Andrew Bird- Danse Carribe

Jam: Danse Carribe
Good to jam when: Wandering Aimlessly

Photo by: Cameron Wittig

The new Andrew Bird album Break It Yourself due out March 6th is going to have us all tranced and wandering aimlessly through meadows, skipping and humming into the sunset without a worry or any plan of return. Okay, so maybe that was dramatic, but I don't think you will find many reasons to argue after tuning in. This album is sure to make waves across music blogs in no time, possibly even all the way to securing a spot on my "Best Albums of 2012" list because it is so well-developed from start to finish. In today's jam, Danse Carribe, you will find a perfect fusion across a wide combination of irking violin, irish cheer, embedded folk, and hints of Birds' classic whistling, on top of a storybook voice that carries throughout and picks up fun speed after about three minutes in. For a more serious, yet beautiful preview of the album, check out the opening single Desperation Breeds to really experience the talent of this artist and as an explanation for why Bird obtained a bachelor's degree in violin performance at Northwestern University. For a limited time, you can listen to the new album Break It Yourself in full here. For now, I'll be in the meadows. 

Photo by: Cameron Wittig

Ratboy- The Stanza

Jam: The Stanza
Good to jam when: Chillin'

Meet Ratboy: a two-person, calming college duo made up by Julia Steiner (cool name, btw), who performs the vocals, plays guitar and ukulele for the band, and the counterpart Dave Sagan who dabbles in percussion, bass, guitar, and ukulele. While these two are only sophomores at Notre Dame, you would hardly tell due to the easy flow of their first album. I can easily see any Angus & Julia Stone fans (another cool name, btw) becoming very fond of the simplistic style that leads you right into the direction that your head is wanting to go, which I'll admit is at times quite refreshing. You can tell they're not trying to get super fancy, but possibly that they enjoy producing a pleasure that comes from the bare necessities of a beautiful voice and a calming beat. My recommended jam on the album is their single The Stanza, but my thoughts are that if you like one, you are guaranteed to like them all, so help support a new, upcoming group by tuning in below. Happy jamming :) 

*Edit (1/13/13): Sorry people. The podcast has been removed from the web! Check out their personal bandcamp page here: http://ratboy.bandcamp.com/.

Live Bon Iver Session

Jammers: Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and Sean Carey
Jam session: 4AD and Jajjajuwar at AIR Studios

Now this is the Bon Iver that I know and love. The Bon Iver that almost burst my car speakers and ended far too many friendships due to my constant repetition of their first magical album, For Emma, Forever Ago, well past the acceptable or sane number of times. The Bon Iver that I thought was lost (and not like in the woods that one time) after the second album production of Bon Iver Bon Iver, which had too much auto tune and overly forced "woods-like" appeal, possibly in a failed attempt to recreate the first albums' theme and success, for my liking. This is the Bon Iver that makes you question why you listen to other music. And the Bon Iver that is the sole driving force and theme underlying this blog, simply because you cannot listen to this recording without having feeling take over your entire system. Get excited because it's twenty-four minutes long.

Here's the set list:

1. Hinnom, TX

2. Wash.

3. I Can't Make You Love Me

4. Babys

5. Beth/Rest

A Tribe Called Quest- Check the Rhime

Jam: Check the Rhime
Good to jam when: Feelin' fresh


A Tribe Called Quest - Check The Rhyme - 1991 - Jive from DJ Upperkuts on Vimeo.

Back in the mid-eighties Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad set out to form A Tribe Called Quest. Little did they know, this quest would dominate the music scene of the 90's and eventually lead them to be a tribe known for having a substantial influence on the hip-hop music that we listen to today. These are the guys who inspired huge rappers of our generation, like Kanye, Common, Busta Rhymes, and Pharrel. On a list of 25 Best Rap Groups of All Time, these guys were listed number four. While many have never even heard of them, they are best known for their classic hits Can I Kick It? and Bonita Applebaum. In Bonita Applebaum, you can find the original opening beat from Lauryn Hill's classic Killing Me Softly song that would not have been a hit without the snag. And you know that "Raah, Raah, like a dungeon dragon" line in the Nicki Minaj Roman's Revenge song? The credit also goes to them. 

If you have any interest in 90's hip-hop, I highly recommend checking out the documentary just done on them titled, Beats, Rhymes, & Life: Travels of A Tribe Called Quest to get the full story. 

Feel free to freshen up your library with a free download of The Low End Theory album here  and get a feel for where our hip-hop originated with a playlist of some of A Tribe Called Quests' classics down below. 

Q-tip, Phife, and Ali

 

First Aid Kit - Emmylou

Jam: Emmylou
Good to jam for: Folk pleasure

Attention jammers: If you've been in desperate need of a folk fix, I am certain that the newest release from the First Aid Kit will go above and beyond any first aid kit in which you are accustomed, offering you more healing than the typical Band-Aid and Neosporin medley can provide. (But please listen with caution)

I am not sure how they have done it, but I believe the two Swedish sisters, Johanna and Klara Söderberg, have completely engulfed me under their magical spell. It's not often when you come across such raw and captivating folk such as this. Nor frequent, do you come across their also raw and captivating beauty. While the musical backdrop will hardly have you asking for more, the real pleasure of their most recent album, The Lion's Roar, reaches its greatest height when the two voices join together in harmony. Just released to us in mid-January, their new album provides us with forty-three minutes of folkful indulgence and comfort at ease, as the whole album can be heard without the inkling to skip a beat. 

While the two sisters are only now at the ages of 19 and 22, they first came to the surface after their overwhelming spread of their Fleet Foxes cover of the popular "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" on YouTube back in 2008. More recently, the Söderberg sisters produced a fantastic cover of the original Fever Ray song, "When I Grow Up", which is offered for your listening pleasure down below. Enjoy.

When I Grow Up by First Aid Kit

Pretty Lights- Country Roads Remix

Jam: Country Roads Remix
Good to jam when: Adventuring

  Country Roads-Pretty Lights Remix 320kbps FREE DOWNLOAD by prettylights

Everyone needs to have this song in their music collections. There's really just no excuse for it. This song is the dopity of the dope. So please do your music libraries a favor by adding Pretty Lights' bumpin' remix of the classic John Denver hit, Country Roads, for FREE! Trust me, it will thank you later.