The Morning Benders: A lovely “excuse”

Natalie — Sat, 22 May 2010 03:55:36 +0000

This is an absolutely lovely video. I especially adored the explanations at the beginning and end…

Chew Lips: Electronic groove with heart

Natalie — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:49:18 +0000

I absolutely love Chew Lips. Think LCD Soundsystem but with a British female lead. It’s this perfect electronic groove (now think Postal Service)… and you want to listen to the lyrics with their smart sultry edge. And did I mention that they’re whole album Unicorn is solid? It is.

Chew Lips – Slick

Chew Lips – Play Together

Bear Hands: Cruising into the sunset/rise

Natalie — Mon, 17 May 2010 02:42:32 +0000

What is it about a happy song with a random obscenity popped into the chorus that just works… Bear Hands somehow pulled this off perfectly with “What a Drag”. I feel like this song is the best friend of “Paper” by Rafter. “What a Drag” is cruising with the windows down into a sunset/rise with your other to somewhere anywhere. This song is the song that accompanies you. These are my thoughts. I love it.

Bear Hands – What a Drag

Rafter: More paper, please

Natalie — Fri, 14 May 2010 04:23:42 +0000

Who would ever have thought a curse word could make such a fun chorus? “Paper” is this lovely fun summer song that you will be singing to yourself the rest of the day.. potentially to the chagrin of many. I can’t figure out exactly what the song is about, but there is paper involved, and it’s very important. I’ve checked out a few other songs, and have not been that impressed, but the making of “Paper” makes up for all of that Dear Rafter, more please!

Rafter – Paper

Local Natives: What would you do with sun hands?

Natalie — Fri, 14 May 2010 04:08:55 +0000

So the word around town is that Local Natives are something special… and I believe I will agree. They are more somber than my taste, gray, but with a solid album and this cool guy thing going on, they are simply addictive. And let me present…

Local Natives – Sun Hands

Anni Rossi: Lovely and interesting with an anchor

Natalie — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:43:08 +0000

I was lucky enough to attend SXSW this year, and it was a very different experience than my last visit in 2008, but I won’t get into that right now. Right now I must tell you about Anni Rossi. I had heard a couple of her tunes before going, and they were lovely like Kate Nash is lovely and interesting like Regina is interesting, now substitute that piano for a violin, mostly plucked, and you are getting close. The cool part about seeing her at SXSW was not that her music was just as lovely and interesting in person, but that it was so much better! The key difference was this quiet thrown together band backing her lovely plucks. It gave her music this weight or anchor that I didn’t even know it needed. Besides the awkward pauses in between songs, I would say this was one of my favorite shows. Did I mention I saw her at St. Davids. Such happy acoustics. Anyway, you might want to hear this…

Anni Rossi – Machine

Sleigh Bells: Beat your speakers with a sledgehammer and I love it!

Natalie — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:26:51 +0000

At first you will think your speakers have just been destroyed, but it is just the lovely Sleigh Bells making their mark on the music scene… and I am loving it! With all this cleaned up pop squeaking through your tweeted out ride, it’s nice to hear something raw, rough, and beat up for a change. And the beats are intensely pleasurable too, like nasty sex in a dirty club bathroom that’s a foggy memory the next morning (not that I can speak from experience)… it grows on you. I’m starting you out with my two favorites from Sleigh Bells…

Sleigh Bells – Crown on the Ground

Sleigh Bells – A-B Machines

Passion Pit: I can believe in their chunk of change

Natalie — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:38:52 +0000

So I have been sitting on “Sleepyhead” for a while now and totally loving it! Thinking it was just another one hit wonder, it was a few weeks before I checked out their entire EP, and wow! I can’t believe I wasted those weeks without it! My boyfriend and I are huge Of Montreal fans, and this band definitely appeals to that same part of my brain that likes sounds that are different and danceable. I totally love ALL the songs on this EP (a very rare occasion). For a better description, I’d go with Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay (Justice) and David Barnes (Of Montreal) having a dance party in the 80′s, and this is about as close as we’re getting to an invitation with Passion Pit’s Chunk of Change EP.

Passion Pit – Better Things

Lily Allen: It’s Not Expected, It’s Better

Natalie — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:22:18 +0000

So I must say that I had pretty low expectations for this new Lily Allen album It’s Not Me, It’s You seeing that her recently released singles were subpar, at least in comparison with the initial songs that made me fall for Lily. However, after perusing this new album a few times, I’m finding that though it’s definitely a more mature (sometimes translating to boring) album, it still very solid and full of some great songs (many of which I would have suggested as singles). Either way, good stuff. Keep up the good work, Lily. And please don’t go crazy, I like your new album and hope there will be more to come!

Lily Allen – Chinese

Lily Allen – Fuck You

Stars have some good friends

Natalie — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:16:38 +0000

After recently running across the Stars new album Do You Trust Your Friends?, I was made to rediscover an album and love I had long forgotten and thought I had moved past, but apparently I was very wrong. Number one, Stars Set Yourself on Fire was a phenomenal album, so obviously any remix would naturally carry that nostalgic feel to it. Some failed worse than others, but a few carried their weight. For me, I loved the solid mixup of “The First Five Times” by The Russian Futurists. While they do seem to take some of the soft romanticism out of the song, they replace it with some sweet sounds. And “Ageless Beauty” made over by Most Serene Republic added some life into a droopy song with their upbeat acoustic overlay. This was a really interesting way to do a remix album, and I’m started to see more of it lately, and I kinda like it. Do You Trust Your Friends? is definitely not a good choice if you haven’t fallen in love with Set Yourself on Fire already, but a nice way to revisit it if you already have.

Stars – The First Five Times (Russian Futurists)

Stars – Ageless Beauty (Most Serene Republic)