Q: What happens when you combine your brothers and great friends flying into town to completely surprise you + an epic 40th birthday party on the rooftop of a kickass Hollywood hotel?
A: Your Music Monday blog post goes up on a Wednesday instead of a Monday.
Sorry about that! I was simply going to bypass this week entirely but I have been listening to so much good music, I couldn't help myself. I promise a more enlightening post next time but for now my brain cells are still recovering from ushering in my fifth decade. Hope that you enjoy some of my favorite tunes from this past week:
The Antlers' new album Burst Apart dropped this week and it has been garnering positive reviews all over the place. I am a huge fan of their 2009 album Hospice and I'll bet that this one ends up on many Best of 2011 lists. "I Don't Want Love" is about the push and pull of emotions that can torture you in an intense relationship.
The cello is a beautiful, haunting instrument and Ben Sollee has been combining it with his expressive voice and talented song writing skills ever since he was a teenager. Sollee is classically trained but you can hear that he is deeply connected to the mountain music of his hometown in Kentucky. Fun fact: In 2010, Ben and his band launched on a "Ditch the Van" tour where they carried their gear and instruments across the country on bicycles. "Embrace" is from Sollee's new album Inclusions.
When my daughter asked me for some "Numbers in Action" (aka: can I have some money?) I knew that she was a fan of this song that I have been playing around the house. Wiley is a prolific music producer, rapper and recording artist from the UK who is credited as a pioneer of the Grime music genre that is an English derivation of hip hop. The video for this song is quite imaginative.
If you know anything about my musical tastes after a few months of my Music Monday posts, you'll know that I am a sucker for folksy harmonies. Sorry, can't help it. The Wilderness of Manitoba, a band hailing from Toronto, is no exception. I think this song "Summer Fires" is just beautiful. Their first full-length album When You Left the Fire just dropped this week here in the US.
The last time we saw Ra Ra Riot on this blog, they were performing at Gundlach Bundschu! More recently, they remixed the Freelance Whales' song "Hannah" on the Benefit for Japan EP. 100% of the funds raised from the album will be donated to the Japan Society Earthquake Relief Fund. If you'd like to contribute you can purchase it here.
This last song Jack Sparrow is very silly but it made me laugh - especially when I watched the video version from last week's SNL. The Lonely Island (and its most recognized member Adam Samberg) is responsible for one of the few comedy skits that still cracks me up on that show: the hilarious, fake hip-hop digital shorts. Lonely Island's new comedy album Turtleneck & Chain is streaming on NPR and is now available for sale on iTunes and Amazon.
Can't see the playlist below? Click here.
