C&I New Indie Mix- Tracklist

Mix of amazing indie songs I discovered in the past year or two, almost all released in the past 2 years with the exception of “From Sarah with Love”, “Pills”, and “A Part of Me Never Easy”.

Tracklist:

The Saltwater Room, Owl City

Dear You, Josh Aeur

Hazy, Rosi Golan feat. William Fitzsimmons

From Sarah with Love, Sarah Connor

Poison and Wine, The Civil Wars

Kathleen, Josh Ritter

Pills, The Perishers

Been a Long Day, Rosi Golan

I Don’t Feel It Anymore, William Fitzsimmons

Be Mine, Robyn

Brother, Color of Clouds

Worlds Spins Madly On, The Weepies

Keep Me Warm, Ida Maria

Bloody Nose, Earlimart

VCR, The xx

The Books Stop Here, All the Damn Kids

A Part of Me Never Easy, Kurt Nilsen

“We wanted to begin a band that sounded gigantic”, We the Living say on their website, but oddly enough, this 3-member indie rock/pop band from Tennessee mostly crafts songs that are beautifully contained and tender, even wistful. Their website is a little too wordy and cerebral (probably an influence of Ayn Rand, from whose book of the same name I assume they got their name) – their first album apparently is split into “heaven” and “earth” sections and their Myspace page lays forth a manifesto about “spread [ing] the idea that everyone needs a personal philosophy”. Since their music is lucid and unpretentious however I won’t hold it against them. Download their newest EP, “Boom Forest”, by signing up for the mailing list. I just did and the EP consists of 5 exquisite songs. Check out “Left and Leaving” and “Re: Stacks” below.

You can also check out their website and Myspace page

So new that they don’t even have a Wikipedia page yet, Color of Clouds has been described variously as indie folk and electroacoustic, though for the record I tend toward the former categorization. Color of Clouds is made up of a trio from Brooklyn which consists of singer-songwriter Kelli Scarr (formerly of Salt & Samovar), Dan Chen, former keyboardist for Nicole Atkins & The Sea, and producer Nate Greenberg. All three knew each other from electronic band(now disbanded) Moonraker, and got their start when Chen and Scarr, both recovering from breakups in 2008, decided to turn their loss into music. Greenberg was then recruited to polish and produce their songs. They released a debut E.P. entitled “The Look” in May 2009 which was well-received, with the title track being featured on One Tree Hill. They’ve also been featured on Ugly Betty, Damages and Mercy. Their self-released debut album, Satellite of Love, comes out April 6.

Color of Clouds Myspace

Satellite of Love Tracklisting:
1. Brother
2. Wonder
3. Satellite of Love
4. Left You
5. Lullysome
6. The Look
7. I Want You
8. Haunts Me
9. Let Go
10. Cinderella
11. Come Back to Me

Brother:

Haunts Me(acapella):

“Brother”, a wistful folk gem driven by Scar’s silvery vocals, reminds me oddly of some of Hansard and Irglova’s softer songs, particularly Irglova’s “The Hill”, with its exploration of a relationship riven with guilt and blame and love and loss.  “Haunts Me”, on the other hand, with its religious undertones and electronica-tinged pop, reminds me of State Bird’s  “The Golden Glowing Mask”. The final track, however, the only other one to  be pre-released, has more tinges of folk and country.

Read an excellent review here

Now we only have to wait until April 6th!

MASHA
I dress in black to match my life. I am unhappy.

-The Seagull, Anton Chekhov

Song of the day: Dark Dark Dark – “Bright Bright Bright”

In the Sun, She & Him – She & Him is the insanely cool collaboration of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, and this is the single off their second album, set to be released in March

Blow Me Away, Breaking Benjamin- first single from the rock band’s new album Dear Agony

Pick Up the Phone, Dragonette – insanely addicting pop hit from the Canadian electropop group’s second album Fixin’ to Thrill

Good Riddance(Time of Your Life), Green Day

Scars, Allison Iraheta - marvelous second single from the American Idol contestant’s first album Just Like You

1. “Meme Si (What You’re Made Of)”, Lucie Silvas & Gregory Lemarchal. I must’ve listened to this 30 times in the first week of discovering it, and a week later I’m still listening around twice a day. Obsession doesn’t even begin to cut it. “You’re not in love this time – but it’s all right”.

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2. “Dear You”, Josh Aeur. Oddly, this reminds me of “Hey There Delilah”. As classic as the Plain White T’s song? Probably not, but it’s held good for me through months of re-listens and I firmly believe it will become a classic.

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3. “Hazy”, Rosi Golan feat. William Fitzsimmons. A stellar little gem resonant with tenderness. “Without you, things go hazy”

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4. “From Sarah with Love”, Sarah Connor. One of those iconic love songs that comes along every once in a while and perfectly captures a certain mood/situation. Helped Canadian songstress Sarah Connor on her road to stardom.

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5. “Poison & Wine”, The Civil Wars. Wait for the chorus, and fall with the same mad crash that I did. Then listen every day for at least two weeks. “I don’t love you, but I always will”.

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6. “The Saltwater Room”, Owl City. Obviously. Even non-music aficionados eventually heard this one. It took so many re-listens for me to get tired of it.

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7. “If”, Charlotte Gainsbourg feat. Etienne Daho(or is the other way around?). This one’s probably just me – I love Charlotte Gainsbourg and have a weakness for duets and songs that are a mix of French and English.

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8. “Kathleen”, Josh Ritter. Kind of like “Dear You”‘s lesser cousin – it has the same epic feel, but it’s quieter, reaches for less. Nevertheless amazing.

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9. “Be Mine”, Robyn. The second this Swedish pop sensation’s throaty vocals kick in on the song’s opening line- “it’s a good thing tears never fall in the pouring rain”, you know you’re in good hands. A thread of bitterness/anger keeps it from sliding over into emo territory.

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10. “Back Broke”, The Swell Season. I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t disappointed overall with their new album, but even so it was hard picking just one song out of it to go on this list. I went with this one because it has the same driving wistfulness and sense of loss and risk as “Low Rising”, but warrants, for some reason, more re-listening.

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