Happy Heart Day

My mom was my valentine on account of my boyfriend being in Canada on this lovely day of love.
She was so kind to send me a card with an iTunes card inside.
SCORE!
Naturally, after scarfing sweet potato, vegan chili, and steamed kale (I had a long dance class tonight), I spent the whole thing.
Some of my purchases:

and this, too

and a bit of this

People always want to know what to get me for Christmas, birthday, etc...well, ma, you nailed it. So much happiness wrapped up in a tiny, plastic card.

Almost forgot!

Iron and Wine

I practically forgot the release of the new Iron and Wine album this Wednesday...until I remembered.
After eagerly pulling up Kiss Each Other Clean on iTunes, I promptly clicked on the first song and listened with dismay. The slightly overproduced, possibly Christian music radio station sounds of "Walking from Home" were surely a fluke in an otherwise stellar album. Right?
I listened on.
Funk drumming?
Is that a saxophone?
How DARE you?!
I don't know what you were thinking, Sam Beam, but this beat doesn't sound like yours. The use of keyboard and snare drum are nice in their own right, but I can't help but think I have heard this before. Is it Ben Folds? Oh my God, is it Phil Collins?!
I suppose I should have seen it coming. After the release of Shepherd's Dog, I could feel the tides were changing and that whispery, unfiltered sound I had come to know and love over the years was evolving into something...else. I understand that artists change, but I guess I just wasn't ready.
Kudos, Mr. Beam, for refusing to stagnate, I guess. In the meantime, I will give Kiss Each Other Clean a few more goes, but will probably cling for dear life to albums past.

Gym Jams

This week I have managed to drag my holiday cookie-filled ass to the gym on more than one occasion. This is the music that is getting me there...oh, and the numerous flat screen TVs around the room.

And this

Moi je joue

I am currently obsessed with French music.
It fulfills a certain, je ne sais quoi. Gainsbourg's whispery verses followed by mundane chorus lyrics sung in boppy female voice takes me to a swanky nightclub where I sip champagne and share a booth with other pretty girls in fake eyelashes and pink, ruffled lingerie. Edith Piaf croons me into a parisian cafe, where I sulk beautifully at an outdoor table under a black beret, turning the pages of a novel and waiting for a tall, dark and handsome to throw me a sultry glance.
It's music so bad that it's good.
I am bored. I am sophisticated. I am curious. I am starving. I am feminine. I am pretentious.
You get the idea?

I've had Brigitte Bardot on repeat for a week now, and have designed the most perfectly perfect chanson station on Pandora. Some of my favorites? I thought you'd never ask!

France Gall "Laisse Tomber les Filles"

Charles Trenet "Boum"

Yves Montand "C'est si bon"

Brigitte Bardot "Moi je joue"

Serge Gainsboug "Sea sex and sun"

I'm still exploring, so I appreciate input, especially of the more modern, independent variety.

Passion Pit

A few months back I procured a copy of Passion Pit's Manners from a dear friend whose musical library generally aligns with, if not compliments my own. Let's say, if music tastes were measured on scales weighted with arbitrary indie genres, this friend's top five would tilt slightly more toward Dashboard Confessional and mine would tend to the Iron and Wine side. That's why I was initially disappointed when I optimistically popped the CD into the stereo and thirty seconds into the first track thought to myself, "WTF?" I get the commercial appeal of "Sleepyhead" in all it's chipmunk catchy-ness, but similarly squeaky tracks like "The Reeling" didn't have the same effect. Apparently I am not the only who reacted this way, as there exists an album consisting entirely "Reeling" remixes, I guess in an attempt to get the track "right". There is something about the unrelenting falsetto and apparent lack of diminuendo that contributes to this feeling of being trapped in an explosive vacation Bible school sing along.
However
after subjecting myself to several weeks of the electro-glee club onslaught, the album started to grow on me. I find myself bopping to "Sleepyhead" and "Folds in Your Hands" as a pick me up on the way to work. While it's not an album I would recommend to first-timers, I'd hand it to a friend that enjoyed music from the pleasantly weird realm. So, Passion Pit, you win again.

Good Morning, The Future

Please, God, no.
If this is the indication of things to come, please remove me from the Rogue Wave fan club.
Disappointment extreme.

rediscovered love

In preparation for driving to and from SFO in one day, I reached for an old, cracked, orange CD organizer that I began filling in high school, and decided to bring in along for company. While I made a few alterations (replaced MXPX and Hot Hot Heat with Christmas gifts Phoenix and a Bossa nova compilation), I thoroughly enjoyed reliving my obsessions with some of my old loves. Number one among these is Andrew Bird. I happen to believe that Mr. Bird is grossly underrated and that his album Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs is one of the best and most beloved in my collection. Weather Systems isn't bad either. While I'm not too familiar with his Bowl of Fire days, I must say that his newer music and that brew of sorrowful violin, lilting whistling, and unwrinkled vocals has always impressed me. I remember attending one of his shows in L.A. during my sophomore year of college, swaying with my roomies, and secretly cursing myself when I couldn't recite every lyric along with the crowd. Imagine my surprise when, after my rendezvous with albums past, I discovered his newest album, Noble Beast, selling for a discounted price of $.69 a song on iTunes! While I don't know the dealings of iTunes pricing, I wouldn't say that this bargain is due to a lack of satisfaction with the album. I will only look at it as an added sweetness to my reconnection with the music.