Another Les Mix. Get excited. Get crazy. Then wind it back down. This post’s theme is sort of folky. Hope you like. And remember, I’m always down to make a hard copy with sweet art if you want. All you have to do is ask.
Oh, and before I forget! As it turns out, quite a few people out there have been lurking around the blag (unless one person is just sitting at their computer refreshing my page). Don’t be shy. Comment, let me know what you want more of, let me know that you’re out there. Also, check out the MOI tab at the top if you don’t really know me, or want to learn some useless random facts about me.
Anyway, on with le blag.
1. Curs In The Weeds- Horse Feathers
I love the steady build-up and what they do with strings. That violin is stunning.
2. Hymn #101- Joe Pug
I feel like Joe Pug is sort of a modern Bob Dylan. Not to say he’s as good, just that he embodies that spirit. I like the way he sounds like he means his lyrics. And his lyrics are fantastic. “I’ve come from down the road,/And my footsteps never slowed./Before we met I knew we’d meet.” And the last verse? “And you’ve come to know me stubborn as a butcher./And you’ve come to know me thankless as a guest./But will you recognize my face/When God’s awful grace/Strips me of my jacket and my vest,/And reveals all the treasure in my chest?” That’s pretty powerful. I think we can expect some great music from him in the future.
3. Cinder and Smoke- Iron & Wine
Who doesn’t love Iron & Wine? This one always gives me chills.
4. Frank, AB- The Rural Alberta Advantage
5. Rain On- Woods
6. Golden and Green- The Builders and the Butchers
I don’t care if you don’t like any of the previous songs in this post. I don’t care if you don’t really listen to music. I don’t care if you don’t have ears. If nothing else, play this clip. I’ve known about The Builders and the Butchers for a while, but never took the time to look them up until recently. The video is amazing (I love the nod to Darger’s Vivian Girls). The song is unbelievable. I really recommend reading through the lyrics on this one.
7. Matchstick Maker- The Bowerbirds
One of my favorite songs of all time. I was worried at first about only being able to find live videos, but I almost prefer this live version to some recorded options. The footage is beautifully filmed, and the lyrics are pretty incredible here too, “Branded skin, broken vessel/Took a job in the city/Making matchsticks/To start other men’s fires.” It’s hard for me to pull out one lyric from this one… “And the rule of the land is more like a strong suggestion/As this strong current begs for the open ocean” and even little details are gorgeous, “Gravity toils away.”
8. Skinny Love- Bon Iver
Another favorite of mine. Bon Iver has this incredible, wistful sort of sound that always reminds me of the woods in winter, quietly waiting for spring.
9. Train Song- Feist and Ben Gibbard
This track is from the Dark Was The Night album that came out last year. If you haven’t heard it, get your hands on a copy. Also, I think Feist and Ben Gibbard need to collaborate more.
10. Hands in Pockets- Laura Gibson
I first heard this in the Bistro (Willamette University’s student run coffee shop) last year and fell in love. Gibson is a Portland native who writes music alternating between charming and haunting. This is one of her more upbeat works, but the rest of her music is equally lovely.
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