Top ‘o the Tuesday to you, my friends in music. I had a bad iPod experience this morning as I was riding my bike into work. You know how sometimes when you put your player on shuffle it seems almost as though your iPod has a clear view of all your wants and needs and is gently caressing your brain? That was the opposite of what happened this morning. Only the slowest of my jams and songs that someone must’ve put on a mix for me (read: threw a bunch of mp3s on a cd at random and handed them off) were being played and I was too intent on powering through my ride to change the songs.
Thus, I think my mood has been skewed for the rest of the day. In fact, it took me a good two hours to write that opening paragraph.
Talk about music that would’ve been perfect for my bike ride this morning. Best Coast’s lush California sound is like the perfect narrative to a beautiful summer day when the sun is just low enough to meet your eyes. Their sound is lo-fi beach pop mixed with a little bit of gritty garage rock.
The only reason this album wasn’t in the top spot this week is because I sang Jesca’s praises so much in my last Weekly Women to Listen to post, you might think I was being paid by her people to put her here. Well, the good news for you (and bad news for me) is that I’m not being paid by them, but this happens to be one of my favorite albums of the year so far. Listening to her seductive voice, you’d never think she was from the States; she has taken on some kind of old-world accent that suits her experimental sound just beautifully.
Jesca’s been compared to Vashti Bunyan, Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom but I’d add St. Vincent and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Talk about adorable: Pearl not only has a saccharine-filled voice, she’s also got a Scottish accent and she plays ukulele. I’m not sure why there has been such a huge surge in ukulele playing but I love it.
If you’re a fan of A Fine Frenzy, I think you’ll enjoy Pearl. They don’t sound alike, but I think their storytelling is similar. I’m a new fan.
Honorable metions: Menomena, Dru Hill, Seu Jorge and Almaz, Diplo, Miniature Tigers, The Spill Canvas and Dean & Britta (this one is actually really interesting).
What did I miss? Make sure you check out a new Weekly Women to Listen To tomorrow.
