Song of the Day - Daddy Daughter Edition

**1/22/11
Jorge Narvaez feat. Alexa Narvaez - Home
------------------I'm not a fan of musical internet sensations. There was that kid that sang "Paparazzi" at a talent show and got a record deal, there was that other kid that got a record deal for singing some other major hit. It's cool, but other than that it's kind of like, alright, now what?

  With single parent/college student Jorge Narvaez, singing Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero hit "Home," with his daughter, it impressed me with its simplicity and downright adorable-ness. Narvaez is solid on the guitar and through the mic, but his kid is the poster child for precious child singers who you wanna hug and give a ton of Barbies to. So enjoy my internet sensation exception.

http://perezhilton.com/2011-01-21-jorge-narvaez-daughter-alexa-perform-on-the-ellen-degeneres-show

Coachella Lineup 2011

Yes.

A couple of things:
Most of these bands I'm a fan of, and if I'm not jumping up and down over them (Best  Coast), they fit the festival. Chromeo, The National, Mumford & Sons and Jack's Mannequin would be my Top 4 at the moment, but that's subject to change.
 Aside from festival staples like Kanye West and others like Afrojack and Cee Lo Green, this year Coachella looks like an electronic haze and rock festival. Hip-hop and rap are great at festivals, and I wish the genres were represented more. 
As always, if you're going, take me with you. Otherwise I will watch from afar and envy every last one of you spending three days in the valley without me.  

 

Song of the Day

**1/18/11
Blonde Redhead - Heroine
--------------Interesting hair combo, right? Great name for a band, though. Today's song "Heroine" is the kind of girly Sonic Youth sound that flows well with those moments where you need to swim in creative concentration. The fluidity of the song is something relaxing and completely nonchalant, which lately is what we've all needed. Take a listen to "Heroine" and "Publisher" from the Blonde Redhead album, 23. 


http://www.myspace.com/blonderedhead/music

Song of the Day

**1/17/11
The Travelling Band - Only Waiting
-------------------My roommate was just watching Skins - no, I actually don't watch it but I thought the music was above the average TV drama band-placement soundtrack. So I looked up the U.K. original series and took a listen to their latest season. Travelling Band, particularly "Only Waiting"  has a pop-folk sound that sounds mellowed out and road trip worthy. I'm really glad that it doesn't sound like the a-typical electronica stoner music - change is pretty nice sometimes

 Get "Only Waiting"  from The Travelling Band album, Under the Pavement. 


http://www.thetravellingband.com/tb/?cat=5

Song of the Day

**1/12/11
Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
-----------------I. Love. Mazzy Star. Yeah, it's on THAT level. If you're impartial or don't like it, it's okay, but I would recommend listening again and again until you love them.
  Why am I pulling a romantic comedy on a band with a weird name like Mazzy Star? The music sounds like the pack the piece and pass it montage. Mazzy Star make wandering, dream-state music the perfect compliment to any activity - studying, making dinner, driving at night, and so on. Plus, the dusty lavender color of their album So Tonight That I Might See, is gorgeous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImKY6TZEyrI&ob=av2nl

Song of the Day

**1/10/11
Kanye West feat. Bon Iver - Lost in the World
--------------------Ketchup and mustard, indie guys and beards - some combinations are so harmonious, they are accepted and even celebrated (No Shave November). We like our collaborations in music, too. Beyonce and Jay-Z, She & Him and Conan O'Brien, and Aerosmith and Run DMC are key examples of perfect music collaborations.

  Then Mr. West releases his Pitchfork Perfect 10 album with the oddest partner to collaborate with him yet. Bon Iver offered his hushed and mournfully magical rock chops to My Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy, and you have to wonder what this will sound like, right?

  Lyrically, it definitely rings of a song written by Iver. But everything else is very Kanye, with the copious amounts of autotune, soaring choir and hip-hop beats throughout. It's an inneresting collaboration to say the least, and whether I love it or meh it, I can't say. But have a listen and see what you think.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyQpQhrQ5Zs

Song of the Day

**1/9/11
DJ Nate - Back Up Kid
----------------In terms of rap and hip-hop, a lot of people ask "west coast or east?" I have very good reasons for liking both: my dad's from Los Angeles and I was born in Oakland, but my mom is from New York. So isn't that sort of like choosing between mom and dad?

  While I won't give away my actual favorite, Chicago is home of many of rap and hip-hop's leaders, particularly Common and Kanye West. Now there's a new kid emerging from the windy city: DJ Nate. His song "Back Up Kid" combines traditional hip hop tracks with a little dubstep in the chorus. It's catchy and promising, and his LP Da Trak Genious was released in October, 2010.

So if you're worried about pledging your allegiance to either coast, maybe the middle with DJ Nate is the perfect place.

http://www.planet.mu/discography/ZIQ280

Song of the Day

*1/7/11
Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds
-----------------I'm not a meteorologist, but Mumford & Sons named their song after one of the worst types of weather. Good thing the song is great - the best way to hear this song is if you're taking a heroic drive into unknown lands or chasing your band mates out of the woods and throwing things at them. "Winter Winds" is that kind of full-bodied, dramatic folk song.

  Mumford & Sons, despite a unique sound and heavy bluegrass-driven songs, have garnered a huge following in the U.S. Probably thanks to bands like the Avett Brothers and My Morning Jacket, Wilco and others. Add Mumford & Sons to your list of old is new favorites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KCg_QEHtkY

Song of the Day

**1/6/11
Donna Summer - Hot Stuff
-------------This song says to me, a fake sitcom-friendly striptease from Will Smith and also, a great ego boost when no one, and I mean no one, is in your room. At all. Or near it.

Why? Because Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" is, if anything, something to laugh over after you've pretended to be a stallion/faux-sexy dancer who just did the disco dance in a mirror.

Somehow this song is classified as a rock song, mainly because a Doobie Brother and Steely Dan member decided to collaborate with Summer. Whatever, it still sounds like something from the days of bell bottoms and John Travolta. Dance the night away, my friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27-TM3q5-Cc