A Grateful Anthem

Check out this video of Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, & Jeff Pehrson covering the national anthem this past summer; sure is something beautiful.



Dinosaurs??!
Elizabeth

Deck the Halls with Pomplamoose

With work piling up and the mercury falling at an alarming pace, it seems like a good time to get into the Christmas mood.  You may know how much I love holiday tunes, so here's a new one I'd like to add to my list of favorites.  Pomplamoose is a really cool indie duo that makes videosongs, a medium in which you must see everything you hear.

This winter, I'm rocking out to this updated version of Deck the Halls... hey, is that PCP in my eggnog?


Submarines? Spaceships? Aeroplanes?
Elizabeth

I know what I'm doing on December 18th...

Do you?  The McLovins will be playing the Fairfield Theater Company in Fairfield, CT.

You can meet the band (and yours truly!) after the show.

I've never seen a promotion video for a specific show before, but I totally love it!  Check out snippets of the McL's at their finest.


Just steppin' along with those hum drum blues...
Elizabeth

Ryan Montbleau Band on NPR

One of my favorites, the Ryan Montbleau Band, checked in with NPR last night on a segment that highlighted tracks from their new album, Heavy on the Vine.  It serves as a great introduction to people who have never heard of the band and a nice reminder to those of us who have.

Check out the 23-minute NPR segment here.

The reggae-infused Songbird plays underneath a brief introduction of the band and fades into a lighthearted interview.  Ryan dishes about riding the back of a U-Haul truck to a gig after the van broke down, demonstrating the humble roots of a band that has already played stadium arenas.

It's always nice to hear what Ryan and the boys have to say about their ever-growing careers, but it's always nicer to listen to them play: the band treated us to live performances of Stay, Slippery Road, Love Songs, and I Can't Wait.

Now that we are up to speed on the coolness of the RMB, we can all be properly jealous of this photo:

Elizabeth

All Day - Girl Talk

I'll admit it - I love Girl Talk's new album, All Day.  It's not generally the type of music I dig, but there's something to be said for the ingenuity of the mashups.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the artist, allow me to give you the lowdown.  Girl Talk is a guy who does mashups - combinations of different songs forged together to create a new one.  Killer mashups, I might add.  Generally the songs he chooses are not my style (he mostly draws from mainstream pop, rap, and rock), but I find myself tolerating crude and occasionally offensive lyrics for the awesome beats.

Occasionally there are some Elizabeth-friendly songs used in the mashups, like Derek & the Dominos:

This album never gets boring.  Maybe this is my musical ADD speaking, but I love how different elements from a wide array of songs are weaved together into incredibly dynamic tracks.  So where would I listen to this music?  Let's just say that the gym is about to see much, much more of me.

One of my favorite tracks is That's Right, which introduces some serious magic when Beyoncé's Single Ladies is brought in around 3:00.  The vocals are combined with some cool syncopated horns, which provides a new perspective on the song.

Every Day is a good one, too.  Think of a damn catchy rhythm piano under a rap.  Then think of an amp-up of the piano, morphing into a high-energy 80's rock band under... more rap.  Surprise surprise.  Fast forward a minute or two, and we hear a familiar piano riff: it's John Lennon's Imagine.

I leave this album with the impression that it could very well be better than most of the songs that it's made of (Imagine, Casey Jones, and Layla excluded).  But hey - mad props, Girl Talk.

Whether it's tofu or turkey, have a great Thanksgiving.
Elizabeth