And then they came for me....

"First they came for the communists," he wrote, "and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me."

And Then They Came For the Trade Unionists

Song of the Day - Devotchka

I realize this is a cover, but with Devotchka's Spanish flavor added it takes on the quality of a new song that in my opinion is more romantic than any other version I've heard. Love, love, love.

As a side note, I saw Devotchka play the other night and it was one of the better live shows I've ever seen.

Song of the Day - Mumford and Sons

Obsessed.

Mumford & Sons - The Banjolin Song / Awake my soul - A Take Away Show #105 from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

Lykke Li's new album is available for streaming from Fader. "Love Out of Lust" in particular has been on continuous loop in my home.

"I’m so fucking old and I’m so young. The way I think I should handle it is just to have a lot of fun. Like having a good laugh or having amazing fucking sex with somebody is worth more than a fucking health cleanse or therapy. So I’ve just been having fun instead, and now I’m feeling so much better. I’m back on track, ready to be destroyed again.” - Lykki Li in her Fader interview.


Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes (Hype Machine Album Exclusive) by LykkeLi

The Walkmen

This is soothing.


"The Walkmen have always been good at making real adult life—even the parts with necessary escape and finding comfort in drinking—seem romantic, which just about no other band is able to do." (Read more)

New year, new look, new(-ish) music

I've finally returned to this sorely neglected blog of mine and given it a much-needed facelift. I've been dabbling a bit with Tumblr in the meantime, just as a quick receptacle for random stuff I come across while cruising the Web. I'm going to try to get back to posting more regularly on here as well.

In the spirit of getting back into the swing of things, I thought I'd post the Grammy performance everyone was raving about - and no, I don't mean Bieber and Usher. I love to hate the Grammys, and I watched the entire show this year (aka had the TV on in the background). Between Lady Antebellum's truckload of awards for their blatant rip-off of a song and Lady Gaga's public ego massage, the Grammys were proving to be every bit as annoying as I expected them to be.

Enter: Eminem. You know the Grammys must be just a big joke to him. I mean, obviously he gets nominated and makes his obligatory appearances each year, but I bet after the lights go down and he heads home with his awards, he's like, "What a fucking joke." But hey, recognition by the academy is obviously good in the business, even if it is one big ridiculous parade and all the players are perfectly aware of it.

This performance alone made up for the other three hours that I would have likely fast-forwarded through if I were so technologically advanced as to have DVR (but no, instead I was forced to endure endless commercials and Bob Dylan's painful performace, as if it's still 1995).



p.s. The star of the show who in my opinion managed to outshine Rihanna was Miss Skylar Grey. Two things: a) where can I find the badass pants she's wearing, and b) What. A. Voice.

I prefer her version of this song, which obviously she wrote herself, as you can hear it/feel it in her voice:

Song of the Day - Beck

Ladies and gentlemen, here's the oil you wanted...

Song of the Day - The Slip

Recent discovery while listening to my Andrew Bird station on Pandora:

Song of the Day - Bowerbirds

One of my favorite ways to spend a lazy Sunday morning is in bed with Vincent Moon. Ok, he's actually a music video director and artist whom I'm mildly obsessed with, and this is one of his projects that is worth checking out. I can spend hours on this site, and have done just that this morning.

The Bowerbirds' performances are particularly soothing to me today.

Song of the Day - Thom Yorke

Quote of the Day - A Perfect Ending

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next."

-Gilda Radner

Quote of the Day - Loneliness

"When I get lonely these days, I think: So BE lonely, Liz. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person's body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilled yearnings."

-Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love

Drill, Baby, Drill

The news of the world is rather grim these days.

Song of the Day - Florence + the Machine

I have a gender bias when it comes to music. Against my own gender.

It's no secret that I'm a rather huge music snob in general, but I tend to hastily judge a woman's music even more harshly than I do a man's. Not sure why that is. I'm sure there's some psychological explanation, but suffice to say, I tend to dig male artists in general more than females, save the occasional exception here and there.

The female artists I do gravitate towards tend to be the ones who know how to seriously belt it out - those who can simultaneously shake the rooftops and kick some ass (usually that of some foolish man who did them wrong, and probably while wearing stilettos). I love the powerful ones - those who display a fierceness about them, a fierceness that is of course complemented by a tender vulnerability they'll willingly expose once you've earned it. Maybe because that's the woman I want to be: the woman who will love you well and love you right - just don't take her for granted because you're most definitely gonna hear about it if you do.

This is why I love Florence Welch so. She does score bonus points for her kickass red hair, of course - but beyond that, her voice sends chills down my spine. She's not just holding the mic and going through the motions - she pours her heart and soul out, and dares you to take her or leave her. If I could sing, I'd want to be able to sing like that, with a voice that isn't pleading with you to accept her; but is rather declaring to the world, "I am woman; hear me roar."

This is my favorite song of Florence and the Machine's, and Florence is absolutely amazing in this particular performance at Glastonbury 2009. I simply can't get enough of this video.

Song of the Day - Fever Ray

Creepy cool.

Song of the Day - City and Colour

So I'm headed south tomorrow for the Coachella festival. One thing you may or may not know about me is that music festivals are my grown-up version of Disneyland. I remember being a child on summer vacation at Disneyland, where I experienced such sensory overload that I felt my head might actually explode from all of the excitement. A great deal of squealing and screaming and jumping up and down was surely involved. A festival generates a similar sentiment for me now. The energy is just crazy good and there is more music than I could ever possibly take in all at once, and yes, head explosion indeed seems like a very distinct possibility when I'm there.

So, I'm off to play in my own equivalent of a fantasy land here on Earth with some of my favorite people. Lovin my life.

This guy will not be at Coachella and has nothing to do with the festival as far as I know; but this song came on randomly on the Passion Pit station on Pandora today and I kinda liked it. Every girl in the world should be so lucky as to have some musician who is entirely unworthy of her love write an "I-know-I-don't-deserve-to-be-your-man-but-please-love-me-anyway" song for her. And then when he does, the girl should thank him for the gesture, and immediately dump his ass.

Song of the Day - Leonard Cohen

When I was working for the Department of Retirement in Washington state, I had a 76-year-old man sing this to me over the phone. He said he used to sing it to his wife, who had recently passed away. He did nothing but praise her and talk of how much he loved her. I'm pretty sure I fell in love with him during that conversation.



This video is better, but it's disabled for embedding.

Song of the Day - The Dodos

Um, yeah. I'm obsessed with this damn song. Don't read too much into it - or do, I really don't care.

Song of the Day - Yours

Oh, hi. Remember me? I'm still alive - working, playing, and obsessing over music, politics, and unattainable men, in no particular order.

Here is your damn song of the day/week/month. One member of this duo (known as Yours) slept on the floor of my living room along with the rest of the band known as Oh Captain, My Captain not too long ago. This is another project of his that I have to say is pretty incredible. And you should know I am such an unabashed music snob that I would never endorse a band I didn't find to be incredible, even if I knew the guys. In fact, I once dated a guy who was perfect on paper but his band was such shit that I just couldn't bring myself to date him anymore. I mean, seriously - if your band is such a monstrosity and you can't recognize it, then what hope could we possibly have for a future together? Unless I am - God forbid - stricken deaf someday, then your shitty band will be an absolute dealbreaker.

Anyway, without further ado, here you have the amazing Yours, from the city that still holds my heart, my beloved Portland: