A Lot of Songs I'm Loving This Week

...He was slicing up an avocado...

I have got so much to post this weekend. I haven't been this excited about a post since...since...since last I was actually awake while writing one. I'm purposefully doing this on Saturday evening as opposed to Sunday at 11 pm A) So I will be awake and semi-coherent while posting it and B) Because I really am excited. This is gonna be more than five songs. It may be more than ten. It may be less than ten. It may be 7.5. Maybe just for the heck of it I'll post half a song. Maybe I'll purposefully mislabel each song just for fun. Maybe I won't.

**Disclaimer: I fell asleep shortly after beginning this post. I finished it on Sunday, April 16th, 2006**

I can't even pick a "most favoritest song" of the new songs I've downloaded. I had it between Jens Lekman and Barbarossa (funny always wins, so probably Jens) but then I thought about Juni Jarvi. All of his songs could easily beat out any one of the others. I decided to call it a stand-off. Any list with Mates of State and Iron & Wine on it is guaranteed to be a good list.

In the first song, "Your Arms Around Me", Jens Lekman, who is the ultimate Swede as far as I'm concerned (Okay--next to the folks from Soundtrack of Our Lives--they could beat me up), feels his love's arms around him, and the distractions causes him to (SPOILER!!) cut his finger off. He sings sweetly about seeing her over him like an angel, and his trip to the E.R. I'd hate to wish more ill on him, but his best songs come as the result of some calamity (he misses his cab, he loses a girl's number) so maybe bad things should keep happening to good Swedish people.


Jens Lekman

Everything I've heard from Barbarossa has been fantastic. The song "The Light" knocks me over every time I hear it. It starts slow, climbs to a crescendo, and then turns restless at the end, not deciding if it wants to be slow or fast, finally deciding on frenetic. Listen to it on his Myspace or download it from his website. (listen to "Aeroplanes" also. I beseech you. I implore you. I highly recommend you to). I wish he'd let us add his songs to our profiles.

I just recently wrote about Mates of State, so I won't say much more here. It's enough for me to say I love that damn band, I love the song "Think Long" and I think it's so cool that they're married.

I just heard Band of Horses for the first time a few weeks ago, but they've made a memorable impression with me. I particularly love their song"The Funeral" (I would suggest listen to "The Great Salt Lake" too).

I don't think I've ever posted anything by Wilco, and honestly I'm pretty late on the Wilco bandwagon 'cause the band has been around for a decade (and Jeff Tweedy's former band Uncle Tupelo was around for quite a while, also) but I can make up for past transgressions now. I saw the song "Via Chicago" posted with several other songs Illinois-themed songs (looks like Trees Lounge is doing its own Sufjan Stevens thing) and I decided it was time to consider that I might actually like them. I certainly do like this song.

I already loved The Reindeer Section, so it was a given I'd want to download "Cartwheels" when I saw it posted. This band has never disappointed me; which doesn't surprise me 'cause it's comprised of members from other bands I love (read article). This band is so different from Snow Patrol, though. I love Snow Patrol, but I imagine high school girls swooning to Snow Patrol songs, but this song is more subtle than that. It's not Myspace ready (and I say that with all love for Myspace).

Mini Swans section



(Man, I should dig out my old Mazzy Star)

Islands, "Swans (Life & Death)" I'd never heard of this band, but this is an awesome song. I love whatever the heck that instrument is that makes that reedy sound (I sound like such a professional music writer: "That instrument that makes that reedy sound". I'm ready for Spin magazine).

Iron & Wine, "Swans and the Swimming" One of the best new folk bands out there (and he's from Florida!)

/End Mini Swan section

Wheat, "Off the Pedestal" I had originally gotten this song from Welcome to the Midwest, but like most good mp3s, that particular song has gone to MP3 heaven, so I yousendit-ed it. One day I will get storage with which to store my own mp3s. The band have several mp3s posted on their website but I'm so fond of "Off the Pedestal" now that I want to post that song. It's cool--I love the way he sings "climb down to your treehouse and dance". They kind of remind me of another "band" (AKA one person) I like named Boy Name Thor.

Ben Lee, "Float On" I love this song anyway, but this is a really pretty version of the song. It deflates most of the intensity, of course, to have it be so pretty, but it's a decent variation on the original.

Juni Jarvi "In My Arms" All the songs posted are wonderful (I also love "Asleep"), but much like Duncan Mcleod of the Clain Mcleod, in the end there can be only one (unless it's one of those days where I post multiple songs by an artist). Anyway, I love all these songs, but I'm choosing to highlight "In My Arms" because that's the one I've been repeating the most. He's also Swedish, much like a lot of the musicians I listen to. How weird is it that he has "In My Arms" and another Swede I like, David Fridlund, has "Into My Arms"? Uncanny! Anyways, so I highly recommend this guy. Also, this is his Myspace. Here's an article on him. His name isn't actually Juni Jarvi; he just recently changed it.


Juni Jarvi

The Age of Rockets "Once, We Were Monsters" This is a nice, lo-key song. Not very monsterly sounding at all--Just nice guitar work, laid back vocals and a few various bips and bleeps. Almost electronic folk.

M. Ward "Carolina (live)" This is one of my all-time most favoritist songs. It's been one of my favorites for several years, and I just found this version on Aquarium's site. Generally I don't post live versions because I figure if someone likes a song I post they can find live versions themselves, but this version is so different from the original that I almost consider it a different song. That's not taking away from the beauty of the original; this version is just exceptionally well-imagined. I especially love the first part of it. You can listen to it on the site if you don't want to download it.

Danny Dean and the Homewreckers, "Pretty In Pink" This is from the "Isn't She Still..." Pretty In Pink tribute I bought a few weeks ago. It's a song-by-song rerecording of the original album. All the versions are really good; The National (one of my favorite bands) does a particularly mournful version of "Bring On The Dancing Horses". Well, I'm not totally over the moon over Trespassers William's version of "Left of Center"--that's my favorite Suzanne Vega song and it would be near impossible to justify any other version to me, but that doesn't mean it's not "well-done". It's just hard for me to judge, biased as I am. I do find that even some of the songs that I didn't love originally (for instance "Do Wot You Do" and "Get To Know Ya" I like in these new incarations. Maybe it's just having the distance of almost 20 frikkin' years--OH MY GOD I'M SO OLD. You can listen to the songs at the CDBaby website.

Song name of the week: Age of Rockets, "I Smile Out Blood"

That's all for today. No Lolas were harmed during the making of this post (though one did fall asleep for a brief period of 8 hours). I'm listening to a podcast in Italian now. I don't know Italian.

This post marks the first time I've ever used a program. I used W. Blogger. They have a Mozilla version that I'm using. I don't know how this will do 'cause I haven't posted it yet. Wish me luck.