Fresh Feist

Feist's Metals is coming out in a week or so, but you can listen to it early. Yes, you do have to provide an email (one you can actually check), but the album is so very ethereal and pretty and haunting. So you should probably do it. (You can always unsubscribe once you have the link!)

Enjoy!

Good Intent

I am so glad I have an NZ hook up so I can get this album - since there is not a US release date yet. And guys, how good is that video?

I wish my spontaneous dance parties looked a bit more like that.

Sun Ain't Shinin'

Spontaneous dance party, anyone? Yes? Well, ready, set, go!

This band is so much fun. I just discovered The Asteroids Galaxy Tour and am seriously digging their album Fruit. The video* for "The Golden Age" is on the main page and it is So. Much. Fun. How much do you wish you were at that party?!

*Does that video look familiar? The short form is a Heineken commercial, which is actually how I discovered the band in the first place. Yup. I'm not a very good hipster.

Hi Guys

Um, Hi. I know its been awhile. Ooops. Sorry. I'm going to try to be a much better blogger, but we'll see. In the meantime, have a dance party! Wheee!

Sorry it isn't a better video -- I really wanted to play you this song, and I didn't have quite as much fun dancing to the other versions (mostly live and acoustic).

Brett Dennen's music available here.

Punching in a Dream

For the second year in a row my boyfriend's rad sister sent me a CD for Christmas. Last year it was Gin Wigmore (a kiwi), with her smoky voice and playful sound that is part oldies, part island, and part rock. This time I got The Naked & Famous (also kiwi) and they are delightful. Very different sound from Miss Wigmore, much more of an electronic alt rock, and an altogether very different sound than I usually listen to. That said, the album is ace so I thought I'd share the fun. This is my fave song of the album, but be sure to check out this neat video too.

I highly recommend adding them to your workout mix, too! I keep alternating between The Naked and Famous and Florence and the Machine for my cardio days. Very energizing, both.

Steampunk Parachute

Ingrid Michaelson is a regular in my playlists, but usually when I need something mellow and pretty. This new single is pretty and, I suppose, mellow, but is a bit punchier in sound than much of her previous work.

That said, I like it. And I especially like the video.

It has the flavor of George Melies early scifi film A Voyage to the Moon but also the sass of steampunk.

--- As an aside, have ya'll noticed how up and up steampunk seems to be at the moment? It was even featured in an episode of Castle recently??? Does it make me a total sf hipster if I exclaim "Pshaw, I was reading steampunk novels decades ago!" ---

Anyways, I want to dress as Ingrid's character in this video all the time. Especially that hair, with those eyelashes, those goggles, and that jacket. I've already got the shoes.

Sunday Dance Party

While I don't always love Paul McCartney's solo work, I found this to be the perfect lazy Sunday theme song. Peppy, foot tapping-worthy, but mellow. And the quirky video is utterly fabulous. Happy weekend!

God Help the Girl

Do you know this delightful little band? This is the title track from their album, performed live. They crack me up, and I am seriously loving their voices -- those women can sing! A few of their songs make me think of Joni Mitchell -- if she were a cheeky young hipster today. Anyway, enjoy your song of the day.

Hallelujah

This song just came up on my shuffle. I always forget how much I love this version -- such a sad, sweet, lovely song. Take a moment of your day and enjoy.

Fast as You Can

Just discovered this peppy little song by Elizabeth and the Catapult -- great band name, no?

Enjoy!

The Scientific Method

I love the Internet. I really really do. I love blogs, photo sharing, video sharing, shopping... I love the way it opens new ways to communicate, educate, inform, share, delight, scare. I love the speed of it, the versatility, the ribozomatic interconnectivity of it. Okay, enough nerd speak. I love the Internet.

That said, I have been waiting for the next evolution of new media. It offers such potential for an entirely new way of thinking and conveying information, but sadly all too often it is used merely as a new way to replicate the old. Blogs -- as much as I lurve them -- are just shiny linktastic magazines or newspapers. Flickr and youtube just represent mass scale versions of Uncle George's vacation slide show presentation. Sure, they offer a lot of potential to reach new audiences in new ways, and they can be tons-o-fun, but they are nevertheless familiar, no?

So my mind was pretty much blown when I found Arcade Fire's Chrome Experiment. It is like a truly new music video, an interactive, multifaceted experience that combines uses the power of the internet to fuel something really ace. Go experience it. And then come help me figure out other awesome ways to use this wicked new tool sometimes still known as the world wide web.

The Fame Monster Bites Back

Oh, Gaga. I really do like you. I find your music, videos and daily life a really awesome perspective on fame, performitivity, and contemporary pop culture. I pretty much think you are awesome. And you always make for a rockin' dance party, even if it is just me in my living room.

But your new video for "Alejandro", above, is disappointing. First off, can we please talk about how the song itself is just a collaboration between Madonna and Ace of Base? And a really mediocre one at that? It's like a desperate attempt by both of them to regain number one status, but they've run out of ideas, so they just remix "La Isla Bonita" and "All That She Wants" and fail hard. If this song was anyone but Gaga, I doubt it would make the radio top playlists. I suppose, from a critical perspective, this faux collaboration could get some pop culture academics really excited, and so much of Gaga's work holds echoes of Madonna, but I'm not really sold.

And then there is the video. It is essentially a strange retrospective WWII scifi film featuring crazy Nazis and Madonna. All it was missing was Bai Ling's character from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, though I suppose Gaga's outfit first seen at 1:06 fills that role. And by Madonna, I mean her whole bag of crazy right up through Erotica (but definitely before Ray of Light). Seriously, all our favorite Madonna wacky antics feature in the video, and not in a great way. I know the director of the video has often collaborated with Madonna for her videos, but really?

Lady G is certainly all about the shock factor, and an androgynous nazi porn shoot definitely has a shock value, but in an almost predictable way. "Telephone" messes with gender expectations and plays with pop culture references, but is like very little we've seen before. "Alejandro" plays out like the first time a kid learns he can use Hitler as the ultimate insult -- inappropriate and shocking, yes, but really not innovative, compelling, or worth a second look.

PS: I did really like the brief dance sequence from 0:29 to about 1:00. And maybe 2.5 of her dozen outfits...
PPS: I really hope that the Dorothy Hamill haircut that she sports at 5:36, and that some indie babes are starting to rock (Inara George, for one...), doesn't catch on. I can't go through that again!

Oh My

Do you know Gin Wigmore yet? She's a Kiwi, so I don't think so big on the US scene yet. My boy's sister sent us the album last Christmas and it quickly made its way onto my go-to playlists, and several of the tracks are on my workout mix. This is one of them. As a bonus, the video is rad. How does that voice come out of that cute little thing?

Girl Crush

It is probably painfully obvious that I have a big fat girl crush on Mrs. Deschanel, since every third post seems to involve her. But she is only one of my fave ladies who combine wicked, slightly awkward, vintage style with rad music and general coolness. Jenny Lewis is high on the list too, and I just finally saw this video recently and it made me very happy. (No embedding, so you get this pretty pic instead. xoxo

New Obsession

Okay, so this actually isn't a new obsession at all. I've been in love with She & Him forEVer now. Anyway, their new album is about to come out, and the first video is all over the blogosphere. Just in case you haven't seen it yet, please ogle Zooey's charming dance skills and that lovely white/red dress....

MIA

Yeah, yeah. It's been awhile. I've no excuses. I'll try to be better now. Anyways, here's a present to make you feel better.

xoxo

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

A supplement to the new 500 Days of Summer with my favorite gal crush, Zooey Deschanel, and the utterly adorable Joseph Gordon-Levitt. They are dreamy together, and what better choice of song to dance to???

Laundry Day

Among other things, today is laundry day. Whilst I wash, this is what I'm humming...