All Songs Considered’s recent review of this year’s CMJ (College Music Journal) came with a lot of awesome surprises – perhaps the best of which is First Aid Kit. First Aid Kit is two Swedish sisters – Klara and Johanna Söderberg – who make lovely, dreamy, and – most of all – exuberant music. From their cover of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” to their original tracks, First Aid Kit’s music has the unusual quality of being both natural and ethereal. The songs range easily from moments of introspection, to raucous, confessional declarations of the soul. In a year that brought us the return of Ace of Base, I think First Aid Kit might be just the hero we were holding out for…
Category: Video
Recommended: Black Prairie
Admittedly, I’m a little late to the party on Black Prairie. But boy, what a party! The band, which is comprised of 3/5 of the Decemberists, as well as two other folk musicians from Portland, OR, works with an amazing combination of musical styles (string band, folk, bluegrass, etc.) to produce something that just gushes out atmosphere. What becomes clear, right away, is that the band’s songs (which are heavily weighted towards the instrumental) are born out of a love of genre, authenticity, and antiquity. Watching them perform on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic (which you can see below), you see a seriousness and a joyfulness that makes for some excellent music.
Other Stuff You Might Like: La Blogotheque
Many of the sites I’ve featured in the “Other Stuff You Might Like” series have a common thread: excellent, impromptu concerts by established and upcoming musicians. We’ve looked at Luxury Wafers, Black Cab Sessions, They Shoot Music – Don’t They, and NPR Music. (And I’m sure to get around to Daytrotter before too long…) Now, from France, we’ve got the excellent blog La Blogotheque, and its excellent Take-Away Shows (or, if you prefer, Les Concerts à Emporter). The site’s catalog of artists is truly amazing, as are the performances, and so I invite you to come have a look…
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Recommended: The Wailin’ Jennys
My friend Julie first introduced me to The Wailin’ Jennys, and I’m really grateful to her for that. The Jennys are from Winnipeg, and have influences from Bluegrass, Country, and Traditional Scots-Irish tunes. In a lot of ways, perhaps, it’s both apt and misleading to say that the Jennys are a sort of countrified Indigo Girls. But I think that the emphasis on vocal harmonies, and attention to craft, make it a moderately-successful analogy. In any case, their sound features big, goosebump-inducing harmonies, and their performances (as you can see below) are both commanding and gentle. Not the usual combination, to be sure, and one that is well worth embracing…
News: Billy Bragg Covers Joanna Newsom for The Voice Project
We’ve mentioned The Voice Project before, and I’d really suggest you check out our previous post or visit their site. That said, we’ve shown you videos from Peter Gabriel, Joseph Arthur, and Mike Mills. In that Mike Mills video, we were treated to a cover of Billy Bragg’s “Sing Their Souls Back Home.”
And now, it’s Bragg’s turn to give us a cover of Joanna Newsom’s “On a Good Day.” It’s a lovely, intimate version, and I won’t waste any more time by trying to render it in prose. So, follow me, check it out, and then go visit the fine folks of The Voice Project:
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