And Bowerbirds, apparently.

Bowerbirds- In Our Talons


I especially like the ending! And the praying mantis' kissing. Aww. :)

I like Starfucker.

That is the most ridiculous video I have ever seen- really, it sparked an initial wtf with me, too. But! The song is so mellow and catchy I couldn't resist sharing it. Admit it, you love it too.

Also, a little discovery for today, The Leisure Society!
Found them when I was looking for shows in Nottingham [!] next week. Yeah that's right, I'm awesome and going to [!!] England next week. [!!!] Anyway, if you go to their last.fm right here, you should listen to "Pancake Day" because it's lovely! I especially like the repeated lines "snoop dog(g?) and dr. dre". It's seeping with lo-fi pop irony.

Oh! You should also visit The Leisure Society's myspace . For reals.

mt. st. helens

The song "Mt. St. Helens" by Olympia/Portland/K Recs' MIRAH is just.. amazing.
I've got a pretty serious Mirah-crush going on lately. She's coming to the Vera Project [you can find the show by clicking on the Vera Project link on the lefthand side of this page, under Blogs & Venues and such] next week and I've decided that I totally need to go.
Mt. St. Helens stream.

Here's a video of her playing the song at Evergreen State College


Some more songs you definitely need to check out by her:
Body Below
100 Knives
Murphy Bed

And here's another video I thought was nice: "Don't Die In Me"

Department of Awesome.

Hey, first of all, I've been totally ignoring this here blog. Sorry!

I'm going to really try to be better about it, I've just been super busy.

Now, I bring a wholly amazing video by a band called Department of Eagles.. the song is called "No One Does It Like You" and I just think the video is fantaaaaaastic:

Oh Oh Oh, the Places We'll Go!

Olympia K Records twee-poppers LAKE have been infiltrating my airwaves today- they're like a cross between Belle & Sebastian and any number of lo-fi bands that rely on harmonies and cutesy melodies, etc. I mean, their album, "Oh, the Places We'll Go" is named after Dr. Seuss! This has to tell you something about the band- they don't exactly play death metal. Apparently, they started out as a Fleetwood Mac cover band with the intention of touring casinos across the Northwest and Alaska.. random! They also apparently set out on a tour of retirement homes and assisted living facilities.. well, that's nice, I suppose? Yay for community service. You can listen to some of their songs on their myspace, right here. Also, I've included some cheery little downloads for you all-

MP3:
Oh, the Places We'll Go Catchy, adorable intro track.
Blue Ocean Blue Also catchy- there's even handclaps! Singer sounds a bit like any number of female indie vocalists, but not in a bad way. :)
Counting Slightly more "driving" sound, still not exactly hardcore.
Minor Trip The name of this track should say it all. Sort of trippy, but not to an LSD level. Also, it's got flute! Exciting.

So there's my bit on LAKE, up-and-coming cutesy little twees.

And now, I have one more MP3 for you all! It's by a local band called Wild Orchid Children -it's basically the alter ego of Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground [another local band I will get to eventually!]- both bands share common members, but whereas Kay Kay is poppy and indie, with elements of psychedelia.. Wild Orchid Children is just craziness and chaos. Seriously, like, the Beastie Boys + Jimi Hendrix + all sorts of insanity. I mean, look at this picture: Intense. But! This one song I have here is the one on their EP that is completely the utter opposite of that. It's darling and folksy with some genuine blues/americana roots. It's definitely definitely worth a download and listen.

MP3: Wild Orchid Children- Winds Blow

ps Noel Gallagher disses Kings of Leon, The Killers, etc. But he actually does it with class! Go Noel. Always liked you better than Liam. ;)

pss Isn't this adorable? Asthmatic Kitty Records<3


Up-and-coming blogness: Animal Collective review [Already written, just needs some polishing up!], DM Stith, Mirah, Mt. Eerie, and some crazy free jazz! Oh, and Julian Koster is Insane Pt.2. Whooo!

Music Tapes, pt.1

Lately, I've discovered the complete weirdness of an Elephant Six-er- former Neutral Milk Hotel member and current Music Tapes member- Julian Koster. I'll write more about his completely strange behavior [including playing his saw, badger, in a christmas caroling tour, etc. etc.] and include articles, snippets of strange things he's said [there's quuiiiite a few] and downloads of tracks and links to other nifty things..

But for now! I bring a pretty awesome Music Tapes video, for the cover of the Velvet Underground's "All Tomrorow's Parties":

All Tomorrow's Parties


ps Later I have more Music Tapes, downloads, and LAKE, my new twee-pop discovery. Check back!

I'm getting lost in your cuuuuurls...

No, contrary to the title, it's not quite time for me to geek out about the new Animal Collective, quite yet...

But! I do have a lovely little track to share by a band called Little Wings.
They're part of the Phil Elverum/K-crew-collective.. [I just made up that phrase, but it includes bands like Phil Elverum/Mt.Eerie/The Microphones, Mirah, Thanksgiving, Adrian Orange and all his projects, Karl Blau, etcetc.]

Anyway, here is "Baby Bee" by Little Wings , it's a folksy/cutesy little song that I'm really glad I stumbled upon. You can find more Little Wings songs here and also, another site that's been pretty helpful in finding weird little songs related to this unofficial collective of musicians is Karl Blau's "Kelp Lunacy Advanced Plagiarism Society". There are a whole bunch of strange free downloads on the left column of the page.. some are really good! I particularly enjoyed Karl Blau's "My Name, My Name"- which is a bit reminiscent of Fiddler on the Roof + some sort of psychotropic drug. Always a winning combination! Anyway, you can also just download that here if you don't want to head on over to the site.

ps
Isn't this the most weird-but-still-pretty-precious picture ever?
Little Weird Wings.