Hurray for the Riff Raff released a really great LP entitled "Small Town Heroes" at the beginning of this year. The album sways between upbeat bluegrass tunes and more downtempo, dark ones. The constant throughout it all, though, is lead singer Alynda Lee Segarra's super smooth vocals. Collectively, it's a really nice work.
Hurray for the Riff Raff
Perhaps the most interesting part of discovering this band was learning about the road (or should I say tracks) that Segarra traveled to found this band & create music. The following is an excerpt from wuis.org about her journey:
"Alynda Lee Segarra - the singer, songwriter and musical force behind the group - first captured national attention in 2012, when her album Look Out Mama earned glowing reviews. Born to a Puerto Rican family in the Bronx, Segarra grew up making weekly trips to New York's Lower East Side for punk matinees. After extensive traveling [including hopping freight trains for years], she found her own musical home in New Orleans."
Now it's time to sit back (preferably on a front porch rocking chair) and take a listen to the band, live in a KEXP session:
A couple days ago, I took the initially scary but eventually liberating step of restoring (i.e. deleting) my entire IPod. I was sick of the same old stuff on it that's been accumulating over the past 5 years. Now that the clean slate is filled up with new stuff, I've got a whole bunch of random songs to share (in addition to some songs I just haven't been able to get out of my head for a while).
Sylvan Esso - "Uncatena"
Amelia Meath's innocent, folksy vocals laid over infectious beats
Hiss Golden Messenger - "Mahogany Dread"
Classic American roots rock... done right.
Alt-J - "Nara"
Off their newly released EP, "This is All Yours". If you're short on time, just start the video at 2:55. Enough said.
FKA Twigs - "Two Weeks"
Listened to this for the first time while on a plane, looking out the window as we soared back and forth between massive cloud formations. The chorus fit the setting to a tee.
Marissa Nadler - "Drive"
This checks off all of my typical boxes: sad, haunting lyrics, pedal steel, angelic harmonies... super emo.
Was blasting this song in my car while running errands today... Alt-J is a quirky U.K. based band that has gained a bit of a following here in the states as well.
Alt-J
This track is off their 2012 album, An Awesome Wave. The video's nothing to write home about, but the song is.
What a brilliant, brilliant album. The War on Drugs, with lead singer Adam Granduciel, channels all the best parts of 80's rock to create a near-flawless LP that takes the listener on a journey.
The War on Drugs
It's easy to hear the influence of Springsteen, Hornsby, and Dylan in his songs. The songs are abound with hazy guitar riffs, saxophone swells, strong piano chords and raw vocals. It's an infectious rock album which will appeal to generations of music fans (i.e., both us and our Dads). Also helping their cause: they're fantastic live. Watch "Red Eyes" from their live set at KEXP below:
And listen to the 5th track on the album, "Disappearing," below:
Hundred Waters is a folk/electronic group based in Florida. I found them randomly clicking around on Spotify the other day, and have since been loving this track. Band: Hundred Waters Song: Visitor Best Part of the Track: The flute overlay at 2 minutes in.
Credit is due to my boyfriend for introducing me to this band, thus sparking yet another musical obsession of mine. WHY? is absolutely unclassifiable. Sometimes hip-hop, sometimes folk pop... but really the only way to describe them is that they're unlike anyone else. They're just plain weird.
WHY?
The thing that keeps me coming back to WHY? is lead singer Yoni Wolf's lyrics. They're expressive and imaginative... laden with imagery, metaphors, and double entendres.
There's no way I could do this band more justice than simply listing off some of my favorite Yoni-isms. It took me actually reading the written verses to realize just how many themes he has incorporated into their work. Love, history, death, adolescence, sex, violence, drugs, religion... just a small list of Yoni's lyrical musings. Here's a taste (warning, some are NSFW):
i thought i had a pebble in my sock
i pulled it off and shook out a wasp
it stumbled out lost, and without a pause
unstung as i was, still i stomped it
even though i haven't seen you in years,
yours is a funeral i'd fly to from anywhere.
what, does it make me evil? am i a feeble deranged fuck?
cause jesus would and i would not drive the needle exchange truck?
if you grew up with white boys
who only look at black and puerto rican porno
cause they want something that their dad don't got
then you know where you're at
then i wept with my face in your night shirt
trying hard as hell to say 'until death separates us,'
loosening the skin on your breastbone
i painted your nails and you sleep while i write all this down
when i got better from the mumps
yes, my swollen nut and neck shrunk
i sleep on my back cause it's good for the spine and coffin rehearsal
your mom she sits while her hair is in curlers
smokes weed and listens to garrison keillor
that's how i'll live when i quit my rap career
let her laughter pass the rafters and go out into the atmosphere
And here's a few favorite tracks with accompanying lyrics:
Song of the Sad Assassin
Alopecia (2008)
'i'll suck the marrow out and rape your hollow bones, yoni'
Berkeley by Hearseback
Eskimo Snow (2009)
'these tits not filled with milk, these cold bones wrapped in hunger
like a bundle of sticks in a fire so slow it leaves them unburned, black and yearning'
Been listening to St. Vincent for quite some time, but I've never liked her stuff more than I do now. Annie Clark's progression as an artist has been fascinating. She started out wearing butterfly wings and providing gentle background vocals for another one of my favorite musicians, Sufjan Stevens. She broke out as an individual artist with her first studio album in 2007, entitled "Marry Me." In 7 years, she has broken her own mold. Though there was always a hint of edginess in her work, her early LP's brought more melody and timidity to the table than fierceness. That couldn't be more opposite than her newest self-titled album... she has never sounded more confident. The evolution of her cover art says it all:
Innocent Annie Clark (2007)
Fearless Annie Clark (2014)
Her time spent on tour with David Byrne had a profound impact on her recent material. This is most obvious on the track "Digital Witness," which is Annie's commentary on the technology of today, posing the question "If I can't show it, if you can't see me... what's the point of doing anything?" There's no arguing that her new work is both daring and just plain weird at times. She's definitely a polarizing artist... especially when you watch her live. Her concerts not only showcase her musicianship, but also serve as a medium to convey her newfound persona. She's perfected the use of her voice, her body and her facial expressions to transport you to what feels like a different time, and perhaps even a different world. Personally, I find it mesmerizing, and I'll keep watching her. Especially if she keeps ripping guitar solos like the one that starts at 4:06 in the video below:
I think I'm responsible for at least 100 of the hits on this video today. Sharon Van Etten released a way-too-short teaser of her new album, "Are We There," which will be released in May by Jagjaguwar.
Her music is sometimes folksy and quiet, sometimes rock-n-roll-sy (is that a word?) and bold. Regardless of style, it's always powerful.
Needless to say, I'm obsessed already with her new stuff, even after hearing just 50 seconds of it. Typical strong vocals by Sharon, backed by Heather Woods Broderick's perfect harmonies... laid over oscillating strings. If only I didn't have to wait 3 months to hear the rest of the LP.
