Golden Cage - The Whitest Boy Alive

Here are two videos for the same song. The song is "Golden Cage" by The Whitest Boy Alive. TWBA is a band whose lead vocalist is probably my favorite singer of the 21st century. His name is Erlend Oye. He's part of the duo Kings of Convenience, and he's also a DJ and solo performer. He does guest vocals on dozens of tracks and his style ranges from acoustic guitar to electronic dance music to his work with TWBA, which is more of a traditional band setting. The vocals are fragile and beautiful on this song, which is almost 2 yrs old now, but is just being released as a single in the UK. I like the mellow laid back vibe of this. The first video is the official one. I thought it was kinda cheesy for the first 30 seconds or so, but then I fell into the spirit of it. It's fun. The second video is an animation done by the artist who did the artwork for the band's album. Same great song, two very different videos.

Gnarls Barkley - Run (video)

I love this song so much. I love the energy of the music and the timbre of Cee-Lo's vocals. This should be a smash hit. Why isn't this getting radio play? (this is a rhetorical question)

Michael Cera & Ellen Page - Anyone Else But You (video from Juno)

This is the first song to make me cry since one of those diamond commercials got to me around Christmas time. It's just so damn beautiful. The lyrics are pretty great. Ellen Page has a nice voice. Michael Cera, not so much, but it is his performance that makes this song special for me. He just sings so .... tenderly. I've always preferred hushed, fragile vocals like his and others (see Kings of Convenience , Hope Sandoval, etc.) over BIG (or maybe LOUD) singers. Maybe that's why I'll never enjoy American Idol. Pity. Or not.

Santogold - L.E.S Artistes (video)

Often, when I put new songs on my Ipod and press shuffle, I hear a song and don't really know much about who it was or the name. So when I kept hearing this song in my shuffle, I was pretty sure it was Tegan and Sara. The voice sounds similar, I think. Someone at work thought she sounded a lot like Cyndi Lauper. Santogold is Santi White, a girl who dabbles in New Wave, Reggae, and Indian influences to make a really interesting fun mix of sounds.I think I like her better than the artist she's being compared to most. I got the CD this weekend...really good all the way through. Here is her myspace page, in case you want to hear more : Santogold

Tell Me (video) - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

I'm going to try and post something every day this week about some of my favorite music of the moment. I love current music that sounds like it belongs in another time. Recent favorites that fall in this category include Richard Hawley (50s crooner), Camera Obscura (60s country/pop), The Raveonettes (50s rockabilly or 70s Suicide), Zoot Woman (80s synth pop), and Glass Candy (70s/80s druggy disco). This song is a catchy Motown style soul jam. The video reminds me of something you would have seen if Sharon Jones (2007) was a special guest on the Glenn Campbell Show (1969). Her record label is Daptone Records, which is based in Brooklyn and seems to have cornered a market on new funk-soul that sounds like classic style funk-soul. I got the CD yesterday because I couldn't get the Robyn CD that I so wanted (urgh...had to order it), but I think I did ok after all. Love the horns.

Saturday in the Country

My boss threw a crawfish boil this weekend in the country outside of the metropolis of Youngsville. The crawfish were pretty good. Expectations for the margaritas were very high due to the fact that last year his wife accidentally used too much tequila. Unfortunately, they didn't live up to the hype. The karaoke was lots of fun though (my spotlight song was the quiet storm favorite Always and Forever). I took photos and a couple of ridiculous videos, but I'm constantly reminded that my 4 yr old Sony Cybershot camera performs quite poorly in low light. Even still, I snapped this photo just as the sun was going down and thought it came out nicely....ghostly.