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

Quick Post--New Album Alert!

Hello all!
I thought I might just  write a quick unofficial post and send out the word (in case you ain't heard) of two great new albums that just dropped:
The King is Dead by The Decemberists (January 18th, 2011)
AND
Kiss Each Other Clean by Iron & Wine (January 25th, 2011)


GOOD SONG: Calamity Song by The Decemberists

Yeah, I have no idea what's going on in this picture, either.

GOOD SONG: Tree By The River by Iron & Wine

Sam Beam, the brains (and hair) behind Iron & Wine.
I can't decide whether I think he looks more like Zeus or Jesus.

Also, the new album by Bright Eyes, which comes out on February 15th, 2011, can be listened to in its entirety here: NPR First Listen
It's quite good, you should check it out (especially the song "Shell Games").


Enjoy!
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

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

Bet You'll Like The Beta Band

I originally got into The Beta Band (from Scotland) upon the release of their album Heroes to Zeros (2004), which I fell in love with at first listen. NOT at first sight, though, since the cover looks ridiculous.

Stupid cover

Unfortunately, Heroes to Zeros was their last album before they broke up. Thus, I was forced to search deeper into their past for "new" Beta Band music. But it's OK! There made plenty of awesome stuff! I discovered their album The Three EP's, which, no surprise here, is a compilation of three EP's they made.

So, here's an older GOOD SONG song for ya from The Three EP's: Dry The Rain by The Beta Band.

It has a great chorus to it, and I can't help but groove to it. The song is hard to define, like most of their music. While doing some research on them, I discovered that they were listed as part of the following genres (listed in order of increasing ridiculousness): Alternative, Experimental, Art Rock, Folktronica,  Neo- Psychadelic, Space Rock.
Right.

Ever seen the movie High Fidelity? He puts this song in this scene:  "I will now sell five copies of "The Three EP's" by the Beta Band"

Los amigos del beta bandidos!!

If you liked this song you might also check out:

Tame Impala
Thievery Corporation
Panda Bear
Gruff Rhys and the Super Furry Animals
Air
Caribou (also known as Manitoba)
The Flaming Lips

Over & out,
Anna

"Don't let me into this year with an empty heart"

Just a quick GOOD SONG post for New Year's Eve:

Empty Hearts by Josh Ritter. ----------> Click on the song, and then click on the link that says "Play Song from MySpace Music." (I'd give you a link to the song on regular ol' YouTube, but they only have acoustic/live versions, which are good but don't give you the full energy of the song.)

It's from Josh Ritter's album "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter," which is a fantastic album. I know it's another Josh Ritter post, but I don't care, it's perfect for New Year's Eve. 

Full heart + dog on chest = recipe for good year

And remember, don't let yourself into this year with an empty heart.

See you in 2011!

Over and out,
Anna

Best of 2010

My 11.5 favoritest albums from 2010, in no particular order...

Arcade Fire- The Suburbs
GOOD SONG: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

Sufjan Stevens- Age of Adz
GOOD SONG: Get Real Get Right

Florence + the Machine- Lungs
GOOD SONG: Hurricane Drunk

Josh Ritter- So Runs The World Away
GODO SONG: The Curse

LCD Soundsystem- This Is Happening
GOOD SONG: I Can Change

Deer Tick- The Black Dirt Sessions
GOOD SONG: Mange

Justin Townes Earle- Harlem River Blues
GOOD SONG: One More Night in Brooklyn

Delta Spirit- History From Below
GOOD SONG: Salt in the Wound

The National- High Violet
GOOD SONG: Bloodbuzz Ohio

The Black Keys- Brothers
GOOD SONG: Ten Cent Pistol

Tallest Man on Earth- The Wild Hunt

GOOD SONG: King of Spain

(note: his EP "Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird" is also awesome and gets an honorary mention on this list. GOOD SONG: Thrown Right At Me)

What were YOUR favoritest? What do you think I left out? What would you not have included?

Over and out,
Anna

P.S. Merry Christmas (it's still Christmas time for another 10 days) and Happy New Year!