Song Sunday: More Than Life

You should love Whitley. You should love this song. Where ever you are, play it and get lost in its harmony and melody which, for me, weaves a little magic. A little bliss.

Enjoy:

Song Sunday: The Quiz

How's about a little Hello Saferide this Song Sunday? Everyone loves Hello Saferide. And if you don't, you should. So get on that and get to lovin'.

This song makes me happy in my heart. It's poignant in its simplicity. Unapologetically honest. I love a song that makes no pretense and captures a bit of life as it is.

Enjoy!

Song Sunday: Again and Again

Happy Halloween, Ineternet! I was very tempted to post a video from Rocky Horror today. But finally decided against it. So tempting though. So many great memories of dressing up and going to see a  midnight showing of Rocky Horror on Halloween. It's just a jump to the left!

But I thought better of it.

Instead, an eccentric band that makes me happy in my panties. There's something delicious about The Bird and the Bee. The music is somewhere between retro and anti-pop, creating something utterly idiosyncratic. Which, you know, I find delightful. I think you'll like this song. It's spunky, candid, and a little schizo. You know, like me!

Enjoy:

Song Sunday: Lull

Lardy be I love me some Andrew Bird. For me, he's this bridge between classical music (which I was raised on and will always have a place in my heart) and modern, experimental forms of music. He's constantly pushing the edges of Indie music and music genres. And that? That just makes me happy in my toes.

Andrew Bird is a melody on a lazy Saturday morning, a hot mug of tea on a rainy afternoon, a lucid dream while you nap on the beach. Quite simply, his music has become one of the simple joys in my life.

This song is utterly gorgeous. I've loved this song for the last couple of years and am tickled to share it with you now. And the video? Mmm. Just watch. Watch and love.

Song Sunday: Oxford Comma

Sooooo I've decided to get rid of Love Song Sunday. I was sick of it, frankly, so out it goes. I was sick of trying to dig through my fave artists' songs to find a great love song (or anti-love song) and then find a decent video.

I know I know change is scary! But we will all get through this together. And don't you worry, because I'm keeping the music. Just changing the format.

Enter: Song Sunday. This will give me much more freedom to share all sorts of songs I love without being stuck with the love song theme. Do you forgive me now?

To kick off Song Sunday, I bring you a offbeat, quirky band that fucks with genres and spunks its way into my heart: Vampire Weekend.  This song is super fun in a dark way.

Warning: they say fuck a lot. In case, you know, you're at work or you don't want your 2 year old to start saying fuck all the time. I know if I had a 2 year old, I'd be teaching fuck as part of basic vocabulary. But that's a personal choice everyone has to make.

Love Song Sunday: Woman

In honor of John Lennon's birthday, which was yesterday, I'm sharing one of my favorite songs of his.

If you're even a little bit of a Beatles fan (and who wouldn't be, really?), you know that John and Yoko's relationship was scandalous for many fans. But I'm going to leave that alone.

Because I've always thought this song was lovely. I remember hearing it on the radio when I was a kid, my dad singing along in the car, and thinking, I want someone to feel like that about me. Like I was the other half of the sky.

Enjoy:

Love Song Sunday: With You

This Sunday is all about the alluring Natalie Walker. Her sound is modern, but also follows a tradition of female folk singers that I love. She also does a very pretty cover of "Colorblind" that rivals the original. If I do say so myself.

This song is sweet and uncomplicated. Just how love should be: candid yet promising. Unsure yet hopeful. Centered on a nugget of bliss.

Enjoy:

Love Song Sunday: Love and Some Verses

Raise your hand if you love Iron and Wine!

Well, if you didn't, you will now. Sam Beam's sound is slightly nostalgic with a sweet whisper and a  melody. It's quirky but sentimental. Poignant yet simple.

And this song? This song can play on repeat in my heart for days.

Enjoy.

Love Song Sunday: New Soul

This Sunday, I bring you the intriguing voice of Yael Naim. She's a Franco-Isreali and I think her accent is completely magical, like there are several languages dancing behind her voice. Her sound is something new altogether.

I love this song. It's about loving yourself. And making some magic in your own little world.

I'm sorry about the advertisement. It's the only video of this song I could find with embedding. Click here to watch sans ad.

Love Song Sunday: Andrea

Is it possible to die of a sore throat? I'm pretty sure it is. Yes, I'm sick. Blech. And dying probably. In lieu of flowers, send cash.

Anywayyyy, because I'm all misery and fuzz in my heads (not a typo), I didn't work too hard to pick a song this Sunday. Luckily for me, a friend totes did it for me. Huzzah! 

The other day, the lovely Morgan said to me: "Have you ever heard Joe Purdy's song, "Andrea"? Go listen. And love."

And I did. Then I said: "Love. I always wanted a guy to write me a song."

To which she replied: "Marry him. I A) Don't know how old he is or, B) If he's even still alive (you know how these musician types are with life expectancy). But marry him anyway."

And you know what, Internet? She was right. This song is delicious, even more so because he's singing to me. To ME! (For the new kids, my name is Andrea. Often referred to as Andy.)

Sorry it's only audio, but the live video sounded craptastic. 

Love Song Sunday: Corner

Thanks everyone for the outpouring of love on my birthday yesterday. It was much appreciated and I had a really great day. I'll do a birthday recap later on.

But FIRST! Love Song Sunday. I bring to you this Sunday the divine Allie Moss. She's got such a clear, melodic voice and her music is unpretentious and accessible. Plus I really want her curls. They're so perfect!

This song is charming and slightly melancholic. It's honeyed and soft. It makes me feel sad yet safe.

After you listen, also check out her song I Will Go Anywhere. Its sentiment hits me at the core of my being, who I am, and how I love.

Love Song Sunday: In Case We Die

Just in time for Love Song Sunday, I got my mac back from the computer doctor and I'm happy to report that she's better than ever. *whew*

I am so excited that I won't miss a Sunday, because I have a delightful duo to bring to you today. My loverly cousin shared Folk Uke with me this week and I knew instantly that these girls held my heart. These are Amy Nelson and Cathie Guthrie, the daughters of Willie Nelson and Arlo Guthrie. So you can just  imagine how awesome they are already.

But you have no idea! They're completely talented of course and their old-timey harmonies rock my socks, but they're also witty and fun and irreverent and odd. I supremely recommend checking out my personal favorite Knock Me Up and also Motherfucker Got Fucked Up (in this version, Willie Nelson makes an appearance!).

This song is simply sweet and satirical, but also slightly bizarre. Just like me! If you like me at all (and, duh, who doesn't), you'll lurve this song. Enjoy:

Love Song Sunday: Novelty & Tell Her

Oh man am I exciteded song zees Sonntag! A bring you two songs. TWO! You lucky duck.

I discovered Ann Driscoll maybe a year ago on accident through the Internets and fell instantly in love with her weird quirky songs. And at first, once I'd discovered her, it was a challenge to find more. But find more I did and I heart her music so hard. I've been wanting to share her for a while now (and may again).
The first: a song that is not so much about love than about the pitfalls of the fumbling for love, of near misses in coupling. I've felt exactly like this in the past and this song has made me feel better many a time.

The second: a duet by Miss Ann Driscoll and Julie Neumark. I'm not the biggest fan of Julie's, but I love this song and I LOVE girly duets. These two sound glorious together. And this song is so simple and so just fantastic in its rightness. It's just the good advice you want to slap someone with but never do.

Enjoy:

Love Song Sunday: I'll Stand By You

I am sharing a very classic song this Sunday. Mostly because I have always, always loved this song for as long as I can remember. I don't know how old I was when I first heard it, but I remember that it struck something visceral in me. I recognized its beauty, its powerful honesty.

I just love the Pretenders. And I absolutely love Chrissie Hynde. She's a pioneer of woman in rock. She's absolutely effervescent and her music is ever relevant.

Plus? I heard this song twice (TWICE!) on the radio this morning driving home. I think that was a sign I needed to share it today.

Enjoy:

Love Song Sunday: Dreams

Oh boy was it another tough time to pick out a song this Sunday. I knew I wanted to share a little Brandi Carlile today. Brandi and I have been having a not so secret love affair for some time now. I am madly in love with her voice. So throaty and raw and powerful. mmmm. If you don't love on Brandi Carlile, get on that.

So anyway, I really wanted to share a song off of her first album that was very much about self-love and feels so empowering to me. Buuuut, I couldn't find a decent video. Then there was another with a kickass video, but felt too maudlin for me today. And I feel far from maudlin.

What I needed was a compromise. Something that's not about perfection. Because love is never perfect. A little sadness always accompanies the journeys of the heart. And inner strength is the lining of hellos and goodbyes. So, in the end? Dreams are what you have.

Enjoy.

Love Song Sunday: Dust on the Ground

Lardy I had a hard time picking a song this morning. I wanted to share something from Bombay Bicycle Club, a quirky young indie band from London (and I mean it when I say young). But they have more than a few awesome songs and a couple of intriguing videos. Check out this one (which makes me laugh) and this one too (because it makes me tear up).

Alas, as it always is with me, the song wins over the video. This song is sweet and honest and surprisingly perceptive. I love when a song is like good poetry, when it seems to capture some nugget of human nature and display it easily. Without flash and dazzle. Without bravado.

Love Song Sunday: Love and Love Again

So I totally and completely forgot about Love Song Sunday last week. I didn't even blow it off. I just plain forgot. Oh well, moving mayhem will fry a girl's brain, you know.

I'm hoping to make up for it this week with a little Jesca Hoop. I have love love loved Jesca Hoop for years now. Her music is so creative and experimental. She calls it "mad music," which, you know, makes me cream.

This is not the best recording. But this song is lovely as all hell. I love how it's both sad and hopeful. Reminiscent, but also sweetly resigned. It always eases my heart whenever it's particularly sore and it brings a small tear to my eye if I hear it at just the right moment and happen to remember something precious which I lost.

Enjoy.

Love Song Sunday: Birds

Have you fallen in love with Kate Nash yet, Internet? You haven't? But. But I posted a Kate Nash song the other day!

Humph.

Well.

We'll fix that right now. My friend Rachel sent me a Kate Nash song recently and I fell instantly, deeply, and madly in love. She's so deliciously frank and hysterical and precious.

This song is completely awesome. Listen. And watch the cute video that someone so generously provided on YouTube knowing I would use it on my blog someday. Aren't people nice?

Anywayyyy. Song. Right. Enjoy!

You're welcome.

Love Song Sunday: Collide

This Love Song Sunday I bring you a not new at all song by Howie Day. I'm sure you've heard this song on the radio and thought, that's sweet. It is. It's sweet. And lovely. And this song touches me in a place in my heart that is something akin to contentment. With a sigh and a smile.

Also, Howie is quite pretty. Not my usual type, but still purty to look on. Even though I don't like his nineties country singer haircut. And the actress in the video pretty much sucks. But listen to the song anyway. Let it settle into you and feel how a simple song can capture so much of life.

Love Song Sunday: Warm Whispers

How about a little Missy Higgins this Sunday? I have such love for this singer and I had a very, very hard time choosing a song of hers to share. There were so many, I considered picking 4 or 5 favorites and sharing them all. That wouldn't have been overkill at all.

At any rate, here are some links to the other songs I thought about sharing: The Special Two, Secret, Steer, and Where I Stood (which I sing a lot at karaoke).

Warm Whispers is ultimately the song I chose because it's simple, lovely, something everyone can curl into and find a little warmth like a cat in a patch of sun on the stairs.