your country just lines on a map

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mp3, Music, Other Lives

I have Sandy over at Slowcoustic to thank for pointing me in the direction of the Hear Ya Live Sessions, when he highlighted a recent Horse Feathers recording.

After scrolling through the excellent archives at Hear Ya, which included sessions by Heartless Bastards, Rural Alberta Advantage, AA Bondy, The Morning Benders and loads more, I stumbled across Other Lives, a five piece indie outfit from Oklahoma.

These guys have everything – melting boy/girl harmonies, insightful songwriting and a heady combination of piano and cello that speaks to me in ways I’ll never be able to explain.

Let’s just say I was impressed.

It Was The Night (Hear Ya Live Session) – Other Lives

Paper Cities (Daytrotter Session) – Other Lives

Black Tables – Other Lives

Post title a lyric from ‘Paper Cities’.

Daytrotter Update

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David Vandervelde, Daytrotter, motel motel, mp3, Music, The Low Anthem, Wild Light

The good folk over at Daytrotter do some wonderful work. This afternoon I emerged after a much overdue dig through their archives with a fistful of gorgeous tracks.

Today’s session came courtesy of the fantastic Motel Motel. This version of ‘Coffee’ from their 2008 release New Denver is superb. I love the crisp piano and train-like beginning. Check out the rest of the session here.

Coffee (Daytrotter Session) – Motel Motel

David Vandervelde’s 2008 album Waiting For The Sunrise is quite a winner in my book, and this take on my favourite track ‘Someone Like You’ is fantastic. You can hear more here.

Someone Like You (Daytrotter Session) – David Vandervelde

Wild Light’s ‘California On My Mind’ is a song that I never get sick of. Simple and catchy, it’s got such a great sound. This take seems to be a half-step faster than the album version, giving it extra energy, and the harmonica is fab. Check out the rest of the tracks here.

California On My Mind (Daytrotter Session) – Wild Light

You’d be pretty hard pressed not to like this track. The harmonica, the harmonies, the shimmery cymbals…it’s all lovely, and there’s more to explore here.

To The Ghosts Who Write History Books (Daytrotter Session) – The Low Anthem

How can you not love this?

Tags

mp3, Music, Sigur Ros

I took the tube over to Camden to wander around

Tags

mp3, Music, The Waifs

God knows how this happened, but until today I’d never seen the videos for ‘London Still’ or ‘Bridal Train’, two of my favourite songs by The Waifs. While watching ‘London Still’, I let out a little yelp of recognition when Donna sang about ‘taking the tube over to Camden to wander around’ – she was walking along the same street I strolled down just a few short weeks ago when I, totally influenced by those words, decided to do the same very same thing myself. Great fun.

 

The video for ‘Bridal Train’ is also wonderful, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the telegram you see around the 20 second mark was the original telegram sent to Donna and Vikki’s grandmother, whose story inspired the song.

Bonus mp3 – a wonderfully understated track that gives the proverbial finger to a woefully inadequate ex.

 Haircut – The Waifs

Image: Nifty little seats fashioned to look like motorbikes by the Camden Lock.

MJ

Tags

Michael Jackson, mp3, Music

Though I’ve never claimed to be a fan of Michael Jackson, he’s always been around. I remember singing ‘Black and White’ in music in Grade 3 at school, and playing the glockenspeil to ‘Heal The World’ at the school concert in Grade 4 (a highly coveted honour!). ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ and ‘Billie Jean’ always got me on the dance floor on Thursday nights at the pub while at uni, and the Jackson 5′s ‘I Want You Back’ remains one of my favourite songs. And, regardless of your thoughts on him as a person, there’s no denying his extraordinary talent as a performer.

I don’t really like the idea of posting about him at all to be honest, simply because I’m now joining the gazillions of other posts that are out there already. However, it doesn’t feel right to not mention it either, if only for the simple fact that this is a music blog and he was an incredibly gifted musician.

The Way You Make Me Feel – Michael Jackson

I Want You Back – The Jackson 5

A vision softly creeping left its seeds while I was sleeping

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mp3, Music, Simon & Garfunkel

My parentals are off to see Simon and Garfunkel tomorrow night in Melbourne and they are all kinds of excited. Here’s hoping they’re treated to just as good a show as the good folk up north in Brisbane were last week.

Cecilia – Simon & Garfunkel

The Sound of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel

And it wouldn’t be right to do an S & G post without including my favourite track.

The Only Living Boy In New York – Simon & Garfunkel

Little Birdy do Baby Blue

Above video ‘Baby Blue’, from the 2003 debut EP Little Birdy.

I haven’t caught up with Little Birdy’s May release Confetti yet, but I was reminded of it this afternoon when I rediscovered opening track ‘Brother’ during an iPod purge. This track got to stay, not only for the typically excellent vocals by lead singer Katy Steele, but also for Paul Kelly’s stellar backing and harmonica work.

Brother – Little Birdy

The Girls Names Mixtape

Tags

Air Traffic, Angus & Julia Stone, Horse Feathers, mp3, Music, Sambassadeur, The Color Wheels, The Felice Brothers, The Love Language, The National, The Sweet Serenades, Vancouver

Girl On A Swing: Tina Tarnoff

Katie Dear – The Felice Brothers

Mona Lee – The Sweet Serenades

Bella – Angus & Julia Stone

Ada – The National

Kate – Sambassadeur

Plain Jane – The Color Wheels

Helen – Horse Feathers

Jennifer – Vancouver

Charlotte – Air Traffic

Lalita – The Love Language

Ruby Mae – The Felice Brothers

Lazy Sunday

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mp3, Music, Regina Spektor

You would think that, despite the fact that my work this week is relief teaching and nowhere near as stressful as teaching full time, I would be more than happy to get up for work in the morning. Sadly though, I still have the same dull feeling of dread that I had last year when I think about the fact that I have to get up at sparrows and face a gloomy winter morning instead of snuggling deeper under the covers and having ‘just another five minutes’.

On the upside though, I get to rock up at 8.30 and nick off as soon as the hometime bell goes at 3:20. No meetings, no homework to mark, no lessons to prepare. Still, I reckon school shouldn’t start until 10:30, at the earliest. Much more civil.

Here’s a tune that has been colouring this grey afternoon as I toast my toes on the woodstove and cuddle deep into the couch cushions.

My third taste of Regina’s new album Far is much more promising than ‘Laughing With’ and ‘Blue Lips’ I think. Though the album is streaming over at NPR, I’m holding off for now until I can buy the proper CD. ‘Folding Chair’ is playful and catchy with a couple of lines that made me laugh out loud the first time I heard them – an instant winner in my book.

Don’t make frowns…you silly clown.

Folding Chair – Regina Spektor

and the branches bow like dancers

Tags

Balmorhea, mp3, Music

 The Winter – Balmorhea

Image credit: Hannah Campbell