W♥M (Archive)

Leerone

Vu passed along singer-songwriter Leerone's debut full-length for me to post about and I'm so glad he did. Usually when a musician is labeled a "female singer-songwriter", the thought of acoustic songs comes to mind for some reason, but Leerone exceeded my expectations.

 

To Fill the Void

Leerone

Imaginary Biographies is Leerone's first full-length album featuring eleven original compositions with wonderful piano ballads. On choosing the title of the album, she said, "I think of this batch of songs as little stories and worlds that exist in my mind. I was thinking a lot about when something is imaginary, specifically that we choose to keep it imaginary, or to make it real. That's sort of where the title of the album came from." On the opening track "To Fill the Void", she provides some uplifiting words for anyone who's had uncertainty with their life; "Who are they to tell you what your life is supposed to mean? Why are you so willing to be at their mercy?". On "JUNK / Peace of Mind", she dismisses the media saying she can't find peace of mind among all the advertisements inviting consumption and greed, TV because it's too depressing, and People magazine because of its "rhetoric of stardom".

With songs like these, it urged me to listen to her two previous EPs, In This Life, On This Road and Hail to the Queen. They sound a little more raw and stripped down compared to Imaginary Biographies. Hail to the Queen is just her and her piano, whereas In This Life, On This Road features other instruments accompanying her piano and beautiful voice. A song that stood out while listening to these EPs was "All Is Well" from In This Life, On This Road. It's a simple song about her naivety as a child. She believed her life would be like Snow White, but as she grew older, that dream faded away and seemed intangible. Leerone is a great musician whose releases I look forward to, especially with her choice of subject matter in her songs and amazing musical compositions.

Leerone - Care For Some Whiskey?

Happy New Year to everyone! Here's to another year of sharing music with everyone who visits the site with open ears. I'm glad that WHM has a variety of contributors, all with their own personal musical interests. I'm looking forward to 2009 for some new releases.

"Hanging around is no fun if we can't share"

— Leerone, "Share"

Happy New Year!

Links: Official Website | Leerone's Blog | MySpace | MySpace (Extra Songs) | Facebook | Fussy Music

Posted by Jason

 

Samantha Crain

Traipsing Through the Aisles

Samantha Crain

Samantha Crain is a Choctaw Indian singer-songwriter from Shawnee, OK. She has self-produced recordings, but today marks her debut on Ramseur Records. The Confiscation EP is a remarkable 5-song "music novella" with each song telling a different story; from the press release, Crain says, "Every second, everybody is being fulfilled or robbed, and when that happens, there is a story. Everybody has a story and they are stories of redemption or they are stories of betrayal."

She and her band The Midnight Shivers are currently on tour promoting The Confiscation EP.

Tour Dates

07/26/08 DFEST--Dirty’s Tavern Stage Tulsa, Oklahoma
07/28/08 Jackpot Music Hall Lawrence, KS
07/29/08 Dulcineas Denver, CO
07/30/08 The Palladium Salt Lake City, UT
08/01/08 Pickathon Roots Music Festival Portland, OR
08/02/08 Pickathon Roots Music Festival Portland, OR
08/04/08 Triple Door Mayfield! Seattle, WA
08/06/08 Sam Bond’s Garage Eugene, OR
08/07/08 Axe and Fiddle Pub and Music Club Cottage Grove, OR
08/08/08 Sophia’s Davis, CA
08/12/08 Hotel Cafe Los Angeles, CA
08/14/08 Santa Monica Pier Santa Monica, CA
09/06/08 Old Town School of Folk Music Chicago, IL
09/07/08 Old Town School of Folk Music Chicago, IL
09/27/08 International Festival Lawton, OK
10/09/08 Taste Orlando, FL
10/10/08 The Globe Saint Petersburg, FL
10/11/08 New World Brewery Tampa, FL

Links: Official Website | MySpace | Virb

Posted by Jason

 

Ben Sollee - Learning To Bend

It's Not Impossible

Ben Sollee

Amid the releases from more popular artists such as N.E.R.D, Alanis Morissette, Jakob Dylan, and Emmylou Harris this past Tuesday was a quiet release from an up-and-coming musician named Ben Sollee. I wasn't too sure I would enjoy this album considering the cello isn't an instrument widely used and I'm not familiar with it, but Ben completely won me over with his debut album Learning To Bend. His voice has a similar quality to Donavon Frankenreiter, Ben Harper, or Jack Johnson that I really like. Stand-out track for me was "It's Not Impossible". The song starts with a pleasant cello solo and then other instruments join in creating an uplifting sound. Despite the masculinity or machismo that's associated with men and how "boys don't cry," he says that it's not impossible, "it's just the hardest thing I've ever done". The album also features an adaptation of "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke in which he wrote updated and politically relevant verses and was covered on W♥M. Other tracks that piqued my interest were "How to See the Sun Rise," a soulful tune and "Bend" about "learning to bend" or being strong enough to bend or change when something abrupt happens. Learning To Bend is definitely on my list of best albums of 2008 so far and hopefully it'll be on yours also.

♥ "It's Not Impossible" / "How to See the Sun Rise" / "Bend" / "Prettiest Tree On the Mountain"

Links: Official Site | MySpace | Facebook | Internet Archive

Posted by Jason | my♥posts

Priscilla Ahn

Wallflower

Priscilla Ahn

Priscilla Ahn has been playing guitar since she was 14 and grew up in Pennsylvania. She considered studying music in college, but a professor advised her to pursue a career in music instead. And so she did. Her friends brought her to a recording studio where she met Amos Lee while he was recording his first EP and she became an intern. After that, she moved to L.A. and through a gig at The Hotel Café, she met singer-songwriter Joshua Radin. They liked each other's music and voices and he invited her to sing songs with him. They went on tour and she found a couple of days in between touring to record her first EP. After touring with Radin, she played a showcase for Blue Note. They liked her and she liked them and she became part of the Blue Note Records family.

I first stumbled upon Priscilla Ahn last year while writing about Allie Moss and Ingrid Michaelson. She was one of the artists under "Listeners Also Bought" and I immediately purchased her self-titled EP after listening to the samples. So, it's been almost a year since then and her full-length debut album, A Good Day, is being released today on Blue Note Records. Two of the tracks, "Dream" and "I Don't Think So," the former being her current single, were featured on her EP, but were re-recorded for the album. If you're a fan of Ingrid Michaelson, Jaymay, Rachael Yamagata, or similar artists, you'll definitely enjoy Priscilla Ahn. A Good Day has a nice blend of folk, country, pop, singer-songwriter type songs and Ahn has an amazing voice that can be listened to all day.

A Good Day is out now on Blue Note Records in stores and online. Just a heads up, the non-album track "We Were Free" is included with the album if bought from iTunes.

♥ "Wallflower" / "I Don't Think So" / "Leave the Light On" / "Find My Way Back Home"

Links: Official Site | MySpace | Facebook | YouTube

Posted by Jason | my♥posts

Julia Marcell

 

Night of the Living Dead

I've been following Julia Marcell's progress on Sellaband since July of last year. That was when I stumbled upon her Sellaband page and ordered her Storm EP. The EP contained a riddle that I couldn't solve so I was never able to "open the gate" on her previous website.

Since joining Sellaband, she's been gaining "believers" (657 to be exact) and has raised enough money to record a full-length. Today marks the release of her debut album, It Might Like You, and is also Sellaband's first release by a Polish artist. As a promotion for the past month, she's been posting short teasers on Youtube that are quite... umm... uhh... well... just watch them. There are two versions of the album; the regular edition

 

Accordion Player

with all the tracks and a limited edition with extra goodies that includes a twenty-three minute video documentary on the making of the album, "Billy Elliot" music video, the five video teasers, the album as mp3s (so there's no need to wait for the tracks to encode), and photos from the recording session. The website for the album includes a feature where you can create your own cover by allowing you to draw on a square portrait of Julia. Quite an interesting idea.

There will be a listening session for the album on Sellaband starting at 8pm EST for Believers and 9pm EST for the rest of the world.

Julia Marcell's New Album Teaser 01

Links: Official Webite | Album Website | Sellaband | MySpace | Youtube

Posted by Jason | my♥posts

The Magic Numbers

I first came across The Magic Numbers in an issue of either GQ or Esquire Magazine a couple of years ago. The article included a nice illustration of them by artist Zohar Lazar, which is what really drew me to the article. I wish I could find the article, but I can't find it; I may have thrown it out :(

 

Gone Are the Days

The Magic Numbers are comprised of two pairs of brother/sister siblings; Romeo and Michele Stodart & Sean and Angela Gannon. They released their self-titled debut album in 2005 that was critically acclaimed. That same year, they contributed "Gone Are the Days" to a compilation album to help War Child International called War Child: Help! A Day in the Life. For the project, War Child invited artists to contribute a brand new, unique track and the songs were all recorded in 24 hours. Other artists part of the project include Coldplay, Radiohead, Bloc Party, Gorillaz, etc. "Funds raised by the charity's deal with Independiente Records will immediately go to their projects in Iraq and DR Congo. Further funds, profile and membership raised will go to maintain these projects and others in countries such as Afghanistan and Bosnia".

 

The Beard (Live)

2006 brought their sophmore album Those the Brokes, but it didn't get released in the US until a year later. The album was well received though some reviews thought the songs were too long. In 2007, they released a limited edition 2-disc live album that was recorded by Concert Live at the Kentish Town Forum in London. I've only seen The Magic Numbers in concert once at Webster Hall (with The Elected opening) and they were absolutely outstanding live. I've posted "The Beard", a song they tend to close with during live shows and will probably remain a live-exclusive. According to Romeo when asked about it on their message board he said, "I don't think there'll ever be a studio version of 'The Beard' as it would seem strange without an audience". So enjoy a live recording or catch it at one of their live shows.

 

Sissy & The Silent Kid

Most recently, they released a six-track EP consisting of their single "Undecided", an alternate version of "Let Somebody In" and four unreleased recordings.

Their vocals have also been part of songs by The Concretes ("Your Call"), The Chemical Brothers ("Close Your Eyes"), Ed Hardcourt ("Revolution in the Heart"), and a couple of others (List on Wiki).

Links: Official Site | MySpace | Wikipedia /// Similar Artists: Belle & Sebastian | The Zutons | The Mamas & The Papas

Posted by Jason

Not Exactly Halloween Songs

Here's my contribution for Halloween related music. I had an idea to post songs that were created specifically for Halloween, can be interpreted as Halloween songs, or conjure up images of Halloween. Hopefully you agree.

 

Haunted Castle

Belaire
"Haunted Castle" from Haunted Castle 7"
First up is Belaire's "Haunted Castle" from their out-of-print 7-inch with the same title. It's a perfect Halloween inspired song and the lyrics are quite straight-forward so there's no need for explanation.
Official Website | MySpace | Label | W♥M Post

Skulls

BlackBlack
"Skulls" from BlackBlack EP 2
BlackBlack's "Skulls" is a Misfits cover about wanting and needing skulls. Instead of the high-energy, upbeat, punk sound, they covered it as a down-tempo, slow, dull (not in a bad way, it fits the tempo), rock song.
Official Website | MySpace

Skeleton Song

Kate Nash
"Skeleton Song" from Made of Bricks
Kate Nash's "Skeleton Song" is a happy sounding, upbeat, pop song about love, though you don't have to view it that way. Since it's Halloween, you can view it as some weird relationship with a live skeleton.
Official Website | Virb | MySpace | Label

The Dandy Cowboys

Soko
"The Dandy Cowboys" from Not Sokute - EP
"The Dandy Cowboys" adds to the wonderful songs that Soko creates. It's a love song about a cowboy couple in which a lady is telling a man how much she loves him... or does she?
Virb | MySpace

Ghosts Have the Best Time

The Panda Band
"Ghosts Have the Best Time" from This Vital Chapter
I'm not exactly sure what this song's about, but I guess if you're dressing up for Halloween, go as a ghost.
MySpace | Label

Black Magic

Jarvis Cocker
"Black Magic" from Jarvis
"Black Magic" is about that dark magic that "blows your mind away and takes you somewhere that you wanna stay".
Official Website | MySpace | Label | W♥M Posts

October Leaves (October)

The Good Life
"October Leaves (October)" from Album of the Year
"October Leaves" isn't about or related to Halloween, but I thought it was a good song to segue away from Halloween. It's a beautiful song about someone acting differently around their partner around this time of the year; "everything's changed."
Official Website | MySpace | Label

Happy Halloween!

Posted by Jason

 

Little Boxes

Little Boxes

Malvina Reynolds

The third season of the Showtime series Weeds recently began. The popularity of the show has increased and the main theme song has become more recognizable. The song is called "Little Boxes" and was written in 1962 and originally performed by Malvina Reynolds. Since then, it's been covered by many artists and since last season, various musicians were asked to cover the song so it could be used in the beginning of each episode. They've continued this theme for the third season and this time around, there have been over ninety submissions. Below are the show's covers of the songs from last season and the current one. Also, I'll try updating each week with the latest episode's cover. I've chosen to put them in list format this time for organization purposes and so the same album art doesn't appear multiple times. There are also full versions that some of the artists recorded (click the "Full" link). I also attached them below in a subcategory.

Weeds Season 2

01 Elvis Costello
02 Death Cab For Cutie
03 Engelbert Humperdinck [Full]
04 Kate and Anna McGarrigle [Full]
05 Charles Barnett
06 Aidan Hawken
07 Ozomatli [Full]
08 The Submarines
09 Tim DeLaughter
10 Regina Spektor
11 Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice
12 Malvina Reynolds [Full]

Weeds Season 3

01 Randy Newman
02 Angelique Kidjo
03 Kinky
04 Donovan
05 Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters [Full]
06 The Shins [Full]
07 The Individuals

others will be added as the season progresses

English Covers:

 

Pete Seeger - Little Boxes

 

Pete Seeger - Little Boxes

 

Pete Seeger - Little Boxes (Live)

 

Pete Seeger - Little Boxes (Live)

The Womenfolk - Little Boxes

Nina & Frederik - Little Boxes

Keith Carradine - Little Boxes

Roger Scimé - Little Boxes

Kris Gruen - Little Boxes [Clean]

Kris Gruen - Little Boxes [Dirty]

Christopher O'Riley - Little Boxes

Devendra Banhart - Little Boxes

Abby Lappen - Little Boxes

The C.R.S. Players - Little Boxes

The Global Stage Orchestra - Little Boxes

Dogwelder - Little Boxes

Full Versions (of the 50 second long edits used on the show):

Engelbert Humperdinck - Little Boxes

Kate and Anna McGarrigle - Petites Boites

Ozomatli - Little Boxes

Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters - Little Boxes

The Shins - Little Boxes

Covers in Other Languages:

Graeme Allwright - Petites Boîtes

Nara Leão - Little Boxes

Victor Jara - Las Casitas del Barrio Alto

Parodies:

Tom Tuerff - Little Star Treks

Links: Music from Weeds (Showtime Site) | Wikipedia (Little Boxes) | List of Covers

Posted by Jason

bellawilfer wrote: Sep 17, 2007 at 1:43 PM

Fantastic job, but it would be great if you could note that Pete Seeger did more than just cover the song. Malvina Reynolds wrote it, but it definitely was Pete who made Little Boxes famous. I think his first recording of the song was on the live album of a 1963 concert at Carnegie Hall, We Shall Overcome, but there was a later studio version that was pretty successful as a single. There's what looks like quite a good discography on the Pete Seeger Appreciation Page.

Sixbucksamonkey wrote: Sep 17, 2007 at 7:04 PM

[ciò è buono] NICE! Decemberists version here.

 

Notes:
* French Voxer olivelela also has a post about the "Little Boxes" covers.
* There are apparently 3 different versions of the Pete Seeger cover. A live version that appears on The Essential Pete Seeger and Pete Seeger's Greatest Hits are the same exact versions. It's the same version that appears on We Shall Overcome: The Complete Carnegie Hall Concert sans the stage banter. Then there are 2 studio recordings, one on Broadside Ballads, Vol. 2 that's acoustic and another on Headlines and Footnotes that uses a banjo.
* I noticed the "permalink" to this post includes an "s" after "little" making it "littles-boxes.html" instead of "little-boxes.html". That's a typo on my part because when I wrote up the entry, I entered "Littles Boxes" in the title field.

 

Plastiscines / Free NYC In-Store

 

The Plastiscines - Loser

Plastiscines are an all-female French pop/rock band signed to EMI/Virgin France. They derived their band name from The Beatles' song "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds", more specifically from the verse "with plastiscine porters with looking glass ties". They formed the band in 2004 and have released one album titled LP1. This past July, their drummer Caroline left the group with the consensus of the rest of the band (she was actually a replacement for a former Plastscines member).

From their Wikipedia entry:

The Plastiscines are one of several Parisienne teenage bands, referred to collectively as les bébés rockers. Paris Calling, a compilation album of music by several of them, was released in France in June 2006 (and was due for release in Britain in April 2007). It contained the Plastiscines' first studio tracks, Shake (Twist Around the Fire) and Rake. Those present at its launch included the French Minister of Culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, and Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty. Such bands have tended to be scorned by some elements of the press for their bobo (bourgeois bohème or bourgeois Bohemian) backgrounds: in other words, they have been portrayed as "the spoilt kids of rich parents playing at being rock stars".

 

(Zazie Fait De La) Bicyclette

For you New Yorkers... Plastiscines will be in NYC this Thursday (September 6 at 5pm) to play an Urban Outfitters in-store at the SoHo location (628 Broadway) presented by Nylon and UO. It's free, but the only way to get in is if you have an e-ticket, which you can simply print out and bring with you. Although you may have a printed ticket, it's based on a first come, first enter basis. So, get there early if you can for a better chance of being admitted.

Updated with video from the performance:

Links: Official Site | MySpace | Wikipedia | Times Online Article

Posted by Jason

Allie Moss & Ingrid Michaelson

Paper Cup

Allie Moss is a singer-songwriter from Monmouth County, New Jersey based around the NYC and NJ area. She's played at some great venues such as The Sidewalk Café, Rockwood Music Hall, Pianos, and others and plays alongside fellow New York singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson. She currently has a demo that's hand decorated and numbered by her appropriately titled My Last & Final Demo. It's a compilation of "snapshots" she's written and recorded over the past 2 years to help fund her EP. I actually discovered Allie through Eisley's Laughing City a couple of years ago. After hearing a few songs, she became part of my list of favorite female singer-songwriters along with Ingrid Michaelson.

The Way I Am

Ingrid Michaelson is a singer-songwriter from New York (Staten Island to be exact, which is where I'm from and previously Brooklyn) and plays mainly around the NYC area. She currently has two albums and her songs have been featured in episodes of Grey's Anatomy. She also has a side project with Andrew Futral of The Age of Rockets called Ingrid + Andrew which they bill as Dutch Pop. I found out about Ingrid through Allie's MySpace since she was a "top friend" and in this case, they really are friends, not just MySpace friends. Allie recently performed at The Hotel Café Festival with Ingrid and they'll be on tour together until August 29. And then starting in October, they'll be opening for Matt Nathanson on a national tour.

Links: Allie Moss | Virb | MySpace + Ingrid Michaelson | Fansite | MySpace

Posted by Jason