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Caribou is the brainchild of Daniel Snaith. Andorra is his latest release in 2007. His music has a sound to it most similar to 60′s and early 70′s pop music, but with a weird kind of trippy twist. It’s hard to describe. My usual player that I would have on the right side isn’t there because the album isn’t available on Lala yet, blast! You can preview the album on Amazon by clicking here, or on iTunes here.

I saw Caribou live in Orlando at The Social in 2008, and they were fantastic. They perform with two drum sets on stage. At times when the songs built up progressively, Snaith, sat down at the second drum set, got all ready, and then unleashed on the drums in concert with the main drummer. I’m not sure who that was, because Snaith records the albums in his studio by himself, then tours with a band.

Anyway, the album is incredible, and most likely different than any you may have heard before. Check it out at those links above, and watch these videos.

First is the album’s opening track, Melody Day. This one has a real strong 60′s pop feel to it. Speaking of melody, you may notice that he recorded his vocals on the same pitch four times I believe. That gives it a cool feel.

Next is Irene, the second-to-last track on the album. This one has a kind of low-battery-Walkman sound to it with the pitch wavering a bit. The synthesized drum beat and quiet vocals give the song a real light breezy feel that often sends chills down my back.

And here is the final track, Niobe. The album gradually escapes anything normal, and ends on this track. I love it. I can’t quite put my finger on why it is so great. The best activity to do during this song is spacing out I believe.

Now, if you’re still with me, and find yourself loving this music, like I do, here is a bonus little mini documentary. Daniel talks about some of his inspiration and recording methods for the album. It’s pretty cool stuff.

Here’s a bit of local flavor for ya! This is the latest single released by The Anderson Gang. I learned of these guys from a friend of a friend of mine, Daniel Anderson Berry, who is in the band, and I believe is the band’s namesake. We met when we were each enjoying some redneck scrap metal going around a race track at the annual Crash-A-Rama. I believe all the band members are from Florida, which is where I’m now located. This song has a nice mellow country type of feel to it.

This is the first music I’ve promoted on here made by people I actually know, and I’m happy to say I honestly do like the song! The single, called Ashes can be heard below, click on that little player there. It can also be downloaded for free at this link:

http://theandersongang.bandcamp.com/

Check them out on Myspace. And become a fan on Facebook.

I thought I had posted about this dude before, but alas, I have not. This here fellow goes by the moniker “That 1 Guy.” He plays his homemade instrument that he dubbed The Magic Pipe. It’s this crazy contraption with metal piping and heavy duty joints with strings and amps and all kinds of doodads.

He is a solo act and performs incredible music with his magic pipe. Over the past decade or so, he had released a couple of albums, and they both had some cool songs on them like Butt Machine and Weasel Pot Pie, but neither compared to seeing him live. He just released a new album called Packs a Wallop that, I think, does a great job of bringing some of the feel of his live performances to a studio album. You can hear the whole album streaming right here!

I saw him in concert last year and my mind was blown. He is an all around performer. He is one of those people who just seems to be oozing with rhythm. He tours all over all the time, and is playing near me soon again. He puts on one of the most interesting and entertaining shows that you can see.

Here is a really cool video clip about him. It’s the highest quality video I’ve seen on him, and after it’s over, there will be some links to live performances if YouTube’s related videos thing works right. So enjoy, check out his album, and go see him in a show!

Here’s a weird one for ya! Lately I’ve been listening to Gabby La La‘s album, Be Careful What You Wish For. At first listen, or even glimpse, one might be quick to think that she is just a strange person who sings kids songs or something. I’d argue she’s much different than what you may first think. So go ahead, click play over there, and have a listen as you read this.

I first heard of Gabby when I saw her open for Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains. She was a solo act, and performed with her sitar, theramin, loop machine, and accordion. Her tunes and beats were very original, and in her huge pink wig and large sunglasses, I found her very intriguing. She’s got a style all her own, and is a very talented musician. She sings in a real high voice, which fits right in with her quirky little songs. After her portion of the show, she joined in with Les Claypool, Buckethead, Brain, and Bernie Worrell and was part of the band for the rest of the show.

Some of the songs you may quickly find yourself tapping your foot to are Backpack, Butter and Eggs (see video below), and Be Careful What You Wish For. The album demonstrates her wide variety of musical talent. Golden Flea is heavy on the sitar, which she plays incredibly in live shows.

So check out her stuff, I think some of you will really like it, I do! Now for some videos.

First, we have a live performance in her home town of Petaluma, CA. She is playing Butter and Eggs. You will see how well she performs and isn’t afraid to do weird things to get the audience involved, like making chicken noises.

And this next one is a really well made music video. I’m not sure if it’s the official video, or even who made it, but the song is Elf.

The Knife released a new album online today! I haven’t even listened to it yet! I’ve been spending too much time getting caught up on the Australian Open.

So here is the link to the new album, available to listen free streaming online and you can purchase the album there as well. Sorry for the horrible grammar today, I’m in a bit of a tight spot, gotta hurry!

The Knife – Tomorrow, In a Year

And here is a video of a great rhythmic song off of their previous album, Silent Shout. The song is We Share Our Mother’s Health:

Poe is one of my favorite female artists. She has only released two albums, the first coming out in 1995 and the second in 2000. She has a very unique voice that can easily send chills down my spine. You may recognize her most radio played song, Angry Johnny.

She got into a bad situation with her record label, halting the production of a third studio album, which is a real shame. Now that she’s out of the contract, she’s getting her presence back out there via website with a blog and Myspace posts and emails. I hope this is all going to build up to a lot more music from her.

Some more of her vocals can be heard in some songs by a band called Conjure One. I think she has a total of five songs with them. Those songs are incredible. Conjure one also did work with Sinead O’Connor.

The link to her website is right here! Check her out, I think you’ll dig her.

Erlend Øye is a unique looking guy from Sweden with bouncy, red, curly hair and usually prominent glasses. He actually looks like he could be a twin brother of a friend of mine, which I find pretty strange, since he’s such a peculiar looking fellow. But that’s neither here nor there.

Erlend is the talent behind the band known as The Whitest Boy Alive. He also has put out solo work and has another band called Kings of Convenience. More on those at a later date. His style of music is generally similar throughout – good mellow beats with kind of a light-hearted groove.

I’ve recently put these albums on for background music during games of Rummikub and some other group card/board games. It seems to ease the tension of games that are otherwise likely to start a feud or two. As you are hopefully hearing right now, Dreams, the 2006 release of theirs, has some great toe-tapping beats in it. Burning is the song that, I believe, has received the most exposure on the album. The songs have a great flow to them and I’d bet it would be hard to find somebody who can be in a sour mood while listening to this music.

The 2009 release of The Whitest Boy Alive is entitled Rules, sticking with the simple one-word album title. It’s more of the same type of sound. Intentions is probably my top track at the moment from this one. It’s got that synthesized vibraphone sound to it that just makes you want to do some tiny dance moves while sitting in a chair.

High On the Heels has an almost disco like feel to it. I guess you could say that about quite a few of the songs. The staccato keyboard style provides great melody and percussion. It’s simple, but just great to listen to I think.

Hopefully you’ll find his music as soothing and mood-lifting as I do. As usual, those links under the players there will take you to Amazon and iTunes to check it out. Thanks again Sweden!

Goodbye – Ulrich Schnauss

Hey! Click that little gray play button on top of that player to the right there to enjoy some soothing sounds while reading this post.

I am a big fan of taking naps. Long ago, in fact, I think when I was in junior high school, I would listen to music as I went to sleep. Back then I remember the main albums being Metallica’s Black Album and Coolio’s It Takes a Thief. I also had a pretty sweet mix tape I recorded off of the radio. I still remember it having Anyone Can Play Guitar by Radiohead. Who knew they’d go on to make so much good stuff.

These days I tend to listen to more sleep-promoting music when trying to pass out. I’ve got plenty, and if you check out my Last.fm profile you will notice that my top artists all time are about half populated by artists like Carbon Based Lifeforms and Ulrich Schnauss. That’s mostly because I play them when going to sleep, and if it works, the album plays through, bumping up the play count of that artist while I’m passed out.

So, Goodbye by Ulrich Schnauss. It’s not quite an album that will make you pass out even if you’ve just chugged some Red Bull, but it’s quite relaxing. I don’t know much about the fellow except that he’s from the UK and makes good music.

This album is my favorite work of his. The opening track gives you a pretty good idea of what the album’s all about. Soothing sounds with a nice mellow beat. It’s like being wrapped up in a soft blanket, but with sounds, it’s wild stuff. Shine, the second track, is a bit off the path for this album. It’s a good song, but the vocals are a bit out of place with the rest of the songs.

By the time you get to the fifth track, if you aren’t asleep, it will likely put you under. It’s incredibly soothing and often sends some chills down my neck. Other notable tracks on here are Medusa and the title track, Goodbye. Medusa is kind of the power track on here. It’s got some slightly industrial sounding stuff. It almost a post-rock/shoegaze kind of sound to it, all while being very melodic and still relaxing. Goodbye is the song I’d want to listen to if I was riding on the back of Falcor through Fantasia. It’s quite magical really.

Alrighty, I think I’ll go have a nap!

Sia is an Australian singer with an incredible voice. She’s got a unique style going that I love. When she talks, she has a cute, girly voice and giggles a lot. As soon as she begins singing, her voice transforms into something rich, full bodied, and powerful. That mixture reminds me a bit of Norah Jones, who also seems to have a dainty voice when speaking, but can really belt it out during songs.

Sia has been on records and tours with Zero 7, a great band from Mother England. Also on a tour with them was José Gonzales; oh man I wish I could have seen that show. Anyway, Sia has four albums I think, not too sure. I’m going to post a couple videos below to give you a sample of her awesomeness.

First off is my favorite song of hers called Breathe Me. The video is pretty impressive. If I remember right, all of those Polaroids were actually taken and used to make the video. You can see her goofy personality in the first bit of the video when she’s sporting the storm trooper helmet. Even in such a sad/emotional type of song, she shows her fun personality.

Breathe Me

Alrighty. Now there is a nine part video collection on YouTube of Sia performing in the studio of KCRW in Los Angeles with Nic Harcourt as host. I’ll put a video below of one song, but I recommend watching all the songs and the nine minute interview. By now, it is probably apparent that I’ve got a bit of a thing for Sia, she is cute and quite attractive, and that voice! Well anyway…

This is The Girl You Lost to Cocaine. The beginning has a bit of the last part of Breathe Me, then it picks up into this more uptempo song. This really shows the power of her voice. She seems to be one of the rare singers with perfect pitch and rhythm. Enjoy!