Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Back...with Lots of Music for Spring (Part 1)

So. It's been awhile.

Do you ever feel like you have so much to say that you avoid having to actually write it all out? Well, that's how I have felt about blogging over the past few months. But I've decided that I don't have to blog about everything that I would like to...if I don't write it all down then that's okay. I need to just do what I can.

For those of you who may still even be remotely interested in what I have to say, I thought I would make up for my absence with a lot of new music.

Spring is a time of year when I love to try new things, and am usually itching to explore new music. Fortunately for me, this spring also seems to be a time for lots of great new releases from old favorites to add to some new favorites.

Here we go.

First some new discoveries that have really been putting me in the spring mood:

Lord Huron

An LA-based indie folk band (my favorite kind!) that makes me feel like running through the desert yelling and dancing. You'll understand once you listen. Hopefully.





Haim

I had heard mentions of Haim, made up of three LA sisters, this past winter and made a mental note to give them a thorough listen. But to my delight I got to see them perform live shortly after! You see, these three cool chicks have recently been touring with Mumford & Sons. And I had the SUPREME pleasure of going to the Mumford show at the Barclay's Center in February. I was blown away by how much these sisters could rock out, and for an opening act, they really knew how to work the crowd. I don't think you can get higher praise than Marcus Mumford saying you're the greatest band in the world. (On a side note, the other opening act was Ben Howard. Score. And the finale consisted of Haim, Ben Howard, and Mumford & Sons all performing The Weight. Life made.)




The Lighthouse and the Whaler


The Lighthouse and the Whaler is another indie-folk band, but an indie-folk-pop band (is anyone else starting to get confused by the ever increasing names of music genres?). Their most recent album, This is an Adventure, does indeed make you want to go on an adventure. A good up-ity, road-trip album.





Lemaitre

Speaking of up-ity, Norweigian duo, Lemaitre, is a little outside of my comfort zone being an indie-electronic band, but it's infectious. And the music video below makes me giggle.





Slowing it down a bit with the "dream-pop" band, Houses, their music is perfect for a rainy spring day. Beautiful, peaceful, and melancholy all at once.




Beach House

Staying in the realm of slower, dream-pop indie music, the name alone of this Baltimore-based duo makes you think of warmer weather and salty breezes.





Ski Lift

In contrast, the name "Ski Lift" may not put you in the mind of springtime, but their music would beg to differ (more indie-folk-dream-pop type stuff, go figure...getting sick of those words yet?), and I'm obsessed. Maybe it's because they have connections to this band. Fifty points to the person who can figure out the connection.


Youth Lagoon

When I first saw a picture of Youth Lagoon, a.k.a. Trevor Powers, and read his description of his process of writing music, I immediately thought of a modern-day Bob Dylan. But his music sounds like anything but Dylan. More dream-pop. More imageries of exploring woods on spring mornings.




Langhorne Slim & The Law

However, if you are on the lookout for some modern-day Bob Dylan-esque music, then check out this fellow-PA'er. Courtesy of the big brother.




Father John Misty


I'll admit, I only gave Father John Misty (also known as Joshua Tillman), a listen because the title of the song below caught my eye for certain reasons. But then I immediately liked it. Tillman was once a member of Fleet Foxes, which I think you can pick up on, but he definitely has his own style with lots more folk influences.




MS MR

This one is probably the least like the rest of the bands in this post (although another boy-girl duo as many of these are....hmmm) but their EP, Candy Bar Creep Show, has seemed to be popping a lot lately, and I don't just mean on my iPod. And then there is the music video for the first single off of their debut album (see below). I can't stop watching as much as I would like to sometimes. Watch and you'll see. As the name of the EP and the music video would suggest, their songs are dark but still captivating and grand. "Chillwave"was one description I read...is that another weird new genre name??



Okay, I think that is plenty for today. Come back tomorrow and I'll do some new old favorites. I promise. And I'll try to keep the weird imagery stuff to a minimum.

In the meantime, feel free to let me know what great new Spring-like music you've been listening to lately.

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