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Music Monday

 

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I spent the last few days in an intensive writing program at UCLA workshopping my novel so when I sat down this morning to write about all of the music news on my mind (The Grammy's, Whitney R.I.P.), I found myself just too tapped out. I'm going to let the music speak for itself. Here are five tunes for last week (sorry I missed a posting!) and five for this week:  

Listen to the Gun Bun Music Monday 2012 Playlist on Spotify or Everyone's Mixtape.
Watch videos of the track here.
Feel free to drop songs you find into our collaborative Spotify playlist.
Listen to the 2011 Music Monday Playlist here.

"Come Home" - Chappo

"Down" - Summer Camp

"That Old Black Hole" - Dr. Dog

"Eyes Wide Open" - Gotye

"Liberal Arts" - Hospitality

"Flesh & Blood" - The Year of the Tiger

"Dancing With The DJ" - The Knocks

"Go Ego" - Eight And A Half

"The Lion's Roar" - First Aid Kit

"Just Ride It" - Cuckoo Chaos

Cheers, Lisa 

Music Monday :: Mid-Winter Favorites

Winter Escape: Six Senses Con Dao, Vietnam

Normally at this time of year I would be writing words of comfort for those of you battling the snow and freezing temperatures but it seems that most of us have been blessed with a mild winter. So instead, I'm sharing a "favorites" list to lift you out of the doldrums of January with its broken resolutions and post-holiday credit card blues. Here are some mid-winter finds that I love:

This designer.

This, this and this - all made of felt. And this gorgeous store's felt walls.

Marking your place.

This twitter feed.

Yum, Yummier, Yummiest.

And speaking of food, this is a super resource for online recipes.

Fantasy hideaways: cabins and treehouses.

Life in a bottle.

Literate sheet wrinkles.

One day. One photo.

Make a name for yourself.

Modular, customizable wall hangings.

A place to put the pits.

A clever take on band merch.

This is the latest "if you're not on it, you're not hip" website.

Put an end to email spam.

Feed your office supply addiction.

Track your coffee addiction.

File this and this under simple and practical.

If only he and she would stop torturing me each week.

For a good laugh, this is a must watch.

For a good cry, this is a must listen.

Listen to the Gun Bun Music Monday 2012 playlist on Spotify or Everyone's Mixtape.
Watch videos of the tracks here.
Feel free to drop songs you find into our collaborative Spotify playlist.
Listen to the 2011 Music Monday playlist here.

"Unless You Speak From Your Heart" - Porcelain Raft
Dreamy, ephemeral sounds from Italian/Brooklynite singer-songwriter Mauro Remiddi's debut album, Strange Weekend. 

"Great Life" - Caveman
Yet another band from Brooklyn. Yet another breezy tune. What can I say? I definitely have a "type."  

"Madeleine" - Lissy Truille
Elizabeth McChesney goes by the stage name of Lissy Truille when she's modeling for famous clothing lines or fronting her four piece rock band. This track is from her self-titled full-length album due out in March.   

"Lay Your Cards Out" - Polica feat. Mike Noyce
This track is from Polica's debut album, Give You The Ghost, which dropped late last year, two months ahead of it's scheduled release. Apparently, Jay-Z likes this foursome from Minneapolis because he debuted this song's video on his website, Life+Times. 

"Guilty As Charged" - Chairlift
I might as well close out with yet another indie band from Brooklyn! At least this group has the unique distinction of originally forming to make background music for haunted houses. 

Cheers, Lisa 

Music Monday

I am on the road today so I don't have time to write much but I have added five great songs to the playlist. I hope you'll take a listen.

• Listen to Gun Bun Music Monday 2012 playlist on Spotify or on Everyone's Mixtape.
• Suggest songs via the collaborative playlist here.
• Watch videos of the tracks here.
• Listen to 2011 Music Monday playlist here.

"Back of Your Neck" - Howler

"Home Again" - Michael Kiwanuka

"You Wish You Were Red" - Trailer Trash Tracys

"Some Love" - A Lull

"We Are Young" - Fun feat. Janelle Monae

Cheers, Lisa

Music Monday

Winter, Los Angeles

Music has always played a significant role in my life. I started playing the piano at a very young age, plunking out the tunes I heard in my head, and I have continued making and enjoying music throughout much of my life. 

But there was a time when the music went dark.

A few years ago I was living in a "rural, sophisticated" town in Connecticut. I found it to be a lonely, isolating place; of course, it didn't help that I was contending with an unravelling marriage and a partner with an undiagnosed mental illness. It was around this time that I stopped hearing music. I know I played it - I was always playing music for my two young daughters - but it stopped resonating with me. It became background noise to the chaos in my life.

And then I met Joe and Carol.

Joe and Carol were the parents of my daughter's friend. Soon after meeting them, they invited us over for dinner and a dip in the pool. With everything falling apart in my life I wasn't too keen on going, but I accepted the invite.

That night, Joe and Carol fixed a delicious homemade meal and poured many glasses of wine. And they had the best music playing. After dinner, while Carol entertained the kids in the pool, Joe and I sat in lawn chairs, under the setting sun, and talked music. We both had a deep passion for it and he turned me onto the radio station that we had been listening to, WFUV. You know how some people just shine a little brighter than everyone else? That's Joe. His zest for life and passion for following his dreams (he had recently given up a lucrative job at a mutual fund to become a math teacher) was infectious.

Between the food, wine and conversation, I felt a part of myself come back to life that night. 

After that, I listened to that radio station all the time. Sometimes it was the best part of my day, letting the music sweep me away from everything else that was going on around me.

Eventually, Joe and Carol moved away. And then so did I. As will happen, we didn't keep in touch. This year, as I was putting my holiday card mailing list together, something resonated with me when I came across Joe and Carol in my address book. So I sent them a card. I didn't think much about it until a few days ago when I received a large envelope in the mail with their return address on it. Inside was a letter from Carol and a page full of pictures: Joe and Carol and their two children in front of a pyramid in Egypt; Joe with full camping gear on his back, knee deep in a riverbed, giving the thumbs-up; and Joe on horseback, giving a big old wave goodbye.

And there at the bottom of the page were the terrible words that Joe had passed away in August from inoperable lung cancer at the age of 49.

I never got to tell Joe how much he helped me that night.

The world has lost one of the good ones.

Joe, thank you for bringing music back into my life. This one's for you.

Listen to Gun Bun Music Monday 2012 playlist on Spotify or on Everyone's Mixtape.
Suggest songs via the collaborative playlist here.
Watch videos of the tracks here.
Listen to 2011 Music Monday playlist here.

"The A Team" - Ed Sheeran
This post by Bob Lefsetz made me take a listen to Sheeran. This twenty-year old musician leads the nominations for the 2012 BRIT awards and you can catch him here in the U.S. opening for Snow Patrol's upcoming tour.

"Eyes Like Pearls" - Van Hunt
I hate to be a name-dropper but I can't resist on this one because Van Hunt and I go way back. Ok, not really. He offered me a copy of his first CD on the streets of Park City at Sundance eight years ago. I had no idea who he was but I took the CD and I actually listened to it when I got home. I listened to it a lot. So I'm very excited to see that he's back with a new one. 

"Simple Song" - The Shins
This is the first single from the Shin's upcoming fourth album. James Mercer wrote it when he and his wife were about to have their first daughter, as a tribute to their whole new life ahead of them. Ironically, Mercer told Q Magazine that this "Simple Song" was the most difficult song to put together in the studio. You can preorder Port Of Morrow now.

"We Were Children" - Tribes
NME turned me onto this band with this cerebral declaration: "This track is actually fucking great." I have to agree. I love that this UK band initially rebuffed the interwebs and insisted that their fans find them the old fashioned way, through concert posters. I supposed with their increasing success, they had to give in.

"Thieves and Kings" - The Peach Kings
Sometimes to find new and interesting music, I follow the internet breadcrumbs and see where they lead me. This time, it led me here and I think the fact that they do this is so cool (food + music = a good combo). And then I read this and I had to add this track to the playlist. 

For those of you who aren't on the Spotify bandwagon, I'm trying out an alternative method for listening to the playlist - Everyone's Mixtape. You can give it a try here.

Cheers, Lisa 

P.S. Here's a fun mashup that's worth a download.

Music Monday

Image courtesy of the To Resolve Project

Happy New Year! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season. Do you have any resolutions for 2012? I'm keeping it pretty simple by following the straightforward diagram on the poster from the To Resolve Project above.

Here are a few things that I am looking forward to in 2012:

This movie.

This book.

This album.

New seasons of this, this and this.

My geeky inner child is excited to play with these.

Taking my girls to this concert.

Attending this with my BFF (it's our tenth year!).

This music festival of course.

And finally, I am thrilled to be bringing you Music Monday posts again. So let's get to it.

To access the playlist, you need to download Spotify to your computer. And you really should, it's pretty darn revolutionary. If you are already using it, here are some features that might be new to you: Spotify Radio and Spotify Apps.

New for us in 2012, I have created a collaborative playlist on Spotify that will allow you to suggest songs that I should take a listen to. I have also set up a YouTube channel where I will post videos of the songs each week. Last year's playlist will also stay active. 

Listen to Gun Bun Music Monday 2012 Spotify playlist here.
Suggest songs via the collaborative playlist here.
Watch videos of the tracks here.
Listen to 2011 Music Monday playlist here.

"Stay Gold" - The Big Pink
In 2009, this English electro-rock duo won the prestigious Philip Hall Radar Award for Best New Act at the NME Shockwave Awards. This track is from their upcoming album, Future This, due out on January 16th. Expect to see this act make waves at this year's SXSW music festival. Anyone else think of Johnny urging Ponyboy to "stay gold" when you hear this song?  

"Devils Work" - Miike Snow
This Swedish indie pop band's self-titled debut album topped many Album of the Year lists in 2010. Prior to forming Miike Snow, two members of this group shared success under the moniker of Boodshy & Avant, producing and writing songs for such artists as Madonna, Kelis and Britney Spears. They even won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording for Spears's track "Toxic." This song is from their second full-length album, Happy To You!!, which will be released on March 26th. 

"I'm His Girl" - Friends
This Brooklyn band formed, no joke, after a group of friends shacked up together to escape a bedbug infestation. "I'm His Girl" is the band's first single.

"The Believer - feat. John Legend" - Common
Common is an American hip-hop artist and actor. He won Grammy's in both 2003 and 2007 for his R&B and Rap work. He also also starred in films such as Terminator Salvation, Date Night and Just Wright. You can see him now on AMC's television show Hell On Wheels. This track is from his new album The Dreamer, The Believer and it features John Legend.

"In The Wild" - LP
L.P. (Laura Pergolizzi) is a pop/rock musician who has been performing on the NYC music scene for many years. Tip of the hat to my friend Rod for turning me onto this song. It's infectious. You can watch her perform it live here.
Note: This track is not on Spotify but you can download it here and put it in your computer's music library. It will then show up in the Spotify playlist. 

Cheers, Lisa

Music Monday

BEST WISHES FOR HAPPY HOLIDAYS
AND A MAGNIFICENT NEW YEAR! 

This time of year always brings back memories of holidays past. I can still feel the giddy anticipation of Christmas morning, sitting at the stop of the stairs with my brothers and sister, all in our footed pajamas, anxiously waiting for our parents to give us the nod to go downstairs. Or the annual tradition of my siblings and I staging the manger scene with an old refrigerator box, some stuffed animals, and inevitable arguments about who was going to get to play Mary and Joseph. And remember the time before TiVo when you had to actually plan in advance to watch Christmas specials? We would curl up around our tiny television set, wrapped up in blankets, popcorn in little bowls, watching Rudolph, Frosty and the Charlie Brown crew inaugurate yet another holiday season.

Now I have the pleasure of making Christmas memories for my own children and I absolutely treasure it each and every year. 

This is going to be my last post for 2011 as I plan to take the next two weeks "off" to relax and enjoy the holidays with my family and friends. Thank you for lending me your ear each week. If you hit "play" in our Spotify playlist, it would take over twelve hours to listen to the 186 tracks that we have accumulated over the year. I look forward to discovering and sharing lots more in 2012.

Here are my picks for the final playlist of 2011 which you can listen to via Spotify here: GunBun Music Monday 2011.

"Default" - Django Django
Django Django is made up of four mates who met at art school in Edinburgh. This single is from their self-titled debut album which will be released January 30th, 2012. 

"Hell, Heaven" - Parlovr
This track comes courtesy of my friends Steven and George who are avid SXSW'ers and who have created a Spotify playlist of bands that are slated to perform there in 2012. Parlovr is supposed to be killer live, so you should definitely try to catch them at SXSW if you are going next year.

"Boy Lilikoi" - Jónsi
I am a big fan of Sigur Ros frontman Jónsi so I was very excited to see that Director Cameron Crowe tapped him to score his new film, We Bought A Zoo. I think that the entire album is fantastic and I can't wait to see the film. 

"Ribbons & Detours" - Silversun Pickups
Another favorite of mine is the alt rock band Silversun Pickups - especially their 2006 hit Lazy Eye. This track is from a three-song vinyl they put out in late November for Record Store Day's "Back To Black Friday." I am looking forward to the release of their third studio album in Spring 2012.   

"Woo" - Anthony Hamilton
Anthony Hamilton is an R&B/soul singer-songwriter from Charlotte, North Carolina. I came across his new album, Back to Love, on Spotify and put it on as background music while I worked. Before I knew it, I was dancing around a bit in my seat - it's just that kind of music! Funk-pop meets R&B meets hip-hop. And not a lurid lyric to be found.  

"Riverside - Lulu Rouge Remix" - Agnes Obel
Agnes Obel is a Danish singer/songwriter with lots of prizes and awards under her belt. Her cover of Elliot Smith's "Between The Bars" is worth a listen (available on iTunes here). This remix of her 2010 song Riverside is my bonus song to end the year!

Until next year - Cheers, Lisa 

Music Monday

Today's Music Monday post is brought to you by the 2012 Pantone Color of the Year...Tangerine Tango. According to the official announcement, this color choice is intended to "provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward." 

Music + color go hand in hand for me. I have a condition called synesthesia that causes me to "see" letters, numbers and even music in color. It's an involuntary reaction that I always thought everyone had until I read a news story about it in Time Magazine about ten years ago. I think that's why I have a strong reaction to certain types of music. It's also why I struggle sometimes with math: 3 + 2 does not equal a green 5 when you see 5 as the color red!

Here are my picks for this week's playlist which you can listen to via Spotify here: GunBun Music Monday 2011. I've had a busy week so please excuse the lack of info about the songs/artists.

"Cloudy Shoes" - Damien Jurado
"BTSTU" - Jai Paul
"Titanium (feat. Sia)" - David Guetta, Sia
"The Color of Industry" - Radiation City
"Surfer King" - A.A. Bondy

P.S. I recently came across a band called Alabama Shakes and they are definitely worth checking out. They aren't on on Spotify or iTunes yet but for a nominal donation, you can download their 4-track album here. 

Cheers, Lisa

Music Monday

DIY "Xmas Tree On A Wall"

December is the month for holiday prepping, settling in for a long winter, and - if you're me - pouring over the "best of" lists that abound in print media and on the Internet. I want to make sure that nothing has slipped by, especially when it comes to music and books. Here are a few of my favorite lists: 

• largehearted boy Year-End Online Lists for music + books (mind boggling)
• metacritic Music Critic Top Ten Lists
• FACT magazine 50 best (UK)
• PMA's Best Songs of 2011 (Spotify)
• American Songwriter Top 50 Albums of 2011
• Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2011 - this one is neat because they also asked each featured artist to share their own favorite track of the year.
• This isn't music/book related but it is fantastic - think of it as an advent calendar where each day you get to listen to the best TED talks of the past year.

As a totally random aside, I don't know about where you live but here in Los Angeles, Starbucks has started displaying calories on their drink menu and it is downright depressing to read the number next to my favorite coffee drink of the season, the Eggnog Latte (460! Without whipped cream?!). However, after exploring what goes into eggnog (this is an especially delicious recipe) I see why. 

I suppose our GunBun Music Monday playlist is my own "best of" list when it comes to music. Here are my picks for this week's playlist which you can listen to via Spotify here: GunBun Music Monday 2011 

"Chair" - Big Deal
I love the website Insound and the weekly emails that they send with free recommended tracks. That's how this one came onto my radar screen. It's from Big Deal's recently released (in the UK) debut album Lights Out which the band describes as "a collection of 12 deeply personal songs with universal appeal, innately tapping into the innocence, insecurity, wonder and (sometimes unrequited) love and lust of relationships." 

"Serpents" - Sharon Van Etten
I really enjoyed Brooklyn singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten's second album Epic so I have high hopes for her new one that is due out early next year. This track is a pre-release from that album and it features members of the National, the Walkmen and Wye Oak.

"Friends Like Those" - Robert Ellis
Ellis is a singer-songwriter who credits his country + modern folk sound to a childhood of listening to lots of bluegrass in Lake Jackson, Texas. While I usually don't like country music, I am a huge fan of strong songwriting and Ellis has that nailed down pat. Ellis is hitting the road this month - tour dates here - including two nights with my favorite band Dawes although those shows are, not surprisingly, already sold out. 

"Crew Love" - Drake, The Weeknd
Drake has received huge hype for his recenly released album Take Care - the NY Times recently dubbed him "hip-hop's current center of gravity." He collaborated with another big act of 2011, The Weeknd, on a few of the tracks, including this one.     

"Just A Habit" - Low Roar
The latest NME magazine has Low Roar on its list of music that is "breaking forth from the underground" this week." They write, "Ever wondered what Thom York's solo album 'The Eraser' might've sounded like stripped of the electronics?" I did so I checked it out - and now you can too: Low Roar.

Holiday Bonus Song: "Baby It's Cold Outside" - She & Him
Indie darlings Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward make up the she and him of this band. My kids and I were listening to this album last night as we decorated gingerbread houses and the girls said, "Hey, isn't she from the movie Elf?" And it turns out that is where Ward first heard Deschanel sing as well. After discovering their shared love of music, the pair started collaborating over email and in 2008 they released their first album together. I highly recommend A Very She & Him Christmas. It's a fun, fresh take on old holiday favorites.

 With Lots of Holiday Cheer, Lisa

Music Monday

Pies - Thanksgiving 2011

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I don't know about you but this was an especially rough Monday morning. Let's listen to some music to take the sting away.

Here are my picks for this week's Music Monday. You can access the playlist via Spotify here: GunBun Music Monday 2011

"Two Cousins" - Slow Club
With the year quickly coming to a close, I'm feeling pressure to make sure that I include all of my favorite 2011 songs in our Music Monday playlist. This song has been on my radar since this English folk-rock duo released their new album Paradise in September. 

"Street Joy" - White Denim
I've heard this band a lot recently on KCRW and indeed their recent album D ended up on a few of the "Top 10 Music Albums of 2011" lists from the KCRW DJ's. 

"Only Wanna Give It To You" - Elle Varner Featuring J. Cole
I'm digging this song from Varner's upcoming album, Perfectly Imperfect. It takes me back to, as the NY Times wrote, "an era when dropping 16-bar verses on R&B songs was a legitimate career path."

"I'm Losing My Mind" - Wise Blood
Chris Laufman is the writer, singer and producer behind Wise Blood. He describes his sound as "future music" - to me, I hear a little WU LYF and a little Prince. This track is from his debut album These Wings.

"Lonely Boy" - The Black Keys
This track is from The Black Keys' upcoming album, El Camino, which will be released December 6th. The band released a funny trailer for the album that features funny man Bob Odenkirk.

Cheers, Lisa

Music Monday :: Fall Favorites

Lisa's Fall Favorites
Finds from the Internet and the Actual, Live, Real World

A few months ago, I posted a list of "Summer Favorites" and it seemed to be a hit (which means I actually heard from someone who reads the blog!) so I thought that I would try it again.

I am fascinated by everything and I always keep track of things that I come across that tickle my fancy in the world of music, reading, writing, design, architecture, politics, cooking - you get the drift. Here are some of my favorites that I came across this fall while wandering around the Interwebs and beyond:

You can't go wrong if you cook this for Thanksgiving. And even this dreaded vegetable tastes good when it's cooked like this. 

Speaking of cooking, here's a new cookbook from my favorite LA restaurant.

And speaking of books, I really enjoyed reading this and this.

I know I'm late to the game on this one, but I'm finally watching this and I can't get enough of it.

And I know that I'm late on this too but damn, that's funny.

I love his new podcast and her new website.

If you like to fantasize about winning the lottery and re-doing your house then this website is for you. Or you could just buy the house of your dreams. Or just downsize and live here.

This guy & gal can really sing.

These animal prints are fantastic.

Maybe there is hope for public education in this country.

What will you do this weekend?

This made me look. And this too.

I am intrigued and freaked out by this website. 

 A "Friend" request from beyond the grave.

It's refreshing to see the beauty and utility of such simple things as this and this. 

I love this idea of Remembering Forward.

I love this behind the scenes, simply illustrated guide to touring from musicans Thao + Mirah.

Looking for fun, unique holiday gifts? How about this, this or this? And pretty much anything on this website.

These are going into our Christmas stockings for sure.

Speaking of Christmas, I love these holiday cards.

If you are sick of me spouting off about the benefits of Spotify, then maybe you should give this a try instead.

Here are the first and second lists of bands that have been invited to play SXSW 2012.

This is why the Internet is good.

And this is why every moment in life is precious. Really.

I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Before we delve into the music, I want to take this opportunity to thank Jeff & all the fine folks at Gun Bun for giving me this opportunity to contribute to Blogschu. I am grateful. I'm also thankful for my supportive family and for my friends who keep me on my toes. What are you thankful for this holiday season? 

Here are my picks for this week's Music Monday. You can access the playlist via Spotify here: GunBun Music Monday 2011

"Outside" - Childish Gambino
Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover) has been everywhere promoting the launch of his debut album but this interview is my favorite. 

"Pressure And Time" - Rival Sons
I found this song on the @brokemogul radio playlist on Spotify. The brokemogul is actually Scott Vener who is the music supervisor for shows such as Entourage and How To Make It In America. His blog is always full of interesting music tidbits. I had not heard of Rival Sons before but they sure do rock. This track is from their first full label debut which was released a few months ago.

"When I Grow Up" - First Aid Kit
I discovered this Swedish folk duo on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. These teenaged siblings came to the world's attention after posting a gorgeous cover of a Fleet Foxes song to YouTube in 2008. They've recently been touring the US and they'll release a new album in January 2012.

"4 AM - Adam K & Soha Radio Edit" - Kaskade
I've been on a bit of an electronic music kick lately and Kaskade does not disappoint. Is this famous electronic DJ really a teetotaling Mormon father of three kids? Why yes, yes he is.

"California Sunrise" - Dirty Gold
For those of you in parts of the country that are settling into winter temperatures, here is a little dose of California sunshine from three high school kids from San Diego. 

"Hometown Glory" - Adele
Wishing Adele a speedy recovery from throat surgery. This is my favorite song of hers. She wrote it in 10 minutes after a fight with her mom and recorded it at the ripe old age of 19. 

Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!
- Lisa