Monthly Archives: May 2010

Still Light; The Brightest Hidden Gem

Sometimes when life is hectic, it asks for you to just let it be until the melting point has been reached. There’s nothing you can do to soothe these times, except to just rough it out. As life has been like this for me lately, it is possibly the reason why I haven’t listened to Lything by Still Light in a while. Well, with the changing of the season and the end of school, life has calmed down and I went back to this humble little record which has been patiently waiting for me to devour it and really listen to it. I found that the album sounds exactly what I would imagine Still Light to sound like if light could make music: floating and moving in its invisible form. The melodies whisper calm and gentle sounds that enter your ears with such grace that you can’t do anything but freeze and listen. So, stop what you’re doing, scroll down, and listen to the music provided for you below!

Still Light, a modest band who do not even have photos of themselves on their myspace, really do save the best for last with Tenebre, the wonderful 7 minute closing track of Lything. Almost the whole album (with the exception of Footprints in the Garden and Hour of the Wolf) is kindled by a soft male-female vocal harmony. The two voices, instead of fighting against each other to create two contrasting feelings for the listener, work together to unify each song, and also, the album as a whole.

We’ve called Still Light “The Brightest Hidden Gem”, challenging you to figure out what is so geniune and sincere about their music. For me, it is so perfect in its own composition that it is not malleable to the listeners’ conditions to be simply background music. Instead, you must commit yourself and let the music take you for an incredibly dreamy ride – the you won’t want to wake up from. Lucky for us, CD’s are re-playable and we can go back to this dream-like state whenever we see fit. A gem is something that is so perfect in its nature that there’s no need or room for change. A gem also does not need to be on the main stage (no wordplay intended…) to remain to beautiful. Beauty this rare needs to be handled patiently, gently and warm heartedly – needless to say, don’t pick up Lything if you are looking for meaningless sounds that were composed with no creativity and serenity. Not that it needs to be taken so seriously, but it just needs to be appreciated for what it is, because, well, some music is just like that. Music for music’s sake, ladies and gentlemen:

Tenebre

Now we’ve torn apart the ocean’s blue,
Long lost track of time, through and through,
Cold nights left to kill.

Feel the fall close the door, on days to come,
Nauseous words beg for more of what love’s become,
Familiar earth’s glow recedes to our loss that’s grown,
Ageless birth, crumbling seed of my own.

It follows slow, lock the door through hours to come,
Ragged teeth clench for more of what love’s become,
Sea of green drowning wounds in a helpless sigh,
A trace of me staring scars in the eye.

Through the Grain (Get through the first 30 seconds, there’s a drastic change)

Your warm soft eyes feel how I fade in the light,
Is the bitter spring only a mark of what remains?

The firm bright lines blurred after all of this time,
Is it my weathered bearing that pours through the grain?

Spread all out thoughts to places we knew,
And left behind shallow regrets,
Voice wearing thin, lips colored blue,
A beggar’s plea, the years to forgive.

Still Light’s Myspace
Still Light’s Blog

Justin Vernon Contributes to John Prine Tribute Album

Justin Vernon’s band may be on hiatus, but he has been keeping busy! Aside from doing backing vocals for The National’s High Violet, he has evidently been doing a handful of covers. (Check out Bon Iver’s Peter Gabriel here).

Justin Vernon has more recently contributed to a John Prine tribute album. Vernon and several other fabulous acts (who WATS happens to a d o r e), have taken some John Prine songs and recreated them to however they see/hear/feel fit. Oh cover songs, what a great concept. We love cover songs!

The album comes out June 22, 2010 and you can preorder it here!

01. Justin Vernon: “Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)”
02. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band: “Wedding Day in Funeralville”
03. My Morning Jacket: “All the Best”
04. Josh Ritter: “Mexican Home”
05. Lambchop: “Six O’Clock News”
06. Justin Townes Earle: “Far From Me”
07. The Avett Brothers: “Spanish Pipedream”
08. Old Crow Medicine Show: “Angel From Montgomery”
09. Sara Watkins: “The Late John Garfield Blues”
10. Drive-By Truckers: “Daddy’s Little Pumpkin”
11. Deer Tick: “Unwed Fathers” [ft. Liz Isenberg]
12. Those Darlins “Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian”

https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/01%20-%20Bruised%20Orange%20%28Chain%20Of%20Sorrow%29.mp3?w=e5134ab2

Again, Preorder the tribute album here!
download Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow) here!
download Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow) here!
download Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow) here!

– wolves among the sheep

Goma – Still I Wake Up In The Morning Thinking Of You;

Goma.

Have you heard of Goma? Same here. However, you should take this opportunity to hear Goma, now that it has been presented to you. Still I Wake Up In The Morning Thinking Of You is a beautiful, heartfelt, piano ballad with a title that explains it all. The straightforward lyrics are accompanied by a melody which (call me crazy) could either be mistaken for melancholy or, if the mood is right – almost kind of light hearted. Either way, this is a song which should be heard and this is a platform where we try to help do just that – so, if you’re reading this be sure to give it a listen and maybe even a spot on your iPod.

I have lost everything completely
Still, I wake up in the morning thinking of you

Download Still I Wake Up In The Morning Thinking Of You here.

As far as Goma – the man or maybe even the band – is concerned, that is all still a mystery to me. But you don’t really need to understand the artist to be touched by a song, now do you? It’s actually kind of nice to know nothing about where the music came from, for a change. There is something kind of refreshing about it.

Goma’s Myspace

WATS Presents: Lit Up With Proof (The sexiest mix you’ll ever listen to!)

If you haven’t already heard (listen up!) we are wholeheartedly fond of selectively choosing songs for our joint-effort mixes.

After tireless months (slight exaggeration, oops) of contemplating what the next topic for a WATS mix should be, the Sheepish One (inspired by one of the tunes on this very collection of songs, actually) suggested a ‘sexy theme’ mix. I, for one, was immediately appalled and disgusted thought that this was a great idea! Scurrying away, into the depths of our Itunes, in search of the perfect blend of songs to create what unintentionally turned out to be a pretty serene, soft and sensual group of songs, that we are very proud of.

As you could imagine, the criteria for the selection of each song was incredibly tedious. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that tedious but there were times where we found ourselves actually engaging in these types of conversations:

Sheep: I don’t know if Tautou is sexy enough to stay on this playlist
Wolf: I think the sexiest part of Tautou is that you can basically hear JTL’s tongue sticking to the top of his mouth and coming down again.

And so, Tautou stayed and we continued to gather and dispose until we ended up with 13 songs that fit just right. Only the best for you guys.

WATS Presents: Lit Up With Proof (The Sexy Mix of 2010)
WATS Presents: Lit Up With Proof (The Sexy Mix of 2010)
WATS Presents: Lit Up With Proof (The Sexy Mix of 2010)
WATS Presents: Lit Up With Proof (The Sexy Mix of 2010)
WATS Presents: Lit Up With Proof (The Sexy Mix of 2010)

So, as Mother Nature has already provided the sounds of the heat that the Summer brings (the wind, the rain, the chirping, the chatter) it is with great pleasure that we present you with a compilation of sounds to accompany that other kind of heat (crossing lines jumping right over the lines, at this point).

Enjoy!

Oh, and just incase you missed it:
WATS Presents: Lit Up With Proof (The Sexy Mix of 2010)

😉

(photo credit)

All Get Out; A band “with fragile souls”

I first stumbled upon All Get Out a few months ago, and one of my first reactions was, “Woah, they sound a bit like Manchester Orchestra.” Later, I found out that they are actually signed with MO’s label, Favorite Gentlemen (I guess they don’t like the Canadian way of spelling favourite, eh?), along with MO, Kevin Devine, Right Away Great Captain, Gobotron, and Harrison Hudson. Even though this band may perhaps be wearing their influences on their sleeves, they at the same time have created their own sound that makes you say “Oh, this song is All Get Out.”

One of the things I look for in bands/musicians is if they have the ability to go from high to low and back again without a flaw and keeping with their own style. In fact, that is probably my biggest subconscious criteria for liking a band or not. I am attracted to bands that can try new things and sound flawless doing it, with each album developing and growing from the previous seed that was planted. While no band is flawless (there’s always that Vices, right?), all my favorite ones (in my opinion) are pretty damn close. All Get Out can go from the energetic and exciting Water and God, to the heartbreakingly raw sound of Time and Place, to the breathtakingly beautiful Three More, I Guess, which ends with a graceful abruptness that leaves you hanging (a tease, if you will) and screaming inside for more, more, more (a personal favourite… seriously, just listen to the beautiful piano and the way the hauntingly desperate two voices make a perfect duet…)

Without sounding like an English major, I’d like to propose that All Get Out’s lyrics have a dominant theme revolving around willingly leaving home and unwillingly leaving love, starting new lives, leaving troubles behind, and coming back to them again. Daytrotter, who calls them “a South Carolinian band with fragile souls,” have had All Get Out in their studio twice already. Well, I say that Daytrotter is right, and that All Get Out writes their lyrics with the blood of the heart that was twisted and yanked out just to get to the truth.

Still, despite all the troubles their songs revolve around, it seems that these men never lose sight of what they were put on this earth to do – even if they’re not sure of it quite yet. But for now, making music is just fine.

And that’s just what I think. What do you think?

Water and God
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/03%20Water%20and%20God.mp3?w=ba31a41a

Time can make a change/Sometimes harder times reflect nothing about the lives we lead/And we can play this game all night/Just realize I’m living/I’m learning/I’m hurting/I’m thinking all the time


Three More, I guess

I laugh out loud, but nothing’s funny at all/I can stand 40 days in the rain/To tell you that I still feel the same/If there’s no way to say the time is served/Then there’s no easy way out of this

Time and Place, Daytrotter session
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/01%20Time%20And%20Place.mp3?w=f695dc83

I found peace through a small vessel/Five foot tall and brilliant speed/I felt love in her eyes and hate in my heart for the man that I might be…./Time and place is a hell of a way to put a grown man on his knees

All Get Out’s Myspace
Favorite Gentlemen
Daytrotter session 1
Daytrotter session 2
Photo by Jeremiah Edmond, taken from AGO’s myspace

The National – Live on Youtube

If you happened to have missed The National’s live Youtube performancedo not worry – you can watch (some of?) it live here!

And for those of you, you know, interested in setlists:

1. Mistaken For Strangers 2. Anyone’s Ghost 3. Bloodbuzz Ohio 4. Afraid Of Everyone 5. Secret Meeting 6. Slow Show 7. Squalor Victoria 8. Little Faith 9. All The Wine 10. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks 11. Conversation 16 12. Apartment Story 13. Abel 14. Sorrow 15. England 16. Fake Empire

Encore:
17. Runaway 18. Lemonworld 19. Mr. November 20. Terrible Love

Yeah, that’s right a 20 song set. Shit.

Photo credit goes to someone who was lucky enough to get tickets: here.
What the hell am I even talking about? Here.
The National’s Official Website

The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt;

I will be honest here and admit that my first experience with a Tallest Man on Earth song did not leave the two of us floating off together into musical adoration. It took me a few listens of Shallow Grave to get used to and fully appreciate Sweden’s own, Kristian Matsson’s vocal approach to his music. At some point in the last two years, however, Shallow Grave and my iTunes Library have parted ways and The Tallest Man on Earth became nothing but a tall memory. Until recently, when Matsson’s name started popping up among the fields of the internet while looking for music to harvest so, I went ahead and cultivated his latest, The Wild Hunt.

The Wild Hunt is a refreshing descent into the land of modern day folk music. The album as a whole brings forth an interesting balance between the strumming and plucking of a sweet acoustic guitar (at times, even a banjo or a piano!) and Matsson’s one of a kind, twangy vocals. One of Matsson’s greatest talents, is his ability to intertwine such immense detail in smart, frank lyrics. The Wild Hunt is an album of layers, waiting to be dissected but it also stands as an album to enjoy – especially on a beautiful day – for, it carries itself through the speakers like a gentle, calming breeze.

And I will sleep out in the glade just by the giant tree
Just to be closer when my spirit’s pulled away
I left a nervous little boy out on the trail today
He’s just a mortal to the shoutin’ cavalcade
I left my heart to the wild hunt a-comin
I live until the call
And I plan to be forgotten when I’m gone
Yes I’ll be leavin in the fall


The Wild Hunt

And now spikes will keep on falling from the heavens to the floor
The future was our skin and now we don’t dream anymore
No, we don’t dream anymore
Like a house made from spider webs and the clouds rolling in
I bet this mighty river’s both my savior and my sin
Oh, my savior and my sin


Love Is All

Also, take a moment to check out this minimally, delightful video of Matsson performing one of the best covers of Jackson Browne’s These Days for the fabulous La Blogotheque. Watching him in this video shows how effortlessly music escapes this man and just how much he enjoys the process of it all.

Download Matsson’s cover of ‘These Days’ here.

The Tallest Man On Earth’s Myspace
Blogotheque’s feature of The Tallest Man on Earth

That’s the way, Jimmy Page;

“If I ever really felt depressed, I would just start putting on all my old records that I played as a kid, because the whole thing that really lifted me then still lifted me during those other times. It was good medicine for me, and it still does that for me when I put something on. Isn’t it wonderful that we’ve got all that good medicine? I think it’s got to be all part of our DNA, this mass communication through music. That’s what it is. It’s got to be, hasn’t it? Music is the one thing that has been consistently there for me. It hasn’t let me down.”

Oh, hey there Sheepy

The National is Red Hot + Official Bloodbuzz Ohio Video;

On the evening of Saturday, May 15, 2010 at around the hour of 8 o’clock, The National will perform High Violet in its entirety at a concert benefitting Red Hot, which is an organization dedicated to fighting AIDS by way of raising awareness through music. The concert is going to take place in Brooklyn, New York at Brooklyn’s Academy of Music. For those of you fortunate enough to have gotten tickets before they sold out (within milliseconds, I’m sure), we wish you a fantastic and beautiful evening! For the rest of you (myself included), worry not because – guess what? – the entire performance is going to be streaming, STREAMING, streaming, STREAMing LIVE on Youtube! So, cancel your plans (come on, it’s alright – you’ll live), eliminate all distraction from within 5,001 miles of you and tune in to what I am positively sure will be an amazing performance!

Whoa, but wait – there’s more! Can it really be a two part post? Is it even a post at all? This is all an illusion – isn’t it? NO! It’s not. Please continue scrolling. Thank you!

And here we have it, the official music video for the first single off of High Violet, Bloodbuzz Ohio! Damn. The simplicity of this video takes nothing away from its intimacy. Alone, in a world of black and white, Matt Berninger – with his blazer, shirt, tie and vest in tow- graces our screens with his intense, yet comforting presence and offhanded silly while at the same time charming dance moves. The intensity of his stare and the smooth baritone sound escaping his mouth, holds our focus like a vacuum. Whether on a stroll through the park, laying in the grass, feeding the ducks, – offering an image very reminiscent of old photographs of James Dean – or left on a bar stool, or even against the backdrop of a curtain as nothing but a man, with a glass of wine Berninger never seems to lose track of the debts that he owes and the haunting weight that plagues him while realizing that the land that raised him, was never really his home.

Personally, I adore this video. I see it as honest and simple, never losing sight of the reflective atmosphere of the song itself and the feelings that it garners. Plus, staring at Berninger, as if he is singing to me and only me, for 4 minutes and 36 seconds is definitely a plus – I definitely wouldn’t mind being stuck in a swarm of bees with him for a while. So, before I cross another line – I’d just like to end this post by saying: Well done, The National!

Oh, and this is not the end of our swooning, stay tuned for a review of High Violet (maybe) which was released this week, May 11th and is currently in stores EVERYWHERE! You really have no excuse but to go out there and pick it up!

The National’s Official Website

Ingrid Michaelson covers ‘Skinny Love’

Oh, how I love the internet sometimes.

My squeaky clean paws just stumbled upon Ingrid Michaelson’s delightful little cover of Skinny Love, originally by Bon Iver. (Yes, I know you know that – but I’m sure that there’s someone out there who doesn’t, though – so, stop giving me that look!) Ms. Michaelson does a very nice job of capturing the delicacy of the song, which seems like it might be a difficult thing to do when incapable of howling like the great alpha wolf himself, Justin Vernon. Regardless of the missing howl and the fact that this was recorded in her living room (aw, that’s cute though!) and not a cabin somewhere in the woods with a lot of snow on the roof, melting steadily from the direct stream of the burning hot sun – I really enjoyed this cover and I think you guys will too.

For our visual learners, take a look at the Youtube video below – everyone else, be sure to download an mp3 version of the song (with much better sound quality) before you leave! Okay, visual learners – you can download the mp3 too, stop with the pouting.

Download Ingrid Michaelson’s cover of Skinny Love here!

Ingrid Michaelson’s Myspace

P.S. If you could all take a moment to please shoot the sheep (easy – I’m not finished) an Email and let her know that her split ends are the one thing standing between us and being in a PeTA ad, I would really appreciate it. The ends are actually split and there is two of every hair – the size of her wool has actually doubled. Scientists have mistaken her for a fallen cloud twice already. How embarrassing.