Radiohead, "Creep" (Awesome cartoon)

This is an amazing animated cartoon music video to Radiohead's "Creep." It's so clever and chilling at the same time. Brilliant work! (No profanity in this version.)

Mazzy Star, "Fade Into You"

Just stumbled across this great video someone made with Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You" set to a train montage. Very cool!

Michelle Featherstone: "Coffee & Cigarettes"

Heard yet another new (new to me) and cool artist on Pandora radio today! I am so out of the loop that Pandora is the only way that I learn about new artists. I love this song by Michelle Featherstone, "Coffee & Cigarettes." This song is so beautiful. I love the simplicity of the piano and the lyrics, especially the last line, "I must quit you," when the singer realizes that her problems are not coffee or cigarettes, but rather being addicted to the wrong person.

I gave up coffee and cigarettes
I hate to say it hasn't helped me yet
I thought my problems would just dissipate
And all my pain would be in yesterday

I poured my booze all down the kitchen drain
And watched my bad habits get flushed away
I thought that that would keep my head on straight
And all my pain would be in yesterday

But it's true
I'm still blue
But I finally know what to do
I must quit
I must quit
You

I thought that if I didn't go and play
The sadness would get bored and go away
I thought that if I didn't go astray
Then all my pain would be in yesterday

But it's true
I'm still blue
But I finally know what to do
I must quit
I must quit
You

I sold my guitar and my piano
I thought that it was these that kept me low
I thought if only I could try and change
That all my pain would be in yesterday

But it's true
I'm still blue
But I finally know what to do
I must quit
I must quit
You

I must quit
I must quit
You

Pink's "Glitter in the Air"

Every time Pink's "Glitter in the Air" play on the radio, I am just swept away into the music. It's just such a beautiful song and her voice is so raspy and raw.  "Glitter in the Air" is just such a lovely series of imagistic musings that just linger in my head long after the song ends.




Have you ever fed a lover with just your hands?
Close your eyes and trust it, just trust it
Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air?
Have you ever looked fear in the face
And said I just don't care?

It's only half past the point of no return
The tip of the iceberg, the sun before the burn
The thunder before lightning, the breath before the phrase
Have you ever felt this way?

Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone?
Your whole life waiting on the ring to prove you're not alone
Have you ever been touched so gently you had to cry?
Have you ever invited a stranger to come inside?

It's only half past the point of oblivion
The hourglass on the table, the walk before the run
The breath before the kiss and the fear before the flames
Have you ever felt this way?

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

There you are, sitting in the garden
Clutching my coffee, calling me sugar
You called me sugar

Have you ever wished for an endless night?
Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight
Have you ever held your breath and asked yourself
Will it ever get better than tonight? Tonight



Songwriters: Billy Mann and Alecia Moore

Wilco, "Muzzle of Bees"

I love Wilco's "Muzzle of Bees." The guitar in the background is so pretty and brilliant the way it "flutters" and almost makes a "musical onomatopoeia" of buzzing bees.

Social Distortion: "Ring of Fire" (Johnny Cash cover)

I love Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" song, so when I came across this cover by Social Distortion, I had to pass it on. It's a fun, modern interpretation of Johnny Cash's song. Just crank it up and start your cleaning for the day! It sure makes doing dishes a lot more "fun," if there is such a thing!

Willow Smith: "Whip My Hair"

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe Willow Smith (daughter of Will Smith) has an album released at the age of 9! I have to admit, my curiosity got the best of me and I had to listen to her song. She definitely inherited some star quality from her daddy!

Check out Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair":

Ten Ton Feather CD Release Celebration at the Freight & Salvage (with Karen Goodman)

I am so thrilled to share this music with you all. This is the first time I have heard Karen Goodman, owner of YIP YAP GO, sing in a concert performance and I loved it! Karen is the beautiful blond woman on the right side of the stage wearing a blank tank top and jeans. Her vocals are just stellar, so strong and so gorgeous! I think Karen Goodman would make an excellent addition to the band, Cactus Hunters! I can just imagine her vocals in the background adding some amazing textures and dynamics to the Cactus Hunters' Americana/Roots musical landscape. I am still learning more about Ten Ton Feather's great music:


"Crossing the borders of folk, blues, bluegrass, country, rock and roll, gospel, stomps and hollers, Rick DiDia and Aireene Espirituinvoke an evocative musical landscape that flows seamlessly through various breaks in mood, tempo and melody and makes the old sound new in an old sort of way."


"Ten Ton Feather" CD Release Celebration at the Freight & Salvage with some of our favorite musicians - Scott Amendola, drums; Bill Evans, banjo; Jon Evans, bass; Karen Goodman, vocals; Diana Greenberg, fiddle, and Brian Judd on mandolin.


Here is "Down at Albert Brown's" performed in Berkeley, CA on May 22, 2010:





Rick Didia and Arleene Espiritu:  www.tentonfeather.com


Click here for link to buy Ten Ton Feather CD.

photo by Keven Meynell

OK Go: "This Too Shall Pass" (Crazy Amazing Music Video)

Ok, this is like the most crazy amazing music video for OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass." It is so unbelievably creative and awesome! This is from the new album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky. You have check it out:

Jackson Browne: "Sky Blue and Black"

There are so many songs that I love--I love music in 
general--and this is one of those songs that just hits 
your heart and stays with you forever. Jackson Browne's 
"Sky Blue and Black" is just utterly timeless:

In the calling out to one another
Of the lovers up and down the strand
In the sound of the waves and the cries
Of the seagulls circling the sand
In the fragments of the songs
Carried down the wind from some radio
In the murmuring of the city in the distance
Ominous and low

I hear the sound of the world where we played
And the far too simple beauty
Of the promises we made

If you ever need holding
Call my name, I'll be there
If you ever need holding
And no holding back, I'll see you through
Sky, sky blue and black

Where the touch of the lover ends
And the soul of the friend begins
There's a need to be separate and a need to be one
And a struggle neither wins
Where you gave me the world I was in
And a place I could make a stand
I could never see how you doubted me
When I'd let go of your hand

Yeah, and I was much younger then
And I must have thought that I would know
If things were going to end

And the heavens were rolling
Like a wheel on a track
And our sky was unfolding
And it'll never fold back
Sky blue and black

And I'd have fought the world for you
If I thought that you wanted me to
Or put aside what was true or untrue
If I'd known that's what you needed
What you needed me to do

But the moment has passed by me now
To have put away my pride
And just come through for you somehow

If you ever need holding
Call my name, I'll be there
If you ever need holding
And no holding back, I'll see you through

You're the color of the sky
Reflected in each store-front window pane
You're the whispering and the sighing
Of my tires in the rain
You're the hidden cost and the thing that's lost
In everything I do
Yeah and I'll never stop looking for you
In the sunlight and the shadows
And the faces on the avenue
That's the way love is
That's the way love is
That's the way love is
Sky blue and black

Cat Power

Cat Power's "Breathless" is such a beautiful song. I love how she is clearly inspired by Bob 
Dylan. She covers his songs quite a bit and does a wonderful job. She has such a distinct, 
earthy voice that just pours emotion and soul. Can't get enough of her--simply exquisite!








Cat Power: "Crying, Waiting, Hoping"







"Love and Communication"





"He was a Friend of Mine" (Bob Dylan cover)





"Lost Someone"





"Half of You"

Cactus Hunters: Something Gone (review)

Here's my review from years ago from cdbaby.com of Cactus Hunters': Something Gone. You can read other Cactus Hunters Reviews at CDBaby, but here is mine:


Something Gone, with songs like "You and Me," "Last Tango in Paris" and "Beautiful Sadness," is definately more lyrical than the debut album, which allows the singer to explore more emotional experiences. What is so outstanding about this album is the poetic quality of the lyrics and unique musical texture of each individual song. While there is a tension between what the singer is singing about and what the sounds of the songs convey, Cactus Hunters succeed in being lyrical with the vivid imagery of each song without being self-indulgent or confessional. "Broken Down" echoes subtly with lyrics embraced by Bob Dylan, which makes the song distantly familiar at first, however Cactus Hunters still manages to bring something new to that phrase by singing about such a seemingly depressing or "down" topic and setting it to an upbeat and almost whimiscal-line-dancing-sort-of-musical-landscape. Juckas sings with intonations and inflections, holding on to certain sounds longer than others and varying his ennunciation of words as he sings, which adds even more emotion than the lyrics themselves can express. Always interested in capturing different layers of sounds, Cactus Hunters further experiments with the texture of music in the song, "Waiting on the Moon." By repeating the last lines of the chorus in the sound of a "radio call," it is as though the singer really is waiting on the moon. This album really is a journey on a "broken down road" through a musical scrapbook of experiences from Arizona to Paris to Mexico to even the moon! By taking familiar, everyday objects, such as a postcard, and adding a fresh twist, Cactus Hunters paints a clear picture of the song, "Beautiful Sadness," as the listener can just imagine the "postcards of your heart all over the place." With surprisingly pungent lyrics like, "the light is much too bright in here for how you look tonight," Cactus Hunters confronts the listener with bittersweet truths of disillusioning experiences of love lost. Although there is an immediate sense of loss or something gone in these songs, there is also something gained, something preserved from that loss: the beautiful sadnesss and transcendence of this scrapbook of songs.


Visit Cactus Hunters on MySpace and sample some more music!


You can also listen to their original music at www.greatindie.com or download their albums at iTunes.

No Doubt: "Underneath it All" (acoustic+concert performance)

I love this acoustic version of No Doubt's "Underneath it All."




Here's a concert performance:

Jason Mraz, "I'm Yours" (+rare acoustic version)

Love this rare acoustic early version of Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours."






Here's the album version:

Norah Jones, "What Am I to You?"

Norah Jones, "Humble Me"

Norah Jones, "Long Way Home"

Norah Jones, "Long Way Home."


So beautiful, so brilliant! What else is there to say? Love her music!