This is such a hauntingly beautiful song, and right now I’m listening on repeat. Hope you enjoy!
Tag Archives: Music
Song Of The Day: Florence + The Machine- Only If For A Night
If you are about to listen on your computer, crank the speakers! Or better yet, plug into great sounding speakers…this song is meant to listen to loud and on surround sound!
I’m getting pumped to see Florence + The Machine this Friday at Deer Lake Park!! I saw her before she got super popular at a much smaller venue, and she was AMAZING! If you get the chance, go see her. Worth every penny. She has once of those voices that on a recording you can’t even get the full emotion, it has so much more impact live. It will give you chills…enjoy the song!
Song of the day: Generals by The Mynabirds
I’ve always had a thing for chick fronted bands, and The Mynabirds do not disappoint! They just released their new album, and the title track is amazing! Check it out:
Feeling a little ’60′s today
I saw this CD at Starbucks yesterday and it reminded me how much I love the 1960′s and I love the French! So the rest of the post today will be some inspiration for you. Ahh…Paris!
If this post has inspired you to add a little French to your life, feel free to listen to this playlist I’ve made on Grooveshark.
Song of the Day
All week I’ve been listening to The Lumineers. I just love this song. Its so simple but catchy!
How To Discover New Music
At work I am able to have headphones on all day, so I am constantly listening to music. I love that I have that option, but often I get bored with the same old stuff. It has forced me to be able to find multiple ways of discovering new music. My friends often ask; “Where did you hear about that band?” or “How do you find new music?” I’ll let you in on a few of my little tricks:
1. Listen to soundtracks
Right now I am listening to The Hunger Games Soundtrack, and there are four artists who I hadn’t heard of before and I plan on listening to each of them further! It’s one of my favorite ways to discover music, because you never know what you’re going to get! (For those who enjoy folk-country-indie you too, will enjoy The Hunger Games Soundtrack)
2. iTunes lists/charts
This is one of the best ways to find out if an artist has released something new. Now, you can now listen to 1 min and 30 seconds of each song per album, so this is a great tool if you haven’t heard of someone and you just want to check them out. Also, if you click to listen to an album and you enjoy it, look at the list underneath saying “Listeners Also Bought” because someone else may have the same taste as you! I’d also recommend taking advantage of the iTunes genius recommendations they’re usually pretty accurate.
3. Last FM
If I am listening to an artist I love, I will Google “similar artist to…” and Last FM is usually the top link with an extensive list of artists. They start from the most similar to least similar and its a great place to find more indie artists.
5. Keep up with your favorite local bands
Follow your local band on Twitter and Facebook and read their updates. They will often do shows with other artist you may love, or post about some of their favorite bands. ***Shameless plug time: check out my band Steel Audrey and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Every Monday we do a music post!
6. Grooveshark
This site is the best. It’s changed the way I listen to music. It is a great place to “test drive” an album before purchasing, plus you can create and save playlists. An awesome new feature to Grooveshark: when you search they will recommend similar artists. So, take advantage of this, when creating your playlists! Feel free to follow me on Grooveshark!
Hope this helps you on your journey discovering new music! If you have any other tips and tricks feel free to comment! Happy Listening!
What I’m listening to right now…
Happy Sunday! I figured today would be a great day to post about something that always inspires me- great music! I’ve been finding a lot of cool tunes lately, in a variety of genres. Here are a few videos of my favorite songs these days. Enjoy!
Gotye Ft Kimbra: Somebody That I Used To Know
Seriously I can listen to this song on repeat! Love it so much. Kimbra is awesome too- so check her out. This video is kinda strange but cool, and the song is just so good!
College Ft. Elecetric Youth- A Real Hero
This is a song from the movie Drive. Awesome movie, pretty cool 80′s inspired dance ballad. My husband would say this song gets played WAY too much in our house!
Grouplove- Colours
If you like Modest Mouse and The Pixie’s you love these guys! Such a fun band. I’d highly recommend checking out more of their stuff!
The Belle Brigade- I didn’t Mean It
This song is rad- so don’t let the damn Twilight soundtrack deter you. I hate those movies and the hype- but I LOVE this song. Makes me do a wicked head bob dance.
First Aid Kit- The Lion’s Roar
These two Swedish sisters are an awesome duo. I think they may even be one of my new favorite bands. I love their style and the vocals and lyrics are amazing. Enjoy!
Jamie Lidell- Compass
Totally was not aware this was from a video game…oh well- its a great song none the less. Not much of a video- sorry.
Grizzly Bear- Two Weeks
Cool harmonies. Kinda reminds me of Feet Foxes, but I’m OK with that. Such a dreamy song.
Graffiti6- Free
Little bit of soul, little bit of rock, little bit of gospel- just all around good melody. Catchy stuff right there.
The Sheepdogs- Who
Classic Classic tunes. Reminds me of my childhood. My Mom would love these guys!
Dudes Who Can SANG
Since I wrote a previous post about ladies who can SANG I thought it wouldn’t be fair if I left the boys out. So check out some of the craziest…most unique male vocals of our time.
Ray LaMontagne-God Willin’ And The Creek Don’t Rise. Who could deny the whisper-y folksy voice of Ray from this list? No one has a voice that comes even close to his. We’ve never heard anything like it.
Kings of Leon- Red Morning Light. Ok this is a RAD very early performance of theirs and you just can’t deny the talent. Singer, Caleb Followill leads the bad with his weird, unique mumbling lyrics. If you haven’t had the chance to see them live- DO IT.
Paolo Nutini- Pencil Full Of Lead. Just close your eyes and listen for a sec. Doesn’t he sound like an 80-year-old man that’s been in the biz for decades? Nope this guy is only 23! I think this has to be one of my all time favorite songs too. It just makes you happy listening to it!
Glen Hansard-Leave. You probably have heard of this guy if you’ve seen the movie “Once.” Glen Hansard and Markita Irglova (a.k.a Swell Season) won an Oscar for their song “Falling Slowly.” I had the pleasure of seeing Swell Season live and his voice was just as loud as you’d expect. Honestly, in a theater that holds thousands he didn’t even NEED to have a mic in front of him. Such powerful, emotional vocals.
Keane- Bedshaped. At first when listening you might wonder why Tom Chaplin of Keane made this list. Well I must tell you, after seeing them live you would know why. This guy has PERFECT pitch. His voice is so piercing and perfect it leaves you in awe.
Cold War Kids- Hospital Beds. Nathan Willett has a voice you either love or hate. At first when I heard them I have to admit, I didn’t love it! But they grew on me and I began to realize how unique his vocals were. A little strange, but awesome.
Hawksley Workman-Don’t Be Crushed. I had such a hard time picking one song to feature. I have loved Hawksley for years and years and knew he needed to make this list! So I picked one of my favorites. He’s such a brilliant Canadian talent and if he ever comes to your city check it out! Such an entertaining show!
Elbow- The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver. If you know me personally you know that Elbow is one of my all time favorite bands. I can listen to them over and over and never get tired of them. They are super popular in the UK but not at all in North America- which I don’t get at all. Their music is so epic and Guy Garvy has such control over his vocals its quite breath-taking.
Dead Man’s Bones- In The Room Where You Sleep. I mostly just added this video in here for fun. Not many people know about Ryan Gosling’s side project and that’s whats so great about it. It’s not pretentious at all. I love the sound that they went with- nothing like you’ve ever heard before- that’s for sure! Plus his vocals are pretty interesting too. Kinda an Elvis meets Johnny Cash feel.
I feel like I could go on and on with this list, so I think now I will just give honorable mention to: Jack White, Joe Purdy, Bright Eyes, The Avett Brothers, Coldplay, The Black Keys, Rufus Wainwright, Mumford & Sons, Muse, Radiohead, Vampire Weekend….seriously I could go on and on. But let me know who your favorites are! Did I miss any major crazy vocalists of our time?
Chicks who can SANG
The ladies in this post can’t just sing…lots of singers can sing…these chicks can S-A-N-G. Take a listen to the most beautiful powerful vocal cords of our time.
Adele- Rolling in the Deep. I first fell in love with Adele’s song “Chasing Pavements” and this is her newest single; which in my opinion is even BETTER then Chasing Pavements! Who knew that could be possible?
Florence & The Machine- The Drumming Song. I had the pleasure of seeing Florence before she became a MASSIVE hit and I have to be honest- her opening band sucked- so me and my friend kept thinking, “I sure hope she is awesome live cause this is lame.” Well let me just say she is one of the best concerts I have EVER SEEN. Killer killer vocals!
Lissie- Little Lovin’.She’s new on the scene but her catchy melodies and that little bit of rasp in her voice will get you hooked! Everyone is already in love with her in the UK and at any moment and she is gonna break out in North America. I love the control she has with her vocals.
Gossip- Standing in the Way of Control. Now I don’t think anyone can argue with the fact that Beth Ditto has crazy crazy vocals. I’ve heard her live stuff and it’s just as powerful. I wish I wish I could sing like her!
Ellie Goulding- The Writer. Ok I HAD to show a live performance because her voice is so amazing, so raw, and just pain adorable! Love the vibrato; its pretty crazy and pretty awesome. If you haven’t heard of her yet- she’s got some pretty awesome style; they call it “Folk-Electronic”
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals-Medicine. I just recently started listening to her and now I am hooked! She’s been in the biz for a while, singing with her band since high school. She makes me wish I could sing the blues! But lucky me I get to see them in January when they come to Vancouver. (An early birthday present!)
Kimbra-Settle Down. Well since she is known for creating full songs with her voice, it would only be fair to have her on this list. Kimbra is quite popular in Australia but we’re still eagerly waiting for her debut album here in North America.
We’re lucky to have so many talents and such great music to listen to these days. Power to these powerful ladies! Did I miss anyone??
I have to give honorable mention to a few more “popular” artists such as; Pink, Duffy, Christina Aquilera, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Beyonce. Yep they’re super popular and all over the radio- BUT they can perform live and sound good doing it! (Notice I did NOT mention Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Mily Cyrus or Ke$ha)
Dior’s Lady Grey London
What a beautiful short that was filled for Dior. Starring the gorgeous Marion Cotillard and the super talented Ian McKellen.
As I was captivity watching it I couldn’t help but hear a familiar voice in the soundtrack. Our favorite quirky Canadian singer/songwriter/producer Hawksley Workman! This is quite a step for him!
Enjoy
(Maybe John Galliano will pull a Tom Ford and sit in the directors chair for full length film?)
Another Gossiper can sing.
I’m beginning to wonder which cast member of Gossip Girl can’t sing?! (Leighton Meester attempted a solo career, Taylor Momsen in her band The Pretty Reckless and Ed Westwick has a band called Filthy Youth.) Everyone on the show seems to be on the verge of a budding music career. I guess they always have something to fall back on if the show ever goes down the drain. (lets hope not!)
The next cast member I am going to gush about is Penn Badgley since Dan a little bit of a guilty pleasure. I have always had a soft spot for his character. There I said it. The most boring character from last season still is one of my faves. Wait- Vanessa is the boring-ist!
This video is of Penn Badgley looking extra dapper on the set of a photo shoot for Bullett Magazine. Around the 2:00 min mark you can hear his soulful vocals. Who knew? Could he be in the front running as the most talented singer from Gossip Girl?
Click the link below to watch the video.
Bullett Magazine + Penn Badgley from BULLETT MAGAZINE on Vimeo.
