Something Old, Something New

About a week or two ago, Inara George and Greg Kurstin, the duo better known as The Bird and the Bee, officially released their third full length album, entitled “Interpreting the Masters, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates”. I may be biased because I have gotten to know Inara over the past year or so and they are easily one of my favorite groups, but for me the album was exactly what I was expecting and then some. I had first learned they were working on the cover album in February of last year when I heard them play “I Can’t Go For That” live on several occasions, and absolutely fell in love with what they had done with the song. The album, like this song, still retains the lyrical and compositional dignity that makes Hall & Oates great, however Greg does such an incredible job adding modern musical elements and reinventing each track that they have truly made the works their own; not to mention the endearingly sweet yet fearless vocals Inara always provides that draw me to love her voice so much. If you love Hall & Oates like I do or have heard any music by The Bird and the Bee in the past, I highly recommend looking into this fantastic cover album, especially “I Can’t Go For That”, “Rich Girl”, and “Heard It On The Radio”.

Can Someone Please Give The Members of Noah and the Whale a Hug?

I recently bought Noah and the Whale’s latest album, The First Days of Spring, wholeheartedly expecting whimsical and charmingly light music based off of the title and the incredibly beautiful photographs that comprise the record’s album artwork. The music itself absolutely did not disappoint; I have always thought they had an incredible sound and that Charlie Fink had quite an endearing voice. But for the love of God I have never heard so many songs in a row about someone with a broken heart trying to talk himself through a seemingly horrid breakup with a girl who, like Beyoncé, is irreplaceable. “You can give up anything when you’re following you’re heart… I thought I believed in love but I never see it through”… “I’m a fox trapped in the headlights, oh and I’m waiting for the tires to spin over me”…buddy, pull yourself together. I guess I should have expected some of their classic pessimism, as I long ago took quite a liking to that undeniably relatable cynicism found in such songs as “Shape of My Heart”. But this poor boy/the whole group/whoever wrote the lyrics, despite having undeniable talent, really needs some Prozac.

Regardless, I really do love “ Blue Skies”, “First Days of Spring”, and the incredibly innovative “Love of an Orchestra”. I don’t know if I would recommend buying the whole album as I did, but definitely give those songs a listen…misery loves company, after all.

The band also decided to create an accompanying mini-film for the album, which is absolutely gorgeous and well done despite how tragically forlorn the entire video is. It does, however, include Daisy Lowe and a God-impersonator dancing around in a turtleneck, so it’s worth watching.

The Stars Have Aligned...

And now my life is complete, because Mumford & Sons have covered Vampire Weekend's "Cousins", and it is just one of the best things I've ever heard. It has the distinct Mumford & Sons feel and they have done something completely different with the song, but now I can't decide if I prefer the original to this or not. Listen to the MP3 here:

Mumford & Sons- "Cousins"

What do Vampire Weekend, Joe Jonas, and Jake Gyllenhaal have in common?

Apparently, this video. Vampire Weekend recently released the video for their second single off of Contra, "Giving Up The Gun", which is easily one of my favorite songs of 2010 so far... the video is quite funny and really cute. Not sure why they chose those two to be in it, but you know when you're Vampire Weekend i guess you can do whatever the fuck you want.

Watch the video here: