A Well-Deserved Lap of Victory

About a week ago I had a dream that I met Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. It happened at one of their concerts and I was with my best friend. Her and I swooned over the two musicians and they ended up leaving the stage to go and hang out with us. After a while we got to talking and Alison (my friend) and I made it very clear that we were kind of disappointed that they did not play “And We Danced” at the show before we all left (you will understand the importance later). At this moment we were dragged from where we were sitting onto the stage (it just appeared because things like that happen in dreams) and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis played the song while Alison and I danced on stage along side them. Needless to say I was incredibly disappointed to have to wake up for my Environmental Science lecture. Sometimes reality is just so much less exciting.

I have been following Macklemore and Ryan Lewis since I was in the 8th grade. Now that I am away at school every time I hear their music I feel like I am right back in the Pacific Northwest. I know I always talk about music triggering memories but I frequently get tingles in my whole body when listening to this music, it is truly inspiring.

Recently Macklemore was awarded with being a part of XXL Magazine’s Freshmen Class. An extraordinary achievement, and one that him and Ryan Lewis most definitely deserved. This week they released this song and video as a tribute to the path they have traveled to get to where they are today. The song, “Victory Lap” highlights the high (and the not so high) points of their careers and it makes waiting for their new album to come out that much harder!

“Victory Lap”

 

I almost forgot! I told you I would fill you in on why them playing “And We Danced” was so important in my dream… no words can describe, but watch this video all the way through and you will understand.

“And We Danced”

 

Check out Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on their website http://macklemore.com/

The rain today in Boston makes me feel like I am right back home in Washington, and since I have been able to inside all day and simply enjoy the pitter patter on my classroom windows I LOVE IT!

Stay warm and dry!

Love always,

Lanie

P.S. One more video to celebrate the Mariners’ 9th inning comeback against the Rangers last night!

Bohemia is Dead

Some would say I’m cooler than you because I own a record player (or they’ll throw that “h” word at me, my cardigan and thick rimmed glasses). I tend to agree. As a result I generally listen to my music in album form, front to back, no shuffle, no switching songs fifteen seconds into it, you could say I defy our generations musical ADD. However, the last few months have been rough on my record collection.

a) I am a broke college kid on month 8 of my first apartment lease. Needless to say, rent takes up a pretty    huge portion of my budget.

b) I haven’t fallen in love with an album in months!

Without an album to latch onto I’ve repeatedly listened to three songs over the last month. The first two are my absolute favorites from the last year and the last is my biggest guilty pleasure, from a certain heavy-messaged Broadway musical, don’t worry I’ll admit what it is by the end of this post (if the title didn’t already give it away).

1. Islands – Can’t Feel My Face

2012 Play Count: 149

My roommates can recite every lyric to this track off Islands’ “A Sleep & A Forgetting”, but not because they listen to it on their own. Nick Thorburn, the creative influence of Islands, has been a masked, virtuouso in the indie music world for quite some time now. With “A Sleep & A Forgetting” we get our first glance into who he really is. Following his divorce, Nick has taken the veil off with his first album truly based in his own emotions. This song seems to sum it all up in the first two lines “I miss my wife/ I miss my best friend”. Though it’s a song yearning for the past it’s upbeat cadence brings the listener in while Mr. Thorburn laments his break up.

 

2. Mister Heavenly – I Am a Hologram

2012 Play Count: 123

Mister Heavenly is the side project of the aforementioned Nick Thorburn (yea I really, really like him), Man Man’s Ryan Kattner – aka Honus Honus, and Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer. This song has one of my favorite lyrics ever, “I am a hologram/ modern version of Invisible Man”. Literary reference, a sarcastic put down of today’s technological culture and the underlying insecurity of not fitting into the “manly man” stereotype, all in one brilliant couplet!

 

3. Rent – La Vie Boheme

2012 Play Count: 31 (All in the last 7-10 days)

There ya go, Rent is my biggest guilty pleasure. In a play filled with dramatic and heart wrenching songs, this tune is a tonal shift. Who doesn’t like a song appreciating the little things in life from hand crafted beers to Gertrude Stein (more literary references!)?

I’m on a Horse – Doo Doo Doo Doot Doo!

Yoo00 – What a Gwan?

Check out this most totally radical youtube channel I found!

Click on this link! >>> http://www.youtube.com/user/relmvision?ob=0 <<< Click on that link!

This guy Mike Relm is pure awesome – he can take some an random clip, like a scene from a movie, or someone doing standup, and produce some truly amazing stuff from it. On top of that, he can edit video like a boss.

This one is my favorite: Its the Old Spice commercial, but better!

Now, since this blog load so slow already (thank you 6 quadrillion other youtube videos embedded on this page) I’m just going to link you some of his other videos. You should reallly check his Scott Pilgrim Remix here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPvU8FH6oL4

and also this one is pretty good, and funny to boot!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKp3UjSgfIg

Turn on, Tune in, Turn up.

Frank & Dependent: This Year’s Winner of Battle of the Bands

Last Saturday some of Boston’s finest local bands threw down in the final round of our Battle of the Bands series and out emerged Frank & Dependent as this year’s victor. The band has been steadily on the rise on the BU scene over the past few months, so it’s about time all y’all got acquainted with the folk-rock ensemble.

Frank & Dependent, with its fluctuating slate of 8-ish members who play a wide array of instruments, deservedly took the competition when the crowd deemed them the official winner of the night. Enjoy the video below of them performing a particular favorite of mine, “Kelly Combs”.

Be sure to like the band’s Facebook page by clicking here or downloading some of their awesome free music off their Bandcamp page by clicking here

Have a great week, y’all!

-Josh

SRV

Summer is my favorite time of the year. Spring is a close second, mainly because it means Summer is just around the corner. However, one feature of Spring itself that I always enjoyed was that for the past few years, the live music channel played a whole bunch of Stevie Ray Vaughan.

I used to love guitar playing, and SRV was one of my biggest heros. Being busy during the school year tends to force me to shelve guitar playing, but my interest has recently been rekindled. I need look no further for inspiration than querying youtube for all things Stevie Ray, which yields, among a ton of awesome videos, this spirited performance of one of my favorite Hendrix tunes:

 

 

I’d be willing to bet this interview wasn’t like most for this Canadian TV host:

 

Ray LaMontagne

My roommate always says that I like to listen to depressing music… I tell her that she has n0 clue what she is talking about. And of course, I am right.

I may prefer slow acoustic-sounding music over super electronic and I listen to Bon Iver 5,000,000,000 times more often than Avicii, but there is nothing depressing about it!

For today, I am going to share one of my favorite  slow-music artists, Ray LaMontagne.

The first time I heard this song, Jolene, I was sitting on a beach last summer under the stars  listening to my friend sing and play the guitar. Needless to say, this song sparks memories for me that are far from depressing!

 

Some of my other favorites include:

Trouble

 

and Hold You in My Arms

 

I hope you enjoy! These are great songs for a laid-back Thursday night of homework and fun!! wooo hooo  because that is what I will be doing!

Happy Thursday! Be Safe and Have Fun!

xoxo, Lanie

British Children + Quality Rap Music = The Most Adorable Video You Will Ever Watch

It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that Azealia Banks is the single best thing to happen to rap music in 2012. Her speedy rhymes and sick beats make almost every track she drops instantly danceable, especially the wildly popular “212″.

I’m a huge fan of the song and her music in general, but the purpose of this post is not to praise her obvious brilliance. It’s to show you CUTE BRITISH CHILDREN reviewing “212″ and dancing around to it and it is literally the cutest thing to ever exist in this world. Literally.

Videos like that make me want to go outside and impregnate the first person I see…or kidnap a child…or maybe just babysit for someone. Yeah, I’d say that’s much more likely.

Have a great week, y’all!

Josh

Rusko’s Very Dubby Dubstep

Hallo,

Last week I came across this 20 minute radio mix for BBC Radio 1, and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. First of all, it’s made by Rusko – one of my favorite musicians by far. Second off all, its really good! Now, anyone who knows me probably knows that I like dubstep, but lately I’ve been getting really bored with it. Stuff like Skrillex and any music where you dance like  you’re having a seizure is really unappealing to me. Instead, I’ve been really into Dub/Reggae, and this mix is right up my alley!

So if you like reggae, dub, or dubstep (preferably all 3) than give this a listen! Leave a comment and let me know what you think about it.

Enjoy,

Tim

Rekindled Love

Do you have a tendency to find new artists and play their songs over-and-over again to the point of exhaustion? After a while you get tired of them but, when they randomly play a few months (or weeks…) later on your iTunes, you start to get that same elated feeling you had when you heard them the very first time. I’ve recently rekindled my love affair with these bands/songs since I overplayed them a few months ago. Check ‘em out!

Back of Your Neck – Howler

Limit to Your Love – James Blake

Nothing But Our Love – Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr

Wildfire – SBTRKT

- Sherelle

I don’t have the fever…

Normally I would not waste one of my precious blogposts on such a topic, but for this I am going to make an exception.

I would like you all to know that I am 100% creeped out by Just Bieber’s new song, Girlfriend and although I have very strong feelings against it I feel the need to share this song so that you all can feel my confusion.

 

 

Since when did it become okay for him to whisper rap? I was much more okay with the Biebs when he was winning the hearts of 12-year-old girls singing “Baby, baby, baby” but this song takes it to a whole new level.

As embarrassing as it is, I will admit that one day while I was doing an assignment for drawing I sort of watched the Justin Bieber movie. I will also admit that my respect for him grew a tiny bit after that because it is cool how he got famous and I’m sure inspiring to a lot of kids.

BUT THIS SONG IS NOT INSPIRING.

it is weird. and creepy. and sounds like the whisper song.

I thought you should all feel the discomfort that I am currently feeling.

Enjoy your weekend!!

Love,

Lanie