Volume 64: The Naked and Famous

I'm pretty indifferent when it comes to picking between Folk and Electronic music. As long as it's good, it doesn't matter, but when electronic is done right and the singing is solid it's hard to go against it. Probably because it lets you have more fun with moving your body and singing along, not that you can't do those with folk.

So with that said I figured this is where The Naked and Famous needed to be posted. "Girls Like You" is my favorite off of their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You (not to mention an excellent album title). The first 4 minutes or so is the song with it's singing part and then it goes into this experimental electronica, which is perfectly engineered. It brings a great ending to a top notch album.

Volume 63: The Head and The Heart

Iron & Wine just released their Summer tour dates and will be doing a good portion of their shows with opening act The Head and The Heart. Most people will probably be going for Sam Beam and crew, which is not a problem at all, but don't overlook this group. They certainly have made a well deserved name for themselves. Unfortunately I live in an area of the country that doesn't really get most of these great shows so I won't have the good fortune of seeing them perform.

However, from this live performance you can get a good gauge of just how good they would be in person. The song "Down in the Valley" is a little softer but they give the song great patience and allow it to build upon itself. Then they get into the group vocals and strings and the song really elevates to another level.

Check out the live performance below and I'll put the studio version in the comments section.

Volume 62: Sea Wolf

Continuing with the music-in-commercials theme, here is one from a Chevy commercial, Seawolf's "Middle Distance Runner". It's from their debut album Leaves in the River.

Kind of random to have a song like this in a car commercial, at least when you take in its lyrical meaning. I guess they just liked the sound of that particular segment of the song. Regardless, the song (and more importantly the band) are definitely worth giving a shot.

Volume 61: Bibio

In what seems to be a popular trend nowadays, indie music has taken over the music in commercials. Bibio's "Lover Carvings" has appeared in Amazon's Kindle commercials and has thus giving it a big spotlight.

The first 1:26 of the song is quite different than the rest. It starts with a noise-ridden guitar riff that sounds similar to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's theme, and then picks up into the true track. Make sure to give the full length a listen at least one time before deciding against it, it really gives the track that extra uniqueness.

Volume 60: Adele

This one needs no introduction as her voice is well known now, as it should be. Adele's upcoming album 21 is set to be released in the US next Tuesday, February 22nd. It has already been released in the UK and because of this a lot of it is on youtube already.

The first track off the album, "Rolling in the Deep", has appeared in a few commercials and movie trailers already. And that's for a good reason, the song is damn good. It starts off with Adele's vocals and then brings in the drum and just slowly prepares you for what you're about to be in for when the chorus hits. Tuesday is a short wait but luckily this track has been out for a little while to hold us over until the album's release.

Hip Hop Wednesday: Volume 10: Novel

Off of Novel's 808s & Mixtapes mixtape, comes the track "I Can Be President". The craziest thing about this track is it came out within a week after Obama was named President-elect (so yes it is kind of old but still only has 20,000 views, why so little is beyond me). The spliced in clips of Obama's speech take the track to an even higher level than what is already a track with superb lyrics and a Dilla beat.

Not to start a political debate or anything but you have to give Novel (and Joell Ortiz) his well deserved credit for such a highly produced and well versed track in such little time. It's quite the feat.

Volume 59: The Russian Futurists

The opening of "One Night, One Kiss" has this piano melody that takes me back to some old school Motown blues, before the playfulness of the vocals come through. By playful, I mean the back and forth of the male/female vocals. Then the beat comes in and the song truly gets going.

As most new music, I came across this in a playlist and was pretty impressed. Although Googling "Russian Futurists" will yield some wild results (mainly political philosophies), the name definitely has its sticking point. Don't be afraid to google it for yourself though.

Volume 58: The Kooks

Ok, this song may be pretty well known so it doesn't really need any introduction. I always go back to this version though, the live on the street La Blogotheque version that is.

What starts on a city street leads into a hallway filled with fans, which reminds me of a high school hallway between classes. It's a very Beatles-esque feeling when all the fans (aka teen girls) scream for their entrance and then sing along with camera phones in their face. See for yourself.


#12.3 The Kooks - Ooh la
Uploaded by lablogotheque. - Arts and animation videos.

Volume 57: Local Natives

In trying to find the right post for today, I went back through what I've already posted and wanted to make sure I wouldn't do a repeat. Unless I'm skimming over it, I somehow never covered Local Natives before. I felt bad because by now they are more well known (which is a good thing, dont get me wrong) and couldn't figure out why I never posted them before.

Well luckily, here is as good of a video as you can find for any group. It comes from the well known "Take Away Show" variety and is 15 minutes long and it never disappoints. Local Natives play in all different locations, including on a merry-go-round (does it get any better?). Covering some of their best songs, including my favorite "Wide Eyes", this 15 minute set doesn't disappoint.

Local Natives / A take Away Show @ Route du Rock Hiver 2010 from Watch Your Steps on Vimeo.

Volume 56: Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson

When I first heard about this collaboration, my initial thought was really? Pete Yorn is pretty well respected and I figured if he would attach himself to this then it must be worth the listen. I listened to Breakup a few times when it first came out and nothing really grabbed my attention.

Then the other day my iTunes was on shuffle and "Blackie's Dead" came on and I frantically switched to iTunes to see what song was playing and to my amazement it was them. Since then, I have ran through the album a few more times and have finally gotten its feel and have liked it a lot more since. I don't know if my musical tastes have just changed since then or what, but I instantly became hooked to its beat.

So here's a live performance of the aforementioned "Blackie's Dead", with the studio version in the comments.

Volume 55: Young the Giant

When most people think of indie music, they probably think of either folk or some form of electronic infused rock. While those are great sounds, sometimes it's hard to beat just old school alternative rock, which is something Young the Giant has done so well.

I have flashes of those great 90s alternative songs while listening to "My Body". It's just something that the 2000s have seemed to miss, well at least in the abundance that the 90s had. So here is their performance of "My Body" on Jimmy Kimmel's show.

Volume 54: Frank Turner

Every song usually has its agenda of telling a story, more often than not they seem to be about love. But every so often you hear something that is the complete opposite of such, this being "I Still Believe" by Frank Turner. The song's voice is a strong one about how there is still life in rock & roll and how music can be someone's outlet.

                 Now who'd have thought that after all,
                 Something as simple as rock 'n' roll would save us all.

Its message is made quite clear and makes you realize just how much of a connection one can have with music. Sometimes the words we strive to find may be found in a song's lyrics and may fit better than anything than we could have come up with by ourselves. We also may be too subjective about lyrics and interpret them with our own stories in minds, thus changing the origin of the lyrics.

Regardless, Frank Turner's message is loud and precise:

                 So just remember folks we're not just saving lives, we're saving souls, and                  we're having fun.

Volume 53: Cloud Control

In what starts out like a tribal chant, Cloud Control's "Gold Canary" is a song that will have you stomping along with it's rhythm the whole way through. After a little bit of the chant, Alister's vocals pierce through and bring the song to life. The constant anthem/chant is mixed really well the high vocals.

This version is a live off-the-street take. It's always nice to see natural ways of achieving the same sound that instruments produce. I'll link the studio version in the comments section and you can see how similar the two versions are.

Volume 52: Phantogram

Phantogram made their TV debut last night on the Jimmy Fallon show. What was so special about this, was that Questlove (drummer of The Roots) sat in on the song "Mouthful of Diamonds". Not to mention that the song sounds as good, if not better, than the album version.

Phantogram is one of those sounds that's hard to describe. It's like an electronic-indie-dreamy-hip-hop-rock. I guess that works? Regardless of finding their genre, the sound is awesome and truly unique. See for yourself, maybe you can find a better term for their sound.

Volume 51: Villagers

Sometimes a song's vibe can make it seem intimate. Sometimes its lyrics can achieve the intimacy. Or sometimes you can have an intimate setting in which it's performed. How about adding all those up? Well then you would have the Home Session version of "Becoming A Jackal" by Villagers (Conor J. O'Brien).

This version just has a natural raw element to it that personifies the song. You can really feel Conor's emotion through this performance.