I feel like I should post a little on the music I've done so far this year, as in my free time I've been devouring quite a lot of it. only halfway through this post did I discover the unintentional marriage theme.

SOMMETHING OLD
It started when Dustin played us the A Night At The Opera record at a fantastic New Year's party, which I promptly downloaded because QUEEN! There is nothing better than sitting in a room talking with your friends listening to fantastic old records. I also find it ironic that this is a cross-generational thing with me and my parents: considering how music, technology, attitudes, and the industry have changed, my mother also listened to this Queen record on vinyl in her college apartment in 1981.
Download Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...)

SOMETHING NEW
To switch gears radically from awesome rock to folk-indie, Laura Veirs releases July Flame on January 12th. I've had three tracks from this CD--one via Stereogum, two via Amanda--for months now and they're kind of worn out on my iTunes. Now that I have the entire CD, I can safely say nothing disappoints, and though my favorite track may still be Wide-Eyed, Legless---everytime I pause this CD I stop on this song, which has to be more than coincidence. If you like Fionn Regan, Bon Iver, the Decemberists, Andrew Bird....
Download Little Deschutes

SOMETHING BORROWED (two things, actually)
Someone stumbled me, yesterday, this fantastic website--Stereomood.com--and it's amazing! You can search for playlists by mood or activity, so far I've stumbled through 'reading', 'well-read', 'dinner with friends', and 'worried'. It's got a lot of really beautiful music that's not exactly within the mainstream--I follow quite a few music blogs, and after a while they're all "omg animal collective" but this site is very refreshing. They have a lot of beautiful instrumental pieces that I, in my normal music spheres, would never encounter--which is how I found Eluvium. Funny enough he's from Louisville KY (I'm from KY also). I first heard this song on Stereomood, and immediately went out to download his CD, An Accidental Memory In The Case of Death. He has a million CDs and they're all gorgeous. If you like Explosions in the Sky, then you will like this music.
Download Perfect Neglect In A Field of Statues

and whoever posted the Avett Brothers on here a week ago, I've been meaning to find you and say THANK YOU. NPR posted a list of the Top Listener Songs of 2009, so I downloaded them all...well, most of them that I could find...and this song was on there. When I heard it I stopped an played it again. Catchy catchy sadness with a piano! The "Brooklyn, Brooklyn, take me in--are you aware the shape I'm in? My hands they shake, my head it spins--oh brooklyn, brooklyn, take me in" sings so much as a homage to NYC, a lonesome winter-holiday song, an apology to a former love, a piano ballad, and it reminds me a bit of the Counting Crows "A Long December" in the best way. If I told you all the good lines in this song I'd be telling you the whole song.
Download I and Love and You

SOMETHING BLUE
I'm still giving Marissa Nadler a listen--I found her on Stereomood again, and found her album at a website called Beautiful Albums, which I recommend if you want lovely haunting thoughtful things. Her CD Ballad of Living and Dying intrigued me with its title, and her melancholy sound sounds like large Victorian houses in winter. You know, like when I was little reading Victorian novels and wanted to wander around a British garden in period clothing and read books when it rained. Or maybe that's just me and this song.
Download Undertaker

The band was formed in November 2009. Originally form different towns and even countries, the members gather in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Some of the guys have played with each other even before. They all got together for an act that strongly reflects the way they feel about making music. And the main goal was to create music that strongly affects with the atmosphere it is creating, being both sorrowfully heavy and hopefully light. The band records the debute EP called "The Lands Of Grief" and reveals itself to the global scene.

Check out our debut EP and if you like it, download it for free right now. The links are listed below.

DOWNLOAD THE DEBUT EP:
MegaUpload: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AKCFJXOP
SendSpace: http://www.sendspace.com/file/hi2ycw

www.myspace.com/ghostlakeband


 

2amtomorning
If you find yourself at the crossroads of insomnia and insanity, this is the place to channel those demons that keep you sleepless. Vivid pictures, poetry, ruminations, and confessions from the nether hours between dusk and dawn. Originally formed to celebrate the city at night, there's a strong urban theme.

green_future
Dedicated to promoting global sustainability, this community offers a forum for discussing current environmental news, research, and issues with tips on how to make positive, pro-active changes to reduce carbon impact. You'll also find information on how to get involved in eco-activism and learn about events near you (i.e., act local; think global). Offering a wealth of data on earth-friendly products and practices, you'll be inspired to don an organic bamboo cape and save the planet.

wtf_sexism
Self-described as "a little community with a lot of rage," you can soak up impassioned vibes and read blistering exposes detailing sexist attitudes in the news, pop culture, and science! A must-join community if you are, or love, a feminist. (NB: the topic of whether a "man" can be a feminist is outside the scope of this spotlight, but will probably wind up on the Writer's Block.)

1) Anyone know who does this song? It's a nice rendition of "Carol of the Bells," I just have no clue who it's by, because its artist tag is blank, its album tag is unhelpful (no one who produced an album called "My Christmas Album" has a version of "Carol of the Bells" that sounds like this, leading me to believe someone else stuck that tag on it), and I can't find where I downloaded it because I think I'd cleared my downloads by the time I realized I didn't know the artist. So if by some random chance someone recognizes the song, that would be fabulous. ETA: Solved by [Unknown LJ tag]--it's by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

2) So Mary Chapin Carpenter has a song called Christmas Time in the City (off Come Darkness, Come Light), right? And apparently it's really not that well-known, which surprised me, because it happens to be one of a handful of songs that stores around here play during the holidays (one of the better ones, too--only others who've worked in retail hell can imagine just how sick I got of "Jingle Bell Rock" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and the like when I worked retail during Christmas). Only thing is, the version linked above is the only one I could find--I don't think it's well-known enough for any covers, it's barely even listed on Wikipedia--and it's way less jazzy, or upbeat, or something, than the one I heard in stores, and that's the version I preferred. Anyone have any idea what that other version might be? ETA: Possibly solved. Anyone have the version of this song from the "Today's Christmas" compilation?

3) I heard a version of "Angels We Have Heard on High" on KLOVE (national Christian radio station, so it was probably some kind of Christian group, although...with Christmas music, who knows) the other day, and I don't know who sang it, but they did this funny thing with the gloria's where they shortened them instead of stretching them out like normal, and also they added a few additional lyrics, which...would help me look up the song if I could remember them. Which I can't.

Hi!

I am in desperate need of new music. Please rec what you think is awesome.
Right now I am most into Mika. I really do like all kinds of music but tend to lean towards rock and pop (and heavy metal sometimes).

Also, I need to clean out my poor old iPod. Can anyone recommend the best and least time consuming way to do this on a mac (with an iPod that is formatted for windows >_>)?
I have a lot of repeats and old crap music I need to get rid of.

Anyway, after my iPod cleanse of 2009 I will post some of my favourites :)

renaissance2010
Turning to photography as a creative outlet during a valiant fight with breast cancer at age 34, renaissance10 survived and set up a photo contest to help raise funds for the Lavender Trust, a nonprofit that provides information and support to younger women with breast cancer. In the first two years, the competition brought in over £65,000 (that's $107,260.73 U.S.!), with entries from 130 countries last year. Renaissance10 recently joined LiveJournal to meet other passionate photographers and find supportive friends.

curiouscupcakes
Holy buttercream frosting! If you have a sweet tooth for sugary goodness or a wandering eye for whimsical confection, this is pure ecstasy iced in deliciousness. Hailing the beloved cupcake as the artisinal canvas of choice, you'll enjoy recipes, photos, and bountiful tips to bake up a batch, whether your taste leans toward French classics or funky and flavorful.

mission101
With New Years in the offing, it's an ideal time to reflect on past accomplishments, make peace with disappointments, and refocus the lens on future goals. This community welcomes you to create a bucket list of 101 things you plan to accomplish in the next 1,001 days. Offering support, guidance, and inspiration, this is a great way to jumpstart those pesky resolutions.

I just made a huge year-end post on my blog with songs that I loved during each month, and I thought I would post  them here as well.

( 12 Months of Music )

So I've been following audiography for years but have never posted. Figured I'd give it a shot. Happy holidays to y'all, have some non-holiday music.

First up, two songs by this queer vegan acoustic guitarist I went to high school with. She's based out of Westchester/NYC and has/is (currently?) opening for Melissa Ferrick, which, when you're a queer woman, totally means she's on her way to making it. If you like these songs, I DEFINITELY recommend that you buy her newest album, Goodnight Sugarpop,  or her EP, For Making Art.

1) Dysmorphic - Mal Blum, from Goodnight Sugarpop
What I really love is the flow of this song and the use of imperatives. Some of the lines are a little interesting if you go back and listen clearly to what she's saying. The guitar and her voice lull you in.

2) Tumbleweed, Live in NYC - Mal Blum, For Making Art
A little faster, I like it live because then you have the little comments that really own the song ("Stop cheating on me," just as an aside). I also love the line, "you've got two character flaws that I can see, one you don't know how great you are and you are leaving me."


Next, Josh Ritter, who I feel like is kinda famous, but maybe not. Last.fm tags describe him as folk, alt-country, indie, but the only real description he falls under for me is singer-songwriter. I'm a lyrics girl, but he's a real storyteller with this soothing voice. "I stir my sugar with a spoon" is such a simple line, but I swear it chased me around for days and I couldn't figure out where it was from the first time I heard this song. If you listen to his other stuff, he's all about intertextuality. Buy Josh Ritter's stuff.

3) One More Mouth - Josh Ritter, The Animal Years 

Ani Di Franco is amazing. I saw her in concert last year and this woman is still making albums, though they've got happier content these days. (And she's always talking about her child/husband and glorifying obama, which is weird for someone who used to talk about the demicrans and republicrats.) Little Plastic Castle is probably her most mainstream album in terms of being popular. I abs. love swandive, mostly cuz of that opening line "cradling the warmest, softest part of you in my hand" and its intimacy. Buy Ani, she's awesome.

4) Swandive - Ani DiFranco, Little Plastic Castle


My roommate gave me The Weepies cd, Say I Am You, right before thanksgiving and this song has sort of stuck with me. It's got that spacy voice thing going on, but it's happy-ish. And the guy is on the main vocals, which really changes their sound. I feel like they've got this Jeckyl/Hyde thing going on because his songs are more poppy while hers feel a little more folky. 

5) Riga Girls - The Weepies, Say i Am You

For a good Weepies song with lead female vocals, I like Take It From Me and Nobody Knows Me at All.