Folk/Acoustic
Listen: Cass McCombs – “Bradley Manning” [Tribute Song]
Marissa Nadler Posts Two Free Covers
To kick off Thanksgiving, dream-folk artist Marissa Nadler has decided to give away two tracks off of her Covers Volume II album, which features Nadler’s beautiful renditions of 13 legendary songs. It’s always difficult to do justice through a cover and even more so when you’re covering such well-known artists as Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, but Nadler’s melancholic voice adds a splash of personal sorrow to each song. Check out two songs below and if you like what you hear, be sure to check out Marissa’s Etsy store, where you can purchase the entire Covers album as well as her new self-titled full-length.
Motel Blues (Originally by Loudon Wainwright III):
Learning to Fly (Originally by Tom Petty):
MiaoMix Monday #5 [Halloween]
Today is Halloween and today’s the perfect day to celebrate. I put together a mix of songs that in my opinion would be great to listen to during Halloween. None of them are actually directly related to Halloween in any way, but I think they have a very suitable vibe. The playlist this week isn’t really focused on any specific genre, but the first half of the playlist is rap and the 2nd half is a mix of dubstep, folk, and R&B music. The last song is “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” by Sufjan Stevens and if you’re at all familiar with the song, you’d think it wouldn’t fit in this playlist, but I think that it’s a perfect ending to this week’s mix.
Kid CuDi – “Maniac (feat. Cage & St. Vincent)”
Das Racist – “Sit Down, Man (feat. El-P) (Produced by Scoop Deville)”
Tyler, The Creator – “Tron Cat”
GZA/Genius – “Shadowboxin'”
The Weeknd – “Wicked Games”
Massive Attack – “Paradise Circus (Zeds Dead Remix)”
Burial – “Archangel”
Sufjan Stevens – “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”
MiaoMix Monday #4 [Folk]
This week for MiaoMix Monday I put together a playlist made up of folk songs. This mix consists of contemporary folk music like fuzz folk or folk rock. I’m not the biggest expert on folk music, but it makes me feel a lot more calm when I listen to it and these are some of my personal favorites. Some of you will probably recognize some of the artists here, such as Neutral Milk Hotel or The Tallest Man on Earth, but hopefully some of you will find your new favorite band.
Fleet Foxes – “He Doesn’t Know Why”
Brett Dennen – “Ain’t No Reason”
The Tallest Man On Earth – “I Won’t Be Found”
S. Carey – “In The Dirt”
Dan Mangan – “About as Helpful as You can be Without Being Any Help at All”
M. Ward – “For Beginners”
Horse Feathers – “Curs in the Weeds”
Gold Leaves – “The Ornament”
Neutral Milk Hotel – “In the Aeroplane over the Sea”
tUnE-yArDs Perform “Gangsta” on Fallon
tUnE-yArDs, with the assistance of The Roots, lit up Late Night with Jimmy Fallon the other night with their live rendition of “Gangsta” from w h o k i l l. Mesmerizing vocals from lead singer Merrill Garbus and a fantastic verse from none other than Black Thought make this an incredible performance.
Check it out below.
Listen: Gold Leaves – “Cruel/Kind” and “The Ornament”
Seattle-based singer-songwriter Grant Olsen, best-known as half of the folk duo Arthur & Yu, is making his return not with the second Arthur & Yu record, but with a new project called Gold Leaves. His debut release The Ornament has been four years in the making, accompanying Olsen through a wide range of new experiences: marriage, traveling through Central and South America, birth, and death. Linking up with producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist Jason Quever of Papercuts, Olsen created a collection of intimate, heart-warming tracks, blending Americana with ’60s pop influences. You can listen to two songs, “Cruel/Kind” and “The Ornament”, below. The album will be out on August 16 via Hardly Art (tracklisting after the break).
MP3: Gold Leaves – “Cruel/Kind”
MP3: Gold Leaves – “The Ornament”
[Via Stereogum]
Monday Mixer #19 [Sing Along Songs]
The Monday Mixer makes it second appearance here at Lost In The Sound! Each week, a group of music bloggers gather together and create a playlist for the world to enjoy. The theme this week was “Sing Along Songs,” resulting in a fantastic collection of anthems that will hopefully get you singing along, even if you aren’t the most talented singer in the world. It’s okay… just sing as if no one’s watching.
Ian @ 1146 Miles
Bon Iver – “Your Love (The Outfield Cover)”
Music by Bon Iver ≠ sing along… but music by The Outfield does, so sing along with Justin Vernon. I have extra love of this cover because of the outro.
Ben @ The Metropolitan Jolt
Martin Solveig & Dragonette – “Hello”
When I listen to Martin Solveig and Dragonette’s “Hello” I still can hear the 80,000 others from EDC Las Vegas screaming along, too. This tracks combines a nice 80s vibe with some heavier electronic sounds to create quite the jam.
Daniel @ Music On My Radar
Emarosa – “Just Another Marionette”
I have a terrible singing voice, but at least I can admit it. The song that I love to sing along the most to would have to be “Just Another Marionette” by Emarosa. I don’t care what anyone says about Jonny Craig and his laptop situation. All I know is that he has a beautiful voice and that, I don’t think you can deny (even if you are not a fan of him). Of the few bands that Jonny is a part of, Emarosa showcases his talent more than any other (excluding his solo career of course) and that is why I picked Emarosa. I have to admit though, that this week’s theme was a toughy for me for some reason.
Cory @ Silence Nogood
Lissie – “Pursuit of Happiness (Kid Cudi Cover) (Live)”
I try not to sing along to too many songs… I tend to annoy other listeners, but Lissie’s cover of “Pursuit of Happiness” has always inspired the singer in me. It’s also one of my favorite covers – she really puts something into Cudi’s original that’s completely here own and pulls it off well <3 Lissie.
Marcus @ A Pocket Full of Seeds
Bedouin Soundclash – “When The Night Feels My Song”
A song for those that want to sing like no one is listening. Try and remember to sing this one in the shower, wait for the chorus then choose which vocal harmony you want and make it loud. Or alternatively stick this on in a car packed with 5 people and 4 festival tickets and turn it up so loudly that you cant hear yourself singing and everyone’s happy.
Kevin @ Lost In The Sound
Titus Andronicus – “Theme From ‘Cheers'”
“Theme from ‘Cheers'” is a song about making mistakes and then analyzing these faults. Despite the depressing message of this song, it’s still incredibly fun to sing and chant along to, much like other songs from the bands discography.
Marc @ Umstrum
Friendly Fires – “Paris”
“One day we’re gonna live in Paris, I promise, I’m on it…” See I couldn’t help but sing along! It works every time…
Frank @ Lost In The Sound
fun. – “All The Pretty Girls”
Something about this song just makes me want to get up and sing along at the top of my lungs. I’m not sure if it’s Nate Ruess’s distinctive voice or the fact that fun. do indie pop and do it extremely well, but I can’t listen to this song without feeling the need to sing. Fun from a band called fun. Who would have thought?
Stream Chadwick Stokes’s ‘Simmerkane II’
Simmerkane II, the first solo release of Dispatch usual-lead-singer and State Radio frontman Chadwick Stokes, hit stores yesterday via Ruff Shod/Nettwerk Records. One of my most anticipated releases of the year, the album is a collection of Chad’s memories and experiences while hopping freight trains across North America and features Carly Simon, Blake Hazard of The Submarines, Matt Embree of RX Bandits, The White Buffalo, and Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars.
This album will not disappoint fans of Chad’s past work, staying true to his folky-rock, Americana roots. You can listen for yourself below, courtesy of Nettwerk Records. You can also check out Chad’s solo tour dates for the fall, giving the singer-songwriter some time off following recent tours with both State Radio and Dispatch. For those of you unfamiliar with his discography, both Dispatch and State Radio are well-known for their live jam sessions, improvising and soloing throughout; Chad’s solo show should be no different and should definitely be checked out.
Gossip Girl’s Penn Badgley Cast As Jeff Buckley
Penn Badgley of “Gossip Girl” fame – he plays Dan Humphrey – has nabbed the role of Jeff Buckley, the late singer/songwriter. According to Indiewire, Badgley will step into the role for the film Greetings From Tim Buckley, which is not the biopic film that we previously heard reports about. Instead, this film will cover the events surrounding Jeff Buckley’s 1991 performance at his father’s tribute concert in St. Ann’s Church, the same concert that launched his career.
I know what you’re thinking – will a star on a teen guilty-pleasure show be able to handle the role? Badgley seems to be prepared, stating “To play a man who was singularly gifted as an artist, greatly misunderstood and mythologized as a human being… It’s something very special and sacred. I’m going to give all I can to this project.” We’ll see.
XOXO, Gossip Girl.
Review: Arrange – Plantation
Arrange – Plantation
Released: May 17, 2011
Label: N/A
Purchase: Insound | 
Some albums are truly a cinematic experience. While perhaps this descriptor is most often relegated to concept albums, Arrange‘s Plantation proves such should not always be the case. For Plantation, created by Floridian Malcom Lacey, unfolds itself song by song much like a film does scene by scene. And also much like a movie, the listener discovers something previously unnoticed (and therefore unappreciated) with each replay. Thus, Lacey has achieved with Plantation what most artists cannot in a career: to create an album that betters itself with each listen.
It is the subtleties which ultimately set Plantation apart from any other album released thus far this year. One need only listen to the first track, “In Old Theaters”, to notice Lacey’s meticulous attention to detail. The song commences with a gradually building wave of white noise, soon awash in buried piano lines, that crashes into electronic, and later piano, melodies bolstered by prominent percussion. It’s incredibly full; if anything more were added, it would only serve to inundate the track, detracting from its quality. Yet it’s also an understated musical gesture; it’s dramatic but not melodramatic. And that’s precisely why it’s such a beautiful moment.
It’s also not an isolated one. Throughout Plantation, Lacey weaves melodic hooks in and out of the proverbial fabric of each song. Whether it be the synthesized horn entrance in the closing refrain of “Turnpike” or the catchy guitar riff that concludes “When’d You Find Me?”, each added theme contributes a new layer of texture to the track. But these layers aren’t simply stacked upon one another; instead, they intermingle. This counter-melodic interaction showcases Lacey’s songwriting ingenuity; it’s incredible how natural each song sounds considering the complexity.
What strikes the listener first, though, aren’t the musical intricacies of Plantation, but the raw emotion that so pervades the album. “Tearing Up Old Asphalt”, with its haunting piano and heart-wrenching lyrics, is a shining example of this. Lacey intones,”We were young/Kept runnin’ our mouths ’til he tore out our tongues/Didn’t hurt like anything”, his voice shaking as he narrates the story. “Melancholy” isn’t a strong enough adjective to describe the song. It’s tear-inducing.
“Medicine Man” infuses this sadness with fury. Because of this combination, it’s undoubtedly the most affecting track on an album overflowing with feeling. Lyrically, Lacey is devastating, promising, “I am a medicine man/Bring me your colors just to fix them for you”. Yet the narrator, perhaps Lacey himself, has a revelation, realizing that he cannot heal the subject without hurting himself and declares, “I’m not a medicine man/Don’t bring me your colors just to fix them…/I’ll fucking tear you up”. The contrasting sentiment here is profoundly moving, almost frightening. One must wonder exactly what occurred to cause the narrator’s change of heart, but perhaps the brilliance of the lyric lies in that uncertainty.
As the final strains of instrumental closer “Orange Glow (Thank You For the Night)” ring out, one cannot help but picture the credits scrolling down a blank movie screen. Lacey’s — who amounts to the album’s entire crew, acting as writer, producer, and director — final track seems to express gratitude to the listener for givingPlantation their time. It’s an appreciation revealed by both the title and the warmth of the song. The subtle irony here is that anyone who has the pleasure of listening to Plantation has witnessed something incredible and potentially life-changing. Really, it’s Lacey who should be thanked, rather than the listener, for introducing something so indescribably important to music itself.
9.7
Standout Tracks: “When’d You Find Me?”, “Turnpike”, “Tearing Up Old Asphalt”, and “Medicine Man”
You can download the album for free or purchase a physical copy on his Bandcamp page here.
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