I have been taking comfort and solace in the arms of good music today whilst being granted some compassionate leave. This blog will be a running dive, a trickling creak of good blogs and good music I have discovered today, in-between naps and a lot of thinking.
My mind is a tempest, an unfair tornado that melodies and beats are quelling.
1. First up is the blog Overcast Music, the young lady who runs this has impeccable taste in music, and I lost hours today trawling through the audible delights that she has placed on the pages of her Tumblr. Even if you don't have an account, take a few minutes out of your day to listen to what she's offered up - click on the links, open the YouTube videos, send her a message - I know I sure as hell have. Check the links out on the right-hand side of her page too. I am too tired and perhaps stupid to figure out if they are her singing, but her vocals and the soft, delicateness of each passing chord make for 'must have' hearing.
EDIT: Both links on the right hand side ARE by the author of the blog. She goes by musical alias 'Cade'. She's also bloody fantastic.
2. Second up is Warwickshire born, London based artist Lucy Rose. Her whimsical songs and pretty face may remind you of artists such as Laura Marling - but make no mistake, this girl is in a league of her own. She has lent her vocals to firm favourites of mine Bombay Bicycle Club (which I wasn't even aware of) and has a debut album coming out shortly. I'm also sad to hear she played at the Great Escape Festival earlier this year - how did I miss that one?
Check out this acoustic session of 'All I've Got', which is beautifully filmed by a project called Beatnik Sessions, which I have also been taking a keen interest in. A hub for me once I get Garnet Portrait off the ground? Perhaps. Give their YouTube channel a scour whilst you make a cup of tea or something.
3. I think I'll leave you with this final beauty, as I've just realised I haven't eaten today and there are stir-fry ingredients in the kitchen with my name all over them.
Volcano Choir (amazing name I'm sure you'll agree) has the work of musical God Bon Iver all over it, but in the best way possible. I heard two tracks and was so blown away by what I heard I went over to iTunes and purchased the album immediately, knowing there was absolutely no wrong in such a spontaneous purchase. The iTunes employee who wrote the review for the album I just bought, titled 'Unmap', did a far better job of reviewing it than I probably ever will:
"Anyone thinking that Volcano Choir are going to be anything like Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago just because Justin Vernon is involved is in for a bit of a shock. Yes, Vernon's otherworldly vocals grace most of the songs on Unmap, but there are no real songs to speak of, no hushed backwoods folk grandeur or heartbreakingly soulful sounds. Instead, Vernon and his friends from the post-rock band Collections of Colonies of Bees have crafted a defiantly experimental album that relies on Vernon's vocals as just another color in the paint box, not the main focus. The tracks are largely free-floating post-rock jams that drift and flow without great purpose but often sound intensely emotional, as on the driving climax of "Seelpymouth" or the segment of "And Gather" when Vernon's massed vocal overdubs join together in a hurricane of sound. Elsewhere, the group conjures up the dreamy, almost dancy post-shoegaze sound of A.R. Kane (on the album's best -- and most songlike -- song, "Island, Is"), dives headfirst into the kind of atonal modern composition Scott Walker favored in the 2000s on "Mbira in the Morass," and drifts into almost new agey soundscapes on the album-closing "Youlogy." A few tracks aren't miles away from Vernon's work with Bon Iver, especially the opening "Husks and Shells" and "Still," which is basically a rewrite of "Woods" from the Blood Bank EP, using the same vocodered vocals but inserting them into an almost rocking backwoods jam. Unmap won't scare off hardier Bon Iver fans who might find its experiments intriguing enough to get past the lack of songs. It will also please those who were worried that Vernon might be content to just repeat the BI formula until it became clichéd. Despite the occasional flaws, the album shows that Vernon (along with the guys in Collections of Colonies of Bees) has not only the desire to branch out but also the necessary skills."
I disagree with the 'no real songs' and the flaws parts, but apart from that, seems I need to go back to review school.
I hope I find you in a better disposition than I am in, and that you enjoy what I have posted. If you have anything to say, or know of a band/artist I must hear - get in touch.
