Wendy & Bonnie

It's always nice to be driven by inspiration but let's face it, inspiration isn't always around when we need it. That's when the desperation kicks in.

In other words, I've been trying to write my artist of the month post for days. Since I don't have a new artist to wax eloquent about at the moment, I decided to pick an old favourite. Well, the artist I picked {who will remain anonymous :P} just wasn't doing anything for me, though I love them. Then yesterday, out of the blue, I started writing a post about the album Genesis by Wendy & Bonnie. For some reason that is what my muse wanted me to write about. So, thanks to my perverse muse, I bring you June's artist of the month: Wendy & Bonnie!

This is an old favourite, like from when I first started listening to obscure music. It's one of those delicious albums that was "lost" soon after its release but later resurfaced and, thanks to the internet and a re-issue, has gained more popularity. Wendy and Bonnie Flower, two sisters from California, recorded this album in 1969 when Wendy was 17 and Bonnie was 13. But fate was seemingly against these two as their label went bankrupt shortly after the release of Genesis and the man who wanted to see them about further recording was murdered {!?!}. They never recorded together again but pursued separate careers in music.
Incredibly, Wendy and Bonnie composed all the songs on Genesis themselves. They might have played an instrument or two as well, but mainly they were backed by an awesome group of musicians.

Their album represents the best of the 60's, the innocent desire for personal and universal love, unclouded by drugs. But their songs still have a pleasing sense of light psychedelia and are brimming with the sister's harmonies. The first half of the album {sans any bonus tracks} is the best, both lyrically and in musical composition, but begins to falter a bit after that. Overall, though, it's a darn fine album and a merit to the creative era it came from.

It's so hard to pick a favourite off this album; I've been vacillating for a while now. I think I'm going to go with the lovely and sad 'By the Sea' but 'I Realized You' and 'You Keep Hanging Up On My Mind' are two other absolute favourites.

Listen:


{My divshare players have been acting up. If you press play you can hear the music but can't see the time nor pause it. Sorry about that. If this persists I may have to find another file host.}



This post has opened a floodgate I've been obsessively listening to lesser-known 60's music since yesterday evening. *happy sigh* I've missed it so.

Lonely Road

I know Paul McCartney has already gotten more than his fair share of space on this blog, but I love him--er, his music so much, I just can't help myself. ;)
Anyhow, it has recently been announced that he is going to be married again. I am quite happy for him and hope they will both be very happy... especially after his last marriage to she-whose-name-we-don't-mention.

So, it seems appropriate to post a Macca song! I'm going with 'Lonely Road' because it's one of my many favourites. Out of curiosity the other day, I asked my brothers what their favourite McCartney songs are and this one made the top of both their lists as well.
'Lonely Road' is off his 2001 album Driving Rain. Though it was released after he met you-know-who, quite a few of the album's songs are for his lovely Linda {pictured right} who had died three years earlier. {Read my post on his song 'Calico Skies' for more about them.} I admit, I am just as big a fan of Linda McCartney as I am of Paul and am a sucker for any of his songs for her. I personally think 'Lonely Road' is about his grief after Linda's death. This song has, as my mother would say, "angst". She has a penchant for "angst" in music. I'm not always sure what she means by that, but I think this song could be said to have angst, haha.


Listen:

{And this makes my third post for May, just like I promised! See, I really can keep my vows! :P}

Love is a Tricky Thing

Ah, me. It's always when I swear I will be posting that my brain gets paralyzed and nothing inspires me to write.

This is just a pathetic, diminutive post to share a music video I'm addicted to right now. This post might have been better if blogger had not shut down yesterday because now I find I am too tired to finish this post properly after this evening's miniature meltdown. {Heh... heh... *sigh*}

Anyhow, I've been watching Julie Feeney's music videos lately. {Artist bio in a nutshell: Julie Feeney is an Irish singer/songwriter/producer/conductor etc.! Let's just say, she can do it all!}
At first, I just watched her videos for the videos themselves, but then I started going back for the actual music. Today I am posting my favourite of her videos, 'Love is a Tricky Thing'. (But I would recommend the other two: the quirky, catchy 'Impossibly Beautiful' and the beautiful 'Aching' which really will have you aching by the end, in a good way.) 'Love is a Tricky Thing' is my favourite because I like the song and lyrics best and the video is just too darn cute! Definitely one you want to jump into and walk around in.




Alright, that's all for now. Oh, on an unrelated note, I turned 18 last Saturday! Now I can get duly punished for all my crimes. Oh dear. :P

Sleeping At Last

I solemnly swear I will post at least three times in May! April went by freakishly fast. For most of the time, I was legitimately busy... {Imagine that!} Thankfully, this month's artist of the month was a no-brainer for me: Sleeping At Last.



I only discovered their music recently, as in a few weeks ago. I found them by happenstance during one of my rare youtube browsings and by happy coincidence they were offering their 2009 album Storyboards for free on NoiseTrade! {I would just like to say, I was perfectly willing to pay for it on emusic but my account was on hold last month and I got impatient, wanting to listen to them when offline.}

Sleeping at Last is composed of Ryan O'Neal {lead vocals, guitar & piano} and Dan Perdue {bass & keys}. Their music touched me like no band's has in a while. Their lyrics are definitely a highlight; they are poetical often with an underlying spirituality. And on the album Storyboards, at least, many of the songs have beautiful orchestral arrangements. Since stringed instruments speak to my soul, this makes me quite happy.
On another note, this year Sleeping At Last is doing a project entitled "Yearbook" and are releasing a three-song EP for every month of the year which is a pretty spiffy idea, I think!

I haven't yet become as intimately acquainted with the album Storyboards as I would've liked, since I know some favourites don't always become evident til after numerous listens. But this song, 'Slow & Steady' has been a stand-out track for me so far.

Listen:




{Again, I repeat my promise: I will post at least three times in May; I will no longer be such a slacker! ...Not on this blog, at any rate. :P}

Tennis

I have been inexcusably neglectful as of late! Life has not been busy, necessarily... but it's been rather strange. I've been feeling rather strange, at least. I have felt very apathetic about many things, mainly my schoolwork... and writing coherent blog posts. April rolled around too fast and I was caught unprepared with no artist of the month and instead of buckling down to pick one, it became the elephant in the room {AKA my brain}.
The choice was obvious, really. But as I said I've been feeling apathetic blahblahblah. But, better late than never, right? So, finally, I bring the you April's artist of the month, Tennis!



Tennis is married couple, Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley. This year they released their debut album, Cape Dory, which has a pretty awesome backstory. After saving money for four years, they bought a sailboat and basically ran away from home for eight months. They sailed around the Atlantic coastline, adventuring and also writing the songs which were later to make up their album. Consequently, they have created the most sun-drenched, ocean-soaked record I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Their music is perfect for summer or listening to when one has spring fever {which I've been diagnosed with :P}. What's also cool is they recorded it the "old school way" so it sounds like it stepped out of a 1950's or 60's jukebox. Read this interview with Alaina Moore on emusic to learn more about the recording of the album and also why their cover art looks the way it does. ;)

The title track, 'Cape Dory', is probably my favourite song off the album. I've found I'm a sucker for a good "sha-la-la"!

Listen: