Happy Music
Music to Share (links expire 4/20):
Prison on Route 41, Iron & Wine and Calexico
Sound:Collaborations can range from the misbegotten to the sublime; this happens to be one of the latter. Hearing the ethereal but anemic Iron & Wine fattened up and darkened with Calexico's smoky Southwestern orchestration is like seeing a sickly nephew you've always been fond of grow up to be a linebacker (on a steady diet of tamales), hale and hardy, with a thick moustache and a flush to his cheeks.
Buy it if you like:Driving down dusty backroads or staring off into space as the sun sets.
Source:Heard a cut from In the Reins on KCRW.
Reckless, Tilly and the Wall
Sound:Indie, of the Saddle Creek variety, with tap dancing for percussion. (Really.) These F.O.C.O. (Friends of Conor Oberst -- they were in the Bright Eyes frontman's first band) locos from the Midwest generate a joyously unrefined, happy-go-lucky wall of sound that makes you want to clap your hands and say yeah.
Buy it if you like:Being happy.
Source:This was on Hideki Kaji's playlist. I used to listen to Kaji on the buses and trains of Japan, courtesy of my vinyl-happy Obie colleague, Ffej.
Head to Fill,The Shortwave Set
Sound:In the grandly understated, electro-elegant tradition of Portishead and other synth-based/lush vocals groups. I used to hate music based on synth and electronics; now I realize I just hated music written for synth and electronics with little sense of sonic elegance or melodic beauty.
Buy it if:You like wearing expensive sunglasses, have passionate feelings (positive or negative) about Ugg boots, or like looking at martinis as much as drinking them.
Source: Allison Goldfrapp's EW playlist.
Prison on Route 41, Iron & Wine and Calexico
Sound:Collaborations can range from the misbegotten to the sublime; this happens to be one of the latter. Hearing the ethereal but anemic Iron & Wine fattened up and darkened with Calexico's smoky Southwestern orchestration is like seeing a sickly nephew you've always been fond of grow up to be a linebacker (on a steady diet of tamales), hale and hardy, with a thick moustache and a flush to his cheeks.
Buy it if you like:Driving down dusty backroads or staring off into space as the sun sets.
Source:Heard a cut from In the Reins on KCRW.
Reckless, Tilly and the Wall
Sound:Indie, of the Saddle Creek variety, with tap dancing for percussion. (Really.) These F.O.C.O. (Friends of Conor Oberst -- they were in the Bright Eyes frontman's first band) locos from the Midwest generate a joyously unrefined, happy-go-lucky wall of sound that makes you want to clap your hands and say yeah.
Buy it if you like:Being happy.
Source:This was on Hideki Kaji's playlist. I used to listen to Kaji on the buses and trains of Japan, courtesy of my vinyl-happy Obie colleague, Ffej.
Head to Fill,The Shortwave Set
Sound:In the grandly understated, electro-elegant tradition of Portishead and other synth-based/lush vocals groups. I used to hate music based on synth and electronics; now I realize I just hated music written for synth and electronics with little sense of sonic elegance or melodic beauty.
Buy it if:You like wearing expensive sunglasses, have passionate feelings (positive or negative) about Ugg boots, or like looking at martinis as much as drinking them.
Source: Allison Goldfrapp's EW playlist.