Artist Mini-Spotlight: Kimbra

Quite often while brainstorming posts, I want to highlight artists that only have an album or so out, whose music I’ve only recently discovered, and usually I end up doing this by way of a Song of the Day post. (There have been a lot of them lately, hmmm. Harmony Avenue should not live by Song of the Day alone…) However, a lot of the time, there’s a good deal of songs by said artist that I enjoy, yet not enough to expand into a full-blown Artist Spotlight post. Enter a new spinoff of the Artist Spotlight I’m trying out, the Artist Mini-Spotlight. (I floated making this a combo post like I did with the Song Sampler a day or two ago, but I thought it would be nice to give each artist their own space, since it’s a bit of a different situation than a song.) This will likely be shorter than most Artist Spotlight posts, provided I don’t get too long-winded (yeah, I’m already losing that battle), and will feature some of my favorite tunes by said artist, and good introductions to their music. Without further ado, the inaugural mini-spotlighted artist…

Kimbra!

If you’ve been listening to the radio lately, you might have already heard her voice. She’s the featured artist on Belgian-Australian artist Gotye’s deliriously catchy little-indie-hit-that-could, “Somebody That I Used To Know.” (Her appearance is a high point of an already pretty darn terrific song.) I, like a growing number of people at this point, had heard and fallen in love with the song, when a good friend of mine (the same one that recommended I check out Andy Grammer’s music, as noted here) suggested I look up her solo work. I found out she had an album, “Vows,” released in New Zealand and Australia (her home country and its friendly neighbor, respectively), and took a few listens to some of the songs…and oh baby, I was hooked. She has such a stunning, expressive, vibrant voice that it seems like she can do pretty much anything with. If you were impressed by what you heard of her on Gotye’s single…you are in for a treat. It gets even better.

Something I’ve noticed about Kimbra (besides her terrific music) is that so far, her music videos have been firing on all cylinders. Not since the days of Feist’s triple-threat of “1234,” “My Moon My Man,” and “I Feel It All” have I seen three video clips of  this caliber. They’re quirky, beautifully shot, engaging, dazzling, and tons of fun. I could of course introduce you to Kimbra strictly by audio, but I think it’s better if you check out her amazing visual aesthetic as well.

First off, “Settle Down,” her first single. There are shades of Bjork-style influences throughout (her use of vocal loops and harmonies is wonderfully innovative), but overall, it’s really a song that can’t be classified. The way she builds and tosses and turns…it’s intoxicating. In the best way. Here is the song, with its (literally) fiery music video attached:

The second single (P.S.: these singles sadly have only been released outside the U.S. for now, though her debut is set to bow in the States on May 22, and she does have an EP in the U.S. iTunes store), “Cameo Lover,” is insanely catchy and, to use a highly technical phrase here, pumping. I’m pretty sure I’ve listened to it the most out of all the Kimbra songs I have. There’s a bit of a ‘girl-group’ sound in here…but once again, Kimbra ends up turning it on its ear, and the result is something quite unique. The music video, featuring some infectious dancing by Kimbra herself (accompanied by a throng of female backup dancers), matches the song’s brilliance very nicely:

And because it’s her only other song with a music video, and I’m on a music video kick, the slinky, throwback-esque “Good Intent,” which shows yet another side of Kimbra’s musical vision:

In case you’re wondering whether she’s any good live…here’s a great clip of her singing another song off her debut, “Two Way Street.” If this is how she is in a studio, I can only imagine how terrific she is onstage:

To close it all off, a fun 80s-R&B-tinged number, “Call Me.” (No relation to the Blondie song of the same name…well, maybe a little.)

By the way, she’s only 22. (A fact I found out today while looking at her Wikipedia article as brief preparation for this post.) My mind, it is forever boggled. (She’s only got 2 years on me and is making this kind of incredible music? Wowsers.) Thanks for reading and listening!

Artist Spotlight: Sia

Hello again. It’s been a bit, hasn’t it? (As usual.) Looking over my past posts, I didn’t realize that I hadn’t done an Artist Spotlight for a while…in fact, the last spotlight post I made was back in October, during Anniversary Week, with the candlestick…ahem, I mean, about the astoundingly talented Laura Marling. The time is ripe for the first Artist Spotlight in 2012, so here it is, by way of Australia…

Sia!

Sia (whose full name is Sia Furler) is definitely a special kind of artist. She started off her career doing mostly singer-songwriter-oriented music, but has since dipped her toes in pop and dance music as well. And her voice…wow. It’s such an expressive, unique, singular instrument. I know it’s a bit of a cliche to say “you’ve never heard anything like it,” but really, with Sia it just might be true.

I first came in contact with her music in 2008, around the time her third studio album, “Some People Have Real Problems,” came out. I’m not sure exactly how I discovered that particular album, but I took a few listens to it and now here we are. I also have a few cuts from her previous studio album, “Colour The Small One,” on my iPod. The first, “Breathe Me,” may sound familiar, as it was used in the series finale of “Six Feet Under,” and has also popped up in commercials here and there. The second, “Don’t Bring Me Down,” is a hauntingly fragile song backed by lush strings. (I can’t find a way to embed the album version here on the blog, but you can check it out here.) Notice how Sia’s voice sounds in these songs…it’s a bit of a different vocal approach than the one she would use in her later music.

Of course, it was her next album that started it all for me, as I mentioned above. She really lets her voice free in these songs, it seems like, and the songs themselves are beautifully written. Take a listen to three standouts, the heartbreaking “You Have Been Loved,” clever kiss-off “The Girl You Lost To Cocaine,” and tender “Day Too Soon” (which is a song I’d either love to sing or have played at my wedding someday…the lyrics are perfect):

And here’s one more track from that album (I had to keep myself from sharing more…), complete with music video. It was free on iTunes one week, and I of course jumped on that offer. It was a song I hadn’t heard before I watched the video…and I was blown away, both musically and visually. It’s terrific:

Her latest album, “We Are Born,” came out in 2010, and it was an interesting shift in direction for Sia. It’s a collection of, essentially, dance pop…but done brilliantly as only Sia can. If I had my way, I’d share the whole album, but as usual I’ll keep myself to a few of my favorites…firecracker album opener “The Fight,” the disco-themed “You’ve Changed,” the peppy “Bring Night,” and the stark, beautiful “I’m In Here,” which harks back to Sia’s earlier work:

OK, so I may have embedded enough media here to paper my wall (if walls could be papered by streaming med…y’know, I’m just going to quit while I’m behind), but I have a few more songs to share with you before we go. (It’s really hard choosing my favorites with Sia, as is the case with pretty much any of my favorite artists. Just be glad I’m not dumping a bunch of clips on you and calling it a day. Anyways, Sia’s music isn’t just limited to her albums…her voice has also cropped up over the years on various soundtracks and cover projects. Notably, she contributed a gorgeous number to the “Eclipse” soundtrack (yep, she sang in a “Twilight” movie…), called “My Love.” She also did a terrific cover of Radiohead’s classic “Paranoid Android” on a Radiohead tribute album. And, oh, she’s collaborated with two people you just might have heard of lately…French producer David Guetta and rapper Flo Rida (yes, that fool behind “Low” and “Right Round”), on “Titanium” and “Wild Ones” respectively. To say she elevates both tracks to new heights would be a huge understatement. Hear all of those great Sia appearances here (like I wouldn’t embed them after all that):

And now I shall escape before I end up embedding any more songs. At least you have a lot of music to dive into. I’ll be back in a bit with a new Song of the Day, and later on with some more posts. (Famous last words? ) Thanks, as always, for reading and listening!

Artist Spotlight: Laura Marling

That’s my extremely low-budget attempt at trying to make these anniversary week posts all shiny. Anyways, here is the first of four (maybe more, but probably four, and what the heck am I rhyming for?) commemorative posts, all with some type of connection to music or artists I shared in my first month of blogging here. Today, celebrating one of my first Songs of the Day, the beautiful “Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)”, we turn the Artist Spotlight onto…

Laura Marling!

Laura is an immensely talented English singer-songwriter who’s only 21 years old. To say the maturity of someone’s music belies their years has become a bit of a cliche when it comes to younger musicians, but with Laura, it’s absolutely the truth. I was literally shocked to find out her age when I was looking her up on Wikipedia a year or so ago, after I had fallen hard for her songs. I could not believe that this kind of beautiful music was coming from someone scarcely a year or so older than I am. Age shouldn’t be a factor when it comes to good music, really, but looking at Laura’s body of work, it’s incredibly impressive that a 21-year-old could have come this far, so early in her life. It never fails to boggle my mind.

“Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)” was one of the Laura Marling songs I found, right after I first started checking out her music, seeing her name around the Internet (due to her Mercury Prize nominations and general positive buzz) and being curious about just how good she was. I have of course already posted about it, but it doesn’t hurt to share it again…

Her second album, “I Speak Because I Can,” which that song came from, is an absolute gem (no wonder it attracted Mercury Prize attention…P.S., the Mercury Prize is one of Britain’s most prestigious music awards, given to the best album of the year from the UK and Ireland. Laura has been shortlisted for her first two albums). It’s strikingly unique, but also warm and familiar. Here’s the firecracker opening track, called “Devil’s Spoke” (sorry the sound isn’t perfect…I would have linked the official video but her label inexplicably removed its US availability on YouTube):

Here’s another beautiful cut from that album, “Rambling Man.” It shows off her knack for starting off songs soft and fragile at times, then bringing in the full band to create an amazing atmosphere:

And one more of my big favorites, the title track, naturally called “I Speak Because I Can.” It’s sweeping, beautifully evocative, and absolutely addicting, all in one. (I love the line: “I speak because I can, to anyone I trust enough to listen/You speak because you can, to anyone who will hear what you say.”)

I actually wasn’t familiar with Laura’s first album until just recently. It was actually the first album I came in contact with…a good friend of mine recommended Laura’s music to me, and I was hooked…but one of the songs had the F-word in it (I’m one of those pesky people that doesn’t listen to those kinds of songs…sorry), and for some reason I was a dork and it took me a while to dive into Laura’s music again, after I checked out “I Speak Because I Can.” Anyways, just recently, I decided to take another look at “Alas, I Cannot Swim,” her debut album (in fact, right now, I’m listening to clips from it for the first time), and it’s just as terrific. Here’s one of my absolute favorites from it, a gorgeous song called “Ghosts.” The lyrics are riveting and poetic, and the instrumentation is just perfect:

Here’s another great song from her debut that I may have just listened to (part of) for the first time, called “My Manic & I.” I’ll be listening to the whole song soon, probably about the same time as you.

Laura’s music is folk with an edge…there’s the traditional guitar/vocal framework that has helped shape the world of folk music for many years now, but she also adds something new, almost intangible to the mix that really makes her music shine. It’s not quite modernized folk…it feels very old-school in many ways…but perhaps it’s reimagined folk in a sense. Here’s a lively number from her new album (“A Creature I Don’t Know”), called “The Muse.” There’s a bit of jazz influence in there, which I love.

And finally, an absolute tour de force also from her latest album. It absolutely blew me away on first listen…and to be honest, my reaction hasn’t really changed after listening to it quite a few times. It starts off in one place…and ends up somewhere entirely new and even more amazing. Here’s “Sophia”:

Laura is an artist full of depth, life, and beauty. I’m happy to finally be able to share much more of her music with you. Thanks for reading, and be sure to comment and enter the giveaway! Happy Anniversary Week.

Artist Spotlight: Alyse Black

Hey, I’m back with a new Artist Spotlight. Alas, as always, it has been too long. This post is a milestone for Harmony Avenue…it’s this blog’s 50th post. More celebration of that to come…but first, let’s jump right into talking about an artist I’ve been wanting to spotlight for quite a while now, the amazing…

Alyse Black!

Alyse is a dynamic indie singer-songwriter with a very engaging, interesting artistic vibe. Her music is warm, playful, passionate, unique, alluring…sometimes all at once. I stumbled upon her music while on a road trip with my family through California and Washington up to Spokane (where I lived when I was little for about 4 years, and where a good portion of my family still lives). I was in our hotel room in Spokane, after a long day which included a whirlwind 2-hour visit to Seattle. (Not. Enough. Time. City. So. Awesome.) (Oh, and trying to get out of Seattle traffic when you’re in a hurry? NOT fun.) Since I’m the Wikipedia-browsing fiend that I am, I was looking at the article for Pike Place Market, and since I had seen a few really cool buskers on the street while we were walking to Pike Place, I took special interest in that section. Alyse’s name was mentioned among the many performers that have graced Pike Place, and for some reason (maybe the description of her of “alternative jazz-pop singer-songwriter,” AKA “a combo of genres that Brandon adores”?), I clicked through to her own Wikipedia article, and subsequently started dipping my toes into her music. (There’s also some interesting biographical info on her Wikipedia page…such as the fact that Alyse actually worked in the corporate world before deciding to pursue her passion, music.) Thanks to the fact that the article mentions it “won the 2007 Billboard World Song Contest in the jazz category,” this was the first song of hers I listened to (seen here in a live version, as the studio version isn’t quite embeddable here):

That was the only interaction I had with Alyse’s music for a bit, until late in the fall of 2009, when I was starting out my freshman year at BYU, she came up with a special offer for her fans…to buy one or both of her CDs (“Too Much and Too Lovely” and “Hold Onto This”) for any price. Being a college freshman at the time (I rarely had any money to buy new music), I jumped on this, wanting to hear more of Alyse, and soon I was hearing her two albums for the first time. I really loved what I heard, and as always, the rest is history.

Alyse counts the likes of Regina Spektor, Fiona Apple, and Norah Jones among her influences, and while you can certainly hear that sort of atmosphere in her work, she’s created a sound that’s really all her own. Her rich voice is full of character and charm, and it’s a key to bringing her music to life. “Mesmerizing” would be a great word to describe her music…it’s captivating and Alyse really puts her all into every song she creates, even when it’s something more upbeat, such as this fun little number from her debut album, called “Complete With Sound Effects” (sorry for the pictures of random people…you don’t really need to watch the video, per se…but this was the only way I could embed this song):

One of the press quotes on Alyse’s homepage says, “Boy, she’s got a sexy voice” (that would be courtesy of Back Beat Seattle). She uses it to devastating effect on the very slow-burning, breathlessly inviting “Willowing.” (Alyse herself has described it as a song that requires a shower afterwards. )

Some of her other ballads take a different kind of flavor…they’re similarly stripped-down, but they’re also very vulnerable and introspective as well. Take this beauty from her second album, a song called “B-17 Bomber Girl”:

Here’s another example of that captivating sense of vulnerability and honesty, taken from (naturally) her recent extended-play called “The Honesty EP.” (It’s so named partly because of the concept behind its production…Alyse essentially went back to basics and often sings on it with little more than a piano backing her.) The song is “Dim The Lights.”

One of the many reasons that I love Alyse’s music is that her whole artistic sensibility is very uplifting and positive. Her song aren’t always “happy” songs, per se…but they bring a smile to my face (or heart) in some way. Here’s two songs that embody that quality very well…”Wild Child” from her second album, and “Watch Me Jump,” the opening track off “The Honesty EP.”

Finally, even when she’s taking on others’ songs, Alyse’s passion and love for music, as well as her top-notch, authentic artistry, really shines through. Last year she did a little covers series on her YouTube page, and here’s her stunning version of a Regina Spektor tune you may be familiar with:

Alyse is that special kind of artist with the type of music that just begs to be explored and listened to again and again. It’s very individual and unique, and it’s definitely not like much out there in the music world right now, but it speaks to the listener in a very profound way, and that’s a quality that shouldn’t be taken for granted. I highly urge you to check out more of her music, and you can find her website here.

So this is my 50th post on Harmony Avenue. Months ago back in October, when I was starting this little experiment off, I never could have imagined I’d make it all the way to 50. Being the small operation this is (it’s just me, blogging, whenever I feel the fancy to), and looking at my past blogging activities (none of my previous blogs have ever had this many posts or been updated this regularly, at least for this amount of time), that’s a huge milestone for me. It’s been a terrific experience running this site, and although I’m planning to leave on a mission before the year is out, I hope to continue sharing music (and my thoughts on it) for a long time to come. A special thanks to those who have helped get me to this point:

• The good folks at WordPress, who of course host this blog (for free!), and make it as easy as pie to post, share, and shape this blog into exactly what I want it to be.
• Sites like YouTube, SoundCloud, and Grooveshark, that help make sharing music simple, universal, and incredibly accessible. Harmony Avenue wouldn’t be the same without them.
• Although I thanked her at the end of last year (in my end of 2010 spiel), I’d like to take another opportunity to give a shout-out to the amazing Julia Barry, who helped set up an interview AND give-away here on Harmony Avenue (as well as inspiring an album review I did of her last album, “Once, or Twice”). That was back when this blog was still in its infancy (well, even more infant than it is now ), and it really gave me a boost of confidence, and a feeling that this music blog endeavor could actually be worthwhile. Thank you, Julia, for the terrific music you create, and for seeking me out on Twitter in the first place.
• Any of you who have ever read this blog, even if it’s just been a post, a paragraph, or a sentence. I harbor no illusions about my readership…it’s rather small, spotty, and potentially nonexistent, and I’m pretty sure at least half of the views I get are by spammers and the like…but I know at least some of you reading this are humans, and I’d like to thank you for taking your time to read what I have to say (and share, music-wise). It means a lot to me.

Making it to 50 posts is great, but I won’t stop here. I hope to continue making this blog better, and finding lots of new artists, songs, and music to share. As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for listening. See y’all soon with a new post, and for now, Happy 50!

Artist Spotlight: Jamie Cullum

Apparently now “tomorrow” means “many days later, while Brandon is slowly recovering from wisdom teeth removal surgery.” Anyways, here’s my long-promised new Artist Spotlight, on…

Jamie Cullum!

Jamie is a singer-pianist from the UK with a very unique angle. His music is very grounded in jazz (not just influenced by jazz, like straight-up jazz-driven music)…but it also takes elements from pop, rock, even a tiny bit of hip-hop at some points. But before we get into that…how did I come across Jamie in the first place? That would be thanks to the dear, departed Star 97.5, what used to be our local vocal jazz radio station. It only lasted about a year or so in about 2007 (it met an untimely end due to ridiculous reasons that I will refrain from ranting about here), but while it was around, it was BRILLIANT. They played a mix of jazz-centered music that seemed to be tailor-made for me and my musical sensibilities. One of the songs that was playing one day was this gem, “All At Sea,” from Jamie’s second album (and major-label debut, if I’m getting my facts right), “Twentysomething”:

This is one of Jamie’s more pop-influenced songs, as most of his original stuff tends to be. The piano is simply gorgeous, Jamie’s voice complements the music almost effortlessly, and the lyrics are fine too. Naturally, this got me hooked on Jamie, and although it was a painstakingly slow and steady process, I started checking out more and more of his music. The rest is history. Ish.

Notice how I mentioned the piano first. Jamie is, as briefly mentioned in my intro, an accomplished pianist. What boggles my mind is…he’s not formally trained. It’s all done by ear, pretty much. Seeing as I myself can’t play piano that well with music smack dab in front of me, Jamie being able to do that off the top of my head…it’s not something I ever take for granted as a listener. Here’s another nice example of his killer piano chops, on a jaunty version of the classic standard “I Get A Kick Out of You” (also off the “Twentysomething” album):

As with pretty much any artist I end up spotlighting, I could pretty much just have you listen to my entire Jamie Cullum collection and call it a day. Which I’ll kinda probably end up doing. But anyways, as you may have heard a bit from his version of “I Get A Kick Out of You,” Jamie has a real knack for taking extremely well-known songs and completely reinventing them in a very dynamic way…not to mention the songs he ends up choosing are often quite all over the place genre-wise. Case in point…here’s his cover of “Singin’ In The Rain” off “Twentysomething,” and then a take on Rihanna (yes, you heard that right) off his most recent record, “The Pursuit.”

And, as I talked about earlier, his original compositions are terrific as well. He really was firing on all cylinders with his latest album, “The Pursuit”…two choice cuts off that disc, the buoyant “I’m All Over It” (which interestingly enough, seems to be about a breakup) and the deliriously catchy “Mixtape” are two of my absolute favorites:

And just so I’m not leaving his excellent sophomore major-label effort “Catching Tales” out, here’s a song from that record called “Catch The Sun” (which is actually a cover, of an English alternative band called the Doves). The piano (as always with Jamie’s music) is absolutely terrific:

I could go on and on about him (for example, did you know he has his own BBC Radio show? or that he and his wife just had a baby? or that he was the singing voice of the main frog in “Meet The Robinsons”?), but I won’t. Jamie just has a knack for taking jazz music, a genre that people often see as old-fashioned or one-sided,  merging it with his own outside influences (as well as his own clear love for jazz), and creating something fresh and vibrant that both celebrates the old and embraces the new. I honestly couldn’t think of a better sign that the jazz genre will be thriving for years to come than Jamie’s endlessly inventive and incredibly accessible music. To close, here’s a rollicking performance of his song “You and Me Are Gone,” with the BBC Heritage Orchestra at a 2010 Proms performance (the fact that he’s a jazz/pop/rock artist and was invited in the first place to play the Proms is a major recognition of just how versatile he and his music can be):

See y’all soon (and “soon” hopefully won’t change into a similar meaning as “tomorrow” ) with some more new posting. I hope to get my cover-centered new feature off the ground, and we’ll see if that ends up happening. For now, thanks for reading!

Artist Spotlight: Ellie Goulding

Before I post a new Artist Spotlight (you’ll really love this one), another reminder to VOTE in Harmony Avenue’s Best Original Movie Song contest. So far there’s only 2 votes on the poll…so yeah, we need just a few more votes. The more, the merrier! Make sure your favorite song doesn’t go unrepresented.

Now, we turn the artist spotlight onto the UK’s own…

Ellie Goulding!

Believe it or not, it wasn’t love at first sight between me and Ellie’s music. The first time I was introduced to it was one late night watching “Later…with Jools Holland” (a popular weekly music show in Great Britain, hosted by the charming Jools Holland, that features a lot of great music acts each week), which airs on a random cable channel called Ovation here in the States. Ellie sang a song of hers called “Under The Sheets,” and while I was thought it was OK (and interesting how she kind of played the drums in her performance), it didn’t make too much of an impression on my tired soul that night, and I didn’t really investigate her music any further.

Fast forward to a few months later where I was listening to music on iTunes one night, and I had my little “Ping sidebar” thing turned on, so as I listened, various music suggestions and posts from artists I “follow” on it were coming up accordingly. I’m pretty sure I was listening to Lucy Schwartz (interestingly enough, the subject of a previous Artist Spotlight here on Harmony Avenue), because her feed came up, and she had posted something about how she loved a song called “Starry Eyed”…by none other than Ellie Goulding. Since it’s iTunes and all, there was a button right there to listen to a 90-second clip of the song, so I decided to try it out, since Ellie’s name sounded familiar. I listened to it…and the rest is history. I simply HAD to check out more of Ellie’s music. (More proof why Lucy Schwartz rocks, btw. ) The song that started it all, right here:

It’s an energetic, beautiful, addicting song, and rather than detract from it, its very glossy production really brings it to life, I think. The parts where Ellie sings “next thing, we’re touching” are my favorites. For some reason, the way she sings that line, and the harmonies around it…it always gets me.

Ellie’s music is somewhat unclassifiable, though a lot of people have used the “folktronica” label for it, which I think kind of fits. It’s very melodic, beautifully written music, but it’s produced under a more beat-driven lens, which makes it very unique and engaging. Her music takes the best of both worlds and marries them together into something all her own. You can see similarities to artists like Florence + The Machine, Imogen Heap, and Robyn here and there, just to name a few…but in the end, it’s something undeniably fresh. Here’s a lovely, sweeping ballad called “The Writer” from Ellie’s debut album:

While her music is layered and, well, shiny, Ellie can also cut it in a more stripped-down, acoustic setting. A prime example is her drop-dead gorgeous cover of Elton John’s classic “Your Song.” (The bridge is quite possibly one of the most beautiful musical moments I have ever heard.) It really turns the song on its ear and brings a haunting, breahtaking new dimension to it:

She also does brilliantly in a live setting. Her voice is soft and fragile and times, but also full of power. Here’s a stunning cover of a Rihanna song that I actually kind of discovered just now, while looking for a good example of her live performing skills. (You learn something new every day! ) Sorry the video quality isn’t completely amazing, but at least it’s easily available on the Internet. That’s a plus.

And of course, this post wouldn’t be complete with a little irony. Here are the studio versions of the two songs Ellie sang that night on Jools Holland…that have turned out to be two of my favorite cuts on her album. Speaking of her album…more on that in a second. But first, here are “Guns and Horses” and “Under the Sheets” (apologies for the ad that may come up on the video):

And, to close things off, had I posted this a month or two ago, I would have had to tell you readers that live in America that Ellie’s album wasn’t available anywhere here (well, at least not anywhere like iTunes or whatnot). Now I don’t have to! A special US edition of her debut album, “Lights,” complete with a few bonus tracks that weren’t on her original UK release, came out here in the States back on March 8th! Even better, Ellie’s offering a free full preview of the album on YouTube, so you can try before you buy! (I promise I’m not a corporate shill…I just love her music and want as many people to love/support it as possible. Promise. ) I’ve taken the liberty of embedding it here, though it may be easier for you to view/listen to it directly on YouTube. Enjoy the music! (And be sure to check it out sooner rather than later. I have no idea if Ellie’s label will keep it up for too long or not.)

So that’s the outstanding Ellie Goulding for you. Remember to vote in the Best Original Song contest, and I’ll see you in a day or two with another new post! Thanks for reading.

Artist Spotlight: Hem

So I haven’t done an Artist Spotlight since last year. Which means you got a break from them…but I have TONS of artists I still want to share, so let’s bring sexy the artist spotlight back, and shine it today on a band (Harmony Avenue’s first spotlighted group since Local Natives)…

Hem!

So what exactly is Hem? A band with quite a simple name, and a simple…yet stunning aesthetic. Their music is a beautiful mixture of folk, Americana, rock, country, even tiny bits of jazz here and there…fronted by the golden-voiced Sally Ellyson, and gorgeously backed by strings and orchestral instruments. And guess what? You might have heard a bit of their music, provided you were watching TV a few years ago and a Liberty Mutual commercial came on (built around the heartwarming concept of strangers “paying it forward” and doing good deeds for each other in succession), backed by this song, called “Half Acre” (from the band’s debut album, “Rabbit Songs”):

Like quite a few of Hem’s current fans today probably can say, this is exactly how I found out about their music. I saw the commercial and heard a 30-second snippet of the song…and I really, really wanted to hear more. I had no way to find out what the song was and who sung it at the time, but probably close to a year after I first heard it, for some reason I decided to search around the Internet for the song, and found my answer…and from then on, I was absolutely, 100% hooked.

Here’s another tune from another Liberty Mutual commercial. It’s called “The Part Where You Let Go,” and is on an EP called “Home Again, Home Again.”

So I could basically just show you a bunch of their songs and call it a day…because like many great artists’ work, Hem’s music speaks for itself. IT’s gorgeous, heartfelt, lovely, simple, tender, warm…yet not “sleepy” or “boring” by any stretch of the imagination. It’s full of life and color, and the music practically dances into your ears. It’s comforting, but not bland…it’s heartwarming, but not treacly or overly sweet. It’s the perfect balance of heart and invention. Here’s three terrific tracks from their second LP, “Eveningland” (which is my favorite album of theirs so far, though all of them are terrific). Their names are “Pacific Street,” “My Father’s Waltz” (which might make you cry), and “The Fire Thief,” respectively. (Note: I believe the version of “Pacific Street” I found on YouTube is a bit truncated. Sorry if that’s the case.)

(The video for “The Fire Thief” also features a song off their covers/B-sides album “No Word From Tom,” called “Oh No!” So there’s a bonus for y’all there. )

One more song before we part. First, a passionate cut from their most recent full-length album (“Funnel Cloud”) called “Not California” (complete with official music video!), which apparently was partly inspired by lead songwriter Dan Messe’s wife being obsessed with shows like “The OC” and “Laguna Beach.” The song is called “Not California.”

Also, I couldn’t find anything to embed here, but Hem also branched out and provided the music for the summer 2009 Central Park production of “Twelfth Night,” featuring Anne Hathaway and Audra McDonald, among others. It’s lovely and sets the stage beautifully for…well, whatever the play was like. (Sadly, I was not able to see it in any form, but they did release the soundtrack.)

But wait! There’s more! As a special bonus (or punishment? ) to you faithful readers, here’s a little something from yours truly. Enjoy, be sure to subscribe, and many thanks for coming to my blog in the first place. Keep listening!

Artist Spotlight: Brooke Waggoner

In a backwards turn of events today, I’ll take care of all the me rambling stuff at the end. Let’s not pass go, not collect $200, and shine the final Artist Spotlight of the year on…

Brooke Waggoner!

Brooke’s music first came to my attention thanks to one of iTunes’ free Discovery Downloads of the Week a little more than two years ago. It was an utterly lovely song called “Young Friend,” off Brooke’s then-just-released first full-length album, called “Heal For The Honey.” I was particularly floored by the outstanding, somewhat innovative piano lines in the song, and how it was just so darn catchy…but totally full of substance and life. You can hear it for yourself here (courtesy of Brooke’s own SoundCloud page):

That very song is now the most-listened to track on my iTunes, with 57 plays. I often have a habit of listening to new tunes I love a sizable number of times, but then dumping them for a while once I get tired of them, then listening to them occasionally in the future. “Young Friend” is one of the songs that I just keep coming back to…again. And again. And yet again. Every so often, I just feel like listening to it a few times. I’m pretty sure I still haven’t gotten tired of it.

So anyways, I quickly fell in love with Brooke’s music…so much that I eventually bought all of her songs, plus got her debut EP (which was then available for free; sadly, I think that deal isn’t available any longer)…and listened to them tons of times too. In fact, to bring out my nerdy side for a second again, out of the 25 songs I currently have of hers, the play count average is 18 times. Her songs are just intoxicating to me. But why? Before I go into what I (think I) love about her music, here’s another something to enjoy, a heartbreakingly beautiful track from her EP (“Fresh Pair of Eyes”) called “I Am Mine”:

So, why do I love Brooke’s music so darn much, as evidenced by the high play counts? A key element of her music is the piano, which according to Wikipedia (which is not always entirely accurate, but is usually good enough to get by on), probably comes from 17 years of classical training. Her piano lines are always gorgeous and utterly sweeping, and she incorporates them brilliantly into everything she does. In fact, I think her classical training informs her musical style in general for the most part…but in an unique way. Her songs don’t necessarily sound “classical,” per se, but it shines through in her beautiful use of strings & piano. In fact, her songs almost sound like mini-symphonies in a way…but in a very accessible way. Her music is far from “heady” or hard to follow…it hits the ears like a soft, comforting blanket. (But conversely, it’s not lightweight. It’s just the right balance of deep and deliciously listenable.)

Anyways, enough of me typing, eh? The best way for you to discover her music and (hopefully) fall in love with it is to listen. A few more closing tracks of goodness (including a music video! since visuals & music are always a plus, at least in my book). The first one is the closing track from her EP, the second one is the title track of her debut long-play, and the third one is the title track of her most recent album, which came out last year:

Before I go…I promised I’d do a little end-of-the-year housekeeping in this post, since it’ll be the last one of the year (well, actually, I might post a Song of the Day tomorrow or New Year’s Eve, but this will be the last big, bad, shiny post of the year). Many thanks to all of you for making my first few months of this blog (and ironically, the last few months of 2010) very, very great ones. Thanks for all the page visits (even if a lot of them the past few weeks were from people looking for stuff about “The Sing-Off,” and it didn’t appear that they stayed very long ), the comments, the links, recommendations, and everything. Running this blog has been a blast so far, and it’s been the kind of rewarding experience I haven’t had with a blog yet. Special thanks go out to Lucy Schwartz for tweeting my Artist Spotlight link to her followers a month or two ago, and thanks to Julia Barry for graciously arranging an album review/giveaway/interview party. It’s been a great few months, and I can’t wait to show you what I have in store in 2011! Look out for one more Song of the Day before the year is over, and after that, see y’all right here in Harmony Avenue…next year!

Artist Spotlight: Sondre Lerche

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an Artist Spotlight, eh? I hope to correct that this week with one or two more aside from this one. After all, there’s lots of outstanding artists I’d love to share with you. Today, the spotlight shines on a singer/songwriter from Norway you may or may not have heard of, depending on whether you’ve seen two certain Steve Carell comedies recently. His name is…

Sondre Lerche!

So how did I get into Sondre’s music? Well, I’m not quite sure, to tell you the truth. My best theory is that I had seen his name a bit on iTunes or MSN Music or some music website or something a few years ago, and decided to check out his music on an impulse. After all, you don’t see a name like his every day. (In fact, you don’t see a name like his, period. I’m still not entirely sure I’m pronouncing it right. ) So however I discovered his stuff, here’s the excellent title track to his second album, “Two Way Monologue,” that was one of the first songs I heard of his, if I remember right. (I didn’t realize until posting it just now that it’s nearly 6 minutes long. Trust me, it’s worth the time…a great word to describe it would be “tour de force.” It’s a good example of how much of a stylistic chameleon Sondre can be.):

Like I said, Sondre is somewhat of a stylistic chameleon. He goes all over the place, and then some. The cool thing about his ever-changing music, though, is that it never seems disjointed or lost. Sondre delivers it all with flair, confidence, and his own individual spin…qualities that any singer/songwriter worth their salt have. Here’s a music video from his follow-up to “Two Way Monologue,” which was a jazz CD of all things. The album was called “Duper Sessions,” and this song is called “Minor Detail.” It’s very beautiful. (P.S.: Apologies if you hit an ad before watching the video.)

After “Duper Sessions,” Sondre went to the first place all musicians go after cutting a jazz album…rock. OK, so he’s probably one of the few musicians to do that. Here’s the title track for that album, called “Phantom Punch.” It well, packs a pretty mean punch… (Bonus! Another cool music video.)

So if you weren’t paying attention earlier…Sondre has, coincidentally, been part of the soundtrack for 2 Steve Carell films. The first one, “Dan In Real Life,” was scored entirely by Sondre. The songs are all his, and he composed the music for the scenes. The short, sweet waltz he composed for the very beginning of the movie:

The second recent Steve Carell movie he provided music for was “Dinner For Schmucks” (which I didn’t love as much as “Dan In Real Life,” but wasn’t too bad). The (paraphrased) story behind this song, taken from Sondre’s blog…the composer for the film, Theodore Shapiro, wanted to have “Fool On The Hill” by the Beatles accompanying the opening credits scene. However, he didn’t think he’d be able to get the rights, so he contacted Sondre and had him compose an original song to play during the opening credits…but then the Beatles ended up granting permission. So his song was played during the closing credits instead. A pretty good deal, I would say. It’s a beautiful song, a little reminiscent of “Fool On The Hill,” but also very unique.

To close it all off, the terrific opening track from Sondre’s latest album, “Heartbeat Radio.” Sorry I’m just mostly throwing songs at you, but although I could talk about Sondre’s style a bit more (jazz/bossa-nova/even 80s music influenced at most times), or why I love his music, it’s probably best just to have you listen for yourself. This song, called “Good Luck,” is another tone-shifting tour de force (like “Two Way Monologue”), and ends with one of the most intense string outros I have ever heard:

Check out Sondre’s website here. See y’all tonight with a recap of the fourth episode of “The Sing-Off,” and later this week with another Artist Spotlight, and Song Shuffle Game.

Artist Spotlight: Lucy Schwartz

Howdy all! Well, it’s been six days since I last posted. It’s not as if this blog was empty otherwise, but I was intending to post regularly…so sorry about that. I shall do better in the future. Anyways, as promised, here’s another wonderful artist spotlight. (Later today I’ll also be introducing another new blog feature, so stay tuned.) Without further ado, today’s Artist Spotlight shines the musical light on…

Lucy Schwartz!

Lucy is a terrific singer/songwriter that I discovered while watching “The Women.” It was a pretty good movie (I liked it), and part of the conceit of the film was that everything about it involved women…no men appeared in any shots in the movie (even the long shots and crowd shots, which is pretty impressive), and only women were used for the soundtrack. One of those women, only about 16 or 17 years old (am I getting this right?) at the time, was Lucy Schwartz. She wasn’t only on the soundtrack once, but twice, and in addition, her songs were placed at the opening credits and the end credits. Which meant when I was wondering during the beginning, “Who is singing this really cool song?,” the answer to that question was…Lucy. I fell in love with the following two tunes from the movie:

I was listening to those songs over and over for the most part, but it took me a while to discover she had an independently released album already. It was called “Winter In June,” and I really loved it…but because I didn’t really have any spare cash for a while, it took me about a year to finally get it on my iPod, thanks to a free trial from eMusic where I got 50 free downloads. Here is one of my favorite cuts from that album (complete with music video! shiny!):

Not long after that, Lucy started kicking things up a notch, and before long, she had some new stuff, starting with a new EP that I was able to get pretty quickly (thanks to an interesting music site called Amie Street, where they have an interesting pricing system) after it came out. The title track (which I love) from that EP:

Finally, in September, a brand-spanking new album! A terrific song from that very album (which I got for free as a KCRW Song of the Day, and subsequently it skyrocketed to my 2nd-most-listened-to song in iTunes in about a month), called “Rain City”:

So what do I love about Lucy’s music? Here’s what I wrote in an email I sent to enter a contest to win a signed copy of “Life In Letters” (I won ), that I think describes it pretty well: “Sometimes listening to her music, it’s almost like she hacked into my brain and found out exactly what I like in music. It’s so perfectly put together…the chords, the lyrics, the vibe, her beautiful voice. It’s peaceful, exciting, unique, and wonderful all at the same time. I can’t get enough of it.” Her songs are just plain beautiful, happy, uplifting, haunting, and deep, sometimes all at the same time. Especially with the new album, Lucy is incredible at writing and making her music very textured and atmospheric. It tells a story.

Well, to close, two more items of interest. First, Lucy’s latest music video, choreographed by Sonya Tayeh of SYTYCD, that happened to win the MTV U Freshmen online poll, and now is in regular rotation on MTV U (heck yes!):

And finally, a gorgeous ballad called “Gone Away” that has a bit of a story with it. (Well, more of a personal connection, but whatever.) It’s on Lucy’s new album, but it came out as a single a while before that. Me, my sister, and her friend did a fun little covers project this summer called The Mesa Sessions (I wanted it to continue into the fall, but they’re too darn busy) and posted songs on YouTube, and “Gone Away” was one of them that I decided to sing. About a week or so after I posted it, I was shocked to find a comment on the video by…Lucy Schwartz! And she said it was good. (In case you’re wondering, I was eventually able to pick up my jaw from the floor. ) You can find my version on YouTube by searching for “gone away lucy schwartz cover” (it’s a few videos down, by the account called “mesasessions”), and here’s Lucy’s original (the single version, the album version is slightly different):

And finally…you can get Lucy’s song “Graveyard” (the song the music video is of above) for free! Head on out to this link: http://app.topspin.net/store/artist/2357?wId=30529&theme=black&highlightColor=#c9c9c9&w=400&h=333&src=fb

I’ll be posting again later today with a new feature. Feel free to comment, discuss, and even suggest your own favorite artists!