It Had Me at Marimba

I have been a lot less precious about finding new music lately. I've been gambling downloading things willy nilly and have come across some gems.


#1 Moonface Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit. It's a 20 minute EP which I think is interesting off the bat. It's an extremely long thought. I have really liked listening to it cruising around the city because it's not like the typical song. You're in it for the long haul. I suggest listening to the whole thing before making your mind up about it because it comes and goes and I've found that it's part of it's charm.

#2 The Rapture. I was lucky enough to get to see them recently with my friend Kim. I CAN NOT stop listening to "In the Grace of Your Love". I love a man who'll rock a falsetto. The longing in this gives me chills. The good kind.

#3 Laura Marling. My mom is recently obsessed with Mumford & Sons, and she introduced me to Laura Marling. I think she's pretty cool, but the Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons, Dharohar Project is really great in my opinion. I can not stop listening to this song. I just love when she sings, "All of this can be broken, All of this can be broken, Hold your devil by his spoke and spin him to the ground." The live performance is pretty amazing. Everyone looks like they are having such a good time performing and I love the culture clash. Very cool.

#4 Amadou & Mariam "Dogou Badia". Amadou and Mariam are pretty interesting right off the bat. They are a married blind couple from Mali who started their career singing the Malian blues. They have traditionally mixed African and Mali style music with heavy guitars and other instruments. For their latest album they brought in a ton of collaborators because they wanted to expand beyond the world music market. This song not only features Santigold but Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner. I think it's really cool how they are pushing themselves and the collaborations are really interesting. This song in particular I keep coming back to.

#5 Alabama Shakes " Hold On". I can not handle lead singer Brittany Howard's voice. It's so amazing, powerful, and I have to keep listening to it to try to grasp it. I don't know if it's my southern roots but southern tinged music always has a place in my heart. This song makes me wish I could slow dance without being a horrible awkward mess. I do not for the life of me know how to let a guy lead.

#6 Candy Castle "Glass Candy" I mean the singer's name is Ida No. I loved her before I ever knew her. I feel like this is lady Kraftwerk. It's pop with less sugar or something. I dunno, but I dig it.

#7 Little Dragon "Ritual Union" Oh those crazy Swedes with their pop music stylings. I feel like I am the last person to the Little Dragon party. They are not the newest but I kept seeing dudes reference them on their Ok Cupid profiles so I figured I better educate myself. Why thank you men of NYC seeking love! I like this particular performance, but I also love lead singer Yukimi Nagano's dress.

#8 Zola Jesus "Seekir" I need to go to Zola rehab. I am so addicted. I love pretty much all of her music. I think she is someone you either love or hate. I happen to love and after listening to this particular song 786,500 times I can always go for one more time. I just love her. I really do.

#9 Architecture in Helsinki "Escapee" It's impossible to hate life or be in a bad mood when listening to this. When I am listening to it at home cooking, I have a whole dance routine including jazz hands. It just makes me happy. It is not hugely surprising to me that such a joyous song comes from an Australian band. Seriously people of down under what is your secret? Most Aussies I know are an easy breezy happy folk. Lucky ducks.

#10 Gary Clark Jr. "Don't Owe You a Thang" Another song that makes me wish I was capable of dancing with men. This is more a foot stompin', hand clapping, skirt that flies up when you twirl kind of song. I wanna do some sort of sexy two step. Does that exist? All I know is I like it a lot and I am working on the two step in the meantime.

What's everybody else listening to? Anything good? Anything you can not get enough of? I have just emerged from my Gotye obsession.