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!

Music Video of the Day: “Life In Letters”

Alas, Anniversary Week hasn’t gone quite as planned (what else is new? ), as it’s Saturday night and there’s only 2 contest entries, and I’m just getting to my third commemorative post. I’m responding to both of these things by: a) Extending the deadline of the giveaway until next Wednesday night at 11:59 MST. I will also be making my final Anniversary Week post next week. (Which kind of makes it an Anniversary Two Weeks, but that’s neither here nor there…ahem.) Now, before the day is over, a quick look at the newest music video from an artist I’ve shared a few times here at Harmony Avenue (the first of which was back in November for one of my first Artist Spotlights), it’s…

“Life In Letters” by Lucy Schwartz!

Lucy filmed this video underwater (it takes place both in that setting and in a desert…you’ll see what I mean once you watch the video), and it’s a gorgeous, unique, even kind of fanciful experience that’s very exciting to watch. The story of the music video is sweet, and the imagery is breathtaking. What better to go with a beautiful song like “Life In Letters” (which, by the way, is the title track to her most recent album)? Also, as a plus, this video was created to promote charity: water, a great nonprofit organization dedicated to providing safe drinking water to those in developing nations who need it. (You can find a link to donate to Lucy’s campaign for charity: water here.) It’s a great video and a great cause, and one of the many reasons why I love Lucy and her music.

Thanks for reading, make sure to comment (your chances of winning are still terrific if you enter soon!), and once again, happy Anniversary Week here on Harmony Avenue.

Music Video of the Day: “Gonna Get Over You”

Just so I’m not making two “Sing-Off” posts in a row (the recap for tonight’s episode is to come once, y’know, it airs here and all that), here’s a great new Music Video of the Day, for your personal viewing pleasure…

“Gonna Get Over You” by Sara Bareilles!

I’m kind of noticing now that this music video is eerily similar to the last one I posted (for those of you with short memories/the inability to scroll down/change the page, it was for Cee-Lo Green’s “Cry Baby”), in that it features insanely fun-to-watch dancing, breakup undertones, and just all-around coolness. (In this instance, Sara plays herself, rather than enlisting a charming former 80s child star. ) Sara bounces around a Latin supermarket, cheerfully enlisting unsuspecting folks into her biker-chick dance routine army, and the result is an absolute delight to see. (Plus there’s a twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. Trust me, you’ll enjoy it.) It even beats out another fun music video set in a supermarket (“Haven’t Met You Yet”), at least in my eyes. Sara wrote an endlessly addicting song here, and she’s created a video that’s just as addicting to go with it.

See you in a bit with the new recap for “The Sing-Off”!

Music Video of the Day: “Cry Baby”

I haven’t done a Music Video of the Day in a while, so here’s a quick post on the incredibly fun video for…

“Cry Baby” by Cee Lo Green!

I actually hadn’t heard the song before I saw the video, and I think it just may be my favorite Cee Lo song. (Yes, even better than the goodness that was “Forget You.”) The video stars not Cee Lo, but TV and film actor Jaleel White, who those of you from the 80s may rec0gnize as the former Urkel from “Family Matters,” but who I recognize from the hilarious 2001 film “Big Fat Liar,” where he played himself. Jaleel (as “Cee Lo”) starts off by telling his girlfriend that he’s about to leave, and that it’s time for them to fly…then he starts off into the song, breaks into some awesome dancing, attracts a crowd of people, and the result is joyful music-video magic. It’s a blast to watch.

Cover Stories: “I Can’t Make You Love Me”

How about I skip the usual “aaah, I haven’t posted in a long time” nonsense and just skip to a new feature I’ve been meaning to debut? Yeah? Here we go.

I’m calling this one “Cover Stories”…every so often, I’ll highlight a well-known song, and share a few choice covers of said song. I’ve always been a huge fan of well-done cover songs–and thus they populate my iPod and listening habits quite heavily. And I’ll probably write about them a bit. And that’s pretty much it…if you guys have any suggestions of how I can spice this up, let me know, but hopefully the beauty lies in its simplicity. The first song? Let’s go with a gem originally by Bonnie Raitt…

“I Can’t Make You Love Me”

In case you haven’t heard it, its music video is embedded above. It’s an absolutely heartbreaking song about the end of a romance…but rather than being simply being something depressing and sad, it’s completely powerful and riveting. Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia article about the song, explaining some of its early origins:

“The idea for the song came to Reid while reading an article about a man arrested for getting drunk and shooting at his girlfriend’s car. The judge asked him if he had learned anything, to which he replied, “I learned, Your Honor, that you can’t make a woman love you if she don’t.” Reid and Shamblin were both country music songwriters, who according to some accounts originally wrote the song as a fast, bluegrass number. Upon slowing down the tempo considerably, they realized the song gained considerable power. It then made its way to Raitt.”

Bonnie also reportedly recorded the song in just one take, saying that she couldn’t recapture the emotion in the song again in the studio.

With such a singular, almost magical song, how could any other artist add on it? Jazz vocalist Sophie Milman did just that, with an absolutely gorgeous take on the song on her most recent album, “Take Love Easy.” The arrangement is stunning, her vocal is passionate and beautiful, and a few terrific reharmonizations within the chords bring the song to even more life:

Another great cover I’ve heard of the song is from a somewhat unlikely source…a contestant on “American Idol.” And in this case, someone who in my opinion is one of the best the show has ever had…season 8′s Allison Iraheta. She injects the song with tons of raw fire, and almost an effortless-sounding sense of the emotional core of it all. Add to that the fact that at the time she performed this, she was only 16 years old, and prepare to be impressed. The studio version of her live performance is embedded here (a quick YouTube search should turn up the just-as-terrific live version, which I wasn’t able to embed):

Finally, here’s probably one of the most unconventional takes of the song I’ve heard…a version by indie artist Bon Iver (the stage name of Justin Vernon), performed on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” that mashes up a bit of the song with the classic Donny Hathaway tune “A Song For You,” and another Bonnie Raitt hit, “Nick of Time.” It’s something that seems like it wouldn’t work on paper…but thanks to the stark, lovely piano backing, and Justin’s committed, wonderfully unique vocal, it all clicks together very nicely.

So there we go. The test drive of the new Cover Stories feature is complete. Let me know your thoughts about it. I’ll see y’all soon with a new Artist Spotlight, on the amazing singer-songwriter Alyse Black. Thanks for reading!

Music Video of the Day: When We Were Young

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Music Video of the Day, and what better to post than one (very briefly) involving yours truly? Well, I suppose there could be a lot of things better to post. But this one is by the amazing Lucy Schwartz (previously spotlighted here on Harmony Avenue, of course), for her song “When We Were Young,” which is the theme song for international broadcasts of NBC’s “Parenthood,” so it kind of automatically rocks. Lucy asked her fans to send in photos of when they were young, and I (along with many, many others) obliged. The video features absolutely adorable home videos of Lucy and her older brother Ian when they were little, along with a slideshow of those childhood fan photos. Plus the song is quite terrific. Look for me right after the girls from “The Shining”! (I’m not quite sure why they’re in the video, but Lucy explains it a bit in the video comments.) I’m in a Halloween costume. Enjoy all the cute kids! And the great music. See you in the next few days with some more new posts.

My Music: Samson

Two posts today! Both of them kind of…ahem…involving me. (Cue “It’s My Party.”) Anyways, here is another YouTube cover I did recently. Once again, it’s a tender Regina Spektor ballad (and again one of my favorites of hers), this time off her second studio album, “Begin To Hope.” Those of you familiar with the song might notice that I changed the lyrics a bit…I’m singing it from the viewpoint of the “Samson” in the song, since y’know, I’m kind of a guy. (I did mess up the lyrics a bit, though. The line that “I told you that I’d done alright” that I sing is supposed to be “I told you that you’d done alright.”)  I would have rather done something completely different this time around, but I had “Samson” ready, I deeply love it, and I can actually play & sing it. So there. Hope you like it! Look out in a few minutes for another video post. Thanks for reading!

My Music: Somedays

Remember how I keep saying I’ve been wanting to post a cover or song or something by me that’s music-related for a while? Well, up until a few days ago, I hadn’t been able to get around to it. Finally, on…Friday? Saturday? whatever day it was, I sat down and went over a few songs (all covers, of course…I need to work on writing some more stuff soon…) I could play/sing pretty well, and then got my trusty old camera out and started recording. Unfortunately, I was only able to get one song down before my camera stopped working (battery trouble…thankfully, it’s back up and running again), but the good news is, it turned out pretty good, so there we go. Here’s my cover of an early Regina Spektor ballad that I absolutely love, called “Somedays.” I do mess up a little, but the sound is pretty balanced (at least for a random YouTube cover), and of course, with this song it’s pretty hard (even for me ) to go wrong. I hope y’all like it.

So, my plan is to do a cover (or, in the future, an original or two…or as many as I get written) every so often. Not so much that this blog becomes “Hey! Look At Brandon Sing Stuff And Play The Piano!”, but from time to time. Feel free to give me feedback…and as always, thanks for reading and watching.

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.

Music Video of the Day: “For The First Time” (With A Twist)

It’s been a bit since I’ve posted a Music Video of the Day, so I thought I’d share one with y’all. In case you’re worried I’m just going to do Songs and Music Videos of the Day for all of 2011…your worries will come true! Moo hu ha ha ha! Just kidding. I’ll be changing things up with some different Harmony Avenue features very soon. In fact, you can even find a teaser list of them below this post. For now, let’s view a video of The Script’s recent single “For The First Time”…or are we? Actually, this is (unnecessary drum roll please!)…

A cover of “For The First Time” by Amy Kuney!

Amy is a terrific singer/pianist…and a very interesting one at that. (She and her friends were kidnapped and released by a group of Guatemalan rebels when she was 17, and she acted and sang on two episodes of “Gilmore Girls,” for example.) She’s done the traditional recording-albums-and-EPs-and-whatnot thing, and her songs have been heard in various shows and movies (most intriguingly in the recent film “Catfish”), but she’s also become very well-known for her covers on YouTube as well. She’s taken on tunes by everyone from Coldplay to Lady Gaga, Damien Rice to Taylor Swift. This is the latest of her YouTube covers, and one of the few she’s done with her own voice multitracked. It’s an absolutely gorgeous version of “For The First Time,” a song from Irish band The Script’s newest album (it’s been out in Europe since September, but drops in the states this Tuesday). Her voice is distinctive and assured, and this acoustically driven version of the song, with her own voice(s) acting like a choir to her lead vocals, really adds to the originality and beauty of the cover…and makes it one that’s better than the original. If you want to hear more of Amy, visit her YouTube channel (the video above should lead you to it alright) or her website. I highly recommend all of her music.

And now, a tiny sneak peek of what I’m planning for upcoming Harmony Avenue posts:

• An Artist Spotlight or two (what I always say, I know, but there’s lots of great artists I want to let you know about!)
• Album reviews of both “Knock On The Sky” (by SHeDAISY) and “Hu Hu Hu” (by Natalia LaFourcade)
• My Picks for the Grammys (I’ll be covering the big categories, naturally, but also some of the obscure ones, like Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals and Best Vocal Jazz Album)
• A Sketches post about men’s choirs (ish)
• A performance or two by yours truly?? (This idea has been in the works since I started this blog, but in 2011 I’d like to actually get it off the ground)
• Some other cool stuff, yo.

And that’s just a teaser…I’m bound to think of other interesting things to share. Keep up with my new posts by subscribing, either with the handy dandy little button at the top, if you’re a WordPress member, or the handy dandy little button on the right side of this blog, which sends you an email every time I post (I don’t post incessantly, so your inbox won’t be terribly bothered). See you later with a new post! Thanks for reading.