I feel like the third cd you mix for someone is kind of like a make or break date. Recipient decides whether it's worth it to give it a go: either you listen to it over a good bottle of wine and expensive dinner, or you give it a frisbee toss to the curb. With that in mind, I made sure to throw in a little excitement, a bit of intrigue, some palatable darkness, and a touch of sugar. All in the hopes of making the cut and getting to--platonically, sonically--go home with you.
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The Head and the Heart / Cats and Dogs
It's been my morning song for the past few months.
More Info from Last.FM
The Head and the Heart is a folk band which formed in 2009 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The band consists of Josiah Johnson (vocals, guitar), Jonathan Russell (vocals, guitar), Charity Rose Thielen (violin, vocals), Chris Zasche (bass), Kenny Hensley (keyboards) and Tyler Williams (drums). Composed primarily of transplants to the Seattle area, The Head and the Heart write and play songs that speak to the newness of a fresh start, of the ghosts left behind Read more on Last.fm more...
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The Temper Trap / Love Lost
Love the way the vocals seem to echo answer each other.
More Info from Last.FM
The Temper Trap is an indie rock band which formed in 2005 in Melbourne, Australia. Now based in London, the band consists of Dougy Mandagi (vocals, guitar), Jonathon Aherne (bass), Toby Dundas (drums) and Joseph Greer (keyboards, guitar). In October 2013, an official statement confirmed that lead guitarist Lorenzo Sillitto parted ways with the band The Temper Trap's debut album, Conditions, was released in 2009 and contains the singles Sweet Disposition, Fader, Love Lost and Science of Fear. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Okkervil River / Lost Coastlines
An unexpected duet.
More Info from Last.FM
Okkervil River is an indie/folk rock band from Austin, Texas USA. Formed in 1998, the band takes its name from a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya. The band currently consists of Will Sheff (vocals, guitar), Will Graefe (guitar), Sarah K. Pedinotti (keyboards), Benjamin Lazar Davis (bass) and Cully Symington (drums). The band self-released their first album, Stars Too Small to Use, which led them to the South by Southwest music festival. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Sleigh Bells / Rill Rill
http://www.odeboutique.com/2011/09/charity-fall-fashion-show-at-twin-hills.html
More Info from Last.FM
Sleigh Bells is an electronic and noise pop duo formed in 2008 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. The band members are Alexis Krauss (vocalist, lyricist) and Derek E. Miller (songwriter, guitarist, producer). Miller was formerly the guitarist for the hardcore band Poison the Well, and Krauss was a member of the teen pop group RubyBlue. In 2008, Miller was waiting tables at a neighborhood Brazilian restaurant, Miss Favela, where he encountered Alexis and her mother. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Angus & Julia Stone / Big Jet Plane
I want to make a perfume ad with this song.
More Info from Last.FM
Angus & Julia Stone are an Australian acoustic folk-pop duo consisting of siblings Julia Stone and Angus Stone from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Their decision to collaborate was taken at the beginning of 2006. Prior to that, both had performed as solo artists at open mic nights but utilised the other as a backing partner. Ultimately they came up with the same idea, “Why don’t we play together? It kind of made a lot of sense”. In terms of composing the material Read more on Last.fm more...
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Old Canes / Early Morning Hymns
It's a happy hangover song! Or a walk of shame anthem.
More Info from Last.FM
When a European record shop asked Lawrence, Kansas-based band The Appleseed Cast to give an acoustic in-store performance, frontman Christopher Crisci wrote a series of new songs for the occasion. Such material formed the basis of Old Canes, a lo-fi project spearheaded by Crisci and performed by a loose group of backing musicians. The band's debut album, Early Morning Hymns, appeared in 2004, and Crisci issued two albums with The Appleseed Cast (2006's Read more on Last.fm more...
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Eilen Jewell / Dusty Boxcar Wall
Will always have a soft spot for a ramblin' gamblin' train hoppin' woman.
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Eilen Jewell is an American singer-songwriter, currently based in Boston. Her music is a mixture of Americana, country, folk and other styles that she has acquired from extensive travelling around the U.S.A. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Wilco / Whole Love
Wilco's been a favorite of mine since college. I like that Tweedy maintains a signature sound without it going stale.
More Info from Last.FM
Wilco is a rock band which formed in 1994 in Chicago, Illinois, United States by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure from that group. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt remaining from the original incarnation. The other current members are guitarist Nels Cline, multi-instrumentalists Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen, and drummer Glenn Kotche. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Brandtson / Earthquakes and Sharks
A cautionary tale meets an epidemically infectious tune.
More Info from Last.FM
Brandtson was an indie rock band that formed in 1996 in Cleveland, Ohio and disbanded in 2008. It was originally a side project for Myk Porter, the vocalist of the hardcore band, Six Feet Deep. Porter got his friend Jared Jolley to play drums in the band. Soon thereafter, Six Feet Deep broke up and Brandtson became a full-time band with the addition of Matt Traxler, also of Six Feet Deep, on guitar and John Sayre on bass. Their first release was on Traxler's indie label, Steadfast Records and was entitled, Letterbox. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Feist / How Come You Never Go There
I had to go there.
More Info from Last.FM
Leslie Feist (born February 13, 1976) is a singer/songwriter from Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada. She performs as a solo artist under the name Feist and also as a member of Broken Social Scene. Raised in Regina and Calgary, Feist got her start in music as the lead vocalist for a punk band called Placebo (not the more famous British band Placebo), who won a local Battle of the Bands competition and were awarded the opening slot at a Ramones concert. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Mumford & Sons / The Cave
I don't even really like these guys. But I really really like this song.
More Info from Last.FM
Mumford & Sons are an English folk band from London, formed in 2007. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Ben Lovett (vocals, keyboard, piano, synthesizer), Winston Marshall (vocals, electric guitar, banjo) and Ted Dwane (vocals, bass guitar, double bass). Mumford & Sons have released three studio albums: Sigh No More (2009), Babel (2012) and Wilder Mind (2015). Sigh No More peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and the Billboard 200 in the US Read more on Last.fm more...
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Adele / Someone Like You
I'm sure everyone is Adele-ed out, but I think this is one of the saddest, most beautiful song written in quite a while. And if you haven't seen this performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qemWRToNYJY
More Info from Last.FM
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, (born 5 May 1988), is a multiple Grammy Award-Winning English singer-songwriter from Enfield, North London. Her debut album, 19, was released in January 2008 and entered the UK album chart at #1. The album has since received four-times Platinum certification in the UK and has sold 5,500,000 copies worldwide. The album included the hugely popular song Chasing Pavements. 19 earned Adele two Grammy Awards in February 2009 for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / Same Mistake
Fun to run to.
More Info from Last.FM
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are a Brooklyn and Philadelphia-based indie-rock band lead by Alec Ounsworth. Until 2012, the band also consisted of Lee Sargent, Robbie Guertin and Tyler Sargent. The band also featured drummer Sean Greenhalgh until 2014. All the band members attended Connecticut College, in New London, Connecticut, United States. Their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, recorded by Adam Lasus (Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo/the dirt of luck) Read more on Last.fm more...
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Uncle Tupelo / New Madrid
How I got turned onto Jeff Tweedy. Something about a twang--maybe the Kansan in me.
More Info from Last.FM
Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville Records, before signing with Sire Records and expanding to a five-piece. Shortly after the release of the band's major label debut album Anodyne, Farrar Read more on Last.fm more...
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Mat Kearney / Hey Mama
Kind of surfer jock rock. But what's wrong with sandy muscles and hangin' ten once in a while?
More Info from Last.FM
Mat Kearney (pronounced CARN-ee; born 1 December 1978 in Eugene, Oregon) is an American singer-songwriter based out of Nashville, TN, originally from Eugene, Oregon. His music has an acoustic base fused with hip hop. He is signed to Aware/Columbia Records. In addition to singing, he also plays guitar, piano and harmonica. Following his first EP release (in 2002), so far he has a total of five top-20 hits on the Adult Top 40 Chart. The Hey Mama Songfacts Read more on Last.fm more...
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Sia / Soon We'll Be Found
A little repetitive, I know, but a good hypnotist is sort of like a magician.
More Info from Last.FM
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler (/ˈsiːə/; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter, record producer and music video director. She started her career as a singer in the local Adelaide acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she released her debut studio album titled OnlySee in Australia. She then moved to London, England, and provided lead vocals for the British duo Zero 7. In 2000, Sia signed to Sony Music's sub-label Dance Pool and released her second studio album Read more on Last.fm more...
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Grouplove / Colours
Something to wake you up after Sia. It's like Modest Mouse's marathon running kid brother.
More Info from Last.FM
Grouplove is an indie pop band which formed in 2009 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The band consists of Christian Zucconi (vocals, guitar), Hannah Hooper (vocals, keyboards), Andrew Wessen (vocals, guitar), Sean Gadd (bass, vocals), and Ryan Rabin (drums). The band released their debut album, Never Trust a Happy Song, in September 2011, which was followed by Spreading Rumours, released September 2013. Both albums were produced by the band's drummer Ryan Rabin, who is the son of former Yes guitarist and film composer Trevor Rabin. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Zee Avi / Concrete Wall
Her new album is amazing. Boom-she-clack-clack...
More Info from Last.FM
Zee Avi, also known as Koko Kaina, is a singer/songwriter from Miri, Malaysia. She is currently signed to Brushfire records and was featured on the album "This Warm December". She is best known for her Christmas song "No Christmas for me", which became a YouTube success in 2007. Zee Avi on this song: “This song was inspired by everything i’ve experienced/read/watched/heard of from movies or stories, about one’s lover being far away for Christmas Read more on Last.fm more...
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Avi Buffalo / One Last
(Thought the Avi's should sit together.) This song is like witnessing a well-choreographed argument: the tempo slows with him, and picks up with her. And when they finally sing together, it's a compromise of sounds.
More Info from Last.FM
Avi Buffalo was an alternative rock band from Long Beach, California, headed by songwriter/guitarist Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg. The band signed to Sub Pop Records in late 2009 and released their self-titled debut on April 27th, 2010. On 27 January 2015, Zahner-Isenberg announced via Facebook that he was ceasing the band. Zahner-Isenberg began writing and recording songs at home on his computer during his 10th grade year in high school, and debuted a full electric band at the beginning of his junior year. Read more on Last.fm more...
