Ben Sollee

This is what I've been listening to and watching for the past week....I'm absolutely captivated by this performance. With just a cello, a cajon, and a violin---these people make breathtaking music. Watch the way Ben Sollee plays the cello; it's certainly not your grandma's cello playing! He creates beautiful rhythms and even plays it like a guitar in the second song. And the way the violinist rocks out, makes me sway to and fro no matter where I'm at. And the last song...oh my. A few days ago I was coloring with my niece and nephew who were just beginning to fight over crayons (despite having a big box of them with plenty to go around) when the very last song came on. They both stopped, looked at the computer screen, and watched. Kael even started to clap along. The song is soothing. Take eleven minutes of your time and watch this video...you won't regret it.

June Hymn

I'm in love with The Decemberists. Not much else to say about them----the lyrics, the guitars, harmonica, violin, Colin Meloy's voice that pierces the soul---I just can't get enough. I broke down today and bought their most recent album, The King Is Dead (which features the talented Gillian Welch singing alto harmonies), and as a result, I have been writing all night. It's just that inspiring. I think the album will also be a fantastic running companion (though I didn't get to test that out due to the massive amounts of rain we've received today). Tonight I've been replaying June Hymn and can't wait to drive the 45 minutes to class tomorrow while listening to it. Here's the song---but don't forget to check out the lyrics below the YouTube video---true beauty. Oh...and after listening to this song, if you want more of The Decemberists, check out their Tiny Desk Concert just posted today!

June Hymn

Here's a hymn to welcome in the day
Heralding a summer's early sway
And all the bulbs all coming in,
To begin
The thrushes bleating battle with the wrens
Disrupts my reverie again

Pegging clothing on the line
Training jasmine how to vine
Up the arbor to your door,
And more
You're standing on the landing with the war
You shouldered all the night before

And once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the line
And you were waking
And day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill

A barony of ivy in the trees
Expanding out it's empire by degrees
And all the branches burst a' bloom
Into bloom
Heaven sent this cardinal, maroon
To decorate our living room

And once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the line
And you were waking
And day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill

And years from now
When this old light isn't ambling anymore
Will I bring myself to write
"I give my best to Springville Hill"

And once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the line
And you were waking
And day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill

NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts: The Low Anthem

Since stumbling across NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts last year, I've been hooked. I've learned of so many great bands, and the podcasts I've downloaded onto my iPod have provided me with hours of entertainment on long car rides and flights and have lulled me to sleep while in unfamiliar places.

On our way to Lincoln on Saturday I watched the Tiny Desk Concert the Low Anthem played back in January of 2010. The concert is hauntingly beautiful. The songs are comforable, soothing, and a bit sad. I think I've listened to it at least five times in the past 36 hours. It's what helped me fall asleep last night and it's what is playing now as I wind down from a long weekend.

This concert is one you really have to watch---the band isn't particularly charasmatic, but they play such diverse and unique instruments. The first song is simple with a clarinet, an upright bass, and a guitar. The second tune features an unidentifable horn instrument and sound effects formed by two cell phones, while the last includes upright bass, synth, harmonica, and some sort of cymbals.

I tried to upload the video, but after an hour of a spinning wheel, I decided to cancel it. Watching this is definitely worth all 13 minutes and 39 seconds of your time. Just a side note--if you're offended by curse words or have small children around you, you'll want to skip over the second song (though it really is moving).

The Swell Season

Note: This is an adaptation of a an earlier post--I tried embedding the video from NPR to my blog--it worked for a few weeks and then started playing some crazy, annoying song whenever I opened my blog. So...I took the video off :( If you want to hear The Swell Season (which I highly recommend you listen to), click on this link.

If you haven't experienced NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts--you are missing out. I love these intimate performances by a wide variety of musicians. Tonight I choose an older concert to watch--The Swell Season. I am having a hard time describing what it is I like about this duo. They are extremely endearing---maybe its Glen Hansard's Irish humor and the fact that he plays on an old, beat up guitar or Czech singer and instrumentalist Market Irglova's shyness that draw me in. I am a sucker for people who wear their hearts on their sleeves---it seems that The Swell Season does just that when they perform. Listening to them sing is like listening to them reveal their deepest, darkest secrets. It's intimate and beautiful.


A few weeks ago Nate and I watched the movie "Once." The movie kept popping up on the ad bar in my Pandora account a few months back, and I had found the video in the $5 bin at Alco here in town this spring. We finally got around to watching it--it features The Swell Season's Hansard and Irglova. It's a simple movie set in Dublin and it follows the two as they meet and begin making music together and eventually end up parting. The movie is enchanting and has converted me to a fan of The Swell Season.