bad weather, it hasn't been too easy to get my butt out of bed and out the door every day.
I recommend a healthy helping of some GOOD SONGS to assist you in your quest.

Their music is so energizing, it almost makes me want
to go biking. Almost.

GOOD SONG #1:Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People

GOOD SONG #2: Call It What You Want by Foster the People.

Foster the people was originally called Foster & the People, but because people kept messing it up, the new version stuck. Mark Foster, Mark Pontius, and Cubbie Fink (yeah, amazing name, I know) are the three main members, with some other dudes (Sean Cimino and Isom Innis) coming out to play at their live performances. They formed in California and DANG, do they make some find indie-pop. Really, if this stuff doesn't get you out of bed with your head bopping, I don't know what will. They released an EP in January, and their full album, entitled "Torches," dropped in May of this year. There are already various remixes of this stuff (check out The Hype Machine), which doesn't surprise me at all. It's just begging for it.

FYI, they will be playing on SNL on October 8th (this coming Saturday).

If you liked these songs, you might also check out:
Passion Pit
Local Natives
The Go! Team
Campire Weekend
and lots of other indie-pop groups which are popping up (ha! pun!) all over the place

Over and out,
Anna

Strong Love, Weak Hearts

So a few years ago (November 2007 I think) I saw Dr. Dog live in NYC with a friend of mine. This fantastic band opened for them- the Delta Spirit. I was completely blown away by their energy onstage.
When they came onstage at the end of Dr. Dog's set, to help them sing/play the
GOOD SONG GREAT SONG "Heart It Races"
(originally by Architecture in Helsinki), I knew they were awesome. I eagerly got their album and then even more eagerly awaited more of their stuff. I have not been disappointed. Since then, they've gotten a lot more press but they haven't "sold out" or any of that sort of thing (what does that even mean anyway? Who cares?). This June they released their second album entitled "History From Below," which is fantastic. It's darker than their debut, but they work that quite well.  And I think it's high time their made their debut on AGSIHTF.

What most apartments in Bushwick look like.
Hence the blues. 

The band is originally from San Diego, and they still reside somewhere in Cali, I believe. It's comprised of Mathew Vasquez (vocals), Jon Jameson (bass), Brandon Young (percussion), and Kelly Winrich (other schtuff). Although they may hail from lighthearted SoCal, their songs deal with some heavy stuff. Example: the song "Streetwalker" on their debut album, which dealt with the subject of child prostitution. And the song on "History From Below" entitled "Ballad of Vitaly," which is about a Russian man who kills an air-traffic controller in revenge because... well, it's a long story. A true one. Super dark. But a FANTASTIC ballad.

Anyway, on their new album, I really like this GOOD SONG:  Bushwick Blues

FYI, Bushwick is a neighborhood in Brooklyn. It could easily give one the blues. 

I love the lyrics: 

Because my love is strong/

and my heart is weak/

after all

Anyhoo, if you like these songs, you might also like:

Dr. Dog

Dawes

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Cold War Kids (they toured with them)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (they also toured with them)

Ra Ra Riot

Kelley Stoltz

BUY THEIR MUSIC HERE: Delta Spirit

Over and out,

Anna

P.S. Merry Christmas!!!

Ferraby, Houdini, and Me

So lately I've been listening a lot to a dude with a great name: Ferraby Lionheart. There is no way that is his real name, but I couldn't care less.

The Lionheart himself. I don't think he went
on any Crusades, though.

He's a California native, who lived in Nashville for a while, picked up some alt-country-folk-pop-whatever vibes, and then moved back to Cali.
His music is pretty catchy and it makes me wish I had bothered to look him up while the summer was still young.
The GOOD SONG of his that I am posting here is called "Harry and Bess."
Instead of just an audio file, I'm giving you the link to the video. Why? H'okay, so Ferraby IS his real first name. He's named after John Ferraby, a famous Baha'i leader. So, whatever, right? BUT his new music video for this song has guess who in it? A fellow member of the Baha'i faith that you probably HAVE heard of.

You guessed it!

Rainn Wilson from The Office!

Check out the great song/goof-tastic video here: Harry and Bess Video

By the way, that's Harry and Bess as in Harry and Bess Houdini. The song is about how during an almost-failed-escape-attempt, Bess Houdini came and slipped a key to Harry... in her kiss!
Pretty romantic and awesome.

Nice underpantaloons, Bess. 

"Kiss me, one, two, three, pass the magic key, and get me outta here!"


I have to admit, though, I had a hard time deciding between three songs of his to post: Harry and Bess, My Name, and Holdin' Me Back. Do yourself a favor and check em out as well.


You can buy his music here: Mr. Lionheart

If you like this song of his, you might also, perchance, like:

Andrew Bird

Elvis Perkins

Luke Temple

Dr. Dog

Paul Burch

(Note: this was supposed to be my fourth post, not my third. But I'm having some technical issues, so I had to post this one. If anyone has any advice about how to deal with quicktime audio files simply showing up as a question mark, let me know.)