Cabin Music

Photo courtesy of this awesome cabin website.

I grew up in a distinctly non-camping family, so The Wilderness has always felt off-limits. But now I want to go to there.

I'm filling the void with this playlist until I can round up some friends and get to a cabin off the grid.

Animal Tracks//Mountain Man

Lusitania//Andrew Bird

The Motherlode//The Staves

Honey Come Home//The Head and the Heart

Love Is All//The Tallest Man on Earth

Because everything the Tallest Man on Earth does falls under the Cabin Music category, here's a full concert download courtesy of NPR's All Songs Considered Live Concerts Podcast. I've listened to it countless times--high quality all the way through.

And in case you want a wider assortment of Cabin Music, here's the Spotify playlist I've been updating. I'd love songs to add--have any suggestions?

These Days

There are some songs so perfect that covers just shouldn't be attempted. I had, until yesterday, considered Jackson Browne's "These Days" one of them.

Some "These Days" facts:

Browne wrote it at sixteen! Which means he was crafting this lyrical poetry

I've stopped my dreaming
I won't do too much scheming these days
These days
These days I sit on cornerstones and count the time in quarter tones to ten
Please don't confront me with my failures
I had not forgotten them

at the same age that I was struggling to make eye contact with people in my Driver's Ed class.

There are three independently famous recordings of the song before the many post-1973 covers.

It was first recorded in 1967 by German model/Andy Warhol muse/sometimes Velvet Underground singer Nico for her album, Chelsea Girl.

Two versions were released in 1973. Browne's friend Gregg Allman recorded an arrangement for his album Laid Back that includes vocal harmonies, modified lyrics, and entirely different instrumentation.

Browne released his recording in '73 as well on For Everyman.

While all of these are independently awesome versions of the song, I'm partial to Nico's--probably because it is featured in one of the greatest movie scenes of all time.

And then the covers! Annie Clark a.k.a. St. Vincent has a gorgeous voice, but her rendition doesn't do anything for me. I feel the same about this Tallest Man on Earth cover. While his voice is perfect on songs he has written, it detracts from the inherent beauty of the song. Due to my disappointment in two of my other favorite artists' versions, I almost didn't click on this cover by Robin Pecknold and Alela Diane…but I am so glad I did.

Their restrained harmonies show such a reverence for the song that I can't help but fall in love with it again. And their high five at the end is almost too precious to handle.

P.S. While Robin Pecknold has been a long-time favorite as lead singer of Fleet Foxes, Alela Diane is a new, welcome addition to my music library. If you want to hear some of her solo work, this recording of Lady Divine is a good place to start :)

Harmonies by Musician Friends

My rad roommate Allie and I had a revelation this weekend: our favorite performances are by musician friends who supplement each others' songs with harmonies. It's not quite a named genre yet, but we LOVE them. Here are some recent favorites:

Re: Stacks by Bon Iver feat. The Staves

I thought this For Emma, Forever Ago classic could not be improved until I heard it this way. If you don't like concert banter, jump to 1:02.

If you like what you hear of The Staves (how could you not?) their debut album is now live-streaming on the Guardian website. It's probably the best way to get a dose of them until their music is accessible stateside. 

New Slang by The Shins feat. Sam Beam (Iron & Wine)

I have accepted the fact that I'll never know all the correct lyrics to this song, but it will always be a favorite. My roommate (she's actually the coolest) discovered this version the other day, and it rivals the original.

On a Good Day by Joanna Newsom feat. Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes)

This Have One on Me song is only a minute and a half but packed with killer lyrics. I definitely posted "Will you leave me be so that we can stay true to the path that you have chosen?" as my status in my high school Angsty Lyrics Status Stage multiple times. Don't pretend you were above that. If you're reading this blog, you probably had an ALSS, too.

Now listen to it supplemented by Robin Pecknold's beautiful vocals. Again, skip to 1:13 for a banterless vid.

The illest, right? In case you want to listen to that glorious minute and a half one more time, this is a cover I did of it last year during finals week with--you guessed it--my roommate, Allie.

Yay harmonies, yay musician friends, yay Allie, yay to the resurrection of this blog.

School, Songs, Pics

School has been absolutely magical this year. It's magical even with the incredible amount of work we have to do all the time. The weather's been amazing, my professors are awesome, and everyone came back way nicer than last year. Here are some things I'm really into right now:

First home football game -- Look at that sky! Perfect weather.

That's right. I just enjoyed an athletic event. If you don't know me personally, I think a girl in my Italian class described me perfectly the other day:

Non è pigra ma non è atletica. E non le piace discutere di sport.

Roughly, "She's not lazy, but she's not athletic. And she doesn't like to discuss sports." 

We're currently working with a lot of vocabulary that has to do with sports, and I think the other people in my class/professors are shocked by the fact I literally do not play anything. Not my cup of tea. But there are only so many times I can say, "Preferisco suonare la chitarra. Seriously."

Translated, "I prefer to play the guitar. For realzies."

When I haven't been "enjoying athletic competition"--a phrase one of my male friends uses to mock my behavior at sporting events--I've been listening to these songs on repeat:

Truth by Alexander
Alexander Ebert, lead singer of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, recorded a great album while on hiatus from the band in 2011. He goes back to his aspiring rapper roots in this song.

The Swimming Song by Loudon Wainwright III
Took note of this song while watching old episodes of Parenthood in preparation for the season premiere, WHICH IS TONIGHT, YAY! That show has a stellar soundtrack through and through, and this is a particularly happy little gem.

Johanna Soderberg of First Aid Kit at Lolla this year
I didn't get many good shots because I only saw the end of the set. It's my biggest regret of the festival.

All of First Aid Kit's album The Lion's Roar, but especially
King of the World
which features Conor Oberst (my all-time favorite) and the lyrics,

I'm nobody's baby /

I'm everybody's girl /

I'm the queen of nothing /

I'm the king of the world.

If that doesn't pump you up before classes, I don't know what will.

and Emmylou which is just beautiful and sounds like very old-timey country music.

And other than listening to awesome music, I'm spending time with extra nuggety people right now. I feel like everyone has each other's back so much that even if we're doing potentially stressful things, there's a lower limit to how upset we can be. I know that people say, "If it seems too good to be true…", but I actually think this school has just created a bubble of people who all want to get along and have fun with regular reminders that we're supposed to be using our gifts to help the world. If I had a dollar for every time I heard a version of "to whom much is given, much is expected," I could afford about a week of tuition (thanks, Mom and Dad!). Also I walk around this beautiful campus all the time, so how could I be upset?

This was not intended to be an advertisement for Notre Dame, I just want to give credit where it's due. And to think I didn't plan to go here…

I'm pretty much perfectly happy with everything and who I am. My only regret is that I can't put on my sunglasses with the fluid motion of a much cooler girl because COME ON HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE?!

Also the new Avett Brothers album comes out today! Go get it!

Today's Top 5

I'm back at school with less time to troll the internet (good and bad--mostly good), but here are some gems from the past few days.

1. My roommates and I are trying to learn this secret Beyonce handshake (not so secret anymore, MUAHAHAHAHA) and make it look half as legit as she does.

So far we haven't been too successful. For more Beyonce gems, check out her Tumblr page!  

2. This new video of the Avett Brothers performing "Live and Die" is making me unbelievably excited for their new album, The Carpenter (released September 11, 2012). From the songs I've heard, I think it has the potential to be some of their best work so far. I just really love them.

Another future classic is "The Once and Future Carpenter":

Also there have been many, many mixed reviews on their appearance in this new Gap commercial:

It's bringing back the age-old "Are you a sell-out, or are you paying for your kids' tuitions?" debate. What do you think?

3. This list of "53 'Arrested Development' Jokes You Probably Missed" makes me wish I had time to watch it all over again. And again. And again. 

My favorites are #4, #9, #32, and #34, but they're all so excellent. And I can't believe I never noticed #49 before!

4. I recently cut my hair a la Margot Tenenbaum,

which I feel mostly great about, but it's quite limiting in the hair style department. Will someone try some of these hair tutorials from Joanna Goddard's blog for me? I love them.

5. Also, I can't look at that scene from the film without hearing this song as recorded by Nico:

which is one of my all-time favorites. Nico herself is also a recent favorite. Her life was so tragic and fascinating. I'm looking for a good biography about her to read after I finish this one about Bob Dylan. Any suggestions?

Happy Wednesday!

Things That Could Make Me Watch Franklin and Bash

To confirm the show Franklin and Bash is as bad as it looks, I just read its Wikipedia page. The first paragraph of the entry includes the phrases

• "unconventional lawyers"
• "The series stars Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar"
• "'funny legal procedural'"
• "Ally McBeal With Balls"

so I will definitely never watch it…unless the writers adopt one of these ideas:

The show still stars two "unconventional lawyers" named Franklin and Bash, but Franklin is Franklin the Turtle. Possible episode plot: Franklin's friend Snail is delivering the mail, and he can't get the evidence to Franklin in time for an important trial. 

The show still stars two "unconventional lawyers" named Franklin and Bash, but Franklin is Benjamin Franklin. Possible episode plot: A Franklin and Bash case makes it to the Supreme Court. Before the SCOTUS rules something unconstitutional, Benjamin Franklin passionately pleas and cites the fact that his Plan of Union was referenced to write the Constitution. Also there could be a running gimmick about B-Frank thinking powdered wigs are cool, a la the Huxtables' sci-fi author neighbor's love for his toupee in that one episode where he also drove to New Jersey with Theo to buy a lobster. (I think that's the plot. I've already done too much F&B research tonight to cross-reference anything else.)

The show still stars two "unconventional lawyers" named Franklin and Bash, but Franklin is Franklin Delano Bluth, GOB's racist puppet from Arrested Development. Possible episode plot: Everyone called to jury duty is familiar with Franklin's hit song "It Ain't Easy Being White or Brown," so a trial keeps being delayed.

Details and subplots still need to be fleshed out, but these episode ideas have to beat those of seasons one and two. And you can do that work, TNT. I've helped you enough already. Because you may know drama, but I know WAY better Franklins.

Lollapaloozing*

On this one-week anniversary of the first day of Lollapalooza 2012, I am finally ready to talk about it. Here's a bit of what happened.

Heading downtown
The artsiest kid I know liked this picture on Facebook, so I'll probably frame it.

Early Friday in the park 

I saw these bands on Friday:

First Aid Kit

The Growlers

Yellow Ostrich

Dr. Dog

Metric

The Head & the Heart

The Shins

The Black Keys

The Head & the Heart

The Black Keys during Everlasting Light

To sum it up I was so completely blissed out after Day One that the next morning, I was sitting on the sidewalk before breakfast with a mutilated bloody toe and broken bag zipper when someone told me my fly was down, and I felt absolutely zero shame. Then things escalated.

I saw these bands on Saturday:

Delta Spirit

The Tallest Man on Earth

Franz Ferdinand

Bloc Party

Avicii

The Tallest Man on Earth

This guy shortly before being kicked out.

Franz Fredinand was excellent, but the pole climber stole the show.

The afternoon was broken up by a storm (hence the shorter list) but the during-storm time was one of the best parts of the weekend. I was reunited with one of my college roommates,

SO MUCH JOY SO LITTLE POSTURE

and the Tallest Man on Earth tweeted at me. 

Even though this tweet was 100% factual, I know it came from the heart.

I 'm sure he liked my response:

Ode to Lolla Bliss

alas, no shout-out at the show. He was still perfect.

As we left, my male friends got in a fist fight under a bridge defending my friend and me (we're ladiez). Basically some drunk kids started a verbal fight, things escalated, then my malefriend lunged out of nowhere and grabbed a kid by the shirt before he could hit my ladyfriend in the middle of a busy intersection while our other malefriend (my ladyfriend's boyfriend) held off two other guys. It was just like the one fight I saw when I accidentally watched Twilight + (terror) - (CGI) - (werewolves) - (infidelity--looking at you, Kristen Stewart).

THEN we were near our hotel when a drunk lady (Chicago pulled a total Milwaukee this weekend) let two dogs out a door of her building. They took off down the street, and it was a cute Lady and the Tramp moment until we realized that they were about to run into oncoming traffic. We caught them and returned them to their owner, who was not that grateful. I will chalk it up to my mud-covered body and Jenna Maroney-esque expectations. (No parade?!)

On Sunday we saw:

Bombay Bicycle Club

Trampled by Turtles

Sigur Ros

Of Monsters and Men

Florence + The Machine

Bombay Bicycle Club--check out that storm damage

Trampled by Turtles

My view for 90% of Sigur Ros because it's hard to look at things that beautiful directly.

JONSI

Sigur Ros was INCREDIBLE. Everyone was amazing (especially The Head and the Heart, Black Keys, Tallest Man, and Florence), but Sigur Ros was by far the best. It was actually my favorite performance I have ever seen in the history of my life. I've never heard a group live before that was so much better live than recorded. Usually if someone's great live, I think, "Wow, they sound exactly how I hoped they would!" (i.e. Ingrid Michaelson). But Sigur Ros (specifically, Jonsi's voice) is SO MUCH BETTER live than recorded. It sounded like what a whale call must sound like underwater in the best way possible. I realize that doesn't sound too tempting, but trust me. It made me understand why echolocation works. It was a sound so beautiful I just wanted to be as close to it as possible. From the minute they opened with Svefn-g-englar, no one wanted to move. And no one could speak intelligently for so long after it. If you get the chance to see them, DO IT. It's been four years since the last time they were in North America, so it could be a while until you get another chance.

Also my roommate overheard someone ask if it was Sigur Ros or Sugar Ray, which is the second most amazing thing I heard that day.

This was only a tiny snippet of the weekend, but it was ridiculous. In a nutshell, go to Lolla if you get a chance, see Jonsi if you get a chance, don't let the fact you like Elizabeth Olsen misguide you to watch Martha Marcy May Marlene (another story for another time).

*I resisted the urge to make that "Lollapalosing" for YOU. But it will show up in a future "Opportunities Carrie Bradshaw Missed" post. I promise.