How To Dress Well: Date of Birth from Ezra Ewen on Vimeo.

Chicago filmmaker Ezra Ewen sent over a video for How to Dress Well’s Date of Birth. Ezra explained that, “the audio in addition to the song is from my grandfather’s tape diary that he recorded in the time before he died.” Holy cow, creepy! I love it. Check it out, very rad. Thanks Ezra.

I was sent over this Sufjan Stevens cover for “For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti” by The Good Natured. All I know about this girl is that she’s a teenager from the UK named Sarah McIntosh and that her aim to “document the make-outs, break-ups and make-ups” of her life on the fringes of London, where she’s “out of sight of the millions”. Break-ups and make-ups are the stuff of teenagers’ dreams. Grab the track below, it is stunning.

The Good Natured- For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti (Sufjan Stevens cover)

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If there was ever a perfectly minimalist site, it’d be that of Son of Rams. No photos, nothing really of a description, just the songs offered up as free downloads. Maybe that’s the mystery that should remain, that the music makers shouldn’t reveal more than just their art, for you to really get it, without all the rest.

What I do know is that he’s a member of  Brooklyn’s Family Trees, and his name is Joseph Pruitt. Everything he sends me, I love. He’s got that authentic distorted sixties psychedellic vibe. So different from the sounds of Family Trees, remember ‘Dream Talkin’? That lo-fi fifties track that gave you that feeling of nostalgia, like you could’ve been there, drinking a milkshake and chilling the fuck out.

Son of Rams is more aggressive, incredibly intricate, and man- that voice, gritty and angry, like a juvenile delinquent that all the good girls fall in love with. He sent over his new EP called Frolics in the Pink, which is an awesome name by the way- you must grab it HERE.

Son of Rams- Frolics in the Pink

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Son of Rams- I Feel as the Zion

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I got an email that simply said, “we’re two sixteen year olds from NY. our names are ben and daisy. we make pop music”. I can’t tell you how much I love emails like that. And, excuse me? 16 year olds? What the hell was I doing at 16? I wasn’t making pop music, I was hanging out outside movie theatres and dyeing my hair awful colours. That’s what I was doing.

Right when I heard Wonder Bear‘s stuff I was so impressed. The female vocals floating above sparkling synth that creates something of a mystical sound. They have a few EPs up for grabs on their bandcamp, I recommend Azul, but their latest release G A L A is also pretty wonderful as well. I’m going to listen to these guys on my flight today. Minneapolis tonight! I’m gonna need a few sweaters..

Wonder Bear- BB Gun

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DONOVAN WOODS – A Widowmaker from Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca) on Vimeo.

Check out Donovan Woods’ recent Southern Souls session, the song “A Widowmaker”  is a b-side to Donovan’s album “The Widowmaker” and will appear on an upcoming EP “Don’t Get Too Grand”. Huge fan of this guy, amazing video.

As most of you know, I run the Invisible Children music page. I’m wondering if I should just redirect you there, or reposts the mixes I make on here. I’ll make it easier for you this time. I’m hanging out in Malibu for a work retreat, in a glass trailer overlooking the ocean, thinking that life can get really unbelievable sometimes, talking about big projects for the music team. Exciting stuff.

Last night, I went to the Rolling Stone afterparty for the American Music Awards, and I realized that rappers are a lot smaller in person and that Bon Jovi is nothing short of a vision, his hair is as spectacular as I would’ve expected. Other than that, it wasn’t really my thing, and was a snapshot of a musical community that I’m so not apart of. I’m glad to be in this one, with all of you. I wish Rolling Stone was still a music magazine. Enjoy the mini mix below- and follow the IC Music Tumblr too.

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Monday Mixtape Vol. 2

Braids- Lemonade
Dead Drums- Total Fitness
Son of Rams- Triple Eyed
Girls- Heartbreaker
Peter and the Wolf- The Fall
Botany- Waterparker
Boomsnake- Ritual and Union
The Good Natured- I’d Do Anything For You
Cloud Nothings- Leave You Forever

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DOWNLOAD AT THE LINK BELOW:

http://www.mediafire.com/?m5wlwf7n65lqczl

I recently posted a video made by Meghan Ellie for Generationals that was preeetty dang cool. Andrea and I have been sitting here watching this new one that she made for Giant Cloud “Folded Hands” wondering if we should put an ad out for attractive looking friends in the LA area who like going on adventures and being cute. We’re only half-kidding. Enquire within. Enjoy!

No other woman’s voice soothes me (besides maybe that of my own mother) than the devastating, and earnest Sharon Van Etten. Not in the beauty, that resides in the vocal chords of most women, regardless of their ability to sing- simply in the softness of their tone; but in the way she uses these chords and crafts them to words like no one else.

She recently did an NPR Tiny Desk Concert and when she opens her mouth, no effort is put forth to push breath from her tongue, yet there it is- fierce and alone. Almost as if she feels every word, and from that, a certain apathy blankets her, because if she let down her guard, just for a moment, we’d see a woman unable to push those words out. She feels the weight of her own songs, but does not let it show on her face. Between songs, she smiles and laughs nervously, before she assumes her character, no less real than the real her- something that exists only when she sings.

She’s hitting the road for a short US January tour before her European dates with The National. She also released her I’m Giving Up On You 7-inch this week viaPolyvinyl. Check out a list of dates on her website.

Sharon Van Etten- Peace Sign

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The advantage of living in different cities every few months is that you get a chance to dig your fingers into the soil for at least a little while, long enough to hear about things and meet the people that the city itself adores. The few friends that gives it’s art a name- the artists. For Toronto, I think about bands like The Wooden Sky, but for San Diego, I think of Writer. There have been a handful of acts I’ve come across in the passed few months that have really stuck with me, they meant something to me. Some of them, only with a few tracks. That’s the thing that gets me most excited about music, the music that catches you and holds on.

We watched Writer play a couple of weeks ago at a Sezio show and it was a collective understanding that things were different, the atmosphere in the room shifted. For a lot of people, these were friends, it could’ve been their hundredth time playing. For me, it was my first. It was a rare moment, in a room filled with bodies, that the rhythm coursed through all of us and we all managed to focus long enough to slip into this place, where these songs were born and we were picking up lyrics for the next time we heard them, so that we could sing them ourselves, like they were ours alone. Andy & James Ralf possess a synergy only shared between the blood of brothers, the kin of a history together, to predict eachother’s pulses and rhythms, harmonies and subtle hesitation to be picked up by the other.

I got a chance to listen to their new album, and wondered whether that feeling we all felt would translate to a recording. It did, in a new way. The droned-out echoey vocals are best heard on one’s own. The drumming is deliberate, and the lyrics are poetic, but uncomplicated, “you scraped your knee and cursed my name…don’t give up, we’re almost there” a certain narrative style of folks like David Bazan, the most direct sentences being the most impactful. The aggression of distorted guitars and vocals has always been their aesthetic, but they seemed to have graduated towards making catchier melodies, evident in such tracks as “Barefoot Art” a minimalist track led by a tambourine. I’m really excited about this band, you’ll definitely hear more about these dudes soon.

Writer- Barefoot Art

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Writer- Miss Mermaid

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Delta Spirit “Bushwick Blues” (Waits Room Version) from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

So excited to collaborate with yourstru.ly crew. Check out this Delta Spirit video from their Prairie Sun Studios “Waits” session. The Invisible Children crew hasn’t stopped listening to the new EP, grab it on tour while you can.