Song: “Created”
Artist: Portugal. The Man
Album: Censored Colors (2008)
…Alaska, United States…
After spending the morning listening to the new Guns’n'Roses album I needed something decent and melodic to flush out my ears and in steps Portugal. The Man’s “Created”.
A simple, uplifting song in its entirety. I just think it gets around to say that we all are eventually going to die. Possessions and money are useless to us then so maybe all that really matters in life is how we treat others.
Song: “Gobbledigook”
Artist: Sigur Ros
Album: Með Suð I Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (2008)
…Reykjavik, Iceland…
I always find this such an amazingly, uplifting track to start an album, shut your eyes and you can even feel the sun come out. As always Sigur Ros’s albums are magnificently crafted and this album has plenty of beautiful moments to make me stop whatever I’m doing at the time, sit back, listen and just try to absorb it all in.
Song: “Drunken Lullabies”
Artist: Flogging Molly
Album: Drunken Lullabies (2002)
…Los Angeles, United States…
Fire up your day with this little Irish tune, your belly with a little Irish whiskey and before you know it your foot will be tapping out a jig and you will be looking under stones for leprechaun’s.
A song about finally making peace with your enemies.
Guinness soaked fun.
Artist: Ulver
Album: Kveldssanger (1995)
…Oslo, Norway…
I’m not going to list a single track on this post because my opinion is that this album should be listened to in its entirety. It’s only 35min long and wont take much out of your day but will give so much back in return.
This is the second album from Ulver, the masters of change and evolution. Over there sprawling career they have strove to reinvent themselves with every album. From Black Metal they have ventured into electronic, experimental, folk, atmospheric, ambient, and jazz.
Kveldssanger is a folk album but in essence it still retains some of the black metal atmosphere from their previous album Bergtatt. It is a beautiful, uplifting, peaceful piece of work. Taking the roots of Norwegian Folk to another level with flowing streams of acoustic melodies and guitars laid bare. Coming together with some wonderful vocal harmonies and moments of flutes and wind, all these elements amble together to form a magnificent river of harmony.
Tranquil in its beginnings, Kveldssanger is an album that will make you want to get away from it all, to absorb your surroundings and reflect and at the very least it will make you smile.
Song: “Knife”
Artist: Grizzly Bear
Album: Yellow House (2006)
…Hailing from Brooklyn, New York…
Waking this morning with a slightly shriveled, dehydrated brain rattling around in my vast expanse of a skull, I decided I needed a little melody, a little ambiance, a little atmospheric conditioning before I actually got going. So while I showered and tried to wash away last nights beers from my behind my eyes I was embraced with the seductive melodies from this little known band.
Poetic, expansive, opaque sounds filled my bathroom combined with some absolutely mesmerizing vocals. “Knife” is one of my favorite tracks off the album, it deals with backstabbing, cheating and pretty much stringing somebody along.
Check out the youtube clip….its bizarre.
Song: “Hologram Buffalo”
Artist: Brightblack Morning Light
Album: Motion To Rejoin (2008)
…Psychedelic, Folk originating from Alabama, USA…
This is my Sunday morning slow burn jam session and pretty much describes the pace that today is running too. Looks like its going to be another long trip, procrastinating, pushing foreign objects up my nose….and this album/song I have dedicated to be the soundtrack of my day.
It’s 70′s meets 2008, the taking of psychedelic, folk and atmospheric sounds into one big ol’ cooking pot. The melting and merging of past and present influences and finally when the brew is just right casting them into something new, fresh and innovative.
