"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!!

Behold the Power of Telekinesis!

Telekinesis (also called psychokinesis): the ability to move or affect objects unconnected to the body using only the mind.

Right.

Fortunately, it also happens to be a great band from Seattle (Seattle! Again! Something in the water maybe?).
Telekinesis is just one guy basically, whose name is Michael Benjamin Lerner, but on tour he's joined by Cody Votolato (former member of The Blood Brothers, and whose actual brother is Rocky Votolato, who is a great folk singer in his own right), David Broecker, and Jonie Broecker. So far there have been only two full-length albums: "Telekinesis!" (2009) and "Twelve Desperate Straight Lines" (earlier this year).

Here is proof of the power of telekinesis:
GOOD SONG: Fever Chill by Telekinesis.
This seemed like an appropriate song to pick, since I am feeling sick, and there is definitely some terrible fever chill bug going around amongst my students. I think I may have caught it :(

Watch out for that eagle behind you, my friend. 

It might have telekinetic powers. 

Their new album is awesome. It's great guitar-driven and hook-filled pop, but it's not just fluff. "Fever Chill" is a little bit darker than some of the other songs on the album. His voice sounds very young, but there is a quite mature brooding emotion on the song that I really like. When the drums kick in (literally), the song reaches another level of greatness. Give it a spin!

If you liked this song you might also like:

Throw Me The Statue

The Rural Alberta Advantage

Weezer

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

Smith Westerns

Over and out,

Anna

Dostoevsky's So Hot Right Now

So as an Art History major, I don't always get the literary references that surround me. I'm just not as well-read as I would like to be. But, when I first heard of the band Ivan & Alyosha, I thought, "Hey! There is a literary reference that I *actually* get!" Ivan and Alyosha are the names of two of the main characters in Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov," which is one of my favorite books of all time.

Look at that beard!

Ivan & Alyosha is a band from Seattle. It began as a solo project for Tim Wilson, but eventually expanded to include Ryan Carbary, Tim Kim, and Pete Wilson. So far they have released one EP entitled "Fathers Be Kind" (Tim Wilson is a new dad, by the way) and another full-length album entitled "The Verse, The Chorus." Both are great, and should definitely be checked out. 

Their band website claims that they "are not nihilist indie rockers but a new brand of tender dreamers." 

Sounds good to me!

Sorry guys, you just can't beat Dostoevsky's facial hair. 

GOOD SONG: Living For Someone by Ivan & Alyosha (the video is very simply but beautifully shot, methinks).

The song includes the lyrics:

"Draw the line between 

what you want

and what you need."

I was reminded of a section from my all-time favorite part of The Brothers Karamazov, when the wise old monk speaks about the "isolation" that plagues modern man:

"He heaps up riches by himself and thinks, 'How strong I am now and how secure,' and in his madness he does not understand that the more he heaps up, the more he sinks into self-destructive impotence. For he is accustomed to rely upon himself alone and to cut himself off from the whole; he has trained himself not to believe in the help of others, in men and in humanity, and only trembles for fear he should lose his money and the privileges that he has won for himself... 

But...we must keep the banner flying. Sometimes even if he has to do it alone, and his conduct seems to be crazy, a man must set an example, and so draw men's souls out of their solitude, and spur them to some act of brotherly love, that the great idea may not die."

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

Magnet

The Head & The Heart

Joseph Arthur

Margot & the Nuclear So-and-So's

Sloan

Oakley Hall

BUY THEIR MUSIC HERE: Ivan & Alyosha

Over and out,

Anna

Love and the Lack Thereof: February Post #5

Here comes another one, folks!

GOOD (LOVE) SONG: Honey Come Home by The Head and The Heart

The Head(s) and The Heart(s) in the Tree(s)

First off, I love the band's name. It's perfect! Reconciling our heads and our hearts is basically what human life is all about. I approve.

But about the band: They're based in Seattle, and so far have released one self-titled album. They came out to play in DC recently, opening for Dr. Dog and I missed them. Damn!

About the song: It's a husband (I'm assuming a husband, since it's mainly the male singers singing) begging his wife to come back. The lyrics are really moving to me. There is no bitterness, no anger, just love and repentance, and and understanding of what really matters:

"Oh God I love my vices
but they've taken me to places
that I'd never thought I'd go
and I'm ready to be home
And I think of every spark,
every whisper in the dark,
now it's time
Just wanna die with the one I love
Just wanna die with the one I love... beside me."

What a love song!

I love that song, but honestly, I think I may like this other song of theirs even more. It's not a love song, but I just had to include it in this post because it's amazing:
Lost In My Mind (the video is kinda random).

BUY THEIR MUSIC HERE: The Head and The Heart
If you liked this song, you might also check out:

Ivan & Alyosha (I'll probably post about them later)
The Avett Brothers
Delta Spirit
Justin Townes Earle
Mumford & Sons
A.A. Bondy
Dawes
Blue Giant

Over and out!
Anna

P.S. If you sign up for their mailing list on their website, you can get two free mp3 downloads!