Music Mondays (July 30)

What great music did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your MUSIC MONDAY FINDS!

My Finds:

Beirut - East Harlem
Beirut - A Sunday Smile
Beirut - Scenic World (Lon Gisland EP)

Beirut is a country in the East Mediterranean; however, the band began in New Mexico, USA. Initial member, Zach Condon, dropped out of high school, toured Europe with his brother, and was influenced by, and incorporated, world music into his songs. Upon returning to the states, Condon recorded his first album in his bedroom (he’d been recording music since he was 15 years old) and, with the assistance of two future members of Beirut, recorded in the studio. Beirut performed their first show when Condon was just 20 years old. Now, at 27, Beirut is touring the world, releasing new albums (The Rip Tide, 2011), and producing a more defined and mature sound.

Official website: beirutband.com
2006 Feature: nymag.com

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Music Mondays post, or share your finds in a comment here. Thanks!

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Music Mondays was inspired by the weekly memes by MizB of shouldbereading.com.

Blog photo © 2004 by Tomasz Sienicki [user: tsca, mail: tomasz.sienicki at gmail.com]

 

Music Mondays (July 23)

What great music did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your MUSIC MONDAY FINDS!

My Finds:

The National - Exile Vilify (Portal 2)
Clogs – Last Song

The National is not a new music find for me, but these particular songs are. The National originally formed in Ohio and now resides in New York. What’s neat about The National is the dynamics of the band members; Matt Berninger is a husband and father, who writes his lyrics with his wife; and two pairs of brothers (one are twins). Never has a band’s sound been this perfect to me (particularly album Boxer, as well as High Violet). Every melancholy note, or stretch of trumpets, piano, and violin; and Berninger’s peculiar but meaningful lyrics touch my soul.

Regarding Portal 2, a press release states “The National’s raw and emotive music evokes the same visceral reactions from its listeners that Portal does from its players…It was exciting and a privilege to bring together two exceedingly talented creative teams to create something special.”

Clogs is an instrumental project led by The National’s guitarist, Bryce Dessner. I haven’t listened to too many of their songs, but Last Song is a soothing and melancholy piece that resides with me like The National.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Music Mondays post, or share your finds in a comment here. Thanks!

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Music Mondays was inspired by the weekly memes by MizB of shouldbereading.com.

Blog photo © 2004 by Tomasz Sienicki [user: tsca, mail: tomasz.sienicki at gmail.com]

 

Music Mondays (July 16)

What great music did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your MUSIC MONDAY FINDS!

My Finds:

Gregory Alan Isakov – That Moon Song
Gregory Alan Isakov – That Sea, The Gambler
Gregory Alan Isakov – The Stable Song

When I first discovered this artist on Pandora, I had no idea that he was African-American. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and now resides in Colorado. He creates contemporary folk music, and does vocals, guitar, harmonica, and dobro. He’s one of my new mellow favorites, right up there with Matt Pond PA and Bon Iver.

Official Website: http://gregoryalanisakov.com
Interview: http://folkmusic.about.com/od/artistsaj/a/GregoryAlanIsakovQA.htm

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Music Mondays post, or share your finds in a comment here. Thanks!

Blog photo © 2004 by Tomasz Sienicki [user: tsca, mail: tomasz.sienicki at gmail.com]

 

Music Mondays (July 08)

What great music did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your MUSIC MONDAY FINDS!

My Finds:

Skrillex – First Of The Year (Equinox) (official music video)

As of late, I haven’t listened to much dance/electronica/dubstep, but this is darkly fantastic! My skin crawls whenever I watch this video, and yet all of my being screams, “F*** yeah!” Skrillex is the stage name for Sonny John Moore, former lead singer of rock band From First to Last. In 2011, he was named MTV’s Electronic Dance Music Artist of the Year. Congratulations!

Official Website: http://www.skrillex.com

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Music Mondays post, or share your finds in a comment here. Thanks!

Music Mondays was inspired by the weekly memes by MizB of shouldbereading.com.

Blog photo © 2004 by Tomasz Sienicki [user: tsca, mail: tomasz.sienicki at gmail.com]

 

Music Mondays (July 2)

What great music did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your MUSIC MONDAY FINDS!

My Finds:

Of Monsters and Men – Dirty Paws
Of Monsters and Men – From Finner
Of Monsters and Men – Six Weeks

When my boyfriend played me “Dirty Paws,” it was instantly recognized that this album would be a favorite. As a fan of Sigor Ros, it makes sense that I enjoy another Icelandic band. Of Monsters and Men consists of six band members whose names I won’t even try to pronounce. From their solo projects, to entering the Músíktilraunir (battle of the bands), to signing with a record label, their single “Little Talks” has brought universal popularity — and rightfully so! They released their debut album My Head is an Animal in the states on April 3, 2012.

Honestly, check out all of their songs. They’re fantastic.

Follow Of Monsters and Men on:
Official homepage at: http://ofmonstersandmen.is
Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/ofmonstersandmen
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/monstersandmen
Myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/ofmonstersandmenmusic 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Music Mondays post, or share your finds in a comment here. Thanks!

Music Mondays was inspired by the weekly memes by MizB of shouldbereading.com.

Blog photo © 2004 by Tomasz Sienicki [user: tsca, mail: tomasz.sienicki at gmail.com]