Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Cool Music Stuff on the Internet- Bell X1 Album Stream

New album by Irish rockers Bell X1 is out tomorrow in Ireland (today if you are there) but all you have to do to listen is "like" the band on Facebook. The album then streams in its entirety. Cool idea, great way for the band to grow their FB page and enable them to reach more fans. Also, if you don't know who Bell X1 is, then you obviously haven't read this. Check them out.

https://www.facebook.com/bellx1?sk=app_4949752878

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

What's the Craic! Happy St. Patrick's Day Listening!

In honor of my second favorite country and its wonderful holiday-thats-been-adopted-by-the-US-as-an-excuse-to-drink-holiday, I've put together some suggested listening for your St. Patrick's Day party.  Have a listen and add your favorites below.

The Script
Best known for their US hit "Breakeven" he Script has recently released a new album  Science & Faith that has some really unexpected tracks on it.



I thought Breakeven was going to be a one hit wonder, but the new album shows these guys have some chops.
Suggested listening: "For the First Time" and "Nothing"





Bell X1
I sometimes listen to RTE's 2fm online just to see what people are listening to in Ireland because they seem to a)sometimes have better music than us and b) seem to have it sooner than us. That is how I discovered Bell X1.
Suggested listening: "Bad Skin Day" (this is, fittingly enough, from a live performance on RTE)



"Rocky Took a Lover"




"Eve, The Apple of My Eye"



and "The Ribs of A Broken Umbrella"



The Cranberries
Break out your doc martins and dark brown lipstick people, its the 90's all over again!
Suggested listening: "Linger" 




 and of course, "Dreams"



The Corrs
Suggested listening:
"Stars Go Blue"


"Breathless"



Damien Rice
Yup, he's from Ireland too. If you are unfamiliar, first of all, shame on you, and second, you will like him if you like David Gray or Nick Drake.
Suggested listening, "Volcano"




The Blower's Daughter


 "Amie"
This song was first introduced to me by a group of Irish friends visiting me in New York City on St. Patrick's Day, where it was sung at the top of their lungs in a packed pub. A fitting introduction, I'd say.



 "9 Crimes"



The Swell Season/Glen Hansard
Comprised of the stars of "Once", Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova) a beautiful indie film, which won an Oscar (Best Original Song for Falling Slowly).
Suggested listening (click on song name to hear):

"Falling Slowly"

"When Your Mind's Made Up"



Bonus? A cover of them doing Into the Mystic. Amazing.




And of course, best for last--

U2
Where to even BEGIN with suggested listening? There are simply too many to choose from. Here are a few of my favorites, but I'd say this one in particular pretty much sums them up:

"We're an Irish band....we come from Dublin City Ireland...Like all cities...it has its good, and it has its bad... this is a song called Bad"

Bad, Live from Live Aid 1985


Running to Stand Still






Red Hill Mining Town




Ultraviolet


Walk On



City of Blinding Lights


40
(which is from this)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Cool Music Stuff on the Internet- Winter-y Songs, U2, REM, Best Covers and more

Siggghhhhhh....have I mentioned how awesome I think NPR Music is??? I no longer live in an area of deep cold, and while now 'cold' for me means 60 degrees, this blog post and accompanying single completely makes me feel like its one of those biting cold days that has a strangely strong sun and you almost don't mind it being winter. In other words...what he said. Check out the short post and the single by The High Highs, "Open Season", HERE

This NPR post reminded me of a great 'wintry' playlist posted on a blog called All Things Go. Apparently I'm in the mood for winter songs today. Check it out HERE

Also, on NPR Music (OF COURSE), they are currently streaming the new REM album, HERE

Not only is there a movie in the works about U2 (UK only, no release date in the US yet), but someone at Billboard dug up this video of U2-so-early-U2-they-weren't-even-called-U2-yet, with a Justin Beiber age looking Bono HERE.

This doesn't have any actual music in it, per se, but a spirited convo in the comments section re: the music industry v. consumer. Who's side are you on in this argument?

2 new Death Cab songs on the always awesome Stereogum, HERE

Top 10 greatest cover songs, as chosen by Rolling Stone readers.  I can think of about a million others....there might have to be a blog post on that topic soon! But for now, check it out HERE.