So, sometimes you’re just surfing the web and you find a gem in the middle of the internet. That’s what happened when it came to Science For Girls. I saw their name appear somewhere and I was curious, so I checked their myspace. Immediately, I was drawn. From New York, Science for Girls is melodic electronica with roots in jazz and Brazillian music, from producer and songwriter Darren Soloman. The debut album features guest vocalists from NYC’s indie music scene. Ain’t it neat how you end up meeting music that you immediately know is going to be a big part of your life. I have a feeling Science For Girls is going to play a lot in my lifetime and hopefully yours too. I ended up cleaning my whole room for 2 hours playing Science For Girls- 14 Days, Northern Lights, You’ll Never Know, and Australia (I’ve never been to Australia, but whenever I sing this song, I feel like it’s the best place on Earth) on repeat. Hopefully, I can find a way to get their album to the station, but I am amazed how their album, released October 1, 2007, was self released. Beautiful relaxing stuff right here. Check these two songs out. 14 days is their most popular btw. Also, check out www.myspace.com/scienceforgirls for more. Also, I apologize for any grammar or spelling errors. I sucked in English classes.

-Kellie

Kellie’s Pop Rock Fridays 3-5pm

So i really wanted to write a blog post with Christmas music for every mood… ex. have a very [ wacky, drunk, weird, etc. ] Christmas. But, I kept on running into awesomely melancholy christmas music, holiday songs with a touch of sadness. Not to be too much of a downer, but sometimes it’s nice to listen to slightly sad music, and I think many of us can have mixed feelings about the “most wonderful time of the year”. So if you are in the mood to chill out and escape grating, irritatingly sickly sweet christmas tunes (Mariah Carey, I’m looking at you), check out these songs!

First up is the reigning king of sorrowful tracks (“emo” if you will), Bright Eyes. Conor Oberst recorded a pretty morose rendition of “Blue Christmas.” (Thanks for the tip, Pooch!) Click on the link for a free download of “Blue Christmas” and tons of other Bright Eyes and Saddle Creek releases. As usual, Oberst sounds like he is on the verge of tears or as if he is drowning (as one of my friends acutely noted) while singing the Elvis classic. Oberst also recorded a whole Christmas album a few years ago (who knew?), so that is worth a spin if you want some more unconventional Christmas tunes.

Next is Okkervil River, Listening to Otis Redding at Home During Christmas, from their 2002 album Don’t Fall in Love With Everyone You See. Will Sheff perfectly captures the melancholic undertone of feeling nostalgia for a home that no longer exists….Also, beautiful violin at the end of the song! This is one of my favorite Okkervil River tracks of all time, regardless of the season.

Next is Soltero with “Songs of the Season.” Soltero is a relatively under the radar band, I first heard about them when my friend Claire put the song “The Moment You Said Yes” on a mix a few years back. They are a folk band outta Philadelphia lead by singer/songwriter Tim Howard; Soltero plays pretty songs with interesting lyrics that have a similar sound to The Mountain Goats or Little Wings. “Songs of the Season” has a pretty upbeat sound, but the song discusses losing one’s dreams and hopes, heavy stuff. By the way, another Soltero track I have been digging a lot lately is “The Priest”…

Last and MOST CERTAINLY not least is Mr. Sufjan Stevens. Songs for Christmas is a five album box set of EPs Stevens recorded from 2001 to 2006 originally intended as gifts for family and friends. He covered many Christmas classics ( “O Come O Come Emmanuel”), as well as writing a ton of original Christmas songs. I absolutely adore this collection of albums and force my family to listen to it constantly during Christmas, and they have grown to love it… I think. I am shocked that I haven’t written about Stevens yet on this blog, considering he is one of my all-time favorite artists, one of the only artists I could describe myself as fanatic about. Songs for Christmas has been a critical success, with Entertainment Weekly describing it as “thrilling”, so apparently I am not the only one who is a devoted Sufjanite.

Sufjan does not disappoint in delivering both joyful, cheerful tracks as well as more morose songs that show the dark side of Christmas. The delightfully titled “Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)” describes the difficult side to Christmas, with Sufjan singing “I stay awake at night, after we have a fight, I’m writing poems about you, and they’re not very nice.” Another superbly depressing (but realistic) track is “That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!” is a folksy, gentle track describing shoveling show in the driveway, with the refrain “Silent Night, nothing is Right.” I also love “Sister Winter”, another Sufjan original. Ahh… what to even say about it, just a gorgeous track all around.

I could endlessly ramble on about the glory  that is Stevens’ Christmas collection, but I really should get off of the computer and actually spend some quality time with the family. It is Christmas, after all. A a final Sufjan note, here is the SUPERB animated music video for Stevens’ “Put the Lights on the Tree”…. call your grandma on the phone, if she’s living all alone!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.  I will stop being such a Grinch and end the blog post with a deliriously happy Christmas song, Paul McCartney’s “Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas TIme”. Enjoy the cheesy ’70s graphics and fashion in the video.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Love,

Duffy

PS-  Returning to my KSCU show Monday, January 4 (7-9 pm).

Kid Cudi was booted from Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour soon after punching a fan at a Vancouver, BC solo show last Friday, December 12.

The “Day ‘n Nite” rapper know for his general laid-back/stoner  sensibility jumped off stage and attacked a fan after a wallet was repeatedly thrown onstage; unfortunately Cudi attacked the wrong person, a fan who was only attempting to return the lost wallet… oops. The alleged victim has decided not to press charges, but it seems the damage has been done, at least in terms of Cudi’s reputation.

See video of the incident here:

Although the Vancouver show at the Commodore Ballroom was unrelated to the Monster Ball tour, Cudi has taken “an early leave of absence from Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball tour, in order to balance his schedule surrounding the recording of his next album and acting commitments.” Riiiiight. Seems pretty unlikely that Cudi’s cancellation from GaGa’s prominent and possibly starmaking tour is completely unrelated to the Vancouver fight that happened only five days before.

GaGa has not had the best luck with rap tour mates, as well all remember the whole Kanye West/Taylor Swift debacle that prompted West to back out of their planned “Fame Kills” tour.

What can I say? Kid Cudi’s actions were pretty disappointing to me, as I have been a fan of his for quite a while, and I love his thoughtful and cool songs “Man on the Moon” and of course the Crookers version of “Day N Nite.” I saw Crookers perform their version of “Day at Night” at Coachella 2009, seriously one of the highlights of my time at the festival. I also saw Cudi in concert at the SCU Fall 2009 concert in Leavey Center, but his showmanship left something to be desired… Milkman, the opening act, arguably outshone Cudi with a longer set and better overall energy and atmosphere.

Despite all of my hating on Kid Cudi, he is still a talented and legitimate artist, and I hope he gets his act together and stops screwing up opportunities. The GaGa tour would have been a great way to help him break into the mainstream, but he’s gotta step it up and stop acting like such a fool.

“Cudderisback” is a new song from Cudi that features a track from Vampire Weekend’s song “Ottoman.” It’s interesting to hear Ezra’s vocals combined with Cudi, I think it sounds new and fresh. Cudi has been known as a big indie rock fan, so I think this song is a pretty cool hybrid of two different genres.

Cudi also sampled the uber-recognizable guitar rift from Band of Horses’ “The Funeral” in his song “The Prayer.” I’m not as crazy about it as the Vampire Weekend mashup, but I still dig it!

Listen to and Download “CudderisBack” and “The Prayer” here.

Who knows, this could be a sign of the future… Jay-Z was spotted at a Grizzly Bear concert with Beyonce a couple of months ago in Brooklyn, so maybe this will be a new direction for hip-hop… sounds good to me. Girl Talk has been doing this for a while now, gotta love his remix of Clipse with Grizzly Bear’s song “Knife.” Loooove it. So catchy/fun/unique.

Watch Girl Talk’s Knife remix:

Sufjan Stevens and Kanye West, an unlikely pairing, have a mix of their respective songs “Ahh! They are Zombies!” and “Jesus Walks”… I’m guessing most likely without their consent. I’m not sure if the two songs entirely mesh that well, but, hey, it’s interesting, worth a listen.

Check it out on Hype Machine:

Sufjan Stevens/Kanye West – “Zombies Walk”

(Beware, profanity on tracks… I would definitely be playing them on my show otherwise!)

Sincerely,

Duffy

So lately I have been adoring the sounds of Swedish singers, particularly Lykke Li, El Perro Del Mar, and Jens Lekman. Peter, Bjorn, and John have helped propel Swedes into mainstream American music, particularly with their omnipresent single “Young Folks” and subsequent albums and North American tours (of which I gave tickets away to on my show on KSCU in November,  ahem, sorry for the plug.)

Jens Lekman is also another Swedish artist that has gained popularity within the past couple of years, with groovy pop sounds and interesting lyrics (I never knew “slicing up an avocado” could sound so expressive). Pitchfork ranked Lekman’s 2007 album Night Falls Over Kortedala as one of the top 200 albums of the last 10 years… gotta love “Your Arms Around Me” and “I’m Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You,” excellent baroque pop with brutally honest and unique lyrics. Shout out to the twin sis, Pooch, for introducing me to Lekman… I am forever grateful.

So now for the new stuff! Lykke Li has gained tons of notice within the last year, and today was featured on the long list of contenders for an Oscar nomination for Best Song for “Possibility,” off of the New Moon Soundtrack. There are over 65 contenders for Best Song, and such illustrious names such as Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift are included on the long list of contenders, so none of them are sure-fire Oscar noms. As much as I gripe and try to resist the whole Twi-hard, vampire/werewolf/scowling Kristen Stewart sensation… it is a pretty good soundtrack. I guess. Personally I like Lykke Li’s more upbeat stuff, like her song “Dance Dance Dance,” or “A Little Bit”, both of which have some pretty kick ass, super danceable remixes.

Listen to the possible Oscar contender here:

El Perro Del Mar, another Swedish fave, just released her new album, Love is Not Pop, a couple of weeks ago. Love it!! I have been entranced with the singer since her album From the Valley to the Stars, generally low-key indie stuff…. particularly the song “Glory to the World,” immensely catchy in a simple way. El Perro Del Mar (real name: Sarah Assbring) could best be described as melancholic, lo-fi indie… if you are a fan of music that teeters on the edge of depressing (like me), you will probably enjoy her slightly sad-tinged sound.

Here is El Perro Del Mar performing “A Change of Heart” live at the CMJ Festival: (beyooootiful!)

Finally! One of my favorite acts of the past few months is Taken By Trees, Victoria Bergsman, who was featured on the aforementioned track “Young Folks.” Bergsman was the singer for The Concretes for 11 years before taking off in 2006 to venture off and do her own solo stuff. Her most recent album, East of Eden, was recorded in Pakistan and reflects an international sound, particularly on tracks like “Anna” (which features Panda Bear).

Taken By Trees has gained popularity for her cover songs, especially “My Boys” (covering Animal Collective’s “My Girls”) and her  new single “Sweet Child Of Mine.”

Check Out Taken By Trees’ “My Boys” nature-y, tight-rope walking video:

Once again, these Swedes know how to dance so look out for dance remixes of all of these songs!

I hope you enjoy all of these Swedish tunes,

Hejda (wikipedia tells me this is Swedish for ‘goodbye’)

-Duffy

Fall Be Kind EP, Animal Collective’s new five-song EP, comes only eleven months after their critically acclaimed and commercially successful album Merriweather Post Pavilion, which helped Animal Collective break into the mainstream with hits like “My Girls” and “Summertime Clothes.”  “Why Would I Want? Sky” features the first licensed sample of Grateful Dead (their song “Unbroken Chain”), and the track overall is melodic and extremely pleasant…

Besides “Why Would I Want? Sky,” Fall Be Kind definitely has some other gems on this 5 track EP. The first song, “Graze”, switches from a tense opening section to a joyful, flute-laden uptempo track. The last three songs on the EP are a bit more experimental, almost a bit reminiscent of their earlier, more chaotic earlier work (Strawberry Jam, Feels). Still, Fall Be Kind is an EP that you don’t want to miss if you like Animal Collective, it is a joyful and interesting listen that is appealing while still unexpected and original…. love it.

Download full MP3 Animal Collective Shows here.

-Duffy

Brazos is a band outta Austin that surprisingly is  pretty  under the radar, despite the fact that they are definitely talented and worth listening to. I have been listening to their new album, Phosphorescent Blues, self-released through Autobus Records, non-stop lately; it is an immensely catchy, thoughtful, feel good record.

Brazos sounds similar to Okkervil River or other sorts of quieter indie rock; they manage to be laid back without approaching depressing territory. This band manages to have a sense of familiarity while still sounding honest and original. One of the best tracks from Phosphorescent Blues is “Day Glo”…. catchy guitar, great vocals and piano… I just can’t get enough! Since their first EP, A City Just As Tall, was released two years ago, Brazos has opened for the likes of Vampire Weekend and Grizzly Bear, and have been gaining definite buzz in the Austin music scene. I foresee them ascending the ranks of indie stardom!

Listen to all of Phosphorescent Blues on Brazos’ website here.

For some reason, Brazos isn’t streaming “Day Glo” from their site, so here is the youtube link:

Here is a video of frontman Martin Crane performing their song “Mary Jo” (from their first EP) on ACL Left.

Enjoy!

-Duffy

La Roux’s song “bulletproof “is addicting. The song is really fun and the lyrics are kick ass if you just came out of a crappy relationship. The video is awesome. Just click on the video again if it doesn’t show. It will direct you to the youtube one. In <3 with this!!

-Kellie

as of December 2009

1.Tegan And Sara – Sainthood

Try: Sentimental Tune, Hell

2. El Perro Del Mar – Setting The Paces

Try: Change of Heart

3 .Flaming Lips – Embryonic

Try: Watching the Planets

4. Lymbyc Systym – Shutter Release

5. Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine – Audacity Of Hope

6. Nirvana – Bleach

7. Julian Casablancas – Phrazes For The Young

Try: 11th Dimension

8. Twilight: New Moon Soundtrack

Try: Lykke Li- Possibility

9. Air – Love 2

10. Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack

Try: All is Love

Annie is in rotation and her pop dance music is hard to resist. Above is her song, “Hey Annie”. Give it a try. Her music in simply fun and energetic. Another great song of hers is “Bad Times”. You can be sure to hear her music on my show at least.

Tune to KSCU 103.3!

-Kellie

Kellie’s Pop Rocks

Fridays 3-5 pm

The xx is practically new but they’re already growing a huge fan base. People either love them or don’t care for them. Personally, I love them. From London, England, this indie pop/soul/new wave group includes Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, and Jamie Smith (Baria Qureshi was a member as well but left) . They were formed in 2008 and by 2009, their single “Crystalised” became a hit with listeners. Recently, they performed two nights at San Francisco’s The Independent with Friendly Fires.

The xx is one of my personal favorites. Good ones include: Islands, Heart Skipped a Beat, Basic Space, Do You Mind, VCR, and Stars. Tune into KSCU and request it!

-Kellie