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.

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 Norway 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!