Song Lingers On

I've been on a Roaring Twenties book binge the last week. This song perfectly fits the atmosphere. It was recorded by Elizaveta, the musician I do design work with. It's an Irving Berlin cover. I really love it!

New Album: Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear released their fourth album in September called Shields. It is by far my favorite work that they have ever produced. I've tipped my hat to them before, but this album has put them center stage. I don't mind shoe gazing, we all do it on the subway. Don't have a strong aversion to it, but I much prefer the directness they explored with Shields. It's more lyric-heavy and open, it feels more structured. The ideas are almost separated out so that they can shine, and the ideas are really compelling. The lyrical moods seem to speak to the perseverance of the soul, haunted by the past, trying to carve out a path for itself before its too late, struggling with the desire for freedom but also wanting the comfort of intimacy. The lead singer, Ed Droste, speaks directly to this :

"There's a desire to be autonomous, but there's also this great fear of being alone, and there's this constant feeling of, how do you reconcile this?’ There's this need for space, but there's also this, 'come closer come closer.’"

Gun Shy


A Simple Answer

New Music: Alt-J

Don't you assume the blond-haired guy is the lead singer? Seems like the singer is always the odd one out and shorter. People seem to embody their instruments, the singers are always a little more in your face, the bass players are often tall. These guys shirk the conventions..oh but wait, they are an English band formed in art school!

Alt - J (aka delta)

Their album, An Awesome Wave, was released earlier this year, falling just outside of this new age dream pop thing (Beach house, et al). The album is cohesive, but diverse enough to make singles out of each song. The songs have interesting seamless layers, that don't get too murky, having that hook even without the vocals, which by the way, are melted nicely like another instrument. Lead vocals sound a lot like Bombay Bicycle Club, which is kind of a restrained old man voice. While interesting, it should be used cautiously/sparingly just like the false-falsetto that Bon Iver made trendy. Alt-J experiments enough with the vocals to keep them from sounding too coy.

Anyway, feeling rant-y today. Check out these masterpieces.

Breezeblock -

 

Something Good

 

the road in fall

With this song, I could be taking a road trip into the mountains where it’s getting colder and the leaves will change soon, and cooking something over an open fire with a toasty mug of chai tea. It might be time for a trip up to Santa Cruz again soon, one last camp before the winter.

The plans are being crafted. The mountain awaits. The sounds of Africa are calling. 

Even with the distracting hipster-stache

Alright Paskalev, it's time for you and your record company to stop teasing the world and put out the album. If you've gotten this much exposure with basically one song on the market, you can bet they have plans. And this little live clip has me speculating that the plans are big. The girl in the background clapping gives this tune a whole new dimension.

Bring on the album asap.

on a train

Feeling melancholy and full of wistfulness. Like I'd like to be on a train riding through Northern India in a late afternoon drizzle looking at the turquoise soaked temples.