The Civil Wars - "Disarm" (Smashing Pumpkins Cover)

Another year has gone by and I still have not made it out to SXSW in Austin. It is something that I have always wanted to do but never have been able to. Since I work at a record label the building was pretty much a ghost town last week with everyone in Austin. Those of us left were pretty much here to make sure no one stole the furniture. Stories are flooding in of the week and what it had to offer. My boss nearly made me cry in jealousy when he explained that Jack White had done a spontaneous street performance. I just keep reminding myself that I'm going to Ireland in a few weeks and then I don't feel soooo bad.

ITunes offered a free SXSW sampler which you can download here so if you didn't get to go either we can get a little sampling of what the week had to offer. This includes The Civil Wars. Can I just say how proud I am of them? I remember when I found them they had just started and all they had was a youtube video of their first track "Falling" and they actually responded to my @ mention Tweets. Now I have to share them with Taylor Swift and thousands of others. Its bittersweet really but absolutely incredible how they have exploded in the last year. Selfishly I want to keep them to myself but I can't help but tell everyone I know how amazing their music is. You can download their live SXSW performance on iTunes here. So here again I share a new video from The Civil Wars doing a Smashing Pumpkins cover. Enjoy! Also if you went to SXSW please comment with your favorite moment of the week!

Its A Video Kind Of Day

Thought I'd share some of my favorite music related videos on Youtube right now.

I am a huge animal person, especially dogs. All throughout elementary, middle and high school I wanted to be a veterinarian until I realized I hated science... kind of important. So this OK Go music video with all these cute pups just melts my heart.



Punch Brothers. Enough said. (fyi the mandolin may beat out the cello now that I really think about it)



This is probably one of the greatest moments of this kids life. Unfortunately he may look back and wonder, "What the heck was I wearing??"

The New John Mayer Trio?? Yes Please!!

In case you missed the 2011 Grammy Awards this year there is just one performance you must see. Sure Lady Gaga did her usual craziness, and Cee Lo Green wore a bird suit... however it wasn't an official performance that made me jump up with glee and squeal like a little girl. It was actually John Mayer, Norah Jones and Keith Urban presenting the award for Song of the Year with a little improv performance of one of my favorite songs of all time, Jolene by Dolly Parton. The combination of all their voices with John and Keith's crazy guitar skills filled my roommates and I with absolute delight and we quickly rewound and rewatched it. The only bad part was how short it was. Someone please tell these three to do a project together! Pretty please!

(Sadly due to copyright infringement this video was taken down. I'll re-post with a legal one as soon as I find it!)

Mindy Gledhill - Anchor

Love the song. Love her style. Love it all.

"Home" Cover - Could it get any cuter?!

We all do it. We go on Youtube to check out videos ranging from ridiculous to sentimental to just plain talent. Baby pandas sneezing, 12 year old kids putting Lady Gaga to shame or some amazing 4 year old drummer in Japan. Today I feel the urge to share one of the most precious videos I've seen in a while. I already love "Home" by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros and this makes me love it even more. The video has exploded. When I watched it 2 weeks ago it had around 200,000 views. Now its over 4 million...

Top 10 Albums of 2010

Well another year has ended and a new one has begun. I finished off the year watching two good friends get married New Years eve and started 2011 at Disneyland which has become a new annual tradition. So after dancing all night in stilettos and then walking all day at Disneyland my feet are getting some much needed rest as I reflect on a great year of new music.

Putting together my top 10 album releases gave me a great excuse to go through my iTunes library and rediscover some great music. Though many of my favorite finds last year didn't nessesarily release in 2010 I thought I should stay true and just pick my favorite albums actually released in 2010 (with that can I give special mention to Florence + The Machine... 2009 claims this beauty). I also decided to exclude EPs. So in no particular order and for no other reason other then the fact that I love it and it makes me happy here is my top 10 of 2010:

The Daylights - This great L.A. band is fresh off their tour with Needtobreathe and hasn't left my car stereo since I bought it at the release party in September.

Sleigh Bells - Treats. This album is unlike most of the music in my library but I can't get enough since I first heard them during my brief stint with satellite radio.

Greg Laswell - Take A Bow. Nothing much I can say other then the fact that his voice does bad bad things to me... Oh Ingrid Michaelson you are a lucky women.

Andrew Belle - The Ladder. Another voice I can't get enough of and apparently the music supervisor of Grey's Anatomy can't either. We have good taste...

Punch Brothers - Antifogmatic. While I have great memories of listening to Chris Thile in Nicklecreek this new project is way more fun. Especially when they don't mind you cornering them for a picture...

The Morning Benders - Big Echo. This June album release was just in time to be my perfect summer soundtrack.

The Black Keys - Brothers. This in absolutely fantastic album that hasn't left my car stereo since its day of release. I pretty sure I've amused a few fellow drivers with my inability to resist dancing to this music.

Vampire Weekend - Contra. Its a good thing this album did well this year after the model on the cover decided to sue the band, photographer and company. In any case I can't resist singing along and usually break into song quite often with my coworker, "In December drinking horchata I look psychotic in my balaclava!"

Sia- We Are Born. This girl sings with such passion all the time and her album covers show how quirky she is. Fun and colorful is putting her style simply.

Frightened Rabbit - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks. This Scottish band brings an album of tracks filled with songs about feeling alone, lost and on the edge but pushing through. I believe we’ve all felt that way at one point or another and I don’t know about you but it’s always been nice to hear songs written by others who have gone through the same things. Somehow though the subject matter sounds severe the music itself is light, upbeat and encouraging.




(Honorable mention goes to The Weepies, Audra Mae and Fitz & The Tanrums)


Top Music Memories of 2010:
Punch Brothers

Seeing The Civil Wars live finally and meeting them after!

Not Your Mother's Chrismas Album - Music City Unsigned

Not a Christmas goes by in my house where Nat King Cole's buttery voice isn't heard down the halls. But with the Christmas classics I like to add in a little of the new, especially from many of the great artists featured here. Music City Unsigned has a love for those same artist and has released their first album. Music City Unsigned Family Christmas is a great collection of Christmas tunes from the burgeoning Nashville artists. The album includes music from Amy Stroup, Jenny & Tyler, Andy Osenga and Daniel Ellsworth who have all been featured here as well as many other great Nashville artists.

On this Christmas Eve add a little new music to your Christmas music playlist with this great holiday mix. Merry Christmas everyone!

Buy the album here: http://musiccityunsigned.bigcartel.com/