The Bird & The Bee

I've been quite fond of The Bird & The Bee for quite a while and I thought that it would be fun to share it with you! Inara George (the "bird") and Greg Kurstin (the "bee") are from L.A., and Greg has had the opportunity to work with Lily Allen, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Flaming Lips, and Britney Spears, among others! The music is different from any of my other music and is put together really well. Inara has a great voice, and combined with an interesting mix of synthetic and traditional sounds, the final sound is awesome. I bought Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future in Duluth at the Electric Fetus after seeing it on a special display and deciding to give it a try, which turned out to be a really good decision :)

Here are two of my favorite songs:

Birthday

Love Letter To Japan

I hope you enjoy The Bird & The Bee as much as I do!

Blonde Redhead's album *23*

So this is definitely off of the track of discussing recently released music, but Jeph Jacques released his list of albums worth listening to from 2010 and I got sidetracked into looking up music which led me to the wikipedia page on noise pop. (if you're wondering, Jeph is the author of the formerly music-centric [at this point it's just a soap opera] webcomic titled "Questionable Content")

This made me remember that I hadn't listened to one of the few bands that I have that fits that category -- Blonde Redhead. It's worth noting that this album has a more ambient sound than much of the music on Jacques' list of recommendations [in particular, wikipedia places the album in the genre of "dream pop"], but it has a certain appeal: most likely I would listen to it as a more cathartic album ("Silently" has a happy-kitsch feel, and some of the others include slight tension), but there are other appealing aspects that could be discussed, also.

I could say a little more, but I'll recommend my favorite songs and let you make up your mind.
My favorite song is definitely "Silently." Two others that you must give a listen: "23" and "Dr. Strangeluv."
(I really wish I could say more about the relationship between Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove and the song, but if you know more, please comment!)

Blitzen Trapper: Live at the Aquarium & "Destroyer of the Void"

Enough of this silence.





A couple cell phone pics for you who missed last Sunday's performance. Portland's Dylan-esque indie folk group, Blitzen Trapper, is on tour now promoting their new album, "Destroyer of the Void" (out today!). If you're not in Fargo, make sure you catch them in your town later this summer.

The band likely owes much of its popularity to its lead, Eric Earley, whose voice, song-writing, and knack for story-telling have placed the band ahead of the rest with songs like "Furr" and "Black River Killer" just to name a couple. The concert demonstrated this well, and the crowd seemed to really enjoy the show. They played a nice mix of their new stuff and the songs you should already love off their older albums. If you don't know them, here's a taste:

"Heaven and Earth" (off "Destroyer of the Void")
"Not Your Lover (off "Furr")

Head on over to NPR to read more or to stream all of "Destroyer of the Void" for free! Check 'em out!