Mumford and Sons

Are you looking for a band that you can be instantly in love with? Are you looking for a band whose lyrics completely fit your life, at all stages? Are you looking for an album that just blows your mind? Mumford and Son's LP, Sigh No More is that band and CD. I was searching for new music because I was getting incredibly sick of my own, and I happened to stumble upon Mumford and Sons. I liked the album artwork, so I decided to listen to them. I was immediately hooked. The first song, although quiet in noise, is absolutely breathtaking. Marcus Mumford's, lead singer, lyrics are simple yet incredibly heartbreaking. The listener can relate to every single line in a different way, which is the beautiful thing about this CD. Not only are the lyrics perfection, so is the music. The band consists of the drums, guitars, banjo, a slide guitar, and piano and when you put it all together, it sounds harmonious. I recommend this CD to everyone, especially if you are looking for a great "fall, leaves are changing colors" CD.

Mumford and Sons: Sigh No More

Eh, Failure, again, I know. Viva La Union!

I keep making these silly empty promises to update my blog more, but now that my new radio show that I will be doing with my great friend and indie music lover, John, FINALLY premieres on October 2nd from 8pm-10pm est, I will update more especially with my radio show playlists! So yes, I'm shamelessly plugging my show, which has yet to be named, however, I should probably just called it The Indietastic Show. So PLEASE support, and listen! You can listen online here. I'd really love feedback or requests for music or really any

comments on the show!

Anyways! Onto the music! And the CD that I think may have one of the best songs of the year!

John Cho is an incredibly well-know actor, especially after being in this year's blockbuster hit (and my new favorite movie!), Star Trek! He also stars in the Harold and Kumar movies, and we all basically love John Cho, right? Little did we all know that he has a FABULOUS singing voice! John Cho is the lead singer and guitarist for the newest indie rock band out of Los Angeles, Viva La Union. Their self-titled debut album has flown pretty much under the radar, and I picked it up because I was curious myself. It turned out to be a little gem of an album, especially the song, Cannibal. It's just one of those songs that is incredibly catchy, almost like Island's, Creeper, song. I can literally listen to Cannibal over and over again, and love it each time. John Cho's voice is glorious, and it sort of sounds like he's channeling some 90's rock star voice, which makes me feel nostalgic. I highly recommend this CD, give it a chance for it is a gem of an album, especially an album that hasn't been reviewed anywhere.

Get it here!

Tracklist:

1. Cannibal

2. I Soviet

3. Ordinary Kind of Happy

4. Evil Twin

5. Chinese Baby

6. 99 Times

7. Alive

8. As You Are

9. Aftertaste

10. Root

Tender Forever, A "Lovers" Mix CD

I know, I really need to keep up on my blog. Unfortunately, summer vacation makes me forget. Enough of the excuses though, I'm back and promise to update at least once a week!

Tender Forever is the moniker of French singer, Melanie Valera. Her CD, The Soft and the Hardcore, may have been released in 2005, but it is one I recently discovered. I discovered Tender Forever through a cover she did of Justin Timberlake's My Love. I finally got the chance to listen to this CD today, and I immediately became drawn to it. The first song, albeit only being 40 seconds, hooked me. The CD may not be all put together, but it is the fact that it is raw, and kind of ridiculous that draws me in. My favorite track off the album called, Happy Birthday, is the perfect mix of feeling nostalgic and being in love for the first time. With the lyrics, "Today it's your birthday/hope you get what we said/like love and mystery/and magic apple trees", I have a feeling that I'll be listening to The Soft and the Hardcore for a while.

The Soft and the Hardcore

And to give you a bit of my apparent mix CD brilliance, I made this for my best friend, Lauren to give to her boyfriend for his birthday. It involves some silliness, but also some cute lyrics for a new boyfriend that you're falling for.

The New Lovers

Tracklist:

1. I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked- Ida Maria

2. We Both Go Down Together-The Decemberists

3. Go Places- The New Pornographers

4. This Charming Man- Stars

5. If You're Into It- Flight of the Conchords

6. Ask Her To Dance- Coconut Records

7. Man- The Bird and the Bee

8. Chemicals Collide- Cloud Cult

9. Daniel- Bat For Lashes

10. Best I Ever Had-Drake

11. No One's Gonna Love You- Band of Horses

12. Let's Go Dancing- Teitur

13. Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop- Landon Pigg

I'm finally back!

Hello, everyone who obviously doesn't read this. haha. I'm finally back and I've finally acquired all my music back and now I'm going through the process of listening to everything in my library. But! It's summer! And I already have my favorite summer songs which will probably define this 2009 summer. 

Here's my current top 4 songs:

Sleepyhead- Passion Pit

Sleepyhead comes off of Passion Pit's first full-length CD, Manners, which is pure brilliance in my opinion. Like Bat For Lashes' CD, Manners will definitely be on my top 20 list. This song is great to bust out to after a long day or just because you're happy. Although the lyrics may be a little fuzzy, do what I do and make them up. It's such a great beat that the lyrics won't matter.

Take Your Medicine- Cloud Cult

This is a very old song, but I don't care. It's a great summer song, and anyone who knows me knows my deep love for Cloud Cult. Anyways this song is the greatest anger song. When I'm frustrated or sad, I listen to this song. Craig Minowa's lyrics are beautiful and and relevant to life. Not some shitty lyrics about a boy dumping you. He knows what pain is, and he shows it in this song. If you wanna cry and sing, cry and sing to my favorite Cloud Cult song.

Daniel- Bat For Lashes

Daniel is coming off of Bat For Lashes' second CD, called Two Suns, which will probably be in a lot of people's top 20 CD's of the year, it will certainly be in mine. Ever since I heard Daniel while driving home from Coachella, I've been addicted. It's haunting and yet peaceful, and it's damn catchy. Her voice is beautiful as always and this will be the summer night song of the year for me. Drive to the beach at night, roll down your windows and listen to this song.

 Zero- Yeah Yeah Yeah's

Zero is off their new CD, It's Blitz and it's a kick-ass, hyper, song that I'm sure will be most girls anthems for loser boyfriends this summer. It's great to sing in the car to, or to get ready for a night out. You instantly sing along and it's definitely my favorite summer song.

Hiatus

Due to the fact that my laptop was stolen from me at Coachella, I cannot recover my music until I get my new Macbook Pro because the Macbook I'm on right now does not have enough memory to get all my music. I will post a Coachella review once I have my new laptop/recover my music. That will be in less than a week, so hold on folks. Be prepared for an epic post.

Mos Def

An oldie but goodie. Recently I have had a craving for some good rap music, and when Mos Def was recently on House, I figured I should probably listen to him since he is much more intelligent than Flo Rida or any current rapper. This debut album by Mos Def is brilliant and what rap should be. Not only are his lyrics passionate and intelligent, he also uses clips from other songs and mixes them into his own rap. The whole CD is catchy, there isn't a song you just wish you could delete because it's boring. If you are in the mood to listen to something of substance, I highly recommend Mos Def. I don't think it hurts that he's really sexy. :D

Mos Def-Black On Both Sides

Radio Show, Covers

Sorry that's not the most visible picture, but I come bearing my radio show that will be aired today from 4pm-6pm east coast time. This week, I decided to base my theme off of really cool covers that I've heard recently. Most of them take a whole different spin on the original song, and it's a lot of fun to listen to! So, below is the link for the CD, and the list of the songs and what the cover is of! I hope you enjoy, and if you would like to listen to my radio show live, the link is here:

Kelsey's Radio Show

A "Covers" Mix

1. Changes (David Bowie)- Butterfly Boucher & David Bowie

2. Such Great Heights (Iron and Wine)- The Postal Service

3. When You Were Mine (Prince)- Tegan and Sara

4. Wild World (Cat Stevens)- Mike Bailey

5. Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)- Vivek Shraya

6. The Best Ever Death Metal Band (The Mountain Goats)- Andy Hull from Manchester Orchestra

7. Heart It Races (Architecture in Helsinki)- Dr. Dog

8. Holding Out For a Hero (Bonnie Tyler)- Frou Frou

9. Complicated (Avril Lavigne)- Ben Gibbard

10. Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke)- Spoon

11. Sleep All Summer (Crooked Fingers)- St. Vincent & The National

12. Here Comes The Sun (The Beatles)- Belle and Sebastian

13. Rehab (Amy Winehouse)- Paolo Nutini

14. Borderline (Madonna)- The Flaming Lips

15. My Love (Justin Timberlake)- Tender Forever

16. Golden Years (David Bowie)- Susumu Yokota

17. We Will Become Silhouettes (The Postal Service)- The Shins

18. King Of Carrot Flowers (Neutral Milk Hotel)- The Apples in Stereo

19. Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)- Beirut

20. Across The Universe (The Beatles)- Rufus Wainwright