La Belle et Le Bad Boy by MC Solaar

I was watching the final season of Sex and the City over the weekend and this song came on. I am not a fan of much rap music, as I am not a fan of much country music, but this song was just very endearing. And I pretty much love about any form of music when it is sung in French.

Pablo's Blues by Gare Du Nord

If you are looking for a fresh new approach to Blues, this is it. A wonderful song with a haunting vocal by Robert Johnson.

Noah and the Whale- The First Days of Spring

When you listen to Charles Fink's vocals there is a part of you asking yourself, "Why do I like this guys voice?", but ultimately, you do. It is the same questions I ask myself about Tom Waits or Bob Dylan. But, before you even hear his voice on "The First Days of Spring" something happens to you. You have the overwhelming urge to cry. The first minute of the song is beyond words. What this band has been able to create in the first song alone is a masterpiece. But then you continue to listen to this album and you realize that this band is more than just a band, they are truly musicians. They don't just create a simple song around five or six chords, with a catchy hook. They create supple and dramatic effect with their music. The build of "The First Days of Spring" is so powerful that it almost knocks you on your ass. And then there is "Love of an Orchestra", my favorite off of the album. There is something so familiar about this song but I still haven't been able to place it. I cannot listen to this song without smiling. It is so upbeat and fun, kind of like an exhilarating bike ride down a large hill.

There is so much that Noah and the Whale have to offer in this album, that I would highly recommend you give it a listen. You may be surprised, I know I was.

New Moon Soundtrack Review

Like many young females, I must admit that I am a fan of the Twilight Series. It was my mother who shoved the books down my throat, even upon my insistence that I was not interested. There are times when I think I might have been better off never having read them because they are like crack but what is done is done.

The New Moon Soundtrack
comes out tomorrow, October 16th, 2009 and I have been fortunate enough to have had an oppurtunity to listen to the tracks prior to it's release. I was a little concerned on my first listen that I wasn't really going to get where these songs would fit in with the book with the exception of Bon Iver & St. Vincent, Thom Yorke, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Grizzly Bear and Editors. If you don't know anything about the book, I can tell you that it is a very sad, heartbreaking story. And the likes of Muse just didn't fit the story that I remembered. So to give a more objective opinion, I reread the book and then relistened again. After reading the book again, I have to say that the soundtrack makes a decent companion to the book. Band of Skulls "Friends" has been stuck in my head for days now and though I am not sure where they will be placed within the movie, I really don't care. I can say that I enjoy each and every track on the soundtrack. The last song of the soundtrack is a piano piece by Alexandre Desplat. This piece of music is hauntingly beautiful and has almost ripped my heart out on each listen.

1. Death Cab for Cutie- "Meet Me On The Equinox"
2. Band of Skulls- "Friends"
3. Thom Yorke- "Hearing Damage"
4. Lykke Li- "Possibility"
5. The Killers- "A White Demon Love Song"
6. Anya Marina- "Satellite Heart"
7. Muse- "I Belong To You (New Moon Remix)"
8. Bon Iver & St. Vincent- "Roslyn"
9. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club- "Done All Wrong"
10. Hurricane Bells- "Monsters"
11. Sea Wolf- "The Violet Hour"
12. Ok Go- "Shooting The Moon"
13. Grizzly Bear- "Slow Life"
14. Editors- "No Sound But The Wind"
15. Alexandre Desplat- "New Moon (The Meadow)"

Do you think there is something wrong with me?

The weather is starting to change and the smell of fall is in the air. Today, like many days in the foreseeable future, it is rainy and dreary. Now most people, when making their music choices for such a day, would avoid the likes of Bon Iver, Damien Rice, Elliot Smith or Arcade Fire. But for some sick, masochistic reason, I am drawn to this feel of music more than usual on days like this. It is the same thing as when I am depressed. I like, no better word is love, to wallow in the melancholy. To feel the deep sadness that envelopes me, take over and consume my every emotion. But instead of it depressing me further, it just makes me feel on warm inside, like someone has just wrapped me in a heavy blanket. Does this mean there is something seriously warped about me or what?

Currently listening to Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago"

Photo Courtesy of Dieter Drescher via Flickr

I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers

Natives of Concord, North Carolina, there closeness to the North Carolina Mountains is apparent in the feel of their major label debut album. But not only is their mountain influence apparent but the influence of The Beatles, punk rock, bluegrass and for me, a very eerie similarity to Brandon Flowers and The Killers. With such an eclectic sound, you would think that they would fail to grab your attention because of the strange mesh of sounds. However, this is not the case. Never before have I heard these various sounds used in a more genius way. Most times when an artist is trying to create a new genre of music, which The Avett Brothers have achieved, the sounds comes out as trying too hard. With this album when you notice a similarity to a song, band or genre, before you have an oppurtunity to register the similarity, the song has moved on in a direction that isn't anticipated and remarkably refreshing. At the beginning of the album, the first visual that was running through my mind was a beautiful autumn day somewhere in New England. Honestly, it would have made a wonderful addition to the now cancelled "October Road". But as the album progresses, you no longer consider it just another folk album. It is much more than that. Surprise yourself and take the time to listen to this album. You will learn something about music if that is what you are looking for or if you are just wanting to relax and listen to a good record, this will accomplish that.

Where is that Genius when you need him?

Every year in California, there is a meeting of minds called the TED Conference. At this conference people from all over the Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) industry gather to discuss new ideas. At this years TED conference, Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Pray, Love" was invited to speak and when she spoke, she spoke of creativity and the creative process.






I believe that there is something to this theory of hers. Back in 2004, Bob Dylan was on "60 Minutes" being interviewed by Ed Bradley. During that interview, something was said that made a profound impression on me as a musician. . It starts as a discussion about the song “Blowin’ in the Wind". Ed Bradley asks Bob if it was true that he wrote the song in 10 minutes. Bob responds with “Probably”.
EB: Where did it come from?
BD: It just came, it came from…um…like a… right out of that wellspring of creativity I would think, you know.
EB: Do you ever look at music you‘ve written and looked back at it and said “Whoa… That surprised me.”
BD: I used to… I don’t do that anymore. Uh… I don’t know how I got to write those songs.
EB: What do you mean, you don’t know how?
BD: Those early songs were almost magically written. I try to sit down and write something like that…ah, there’s a magic to that and it’s not Siegfried and Roy kind of magic, you know, it’s a different kind of penetrating magic and you know, I did it at one time.
EB: You don’t think you could do it today?
BD: (Shakes head no)
EB: Does that disappoint you?
BD: Well, you can’t do something forever and I did it once. I can do other things now but I can’t do that.


If you have ever listened to Bob Dylan's early works, you would have to agree with this assessment. There is a voice behind his words that isn't just the voice of a man but the voice of a generation.