Song For James

And lastly for my favourite songs of 2010, 'Song for James' by The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger. {Oh, did I mention that these songs weren't posted in any specific order? Because they weren't.}

This was another artist I discovered from the daily download on emusic. One day, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger's (also known as The GOASTT) song 'Jardin Du Luxemborg' was the free emusic download. I downloaded it but didn't have a chance to listen to it till lying in bed that night, listening to it on my ipod. I decided I rather liked it and resolved to look the band up tomorrow.

The next day, look them up I did! I ended up on their official website. I skimmed their biography and started to move on when, all of the sudden, I did a double take. I re-read the first line of their bio: "The GOASTT is two people, Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl."
Sean Lennon... The Sean Lennon? As in...?
And the answer is yes. Sean Lennon as in the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. {Small world, non? :P}
Turns out The GOASTT is Sean's latest musical project that he started with his girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl who also is a model.

Their debut album Acoustic Sessions is aptly named, being mainly a folk album though it has tinges of psychedelia and other 60's pop elements. Their lyrics are brimming with wordplay {which I've heard is mainly Charlotte's doing} and the melodies beg to be hummed along to.

Listen to 'Song For James':

{Heads-up: the actual song ends around the 4 minute mark and then the rest of the song is silence with some faint nature noises in the background.}

Well, that's all for now, folks. Hope you all enjoyed my favourite songs of 2010. :)

Brave Enough

I don't have an official favourite album of 2010. If I did have one, though, it would probably be Secret Transit by KaiserCartel.



Perhaps I just take a personal interest in it, since I helped make it possible. {It sounds very important when I say it that way, doesn't it? :P In all reality I merely pledged as many fans did. Which turned out to be an excellent decision since their Philanthropy EP, which was exclusive to pledgers, contains some of the best songs they have ever done, in my opinion. I have figured out how to play my favourite song off it, 'Lying Cats' on the piano. An accomplishment of which I am quite proud! *ahem* Pardon. I digress.}

Of course, I just love KaiserCartel. Period. They were my artist of the month in January of last year. Even my family knows they are one of my favourites and they gave up trying to keep track of my favourite artists a long time ago. {Which brings up something that has confused me for quite some time: is it KaiserCartel with no space? Or Kaiser Cartel with a space? Because, to semi-quote Shawn Spencer, "I've seen it both ways." :P}

So, since I've posted about them before, surely I need to give them no further introduction? Honestly, it can be horribly trying to sit here and try to come up with something to say that isn't pretentious or an echo of what has already been said. I'm much better in the rambling department, in case you hadn't noticed. ;)

As usual, I vacillated when trying to pick which song off Secret Transit to post. There are so many good songs to choose from! I would pick one and then second guess my choice. Finalement I chose 'Brave Enough' as the song to post. I'm a sucker for the cello... and Courtney Kaiser's vocals are just lovely in it {not that they ever aren't}.

Listen to 'Brave Enough':

And yes, I had to change my background. *sigh* This one I have right now was just supposed to be temporary but I've finally gotten to the point where I no longer cringe when I see it... so I think I might keep it.

Dead Hearts

There do not seem to be enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to. But I never fully realize it till I am lying in bed at night, and all the things I meant to accomplish that day {but didn't} stand around my bed and stare at me reproachfully.
Here is a task whose glare has been particularly hard to ignore: posting my third favourite song of 2010, 'Dead Hearts' by Stars.

Bascially, I know nothing about this song and the band who does it. The site I buy my music off of {emusic} has a free song download every day which I usually get. This was one of the songs offered one day and, well, I downloaded it. It was definitely worth every penny I payed! :P
Just teasing - obviously I love it since it made my favourite songs of 2010 list!

Correction, I should have said initially I knew nothing about this song or the band Stars. I do know more about them than I used to. Stars is a Canadian indie pop band that was originally formed by Torquil Campbell and Chris Seligman but now includes three more members: Amy Millan, Evan Cranley, and Pat McGee. 'Dead Hearts' is off their album they released in June The Five Ghosts. {See? Aren't I just brimming with information?}

Confession: while I do love this song, I never really have listened to any more of their music. Sometimes I am just content not to buy an artist's full albums or discography and just enjoy the few songs I hear. Maybe that's absurd but, well, *points to blog name*. :P

Listen to 'Dead Hearts':



In other news, I may have to change my blog background soon. You've probably seen the message on the side but if not: the site I got my background on has changed servers so I have to "update my code". I would except the background I'm using is seemingly discontinued. -_-
I have sent an email so we'll see what happens. I don't even know why I'm blathering about this... I guess I just thought I'd give you a heads up in case there is someone out there reading this who is anything like me and hates change.
As Adrian Monk would say: "I don't mind change I just don't want to be there when it happens." or "Don't change anything... ever."
That just about sums it up for me!

Between You and Me

For my second favourite song of 2010, I present 'Between You and Me' by Auryn!

Auryn is a singer I don't know much about. I can find very little information about her and what I have found is in French! I do know that she was born in Belgium and she plays the cello and the piano. Also I know that her debut album, Winter Hopes is exquisite.
I randomly stumbled across Winter Hopes on emusic and, in listening to the samples, decided to give it a try. I downloaded the first track 'Between You and Me' which I soon grew to love. And eventually, a few months later, I came back and downloaded the whole album.
It is an interesting, enchanting album that leads you from upbeat pop songs to melancholy classical songs. It is full of sighs, it is full of joy.
And oddly, only two of the songs are in French.

'Between You and Me' remains my favourite off the album but the slightly funky 'Prince aux cheveux d'or' comes in close second.

Listen to 'Between You and Me':

I realized after my last post that I didn't even say, "I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/New Year." Please forgive my rudeness. I will say it now!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! I did. ;)

Jaymay

If you were reading my blog last year, you may remember I did "My favourite songs of 2009" which was just me posting 5 songs I had loved from the past year. I am going to do that again this year since I enjoyed doing it last year. Also, it is the beginning of a new month {not to mention year} so you all know what that means?!?
If you answered artist of the month then you are correct!
Aaaand... *drumroll* January's artist of the month is Jaymay.

Jaymay's real name is Jamie Seerman. She makes awesome folk music. Ever since discovering her first album Autumn Fallin' which was released in 2007, I have been anticipating new releases from her. Last August she released a three track EP whose duration was around 3 minutes long. That did nothing but sharpen my longing for more Jaymay! But thankfully a month later she released a 5 track EP Long Walk to Never with songs whose lengths exceeded a 1 minute average. :P
One of the highlight's of Jaymay's music are her lyrics. They are honest songs of love and longing and very often personally conversational as if she were singing it to one person, the person she wrote it for.

My favourite song off Long Walk to Never is 'One May Die So Lonely'.

Listen:



Well, that's all for now. See you later this week with more of my favourite songs from 2010! *plays ending theme music*