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 

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

Love and the Lack Thereof: February Post #1

It's February! You know what that means: Valentine's Day themed crap EVERYWHERE!
I hate Valentine's Day. The only good thing about it is that my Dad always buys me chocolates from my favorite place (Bruno Bakery on LaGuardia Place in NYC). However, I thought this year I might try to be a little less negative about it all.
I decided that this month's posts on the blog would all be about GOOD (LOVE) SONGS. And with maybe a few GOOD (BREAK-UP) SONGS thrown in there for realism, eh? The songs will be extremely varied: old, new, indie, classic, jazz, pop, etc. I like to mix things up.

Without further ado, here is the GOOD (LOVE) SONG #1:
Frank, AB by The Rural Alberta Advantage

Apparently this is what Rural Albertans look like.

This song, off their one & only album Hometowns (BUY IT HERE: Hometowns), really struck me when I listened to the lyrics. It's about a town in Canada (in Alberta, the province where all three band members are from, hence the name of the group) named Frank, where a huge landslide buried about 100 people. Check it out.
The song is about a couple who die in the slide. The lyrics are great:

My love, I will hold onto your touch
Until there's nothing left of us
Save you from this life
And the cold weight, and the Rocky's clutch
Won't take away our love

So, yeah, it's sad but it's a great testament to the people who died and to the enduring power of love.
Oh, and the song is so catchy. Those "ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh"s are great. The three band members (Amy Cole, Paul Banwatt, and Nils Edenloff) make great music together. Yay! AND, this March the band will be releasing a new album, entitled Departing. Double Yay!

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

Wolf Parade
Frightened Rabbit
The Decemberists
Titus Andronicus
Telekinesis
Port O'Brien
The Rosebuds
Songs: Ohia


Happy February! Hope you got somebody to love!

Over and out,
Anna

I guess now I'm a Bond(y) Girl

Ok, so Palenville, NY is this tiny and quite random town in upstate NY near my house in the Catskills.  There is almost nothing going on there. And yet, it produced the fantastic Felice Brothers, who I posted about earlier. 
Turns out Palenville is also where A. A. Bondy (originally from Birmingham, Alabama) went to record his second album entitled When The Devil's Loose.

At first, I just thought to myself, "Oh, that's odd. I wonder what the connection is." I figured it was just a random coincidence. BUT...

I noticed that a bunch of photographs of A. A. Bondy on Last. fm were taken by a certain "Clare Felice." Hmmm.... Felice. Sounds familiar.

Yup, looks like Palenville. 

Turns out it's his wife. And I'm betting you a billion dollars that she is related to the infamous brothers of the same name.

So there's your connection. I feel like a veritable SLEUTH. (Although brooklynvegan knew all this way before I did. Oh well.)

Anyway, A. A. Bondy is great. I stumbled across him while on Last.fm, and haven't regretted it. He's originally from 'bama (like I said), and became mildly famous for singing in the band Verbena, although he was known as Scott back then. I have no idea why, when his real name is Auguste Arthur Bondy, which is a great name. Verbena sounded much more like Nirvana than anything that A. A. Bondy makes now, which is cool by me. His first album entitled American Hearts came out in '07, and his sophomore album came out in '09. Let's hope he keeps them coming.

With no further ado, here is today's GOOD SONG:
When The Devil's Loose by A. A. Bondy.

Enjoy!

BUY HIS MUSIC HERE: A. A. Bondy!

If you liked this song, you might also check out:
a lot of stuff I've already told you to check out, like:
Deer Tick
The Avett Brothers
The Felice Brothers
Bob Dylan (ha!)
Ryan Adams (& the Cardinals)/ Whiskeytown
Justin Townes Earle
Adam Haworth Stevens
Forest Sun
and also:
Benjamin Fitton
Cass McCombs

Over and out,
Anna