everything everything

holy fucking jesus. we've finished only one month of 2010 and if it's any indication of what the rest of the year holds, musically speaking, it's going to be a-m-a-z-i-n-g. i am absolutely blown away by this song from u.k. band everything everything. it's frenetic, it's addictive, and it's the perfect way to end january. take a listen. it's sort of like friendly fires meets tears for fears.

i think the chick that left the following comment on youtube says it all: "I would give an ovary to have this on my ipod."

download this right now: my kz, ur bf (aka my keys, your boyfriend)

bic runga

the posting i did on thursday of asobi seksu reminded me of another favorite, bic runga. a new zealand native, bic is huge in her own country, but she never quite caught on in the u.s. it's a shame really. her songs are well-written, incredibly melodic, and catchy as hell. her voice is expressive and intimate. it sounds fragile, but there's an underlying strength to it.

 

in 1999/2000, she achieved some minor success here in the states when her song "sway," from her album drive, was featured on the american pie and cruel intentions soundtracks. but check out "get some sleep" below and just try to get it out of your head! the second track, "blue blue heart," is simply stunning.

get some sleep - from the album beautiful collision

blue blue heart - from the album birds

playlist: wicked under the covers

an eclectic mix of covers, old and new. always surrender to temptation. enjoy! 

• the kooks - all that she wants (ace of base)
• chester - crazy for you (madonna)
• chromeo - i can't tell you why (eagles)
• the lemonheads - beautiful (christina aguilera)
• a.c. newman - take on me (a-ha)
• nancy sinatra & lee hazlewood - you've lost that lovin' feelin' (the righteous brothers)
• sexton blake - bette davis eyes (kim carnes)
• sixpence none the richer - don't dream it's over (crowded house)
• miles fisher - this must be the place (talking heads)
• bobbie gentry and glen campbell - all i have to do is dream (the everley brothers)
• coldplay - you only live twice [live] (nancy sinatra)
• discovery - i want you back (the jackson 5)
• jem - maybe i'm amazed (paul mccartney)
• nancy sinatra - california dreamin' (the mamas and the papas)
• the killers - girls just want to have fun [live] (cyndi lauper)
• lily allen - everybody's changing (keane)
• lykke li - will you love me tomorrow (the shirelles)
• jens lekman - water runs dry [live] (boyz II men)
• mandy moore - umbrella (rihanna)
• the real tuesday weld - the day before you came (abba)
• the bird and the bee - don't stop the music (rihanna)
• nancy sinatra - light my fire (the doors)

4 A.M.

4 a.m. is the time when you were mine
frozen in deepest sleep, for only i to keep
now there ain't no hiding place on earth
that lonliness ain't been first

cherry ghost - 4 A.M.

good vibrations

sending out good vibrations that mgmt will win best new artist at tomorrow night's grammys. the critics say they should win, but you know those crazy grammy voters. they also believed starland vocal band, marc cohn, and a taste of honey deserved the same prize.

electric feel

thursday

appropriately enough.

thursday - asobi sesksu

miike snow b-side

check out the b-side "billie holiday," from swedish trio miike snow.

billie holiday

supersize the synthesizer

lectrolips are an unsigned UK electropop duo who have just released their first batch of "keyboard sexy" demos, as they call them. they're available to download for FREE (loves it!) on their site and myspace. one of them is "supersize the synthesizer," a delicious bite of retro-electronic goodness. it's sticky and sweet and glues its melodic morsels in your head allllllll day. trust me.

supersize the synthesizer

gone too far

dragonette is quickly becoming a new fave of mine. i featured their song "pick up the phone" in my winter 2010 playlist post. check out this track, "gone too far," from the same album fixin' to thrill. diggin' the banjo picking. there should be more banjos in rock songs.

(their album is available from amazon for only $5. i bought it last night and it's GREAT. use the amazon search box to the right and check it out.)

they're currently on tour with little boots. they'll be at the fillmore on march 9, if you live in SF. unfortunately, i'll be traveling for work, so i won't be able to go. if you do, take pictures, k? and get me a t-shirt!

gone too far

(p.s. the fillmore is a live nation venue, which has been given the green light to merge with ticketmaster. how fucking sucky is that?! they've already purchased boardwalk, park place and every other available real estate on the board. what's next? the thimble?)

(p.s. update: my friend, daniel, alerted me to the fact that you can get service fee free tickets at the fillmore if you purchase them at the box office, which is open sunday afternoons. thanks, lover!)

the eyes of mars

franz ferdinand has teamed up with oscar-winning actress marion cotillard for a new, one-off track called "the eyes of mars." cotillard has been tapped as the new face of lady dior and the song was written as sort of a cross-promotion thing to help sell a new lady dior handbag. sexy, no? i love franz ferdinand. and i have to say marion cotillard does a decent job warbling through the ultra-catchy, rockin' tune. and the song should not be confused with faye dunaway's post-network, pre-mommie dearest epic eyes of laura mars, which, by the way, you should netflix if you haven't seen it before.

pop sucker track: your love's a drug

this post should pigeonhole me all right. but hey, i'm the pop sucker for a reason. the gays will go wild for this one. leighton meester, bad girl blair on gossip girl, released her so-so debut track "somebody to love" in october. prior to that, she was guest vocalist on cobra starship's fun summer track, "good girls go bad." her next song has leaked and it's a pop sucker's dream. and take a listen to her most excellent cover of kim carnes's "bette davis eyes" as well.

your love's a drug ∙ bette davis eyes

jj

one band that's blowing up the internets of late is the swedish band jj. they're a bit of a mystery, although they're embarking on a us tour with the xx beginning in march (playing bottom of the hill in SF on 4/16), so more should be revealed. what we do know is that they're from gothenburg, sweden, the home of swedish death metal and ace of base, and that they make dreamy electro-pop. it's intricate and fragile, ethereal and sweet. they're debut full-length album, n° 2, was released in late december on secretly canadian. the follow-up, n° 3, will be released on SC in march. the song from n° 2 that's getting the most attention is "ecstasy," but that one's only so-so. i prefer things will never be the same again. let go is from the upcoming album.

marina & the diamonds

marina & the diamonds is one of the acts to watch in 2010. but "they" is actually is a "she:" marina diamandis, a welsh-born, london-based singer. i discovered her last year. two of her songs -- "i am not a robot" and "mowgli's road" -- were on my list of top songs of 2009. i like her because she's not only a great singer-songwriter, with a distinctive voice, but she's kinda kooky. not in the lady gaga-performance-art-glam way, but a kookiness that's, well... take a look at the video for "mowgli's road:"

see what i mean? but it's a cool kooky. she's unique and i admire that. she's super hot, too. man, if i were into chicks, i'd be celebcrushing on her big time.

her debut album, the family jewels, comes out february 22 and i can't wait. i just hope she comes to SF this year. must see her.

space and the woods (late of the pier cover)

mowgli's road

gold motel

"perfect in my mind" is the lead single from gold motel's self-titled EP. gold motel is greta morgan (aka greta salpeter), the lead singer for the hush sound. while the band is on hiatus, greta's working on this side project. the song is killer, with a cool '60s sound and great harmonies.

check it out: perfect in my mind

jukebox sunshine

it's been raining here in san francisco for a week now. granted, i'll take it over snow any day. however, this is a bit too much. not only is it wet and gray, it's cold! it's as frigid as a new england spinster. when will it end? let's check weather.com... oh, nifty. it looks like we're in for rain for at least another week. well at least there's a reference to sun in this song.

the holloways - jukebox sunshine

hot chip

hot chip rocks out with their cocks out. for sure. i saw them at the fillmore in '08 and they killed. that tour was in support of their album made in the dark, which featured so many great tracks. their new album, one life stand, comes out soon, however, i'm sorry to say i haven't been too impressed with the songs i've heard that are floating around the interweb. ("take it in" and "thieves in the night" are the best so far.) but that won't deter me from purchasing the album. i will. and you should, too.

their best song, by far, is "and i was a boy from school," which is usually abbreviated as "boy from school." the best version is the iTunes live sessions version. simply stunning. i bring this up because grizzly bear just covered the song and it's quite haunting. kudos grizzly bear. and speaking of covers, check out hot chips' fabu cover of "sexual healing" below.

boy from school (iTunes live session) - hot chip
boy from school - grizzly bear
sexual healing - hot chip

sappy cool

geek out to this one, kids. it's prince caspian, a pop/acoustic canadian chum who's releasing a new EP called nineteen in early february. (check out his myspace for more details on a release date.) the title track is some seriously delicious electro-nerdom, and i loves it! it's part owl city, part hellogoodbye. slurp this bitch up.

nineteen

erik hassle

we're only a few weeks into the new year, and erik hassle's single "hurtful" has already racked up over 200 plays on my iTunes. considering i reset my play count the day after christmas, that's quite a lot. i have a feeling erik hassle is going to be my la roux of 2010. you know, the kind of artist that releases something so great i get obsessed with them. la roux was 2009, cut copy was 2008. erik hassle might be 2010. plus he's sexy and swedish to boot. mmmmm......


download "hurtful" to see what i mean.

support erik's music: (iTunes)

nancy boy

as this is my introductory post, i thought it only appropriate that i showcase one of my ultimate favorites. every fag has his diva. she is mine. nancy sinatra.

nancy's incredibly underrated. so much so that her most fervent fans -- myself included -- get extremely frustrated and angry that she gets little to no respect in the industry. although, judging by the producers and songwriters tapped to produce her 2004 album nancy sinatra (morrissey, pete yorn, bono, steven van zandt), plus quentin tarantino's inclusion of "bang, bang" in kill bill, vol. 1, and the audio bullys reworking of the same song for their #1 dance track "shot you down," it seems it's actually hipper to like nancy sinatra now than it was 44 years ago when she exploded onto the scene.

still, to the ignorant, she'll always be frank's daughter with the pair of boots. i feel sorry for those people.

some of nancy's best work was in her later years at reprise records (ca. 1969-72), when she parted ways with lee hazlewood for the first time. some people prefer her lee hazlewood collaborations, whether they're her solo efforts or their duets. i agree they're spectacular. but if you want to see a different, more mature side to nancy, check out the first three tracks. also included is one of the best nancy & lee duets, and a hazlewood-penned single from '67 that hit #15 on the billboard hot 100. finally, there's "let me kiss you," written and co-produced by morrissey.

• how are things in california? (1970)
• machine gun kelly (1972)
• is anybody goin' to san antone? (1970)
• nancy & lee: lady bird (1968)
• love eyes (1967)
• let me kiss you (2004)

watch the original video for "these boots are made for walkin'" here.

support nancy's music: (iTunes) (amazon)