Music Monday: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Name: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Style: Indie Folk
Similar To/Sounds Like: Hicks (no, that's not a band name)

I've been listening to quite a lot of what many people would consider to be hipster music lately, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is by far the most hipster of them all. If you hate all things hipster then you aren't going to like ES, but you should probably reconsider you stance and at the very least give their song "Home" a chance.

I first heard this group when their song "40 Day Dream" came up on my always-astounding Florence + the Machine Pandora station, the source of all good music in the universe, and jotted down their name to look up when I had the time. A few days later I did a quick Google search on them, and it was quite apparent that "Home" is their biggest hit so I listened to it on YouTube. And loved it. And then at the NYFA fashion show in Seattle last week, one of the designer's showed their collection with "Home" playing in the background and I loved it even more than the first time I head it. Almost as soon as I got home, I bought their CD on Amazon and it's been playing ever since.

The group is made up of Alex Ebert, the lead singer, Jade Castrinos, the back-up female singer, and about 50 other random musicians. OK, so not 50, but there's a bunch. They also have a superb trumpet player that is worthy of mention. I'm sure all of the other members are good musicians as well, but today I'm feeling particularly pro-trumpet... probably because my dad got his out the other night and was brushing up on his rendition of "Taps" for his second-career as a funeral trumpeter.

Like most of the bands and singers I listen to, I know this type of music isn't for everyone. Probably 85% of you that actually give the group a listen are going to think I'm insane, so sorry for that. But the other 15% is going to love me for sharing these guys with you, so you're welcome for that. Anyways, I'll shut up now and let you listen. (I'm only linking up my 3 favorites today, but I'm sure you can find all of them on YouTube.)

Up From Below

1. 40 Day Dream
2. Janglin
3. Up from Below
4. Carries On
5. Jade
6. Home
7. Desert Song
8. Black Water
9. Come in Please
10. Simplest Love
11. Kisses Over Babylon
12. Brother
13. Om Nashi Me

Download on Amazon (only $3.99!) or buy the CD.

This isn't a music video exactly, but I thought it was fun and a good way to listen to their best song:

Music Monday: April Smith and the Great Picture Show

Yes, I know it's not Monday. But I completely forgot to do a Music Monday post on Monday because, well, I was thinking about other things on Monday. So better late than never, right?

Name: April Smith and the Great Picture Show
Style: Folk pop
Sounds like/similar to: Adele, Kate Nash, The Hush Sound

It seems like very week a find a new favorite female singer. While my male favorites have remained the same for years now (Matthew Bellamy and Brandon Flowers for the win!), it's like there is no end to the sea of female voices I fall in love with week after week. The current #1 on my list is now Miss April Smith (I added the "miss", I actually have no clue if she's married or not) since I heard her on my Florence + the Machine Pandora station. That station never fails to amaze me every time I turn it on. Who knew there were so many talented female singers out there?

Anyways, I was talking about April Smith. What a neat, fun, fresh voice she has! She handles the fast paced songs very well, and then positively shines on the slower ballads. The CD as a whole has a very nice variety of styles, with a bit of folk, a bit of rock, a bit of pop, usually in some strange combination that somehow works together to form good music.

Listen on YouTube:
Songs for a Sinking Ship

1. Movie Loves a Screen
2. Terrible Things
3. Drop Dead Gorgeous
4. Can't Say No
5. What I'll Do
6. Colors
7. Dixie Boy
8. The One the Got Away
9. Beloved
10. Wow and Flutter
11. Stop Wondering

My favorites: Movie Loves a Screen, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Colors

Buy the CD on Amazon, or get the Mp3 Download.

Music Monday: A Fine Frenzy

Name: A Fine Frenzy
Style: Indie/Alternative Rock
Similar to/Sounds Like: Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles, Florence + the Machine

My Florence + the Machine Pandora station is the gift that keeps on giving. Practically half of my music library on iTunes is full of artists I've discovered from it, as is today's featured artist. A Fine Frenzy is the stage name for singer/songwriter Alison Sudol, who looks very similar to Florence Welch if you ask me. Yay for red-headed singers!

A Fine Frenzy first popped up on my Pandora station a few months ago and I liked what I heard, but never made any additional effort to look her up and get more of her music. Last night I did just that, though, and bought both of her albums on Amazon and have been listening to them non-stop since then. She has such a smooth, easy-listening voice. I can't wait to get familiar enough with her songs to try out some of my new-found guitar skills on some of her music.

As usual, I have linked up all the songs from her two albums to the YouTube videos. I haven't analyzed the lyrics, but nothing objectionable has jumped out at me so far, so I think you're safe to play this within ear shot of your grandma or young children. 

One Cell in the Sea - 2007

1. Come On, Come Out
2. The Minnow & the Trout
3. Whisper
4. You Picked Me
5. Rangers
6. Almost Lover
7. Think of You
8. Ashes and Wine
9. Liar, Liar
10. Last of Days
11. Lifesize
12. Near to You
13. Hope for the Hopeless
14. Borrowed Time

A Bomb in a Birdcage - 2009

1. What I Wouldn't Do
2. New Heights
3. Electric Twist
4. Blow Away
5. Happier
6. Swan Song
7. Elements
8. The World Without
9. Bird of the Summer
10. Stood Up
11. The Beacon
12. Silent War (I believe this one only comes on the Amazon download)

The word on the street (i.e. Wikipedia) is that she's working on another album due out sometime this year. I hope that's true!

Music Monday: Esperanza Spalding

Name: Esperanza Spalding

Style: Jazz

The only reason I know who Esperanza Spalding is is because she beat Justin Bieber and got the Best New Artist Grammy last week. It's the best thing that Justin Bieber has ever done for me... lose! 

Well, in reality I suppose the only reason I know who she is is because of Justin Bieber's fans, who were so upset about their idol losing that they posted nasty messages on Esperanza's Wikipedia page, which several news sites reported on. After reading about the things that people were writing about her, I decided that I was going to buy her CD, because anyone who can upset Justin Bieber fans that much deserves a high five and a few bucks from my pocket.

Luckily for me I actually like her music (I hadn't listened to any of it before I bought it), and wanted to share it with you on this lovely Music Monday. She has a very smooth, soulful voice, and her instrumental skills are impressive.When was the last time you saw a singer playing string bass? It's kind of awesome.

Listen on YouTube...

Chamber Music Society

1. Little Fly

2. Knowledge of Good and Evil

3. Really Very Small

4. Chacarera

5. Wild is the Wind

6. Apple Blossom

7. As a Sprout

8. What a Friend

9. Winter Sun

10. Inutil Paisagem

11. Short and Sweet

Or Buy and download it on Amazon (it's cheaper than on Tunes).

Music Monday: Grammy Awards

I know I've been slacking on my Music Monday posts, but truthfully I just haven't gotten any good new music lately. I had a list like 20 bands long of people I need to check out, but that list is now lost somewhere in my room and will likely not been found again. Let's pause for a moment of silence.

So to change things up for this lovely Music Monday, let's talk about the Grammy Awards. I only watched an hour while I was at my best friends house, but I have to ask... was that actually an awards show or just an excuse to get a bunch of performers together and make them sing? One whole hour into the show, and they had only handed out TWO awards. Two! Imagine if they did that at the Oscars...
"Welcome back to the Academy Awards! While you were watching a dumb commercial, we handed out the Best Actor and Best Picture Award. Now, let's watch Jennifer Aniston act out a scene from her latest awful movie... LIVE!"

Moving on from that awful nightmare...
I have to say that I was thrilled to see Florence Welch (from Florence + the Machine) up there in the beginning belting out big black-lady songs with the likes of Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Hudson. Although I did feel a teensy bit sorry for her, because apparently all the other ladies teamed up and decided not to tell Florence that they were all going to wear black, leaving poor Florence looking a little out of place in her champagne-colored dress.

Another performance worthy of note was the Janelle Monae/Bruno Mars/B.o.B. medley, which Janelle totally owned. I don't know how many of you guys know who she is, but if you don't, go look her up right now!
The main reason I liked this performance, though, was when Bruno Mars sang his song "Grenade" completely remixed and in more of a old school jazz style. It was 459875409834938458312324 times better than the original version. Just trust me.

 Anyways, the real story is what people were wearing. There were a lot of trashy dresses to be seen last night, so my favorites list is going to be short, I promise.

Janelle Monae. Love this girl. Love her hair, love her style. Love love love.

Anna Nalick. I don't think I can name a single Anna Nalick song, but I do like her dress quite a lot. Very unique.

Esperanza Spalding. I don't know who this person is (well, I didn't before last night), but her dress is incredibly awesome.The hair is pretty cool, too.

Florence Welch. Oooh I love this dress so much. The red carpet needs more people like Florence.

Naya Rivera. Before any nasty rumors get spread about me, I just want to clarify that I'm not a Glee fan. I watched the 1st season to see what all the hype was about. Not much, apparently. I really like this girl, though; she's got mad style and is actually one of the few truly talented singers on the show. I'm not normally complimentary of the long-in-back/short-in-front mullet style dresses, but there's something about this one that I like a lot. Is it the color? I don't know.









So there you have it! I promise to try and get back to my usual Music Monday blogging next week!

Music Monday: Angus and Julia Stone

Their Name: Angus and Julia Stone

Their Style: Bluesy Folk
Sounds Like/Similar To: Bon Iver, St. Lola in the Fields

Angus and Julia are a brother and sister duo from Australia. They must get along really well, because most brother and sisters I know would rather rip out their eyebrows than be in a band with and travel across the country with their sibling. But I digress.

Julia Stone has one of those quiet whisper-y voices that normally drive me nuts, but with their style of music I think it really works. Angus (love that name, by the way. Too bad he looks like a mountain man or I'd marry him) also has a quieter tone, but guys can get away with that easier. Their album Down the Way is a very laid-back, easy listen, and is in the same volume level and tempo throughout, making it ideal for when you want some music on while you read or are having a conversation with someone, or just want something on that's not going to make your head explode.

The two siblings mostly swap singing duties every song, so it's a nice back-and-forth flow. For her best song, check out Hold On or Santa Monica Dream, and for his make sure you listen to Big Jet Plane.

Down the Way
1. Hold On
2. Black Crow
3. For You
4. Big Jet Plane
5. Santa Monica Dream
6. Yellow Brick Road
7. And the Boys
8. On the Road
9. Walk it Off
10. Hush
11. Draw Your Swords (a couple profanities in this one, just FYI)
12. I'm Not Yours
13. The Devil's Tears

Have fun listening on YouTube, or download the whole album on Amazon for $5.

Music Monday: St. Lola in the Fields

I know what you are doing right now. You are double checking the day on the bottom right corner of your screen, aren't you? Well stop checking, because I know very well that it's not Monday. I'm doing this today (Wednesday) because on Monday I forgot it was Monday, and on Tuesday I remembered I forgot it was Monday the day before and decided to wait until next Monday to do a Music Monday post, but today (Wednesday) I changed my mind and decided to do Music Monday today even though it's Wednesday and not Monday. Got it? Good. Let's carry on.

Their Name: St. Lola in the Fields
Their Style: Indie/Alternative
Similar To/Sounds Like: Lily Allen, Florence + the Machine, Imogen Heap

You can tell this indie duo isn't well known because their album does not have it's own Wikipedia article, and I can't even remember the last time I looked up an album that didn't have its own article. Gasp! Also, I couldn't hardly any of their songs on YouTube. In fact, I never even would have heard of them if not for Amazon recommending them to me. So thank you, Amazon!

Apparently the singer for this group (Cindy Morgan) is semi-well-known as a solo artist in the Christian music realm, but I've never been a big Christmas music fan so I can't tell you if that's true or not. For this project, though, she teamed up with a guy named Jeremy Bose and they made music together. The result is kind of awesome.

Like I said, I couldn't find all of their songs on YouTube, but you can listen to samples and download the whole album an Amazon for only $5, which is cheaper than on iTunes where it costs $10. By the way, did anyone else know you can download music off of Amazon or am I just a dummy? I just got The Decemberists brand new CD for only $3.99! And it so awesome to just download it immediately instead of having to wait for a CD in the mail. Anyways...

I'll just leave you with a link to the CD on Amazon since I can't get the YouTube videos. Click HERE to go there.

High Atop the Houses and the Towns
1. Fly
2. Hold Me
3. Go Don't Go
4. He's in Love
5. Waking Up With You
6. Don't Say
7. Sunny
8. Unless
9. Yes I Do
10. Fix
11. Say Goodbye

They're kind of a calmer, more bluesy version of Florence + the Machine. Great easy listening.

Music Monday: Mumford and Sons

Their Name: Mumford and Sons
Their Style: Indie Folk
Sounds Like: The Decemberists

A few things I love about Mumford and Sons:
1. Their name. I want to marry the lead singer just so I can get his last name. Leanna Mumford. Can't you just hear it now?
2. Their pictures. I love bands with quirky and fun band photos. Check out a sampling on Google Images.
3. Their style. They sing folksy and they dress folksy, too. I'm not the type of girl that sits around and makes up lists of ideal physical features to look for in guys (i.e. "He needs to have blue eyes", or "He should have luscious locks of blond hair for me to run my fingers through"), but I am the type of girl that knows how she wants her future guy to dress. If he dresses like Mumford and Sons do, he passes the test.
4. Oh, I guess their music is pretty good, too.

You really can't go wrong with any of the following songs, so I'm not going to pick any favorites for you (though, like the rest of the world, I love Little Lion Man). Listen to the whole thing for the real experience, or just pick a few at random for a bit of a taste. The album tends to go from more upbeat peppy songs at the beginning to slower, more moody songs towards the end.

Sigh No More
1. Sigh No More
2. The Cave
3. Winter Winds
4. Roll Away Your Stone
5. White Blank Page
6. I Gave You All
7. Little Lion Man
8. Timshel
9. Thistle & Weeds
10. Awake My Soul
11. Dust Bowl Dance
12. After the Storm

Good stuff, no? I didn't think I'd like them at first because of the 'folk' label, but I also thought that about The Decemberists as well, and both times I was pleasantly surprised.

Music Monday: Elbow

Their Name: Elbow
Their Style: Alternative Rock
Sounds Like/Similar To: Something about their melodies and tunes remind me of Coldplay, but they are pretty unique from the bands I've listened to.

Elbow has been around since before I was born (they played their first show in 1990), and it's a good thing I didn't know that until about 15 minutes ago, otherwise I may have never given them a chance. Their latest album The Seldom Seen Kid has been occupying my iTunes library for probably over a year now without having been listened to once when I finally discovered it for the first time. And, as is usual when I come across a new band that I love, I have been listening to it non-stop for the past week. Their lead singer has a very soulful, somewhat husky voice, and he uses it well to tell the stories that Elbow is presenting.

The main thing I have come to love about Elbow is their lyrics. These are not necessarily uplifting, happy, or moral lyrics, but they are smart lyrics which is more than can be said for most albums these days. A few examples:

"I'm stopping by your place of work and acting like I haven't dreamed of you and I and marriage in an orange grove. You are the only thing in any room you're ever in." -Starlings

"So yes, I guess I'm asking you to back a horse that's good for glue, and nothing else." -Starlings

"There's a hole in my neighborhood down which of late I cannot help but fall." -Grounds for Divorce (not a happy song, but it's so well written! Most people would just have said 'bar')

"I have an audience with the Pope, and I'm saving the world at eight, but if she says she needs me, everybody's gonna have to wait." -An Audience with the Pope

... and they just go on and on. It's so refreshing to listen to something more intelligent than the "I love you, baby/Let's get married" type of drivel that most musicians spew out these days. Perhaps it's because they are older?

While not a lyrical masterpiece like some of the others, One Day Like This is one of the most glorious songs I've ever heard before. Every time it comes on I just want to stand on my bed and shout "HOLY COW, I LOVE YOUR EYES!" at the top of my lungs. Listen to it and I'm sure you will, too.

In addition to their well-written songs, I adore the feeling of the whole CD. I can listen to it from start to finish and feel like I've gone on some sort of journey. It opens beautifully, builds momentum, and then slowly tapers down at the end. Whoever chose the track order for this album deserves a standing ovation.

The Seldom Seen Kid

1. Starlings*
2. The Bones of You*
3. Mirrorball
4. Grounds for Divorce*
5. An Audience with the Pope*
6. Weather to Fly
7. The Loneliness of a Town Crane Driver*
8. The Fix
9. Some Riot*
10. One Day Like This**
11. Friend of Ours
12. We're Away

Well shucks, I starred half of the songs. Can you tell I like this album? They are coming out with a new one in March 2011... you can be sure I will be snapping it up the first second I can.

Music Monday: Two Door Cinema Club

"Let's make this happen, girl, you're gonna show the world that something good can work and it can work for you."

Their Name: Two Door Cinema Club
Their Style: Indie Pop
Similar To/Sounds Like: The Temper Trap, Vampire Weekend

Two Door Cinema Club, hereafter referred to as TDCC, is a new addition to my music library. I downloaded the album 100% legally (as in, I paid money for it) from iTunes on Wednesday, and I haven't been able to stop listening to their song Something Good Can Work since. Sing along and try to keep up!

All in all, TDCC just seems like a happy trio of guys that you'd want to hang out and make fun of dumb movies with. There aren't any real downer songs, and every song has a very upbeat tempo. Good for bopping around your room to. Yes, I just used the word bopping.

The album as a whole is pretty decent. Something Good Can Work is definitely the star, but there are other winners to be found here. Check out my other favorites (marked with *). Undercover Martyn and the Passion Pit remix of it aren't really my cup of tea, but they're easy enough to skip over.

Tourist History
1. Cigarettes in the Theatre*
2. Come Back Home
3. Undercover Martyn
4. Do You Want It All?
5. This is the Life
6. Something Good Can Work*
7. I Can Talk
8. What You Know*
9. Eat That Up, It's God for You*
10. You're Not Stubborn
11. Undercover Martyn Flexin' It (Passion Pit Remix)

Happy listening! :)

Music Monday: Passion Pit

[Photo: Justin Borucki]
Their Name: Passion Pit
Their Style: ElectroPop
Similar To/Sounds Like: A toddler on helium (no, that's not a band name)

Honestly, I wasn't too sure about featuring Passion Pit here on my blog because I'm a bit afraid all of you guys will think I'm a nutter after this. But I decided to do it anyways, because I love Passion Pit.

Passion Pit is probably the craziest sounding band I've ever heard before. No matter what mood I'm in, turning on their CD will always make me happy. This is not the type of band you listen to for profound lyrics or if you're feeling like singing along (try it, I dare you). You listen to them when you want cool beats, unique tunes, and general cheeriness all around.

Also, the music video for Sleepyhead is pretty cool and very unique, so you should check that one out for sure.

There are two covers for their CD Manners. The first is for the general release of the CD and it's about as bland and boring as you can get, which is completely opposite to their music. The second cover is for the deluxe edition, and the colorful art on the front is a perfect depiction of their musical style.

Manners
1. Make Light*
2. Little Secrets*
3. Moth's Wings
4. The Reeling
5. To Kingdom Come
6. Swimming in the Flood
7.Folds in Your Hands
8. Eyes as Candles
9. Sleepyhead*
10. Let Your Love Grow Tall
11. Seaweed Song

*Top 3 Favorites

Enjoy!

Music Monday: The Decemberists

Better late then never, eh?
Their Name: The Decemberists
Their Style: Indie Folk
Similar To/Sounds Like: Death Cab for Cutie
The Decemberists formed in Portland, Oregon, so naturally we are best friends and watch movies together on Friday nights. OK, so maybe I don't know them, but I sure do like their music. They have released several EPs and other records, but I'm only including their most recent 2 here since those are the only 2 I am familiar with.

The Crane Wife is an odd mix of songs, with the first track (The Crane Wife, Pt. 3) and the ninth track (The Crane Wife, Pts. 1 & 2) telling an old Japanese tale through music. The second track, with a title so long I don't care to repeat it here, is also a "story" song, and it'll take you about 12 minutes and 40 seconds to listen to the whole thing. A bit of internet research showed that many of the other tracks on the album are based on some piece of history, yet despite the many themes and stories happening in the album it manages to fall together into one cohesive record.

The Hazards of Love, on the other hand, is just one big story from start to finish. The story is about a woman named Margaret and her shape-shifting lover William. Add in a jealous Queen/controlling mother, a child-killing Rake, and an uncrossable river named Annan, and it's enough to fill up an entire 17 song album. There's no way you can pick or or two songs to listen to, you've got to listen to the whole thing in order to get the context. I'm not linking all 17 songs, though, so you're going to have to hop on YouTube or iTunes and hunt them down for yourself. Sorry!

The Crane Wife
1. The Crane Wife, Pt. 3*
2. The Island: Come and See/The Landlord's Daughter/You'll Not Feel the Drowning
3. Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)
4. O Valencia!*
5. The Perfect Crime No. 2
6. When the War Came
7. Shankill Butchers*
8. Summer Song
9. The Crane Wife, Pts. 1 & 2*
10. Sons and Daughters

-----------------------

The Hazards of Love
1. Prelude
2. The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone)
3. A Bower Scene
4. Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
5. The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
6. The Queen's Approach
7. Isn't it a Lovely Night?
8. The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid
9. An Interlude
10. The Rake's Song*
11. The Abduction of Margaret
12. The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing
13. Annan Water*
14. Margaret in Captivity
15. The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)*
16. The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)
17. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)

*Hand Picked by Moi.

I love how you can listen to a song while you're doing something, and then every time you hear that song afterwords you remember that moment and what you were doing. I remember listening to the Crane Wife Pts. 1 & 2 on my trip to Vietnam two years ago. Oh memories!

Side note: Does the layout for this blog look OK? It looks good on my computer, but I know sometimes on different screen sizes things can get thrown out of whack. I was fed up with how I was coding Music Monday blogs before and changed it for this week. Let me know if it looks really screwy or something on your screen!

Music Monday: Break

I'm in a pretty bummed out mood today and the thought of putting together a music blog is extremely unappealing to me at the moment. Music Monday will resume next week as usual.

Music Monday: The Temper Trap

Confession: I had never seen a picture of The Temper Trap before Googling them for this blog. I have their debut album Conditions and have listened to it numerous time and totally love it, but until about 15 minutes ago I had no clue what any of the band members looked like. Thinking about it more, though, I've come to realize that's quite common for me, as I can think of a several other bands I like/love that I wouldn't be able to identify if asked. I suppose I've never thought about that before. Weird.

You've probably heard The Temper Trap before, but you probably didn't know it. Their hit single, Sweet Disposition, has been used is several commercials and in the movie (500) Days of Summer (which happens to be my first exposure to The Temper Trap and is what inspired me to look up the soundtrack to see who sang that freaking awesome song). It's by far the best song from the CD, but there are some other good ones, too. Check out Love Lost, Down River, Fader, and Drum Song, which has no words but is an impressive instrumental.

Oh, and Love Lost has the weirdest music video you will ever see. I had to watch it twice to make sure the first time really happened.

Conditions

1. Love Lost*^

2. Rest

3. Sweet Disposition*^
4. Down River*
5. Soldier On
6. Fader*
7. Fools
8. Resurrection
9. Science of Fear^
10. Drum Song*

*Personal Favs
^Music Videos

A moment, a love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs.

Music Monday: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Yeah Yeah Yeahs are my 3rd most favorite band. Actually, I'm making that up. I don't have a list of favorite bands. But I do like them very much, so should I ever decide to compose such a list they would certainly earn a high place.

I must confess I haven't really listened to their CD Show Your Bones very much. My first exposure to them was through their most recent album It's Blitz!, and after listening to that one about a million times, I found it hard to go back and listen to their previous work. Does anyone else have that problem? I did that with Death Cab for Cutie, too. I heard their most recent CD and fell in love, but when I went back and got all of their previous albums it was kinda a let down.

Anyways, that's why I didn't pick any favorites from Show Your Bones. I haven't listened to it enough to have formulated any opinions about which songs are my favorite.

Show Your Bones 1. Gold Lion 2. Way Out 3. Fancy 4. Phenomena 5. Honeybear 6. Cheated Hearts 7. Dudley 8. Mysteries 9. The Sweets 10. Warrior 11. Turn Into

It's Blitz! 1. Zero 2. Heads Will Roll* 3. Soft Shock 4. Skeletons 5. Dull Life** 6. Shame and Fortune 7. Runaway* 8. Dragon Queen 9. Hysteric* 10. Little Shadow

*Fairly awesome
**Probably like the greatest song ever

As usual, you can find any of the songs on YouTube.

Music Monday: Vampire Weekend

My four favorite nerds.
Photo Credit: Rayon Richards

Vampire Weekend is a group of four 20-somethings that sing indie rock. Usually when I tell people that one of my favorite bands is Vampire Weekend, I get funny looks because most people assume they are a death metal band or some other crime against humanity like that. But Vampire Weekend is actually very laid back and, well, indie. You have to hear them to know what I mean.

Please Note: Some of the following songs include profanity. If you're not cool with that, simply don't listen. I don't like swearing and generally limit my own profaning to when I ram my foot into the doorway or something similar, but I'm not going to not listen to a certain band because of a few bad words. I don't know why I felt compelled to say that, but I did. So there! :)

I only linked my favorites this time, but you can find any and every one of these on YouTube.

Vampire Weekend 1. Mansford Roof 2. Oxford Comma 3. A-Punk*^ 4. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa 5. M79 6. Campus 7. Bryn* 8. One (Blake's Got a New Face) 9. I Stand Corrected* 10. Walcott* 11. The Kids Don't Stand a Chance

Contra 1. Horchata 2. White Sky 3. Holiday 4. California English* 5. Taxi Cab* 6. Run 7. Cousins*^ 8. Giving Up the Gun*^ 9. Diplomat's Son 10. I Think UR a Contra

*Recommended by Me.
^Music Video

So check 'em out and let me know what you think!

Music Monday: Florence + the Machine

I know it's cheesy as heck, but I'm going to start doing Music Monday!

So for my first week of Music Monday, I'm going to introduce you to my best friend (in my head), Florence Welch.
Florence is my new favorite female artist. Before yesterday I had never heard of her, but now she's my favorite. Funny how that works.

In general when I listen to a CD, there are usually 5 or so songs that I really like, and the rest are just kinda... meh. Not so with miss Florence. I've listened to all of her songs several times each and none of them have started to get old yet.

Lungs

1. Dog Days are Over*
2. Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)
3. I'm Not Calling You a Liar
4. Howl
5. Kiss with a Fist*
6. Girl with One Eye
7. Drumming Song*
8. Between Two Lungs
9. Cosmic Love*
10. My Boy Builds Coffins
11. Hurricane Drunk
12. Blinding
13. You've Got the Love

*Certified awesome by me

And because I love you all so much, I linked every single one of those songs to the YouTube videos. None of the ones I linked are to her music videos because my computer is being stinky at the moments and won't load those pages for some reason, but you should look them up because they are awesome!

So anyways, check her out and let me know what you think!