Playlist: Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween indeed! Hope you have fun with all of your tricks and treats tonight!

"Cobwebs" by Animal Collective
"Is There a Ghost?" by Band of Horses
"Scarecrow" by Beck
"Werewolf" by Cat Power
"Dancing on Our Graves" by The Cave Singers
"Monsters" by Electric President
"Halloween Song" by Evangelicals
"Black Magic" by Jarvis Cocker
"These Fangs" by Say Hi to Your Mom
"Vampires Bite the Hands That Feed Them" by The Silent Years
"Halloween" by Sonic Youth
"Pumpkin" by The Starlight Mints
"They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come!!" by Sufjan Stevens
"Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts" by Wolf Parade
"Witchcraft" by Wolfmother

What a spooktacular playlist!

We Got You Covered: "Monster Mash"

Well, firstly, Happy Halloween!

Here's a wickedly spooktacular cover!
"Monster Mash" by The Misfits

Enjoy!

Download the ENTIRE New Timber Timbre Album!

From now until midnight on Saturday October 31, 2009, you can download the entire self-titled album by Timber Timbre for FREE at their website.

They're a fun indie-folk band from Canada. I mean, either way, their album is free, so what's the harm?

Do it!

And even more Tegan and Sara!

So, after digging myself out from under a pile of papers, exams, and applications, I think I've finally resurfaced.

And with that I bring apologies. And music videos. And Tegan and Sara. Tegan and Sara, yay!

"Hell" by Tegan and Sara


Stay tuned! Tomorrow will bring (as always) a "We Got You Covered!" And tomorrow is Halloween too, which means a Halloween Playlist!

We're baaaaaack!

We Got You Covered: "Burn"

Oh covers, how I love you. They're ridiculous, and I would hate most of them if they were "real" songs, but they make me happy.

"Burn" (Usher cover) by Pink Nasty

I hope that they make you happy too.

Hey DJ, Drop That Beat!

This is more entertaining than you would think.

Check out Ron Winter's drum/synth sample kit. It's fun and the samples are pretty good. Have fun, and Happy Friday!

Listen to the ENTIRE new Tegan and Sara album!

Yeah, I'll admit it, I'm obsessed. The first step of addiction is admitting it anyway, right?

Well anyway, starting now you can listen to the stream of Sainthood in it’s ENTIRETY on Tegan and Sara's Myspace!

Yeah, Tegan and Sara are just that cool. Or, you know, you could just buy it off iTunes, or maybe you'll get the physical CD.

They'll be doing a hell of a lot of touring this year! Unfortunately I won't be able to make it to any of their shows - ugh - so I'll just need to live vicariously through all of you. You can check out their tour dates on their website.

Breaking Artists: Bagheera

Bagheera is bringing some awesome, spacey indie folk rock.

Bagheera’s self-produced, self-released debut EP Hollow Home is a fantastic mix of guitar arrangements, ambient textures, and haunting vocals. The band has drawn many comparisons to current indie darlings such as Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, Yeasayer, and Bon Iver. This translates to painstakingly arranged melodies, subtle intrumentation, and floating, ethereal vocals.

Despite an array of influences, Bagheera’s sound is entirely their own. And despite their rather young presence, they’ve already mastered their sound.

“Skeleton Leaf” is a fantastic example of the vocal quality of this band. The main vocals are chilly and dark, yet the harmonies formed at different moments in the song seem to blanket the lead singer’s voice in a warmer tone.

"Skeleton Leaf" by Bagheera

Currently students at the University of Liverpool, Bagheera is relatively new to the live circuit. They likely won’t be unsigned for long, that's for sure. It’s good stuff!

New Music Video from Thao with the Get Down Stay Down

Enjoy your Sunday with a little help from Thao with the Get Down Stay Down!

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down - We Swam

It gives me that warm fuzzy feeling...

We Got You Covered: "Gin and Juice"

Why does this cover make me so flippin' happy?

"Gin and Juice" (Snoop cover) by The Berlin Project

I love what I can find in my iTunes sometimes...Happy Saturday all!

50 People, One Question

A filmmaker in Brooklyn asked 50 people the same question: Where would you like to wake up tomorrow? It's a great message, and the music features Au Revoir Simone's "Don't See the Sorrow."

Even if you didn't appreciate the sentiment, the two girls who want to wake up in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” certainly make an awesome point!

Folk You!

Have you ever heard of folk-core? I never had either, and then I got an email from The Dreamscapes Project, a band from the Washington, D.C. area.

The band has an interesting sound that is (without a question) hard to place. With lead singer Keith Centers voice, you could picture him fronting a metal or hardcore band (thus the folk-core) but then behind his rich voice is everything from a 12-string acostic guitar,to a cello, to a clave.

I don't know what's so captivating about it. It must be that cello! As Center puts it:

"The cello can be so brooding, but it's also very versatile. It can be soft and melodious, but it can also go down and growl. Since we are mainly an acoustic band and we don't use effects, the cello helps give fullness to our sound."

It's hard for me to really put my finger on describing their sound. Check out their track "Excess" below. Maybe then my ramblings will make sense. At the very least, then maybe you can help me define what folk-core should sound like.

"Excess" by The Dreamscapes Project

The band consists of frontman Keith Centers (vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar), Ben Guy (cello, backing vocals), Jeremy Rodgers (electric bass), Gordon Shankman (drums), and Eric Sanford (percussion).

The Road Trip: Ohio

Next up on the Road Trip is Cincinnati’s very own four piece indie group Pomegranates.

Certain bands are able to combine a perfect mixture of emotion and talent in their music, and Pomegranates a pretty good example. Made up of Jacob Merritt (drums, percussion), Joey Cook (vocals, guitar, keys, bass), Josh Kufeldt (bass, electric guitar) and Isaac Karns (guitar, bass, sampling, vocals, keys), these guys know just how to combine all the sugary sweet melodies and hooks with some well crafted songwriting and polished instrumentation.

Listening to Pomeganates’ music, it’s not hard to figure out why they’re gaining a following. I mean, their music just oozes joy and energy and is the perfectly quirky and charming blend of pop rock. Elements like the cascading riff echoed through "Corriander," or the chanting of the names of the world's oceans in "Southern Ocean" add levels that draw you back in for repeated listens.

Check out Corriander below. It’s one of my favorites!
"Corriander" by Pomegranates

The band plays with this amazing energy with great, bouncy hooks mixed with some shimmering psych-pop and fun beats.

And if that weren’t enough, you have to love a band whose latest album, Everybody, Come Outside!, loosely tells the story of a young boy who is abducted by a time-traveler while swimming across the ocean. The story, however, become secondary to the music itself. It is, for the most part, so infectiously joyful and optimistic it is difficult to not follow the music's advice and throw your computer through the window and get outside to adventure.



Honorable Mentions:
"Postcard" by Afternoon Naps
"Things Work Out" by The Kickdrums



Thinking of a band from Ohio that I should know? Leave it in the comments section!

We Got You Covered: "Seven Nation Army"

So I've been bad lately with the "We Got You Covered" segments. I try to do them every Saturday, but that hasn't exactly been happening. So, as a treat there's a whole lot of covers in this post of an amazing song: The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army!"

There's no question about it, nothing can beat "The Original," but there are a lot of good covers out there, but here are a couple that I really like:

"Seven Nation Army" by Alice Russell (HIGHLY Recommended)
"Seven Nation Army" by Hard-Fi
"Seven Nation Army (live)" by The Flaming Lips
"Seven Nation Army" by Oak Ridge Boys
"Seven Nation Army" by Her Next Friend

I also really love this cover that Kelly Clarkson did. Girl got soul!

The Bright Light Social Hour

Here's a cool music video I stumbled on the other day.

The Bright Light Social Hour - "Back and Forth"

Yeah, we're going back and forth y'all.

Horchata

So today's a pretty big day!

As some of you probably know, Tuesdays are typically the big day of the week for new releases, and this week is no exception, featuring new stuff from No Age, Air, Gossip, The xx, Vampire Weekend, and a whole bunch of other artists that you can check out here.

And if that weren't enough, Vampire Weekend made "Horchata" available as a free MP3 - and Contra, isn't even due for release till early January 2010.

The Best Way to Procrastinate!

This week is already no fun! Project due yesterday, Tech and Study Group today, paper comparing Shakespeare's The Tempest to T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land due tomorrow, and my first Psych exam Wednesday. And thus, I hate deadlines...but I love this video!

Not only is this video great because it shows the beauty of procrastination, but it also features Röyksopp's song "Eple."

I'm going to go back to work now...

Hear the ENTIRE Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack!

If you couldn't tell from previous posts, I'm super excited to see Where the Wild Things Are!

Not only does the movie look like it is one of the cutest things ever, the soundtrack is DEFINITELY amazing! I know, I've heard it, and you can too!



It's almost like getting a new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album. Once again, thank you Karen O.

Hello October!

Here's to another great month of music! Clearly we should all keep an eye out for October 6th...I mean, that's a whole lot of music!

October 6th
A Place to Bury Strangers – Exploding Head
Air – Love 2
Black Heart Procession – Six
Boston Spaceships – Zero to 99
Built to Spill – There is No Enemy
Calvin Harris – Ready for the Weekend
Cheap Girls – My Roaring 20s
The Cinematics – Love and Terror
The Clientele – Bonfires on the Heath
Daniel Johnston – Is and Always Was
Daniel Merriweather – Love & War
Darrin James Band – The Lovely Ugly Truth
Dead Man’s Bones – Dead Man’s Bones
The Dutchess & the Duke – Sunset / Sunrise
Etienne Jaumet – Night Music
Exene Cervenka – Somewhere Gone
Gossip – Music For Men
Grant Hart – Hot Wax
The Happy Hollows – Spells
Headlights – Wildlife
Jason Yates – Jason Yates
Joe Perry – Have Guitar, Will Travel
Lake – Let’s Build a Roof
Lights – The Listening
Lotus – Feather on Wood EP
Lotus – Oil on Glass EP
Lou Barlow – Goodnight Unknown
Matthew Good – Vancouver
The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come
Music Go Music – Expressions
Nick Oliveri – Death Acoustic
No Age – Losing Feeling EP
Noah and the Whale – The First Day of Spring
Orenda Fink – Ask the Night
Port O’Brien – Threadbare
The Raveonettes – In and Out of Control
Switchfoot – Hello Hurricane
The xx – xx

October 13th
Anti-Pop Consortium - Fluorescent Black
The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
J. Dilla – Dillanthology 3
Neon Indian – Psychic Charms
The Roots – How I Got Pver
The Temper Trap – Conditions
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down – Know Better Learn Faster

October 20th
Alec Ounsworth – Mo Beauty
DJ Tiesto – Kaleidoscope
Do Make Say Think – Other Truths
Electric Six – Kill
Failures’ Union – In What Way
Florence and the Machine – Lungs
Former Ghosts – Fleurs
Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young
Kings of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence
Maps – Turning the Mind
OOIOO - Armonico Hewa
Russian Circles – Geneva
Spiral Stairs – The Real Feel
Themselves – CrownsDown

October 27th
Atlas Sound – Logos
Dam Funk – Toeachizown
Devendra Banhart – What Will We Be
James Husband – A Parralax I
Jesu – Opiate Sun
The Mother Hips – Pacific Dust
Radio Slave – Fabric 48
Tegan and Sara – Sainthood
Weezer – Raditude
Wolfmother – Cosmic Egg