Doctor's Orders

Feeling washed out?

Take two of these, take a drive on the highway at night with the windows down, and don't call me in the morning.

Washed Out makes good music for days when
you take pictures like these. 

GOOD SONG #1: Far Away by Washed Out (be aware the album cover is a pretty sexual image)

GOOD SONG #2: Eyes Be Closed by Washed Out (" ") 

So who is Washed Out? It's Ernest Greene, from Georgia. He's a one-man-chillwave-band who just released his first full-length album entitled "Within and Without" from Sub Pop Records. He began just recording his music in his basement in his little hometown of Perry, Georgia, and has risen to (moderate) fame (in the chillwave world, which is pretty limited). People have busted a move trying to classify and describe his sound, with words like "gauzy," "ecstatic," "organic," "lingering," and others. His sound has definitely been inspired by 1980's synth-pop and contemporary hip-hop (listen to those beats!), but also house, and even other genres like folk (maybe). The songs I picked I love because they are fun to drive to at night, when it's warm, with the windows down. They are strangely beautiful and dream-like. 

The whole album is actually fantastic, and I definitely recommend giving it a listen.  

If you liked this, you might also check out:

Panda Bear

Loney, Dear

Animal Collective

Cut Copy

Toro Y Moi

Neon Indian

Over and out,

Anna 

A Summer Bouquet

I know it's summer and I should have a lot more free time, being a teacher and all, but it's actually been a bit crazy. I've been outta town for a while, and heck, I'm still outta town. Thus, my posts this month will probably be pretty short. Oh well.

Some summery dudes making some summery music.

Here's a GOOD (SUMMER) SONG for y'all:   Get Up by Jonquil

Jonquil is a group from Oxford, England (one of my favorite places in the world. You walk into that town and feel centuries of knowledge just seeping into your bones. It's pretty cool). A jonquil, by the way, is pretty much just another word for a daffodil. In case you were wondering. Anyway, this song has some great guitar opening it up and then the drums and vocals kick in, and it just gets more fun. I have no idea what the song is about or what the vocals are really, but it's OK. It's still a fun song.

If you liked this song, you might also check out:

Wolf Parade
Yeasayer
Vampire Weekend
Yellow Ostrich
Local Natives

Over and out,
Anna

When the (bon)fire is low...

So, remember that Shakira song "Waka Waka?" The one that they played all the time at the World Cup? Well, she recorded it with a group from South Africa called Freshlyground, and it turns out they are awesome!

Look at all those beautiful people of all shades

Here is a GOOD (SUMMER) SONG of theirs: Fire Is Low by Freshlyground

The members of Freshlyground hail from South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, and are assorted ethnicities, and their diverse cultures and backgrounds make for some really cool music. They formed in 2002 in Cape Town. They released their first album, Jika Jika, in 2003, then followed it with another in  2004 and another in 2007. Fire Is Low comes from their most recent album, Radio Africa, from last year (2010). They are Afro-pop with a bit of jazz. Or maybe Indie with a bit of jazzy pop. Or maybe African with an indie-pop twist. However you describe their sound, they are a lot of fun. The lead singer, Solani Mahola, has a really beautiful, jazzy, smooth voice that is extremely smile-inducing. The other band members include Simon Atwell, Peter Cohen, Kyla Rose Smith, Julio "Gugs" Sigauque, Josh Hawks, and Seredeal "Shaggy" Scheepers. All those band mates means lots of instruments: flute, mbira, harmonica, drums, sax, violin, guitar, bass, keyboard, etc., etc. How can you not love it??

This song makes me want to dance around on a summer night when the bonfire gets low. It's impossible not to groove to that beat! Listen! The sax! The clapping!
I hope you enjoy this song, because I sure do.

If you did, indeed, like this song, you might also check out:
Paul Simon
Manu Chao
Arno Carstens
Belleruche
Laura Izibor

Over and out,
Anna

P.S. If you are in DC and free (I'm not. Oh well.) on July 2nd, you should totally go see their show at Black Cat!

Summer Time and the Livin' Is Easy...

WHOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!

I had my last day of school on Friday! Students don't realize how much teachers look forward to the summer. Definitely more than the kids do. For real.
So, in honor of my first week of summer, I thought I'd start posting fun summer songs. How's that?
This first post on Manu Chao may not be big news for those of you who are close to me and have had mixes made by me. I am a bit obsessed with Manu Chao, and I play him all the time. But for those of you who are not well-acquainted with him, or who have forgotten about his awesomeness, read on!

Manu looking appropriately beachy. 

GOOD SONG: La vie á 2 by Manu Chao, from his album Clandestino (1998)
I have heard this entire album by Manu Chao approximately 300 million times. My sister used to play it *all* the time when we shared a room, and I have memories of going to sleep to it and waking up to it later in the night when she had gone to bed, but had forgotten to turn off the lights and the music. Because of this I know ALL the lyrics to his song Bongo Bong, which is one of my favorite songs on earth. Also definitely worth a listen. But yeah, the album isn't exactly recent. But it is a classic in my book. Manu Chao is a freaking genius. He sings in French, English, Spanish, Arabic, Portugese, Italian, Galician, Wolof, and I think more. He is super-popular in Europe, but hasn't made it quite as big here in the States. His popularity is growing, though. His music has about a million different influences in it, so it is hard to describe. It's a hell of a lot of fun, though. Manu Chao & his band Radio Bemba have released three albums to date: Clandestino, Proxima Estación: Esperanza (2001), and his most recent one La Radiolina (2007).

Buy his music here: Manu Chao!

If you like this song, you might also check out:

Mano Negra (an earlier band of his)
Orishas
Gogol Bordello
Beirut
The Skatalites

More fun summer music of all types and tastes coming along soon! Keep your ears open!

Over and out,
Anna

"If I had an orchard..."

So here goes a quick post before Easter for y'all (I'm allowed to say that now. I live below the Mason-Dixon line).

So most of you are probably acquainted with Fleet Foxes already, but in case you're not: They're based in Seattle (again! I can't avoid em!) and released two EP's before they really got noticed. Their song "Mykonos" off their second EP "Sun Giant" is a GOOD SONG, too. Check it out if you haven't already: Mykonos. They relelased their self-titled debut album in 2009 and got rave reviews.

Look at all that hair! Look at all that plaid!

They were just MADE to be indie folk stars.

Fortunately for FF fans, they're releasing a new album on May 3rd! Also fortunately, they released a single from that album already:

GOOD SONG:  Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes (from their upcoming album of the same title as the song).

This is a GOOD SONG for many reasons: first, I love the lyrics.

 

"I was raised up believing I was somehow unique

Like a snowflake, distinct among snowflakes

Unique in each way you can see.

But now after some thinking

I'd say I'd rather be

A functioning cog in some great machinery

Serving something beyond me."

To me those are interesting: aren't we all raised up believing we are totally unique and yet don't we all want to be part of something greater, too?

And then:

"If I know only one thing, 

it's that everything that I see

Of the world outside is so inconceivable 

often I barely can speak

Yeah I'm tongue-tied and dizzy 

and I can't keep it to myself.

What good is it to sing helplessness blues?

Why should I wait for anyone else?"

I often feel this way: everything is so beautifully crazy and inconceivable that sometimes I feel like anything I say will just fall short. But it doesn't mean lack of action, or helplessness, or despair. Instead, it's joyful. 

And then the last part of the song (I promise! No more lyrics now!):

"If I had an orchard, I'd work til I'm raw.

If I had an orchard, I'd work til I'm sore."

Yes. And yes. 

Second, their sound is awesome. Their chiming, jangling guitars and their distinctive echoing vocal harmonies are so refreshing. There is real beauty in their music and I can't wait for their new album.

Buy their music here: Fleet Foxes

If you liked these songs, you might also check out:

Simon & Garfunkel

Bon Iver

Panda Bear

Grizzly Bear

Vashti Bunyan (super folksy & weird)

Joanna Newsom (super folksy & weird)

Iron & Wine

Over and out,

Anna

P.S. Happy Easter!!

Love and the Lack Thereof: February Post #4

SO: The Features.
They're a great band who seem (to me) to get very little press, despite their awesomeness. They're from a random town somewhere in Tennessee, and have been together since middle school (Really?? Really!!).
Ever since high school, I've loved their extremely danceable, high-energy, but surprisingly emotional and well-written songs.
So, for this post, I picked:
GOOD (LOVE) SONG: The Idea of Growing Old

You turn me on to the idea of playing croquet, as well. 

It is a great love song about real love. The kind of love that makes you look forward to growing old with someone, being married, annoying each other, and still loving each other. It's clear that Matthew Pelham (the singer and song-writer of the band) has a great sense of humor. I love the lyrics:

"We can lay around
and count the number of times
I've acted foolish
and you've rolled your eyes.
You turn me on
to the idea of growing old."

Let's hope your loved one turns you on to the idea of growing old, with them right by your side. Cuz that's real love right there.

BUY THEIR MUSIC HERE: The Features!

If you liked this song, you might also check out:
Razorlight (they toured with them, and that's who I saw them open for)
The White Stripes
Locksley
Kings of Leon
The Zutons
Cloudcult
The Cloud Room
The Dandy Warhols

Over and out,
Anna

Ice Day

So while putzing around on the internet today, enjoying my day off from school because of insanely icy roads (thus an "ice day" instead of a "snow day"), I discovered a fantastic singer. And her last name is Ices! Ice day! Ices! Get it?
I like that.
To tell the truth: her real last name isn't Ices. I don't know what it is. Her name, Lia Ices, is a pseudonym, and she keeps her real name under wraps.
Turns out she and I have something in common-- we both went to NYU. That's where our similarities start and end, though, I think.
She has this unbelievably beautiful voice-- haunting, achey, sort of angelic. And she is incredibly beautiful, to boot. Some people get all the luck, right?

She's like Giselle's more artsy, talented sister. 

Her album, entitled Grown Unknown (on the Jagjaguwar label, which is almost always spot-on), isn't actually out yet. It will be released on January 25th. But you can still listen to her music here:

GOOD SONG #1: Grown Unknown by Lia Ices. The title track. Has fun hand-claps, her amazing vocals, violin, and beautiful guitar. Definitely worth a listen.

On her upcoming album, she collaborates with Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver), who is also hyper-talented. Their voices meld really well. The collaboration is kinda a no-brainer, since they have a similar sound/musical aesthetic.  Check it out.

GOOD SONG #2: Daphne by Lia Ices with Justin Vernon.

Talented, but definitely not related to Giselle.

If you liked these songs, you might also check out:

Feist
My Brightest Diamond
Cave Singers (they're touring together soon)
Bon Iver
Volcano Choir
Cat Power
Nouvelle Vague
Bat for Lashes

BUY HER MUSIC HERE: lia ices

Over and out,
Anna

"No One Ever Does It Like That Anymore"

Despite the fact that Mark Ronson was born in London, I think of him as being a New Yorker. Considering that he went to Collegiate High School in NY, then New York University (my alma mater!) and began his career in my glorious hometown, I don't think that this is a stretch.  He is such an enormously talented DJ/turntabelist/producer, I want him to be a New Yorker. The way he combines different musical traditions/band/sounds in his songs is just plain genius. Granted, his work can be a little hit-or-miss (or mostly miss, if you don't like hip-hop that much), but the stuff of his that DOES work is great.

Ronson, hard at work. 

His new album "Record Collection" just dropped a little while ago, and is a ton of fun. Ronson features of some of the songs, but an insane number of people are involved too, as usual. The record is technically by "Mark Ronson & The International" so I guess "The International" includes all those other folks.
The two best songs on it, that both have amazing videos are:

GOOD SONG #1: Bang Bang Bang (odd mash-up of old commercials, weird Japanese TV-show, and 80's style "futuristic" fun... oh yeah, and Q-Tip!!!)

GOOD SONG #2: The Bike Song (feat. Spank Rock)

One thing that I find interesting about him, though, is that as much as I love a lot of his fun singles (like the ones above), some of my FAVORITE songs of his are his short little instrumental bits that come in between songs on his album, like "Missing Words"  and "Selector" (from this latest album) and "Inversion" and "Diversion" from his previous album "Version."  Inversion is competing with "Can't Hardly Wait" by Justin Townes Earle as my #1 played song.

Anyhoo, hope you enjoy.

If you like these songs, you might also like:

(Note: OK so, since Mark Ronson has no particular style, these rec's run the gamut)

Calvin Harris
A Tribe Called Quest
M.I.A.
Adele
Lily Allen
Duran Duran

BUY HIS MUSIC HERE: MR & the Int.

Over and out,
Anna

A great band you probably missed for about 10 years

So this last post for the month of October is dedicated to Luna, a fantastic band that my brothers Daniel and Peter got me into. Yay for recommendation month!

Witty caption

Unfortunately, Luna broke up in 2005, but they're still one of my favorites. They're sorta dreamy, indie rock/pop from the 1990's and 2000's. Dean Wareham, the lead singer, is from New Zealand, but they recorded a bunch of their albums in NYC (right near where I used to live, on Avenue B--- whoot whoot!). I think they were much bigger in Europe than they were here. They made it sorta-kinda-big here in the US, enough to land a pretty sweet opportunity to open for the Velvet Underground on their European tour. In fact, that might have been the spark for them to record a *great* cover of John Lennon's song (which was covered by Lou Reed) "Jealous Guy."See if you can find it yourselves. I have no idea what album it's from (sorry!).

So, the last GOOD SONG for this month is Luna's song "Speedbumps" from their final album "Rendezvous" (2004). It has a very fun intro and beat to it and Dean Wareham's distinctive voice really works well here. The lyrics are about a sense of uncertainty, moving without any clear sense of where, and dissatisfaction.

"I am tired of all of us...

Tell me who I'm supposed to be.
It's raining rain.
It's raining snow.
Tell me where you wanna go."

There are a TON of Luna songs on youTube, but they're mostly live. Check those out if you like what you hear.

By the way, Dean Wareham later married the bassist, Britta Philips, and now they record their own stuff together, as Dean and Britta. Aw.

BUY LUNA'S MUSIC HERE: Luna!

If you like this song, you might also like:

The Go-Betweens
The Lucksmiths
Margot & the Nuclear So-and-So's
Nouvelle Vague

Thus endeth Recommendation Month on AGSIHTF.

Over and out,
Anna

P.S. Happy Halloween!

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.)