Michaelangeli, Debussy, “La Fille aux cheveux de lin” from Préludes, book I.
Beautiful music, beautifully played.
The National, ‘England’.
So good.
(watch in HD for best sound)
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Regina Spektor
—Jessica
‘Jessica’, from Regina Spektor’s upcoming album What We Saw From The Cheap Seats. (out May 29th)
I can’t say I always agree with Regina’s artistic vision, but on each of her albums, there always seem to be two or three songs that really stand out for me. They tend to be among the more reserved, less flamboyant tracks on the album, but they’re wonderfully crafted and convincingly executed all the same, and they remind me of Rufus Wainwright and, in the case of this folky little waltz, a little bit of John Lennon.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Best Coast
—How They Want Me To Be
Yes it’s cheesy. But I love Best Coast for their summery, surf-rock sound, and their identifiably 60’s pop style. At first listen, their new album is drastically more polished than 2010’s Crazy for You, but it retains the things I like most about the band. For instance, the cleaner recording really highlights Bethany Cosentino’s vocals, giving them a completely fresh sound while allowing her to avoid changing her style.
Best Coast - “How They Want Me to Be”, off No Other Place (2012)
2 worlds
That Mitchell and Webb Look. Hilarious.
emerald city?
Two of my favourite people, talking about life, music, and careers. Ron Sexsmith is probably my favourite singer-songwriter, and it breaks my heart that his music isn’t met with the commercial success it deserves. But that raise the question- what is more important, commercial success or the level of integrity and the respect held by artists like Ron?
Other Lives - “Landforms”
These guys are opening for Radiohead on the first leg of their North American tour, and seeing as last time I saw Radiohead, they were touring with a then-relatively unknown band called Grizzly Bear (!!!) I thought I’d give them the benefit of the doubt. The varied instrumentation on the album gives each song beautiful texture and colour, and because of that the band has a pretty unique and identifiable sound, and if it sounds a little bit like the Arcade Fire’s and Sigur Ros’ style of arrangements combined, so much the better! And, like, Ringo Starr singing…
“serve me the sky with a big slice of lemon”
An old favourite.
