Day 298: Light To Follow by The Polyphonic Spree

Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating in a week! Between the music fest, being sick, and trying to maintain a healthy, college-life I’ve been a bit crazy busy.

Luckily, I have a really great song to post for you guys today!

A few months back I discussed one of my all time favorite bands The Polyphonic Spree (check out the previous blog post for my reasoning on why I think they are one of the most important bands of our generation). Their music is geared towards optimism, and it’s just such a great experience to listen to their powerful tunes of hope and happiness!

Today’s song is one that I think got kind of lost in the grand scheme of The Fragile Army (aka my favorite of their albums). It follows a really great song on the album, but it’s electronic/orchestral sound is a little off from what they normally do. However, when it came up on my iPod this last week, I was mesmerized by how amazing this song is. “Light To Follow” starts off small and simple with a beautiful chorus of Tim DeLaughter’s voice mixed with the female back up singers… but as the song goes on it builds up higher and higher leading to a dramatic exit. I adore the way this song sounds and, much like all of their other music, it’s just a really positive song to take in (especially if you’re having a rough day).

So, I hope you enjoy “Light To Follow” by the Polyphonic Spree and take the lyrics into your heart: “Everyone needs their own light they can follow…”

Also, check out The Fragile Army if you haven’t already. It is incredible.

Day 296: Slow-motion Jello + yet even more Washed Out

Here’s a super short blog post for you guys tonight, mainly because my allergies are really messing with my brain right now.

A friend of mine posted “Slow-motion Jello” on Facebook earlier, and it blew my mind. Seriously. It’s unbelievable.

Isn’t that freaking awesome? I can’t even… I don’t even know what to think!!

In addition to that craziness, I wanted to include the new Washed Out song that also blows my mind. The song is called “Eyes Be Closed” (off of his upcoming album Within And Without, available in July), and it is beautiful. The chillwave beat and the powerful melody works together in a wonderful symphony. At least it does in my head!

Enjoy “Eyes Be Closed”

Day 292: Windowsill by Arcade Fire

I wanted to feature this song today because it literally encompassed my feelings in song-form. Sort of.

You see, today was one of those strange bipolar weather days, where the sun would peek out for a good ten minutes before hail rained down. Rain to sun to hail to rain to clouds to sun to rain. All day long.

And as I was walking through campus, doing whatever I normally do on Thursdays, I had the undeniable urge to find a CD that could compliment the strange weather pattern… making it more realistic, I guess.

I try to turn to bands that I’ve trusted with this task before, so it only took me a few seconds to realize that Arcade Fire’s whole Neon Bible album is incredibly effective for this type of day. But what really convinced me was the presence of the song “Windowsill.”

The song is incredibly somber, but it’s grandiose and beautiful while still remaining terribly melancholy. With Win Butler’s graceful voice moving through the difficult lyrics, and the background instruments (specifically that string part towards the middle), I can’t help but feel like this song is an escape for not only me but for the band itself (see the lyrics “I don’t wanna live in my father’s house no more…”). It expands and increases it’s intensity while still remaining full of plea.

With the weather changes that just mess with the population of our little city, “Windowsill” is not only an escape, but it falls with the rain, just in a different way. I feel like I can imagine looking through the window of a hectic world onto like a green pasture, so free from all this craziness. I guess I’m just strange like that.

But regardless, it perfectly encapsulated a moment in time today, and I couldn’t help but feel a little empowered by this song. The world just sort of melted away around me, and all that was left was me and the rain/hail/clouds/sun. It was a beautiful feeling.

I hope you can enjoy this song the same way. Here’s “Windowsill” by Arcade Fire

Day 291: Gideon by My Morning Jacket

I just recently got into My Morning Jacket (probably a little late, but better late than never!), and of all the songs I’ve heard so far, this is my favorite.

“Gideon” not only displays the gorgeous voice of Jim James, but it’s so uplifting and wonderful. I love the intro guitar part, which is sort of reminiscent of U2 or another band of that caliber, but his voice just reverberates in my brain. It’s a lovely feeling.

Enjoy “Gideon” (and this awesome video for it) by My Morning Jacket.

On a totally random note, I used to hate the show American Dad, but when I watched this episode premier a while back, I had total respect for the show and My Morning Jacket (that was my first real exposure). Here’s how I felt the other day when I played the band on my poster route:

Day 287: Montezuma/He Doesn’t Know Why Live by Fleet Foxes

The other night, Fleet Foxes performed their first live show in two years. It was a small, secret charity concert in Seattle for an intimate crowd, but someone got some amazing footage and (of course) stuck it on YouTube.

The song I want to feature today is a new song called “Montezuma,” which is off their new album Helplessness Blues (coming out May 3rd), and it is gorgeous. Pecknold’s voice carries across this small audience, and his relaxed posture almost adds to the whole experience. While I’m sad I missed this concert (being in Eugene, after all, sort of hurts my ability to go see concerts in Seattle these days), this video has gotten me super stoked to see them in Portland on May 1st!

I included the live video (which also features the song “He Doesn’t Know Why” off of their debut, self-titled album), but below the video is a copy of the actual, studio-made song… which is still absolutely wonderful!

Enjoy “Montezuma” and “He Doesn’t Know Why” live by Fleet Foxes!

Montezuma, studio edition:

He Doesn’t Know Why, studio edition:

Day 285: [BELATED] Movie I Want To See: Some Days Are Better Than Others (2009)

Hey everyone.

I saw this Portland-based/made/themed movie pop up on my blog roll a few months back, and I really want to see it! Not only is Carrie Brownstein (aka that one girl from Sleater-Kinney and Portlandia) in it, but my lovely James Mercer (lead singer of the Shins) plays a character as well.

The movie is about four different, quirky people who are leading lives that go nowhere… they sort of embark on a mental trip into the unknown of their soul, searching for the meaning of life, while conversing with each other.

Here’s the preview, and I really hope I can see this movie in the future:

Day 268: A Softer World

For today’s post, I wanted to feature an online comic that takes me by surprise every time I visit it.

“A Softer World,” by Joey Comeau and Emily Horne, takes a look at the secret minds of people in daily situations with a hipster touch. With strange photographs and cut-out word documents of phrases, it’s a piece of art every week.

I really like it because it doesn’t shy away from the dark and intense topics, but it also reignites the silly moments in life. It’s creative, it’s strangely realistic, and it’s beautiful!

Below are a couple examples from the past few weeks. But you can check out more in the archives section if you’d like. Just click the pictures to see more, and hopefully you’ll see “a softer world” we live in.

click the pics to see the website!

Day 265: Light & Day/Reach For The Sun by The Polyphonic Spree (+Hold Me Now)

WOOO! 100 days left!

The song I want to feature today is absolutely wonderful. I feel like it completely encompasses the theme I try to strive for this blog, and it’s such an uplifting song that I don’t think I can listen to it and not feel happy.

 

The Polyphonic Spree

The song is called “Light & Day/Reach For The Sun” by the now-21-member band The Polyphonic Spree. It has been featured on TV shows, commercials, movies, and elsewhere, and I do believe this song is designed to keep people optimistic about the world.

But before I put the song on here, I kind of want to rant. I became a Spree fan about four years ago (when their The Fragile Army came out), but I have heard of them since they were first a band back in 2000. But it wasn’t until now that I realized how beautiful these people are.

Tim DeLaughter was a member of another band called Tripping Daisies back in the 90s. When the band broke up after the unfortunate death of the guitarist (via drug overdose), Tim decided to create a new band with a few collaborating artists (a sort of response to this death). Thus, the Polyphonic Spree was born and is still going strong with over 20 members.

But why is this band so important? Their message is strong in every album: live life and see it in a beautiful light. Each song is well crafted with an insanely strong variety of instruments, and each message makes the band seem more and more peaceful. Maybe the white robes helped for a long time (they recently switched to military-looking uniforms with their last album), but this band stresses peace.

And I feel like they are one of the only peaceful bands out there. They teach people to love and enjoy life, is that so wrong?

I can never get enough of the Spree and their good message. It’s almost cry-worthy, it’s so beautiful. I’m definitely left speechless everytime I hear “Light & Day/Reach For The Sun.”

So if you ever feel down, depressed, hopeless and without light in this world, discover the Polyphonic Spree because they are one of the reasons why the world is such an amazing place.

Enjoy “Light & Day/Reach For The Sun” by the Polyphonic Spree.

Also, as a bonus, enjoy “Hold Me Now” by the Spree… I love this song (and video)

Day 263: Open Your Arms by Editors

Hey everyone!

You know when you have one of those days where you wake up and everything goes wrong? Yeah, that’s today for me.

But instead of dwelling on it too much, I’ve decided to take extra precautions today to make sure I try not to slip into some sort of sad mindset. Sure, I am a wee bit upset that today has gone by in a not-so-great manner, but I can think of at least one thing that makes my day a little easier.

“Open Your Arms” by Editors is kind of an old-school song (it came out on their debut album The Back Room in 2005), but it’s so beautiful and mind-boggling that I can’ ever turn my attention away from it.

I first discovered my love for this song back when I was in 9th grade… it set the perfect scene for me. I was on a field trip with the band (yeah, I’m that much of a nerd), and we were headed to Wenatchee, WA for some sort of festival… but in order to get there from where I live, we had to go through the Snoqualmie Pass. Thankfully it was spring, so the lack of snow was a sight for sore eyes, but it was still a gorgeous view. Then “Open Your Arms” came on, and I couldn’t help but cry.

Something about this song just makes the scenery so much more special. It’s as if the song was written by the mountains, forests, lakes, snow piles… the road, the signs, the clouds. Call me cheesy if you like, but it’s a beautiful feeling.

So I hope you enjoy “Open Your Arms” by Editors. If I may make a suggestion: just close your eyes, and listen.

Day 255: Save Me by Aimee Mann

Hello there!

Tonight I feel like I’m gonna pass out… so before I do so I wanted to share a really beautiful song by the lovely Aimee Mann.

The song was written for the movie Magnolia (1999), which if you haven’t seen it I HIGHLY recommend it, and it features the characters in the movie as they go about their strange lives (with Aimee Mann kind of creepin’ in the background).

Anyways, enjoy “Save Me” by Aimee Mann (and go rent Magnolia… It’s gorgeous)