Archive for December, 2009
Day 7 Day 7 Day 7 Day 7 Day 7 Day 7 Day 7 Day 7
Jeremy Warmsley and Fay Buzzard used to film a pretty spectacular show out of their living room featuring acoustic performances by their incredibly talented friends (Mystery Jets, Emmy The Great, Noah and the Whale to name a few) called Welcome to Our TV Show! It was awesome.
One episode featured Matt Saunders, someone I was unfamiliar with at the time but whose performance blew me away. Watch the video below, skip to 5:15 for Saunders or watch the whole clip for an extra treat (a performance of “Tickle Me Pink” by the always amazing Johnny Flynn):
Four minutes was all it took. I was hooked. Getting my hands on his music proved rather difficult and with only five songs to tide me over for months, Saunders finally had some new music to share earlier this year. Now I’m going to share one of those songs with you:
December 7th: Matt Saunders – Throwing Knives
Hopefully 2010 will see a proper release from Saunders, I need one.
How about some songs instead of chocolate?
Today, my roommate gave me her advent calendar chocolate and I ran into Santa and Mrs. Claus at Panera (State St). Oh yes, the magic of Christmas is upon us. And I’ve got an idea!
Advent Calendar-style posts counting down my favorite 25 songs of 2009. Oh snap. Alright, so it’s not exactly the most original idea ever. And yeah, I know I’ve already missed six days of December, but whatevs it just means this post (the first one!) will include six songs instead of one.
The songs I’ve chosen for this 2009 Musical Advent Calendar were the first 25 that came to mind as this whole idea popped into my head, after all it’s a list of “favorite” not “best” songs of the year. I mean I don’t know if you’ve ever tried making a “best of” list, but it’s way more difficult than it seems. How in the world could a person really take inventory of every song they heard this year and decide on the absolute 25 best?? Impossible. Incorporating any type of ranking system would have also proved very time consuming and time is not on my side right now (it’s exam week for this particular blogger), so the songs will be posted daily in no particular order (thank you list randomizer!). However, I have decided there’s a certain song I want to share on the last day of this project, since it’s a song I have honestly listened to at least once everyday since I first heard it this year. Don’t be surprised if I end up posting more than 25 songs, I have a feeling some gems may have slipped my mind as I originally compiled this list.
On the final day of my 2009 Musical Advent Calendar, I will also post the final list of my favorite albums of the year (which I’m still working on).
Whatever, let’s get to the fun stuff, yeah?
December 1st: Phoenix – Lisztomania
You couldn’t really escape Phoenix this year, but it was okay by me. I mean, who would be opposed to happy pop songs written by French fellas? Their sound has obviously evolved since their debut United, but not in a bad way. “Sometimes in the Fall” has always had a tendency to get stuck in my head for days, “Lisztomania” gave it a run for its money this year. For more Phoenix: http://www.myspace.com/wearephoenix
December 2nd: Dead Man’s Bones – Pa Pa Power
Dead Man’s Bones are proof that not all “actors-turned-musicians” are shit and some concept albums can in fact work. “Pa Pa Power” is my favorite song from their self-titled debut and YEAH MAYBE IT DOES HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT SYNTH. Sue me. For more DMB: http://www.myspace.com/deadmansbones
December 3rd: Kid Harpoon – Buried Alive
Absolutely beautiful. Just reminds me of the many reasons I love this man. (More: http://www.myspace.com/kidharpoon)
December 4th: Planet Earth – Bergman Movies
I love Planet Earth. I don’t think the line “in life it’s easy to forget all the things you never wanted to say, like a jumper that you don’t like you just put it away” has escaped my brain since I first heard it. Anyway, you should love Planet Earth too. Seriously:
December 5th: Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension
Deep down inside, I am still that 13 year old girl who fell in love with this random band from NYC called The Strokes and never looked back.
December 6th: Fanfarlo – Drowning Men (BBC 6Music Session)
It seems impossible not to love and appreciate Fanfarlo. If you don’t, maybe you have no soul. Just sayin’.
