My favorite venue in the Minneapolis is definitely the Varsity. Such a comfortable and friendly place lit with table lamps and christmas lights, furnished with couches you just sink into and never want to leave and intimately sized to where the band can be an arms length away but still be a brilliant national or global act. So the fact that I haven't been there since October is disheartening.
While I perused iLike in hopes of a good concert, I accidentally bumped into The Bird and the Bee. I recalling seeing their name, but I hadn't stopped to listen. So naturally I played a song clip (Again and Again) and thought the harmony is beautiful. The lead singer resembles a breathy Rilo Kiley. The vocals and instrumentals feel like they belong in a colorful dream, trance like qualities but filled with undertones of bittersweet life. It's grace and mellowness compares to Belle and Sebastian's Sleep the Clock Around.
Enough said, I'm sold. Turns out they are playing at the Varsity come January. My quest is fulfilled.
I also think Gretchen should post something so I don't look like a blog hog.
The Bird and The Bee links:
Official Site
iLike Profile
MySpace
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Top Ten Reasons to Listen to New Music
10. There's way more music now that anyone can stick up a song on the web. Your favorite music niche has an underground treasure trove of great emerging artists. Start digging.
9. When your entire music selection plays only on Oldies radio, it's time for an update. New artists write songs influenced by those from your golden age. Don't worry, Build Me Up Buttercup will still be there when you get back from listening to music from 2000.
8. Bands don't last forever. What are you going to do when Paul McCartney finally stops writing music?
7. What better to do when you're bored than flip on Slacker/Pandora whilst you run around looking for blogs like this?
6. One of the easiest things to do in a city for a tween/college/grad crowd is attend a concert. It might be in a local bar or in a trendy theater or in a mainstream hot spot. Chances are it's a band you've never heard. The point is, new music's out there and everywhere. You can try a concert on a whim, or if you are nervous about throwing down $10 for cover, use the handy dandy internet to see if you like the band's vibe before you go.
5. As good as your favorite hits are, a few weeks of just one song can turn it into something you hate like an overused cell phone ringer.
4. The more you support music now, the more good stuff there will be later.
3. Not listening to something new just because you're comfortable and set in your musical ways is like saying why bother developing new energy when we've still got a little bit of fossil fuel left? Just as no fuel would suck for the next generation, it would also suck if the only songs they grew up with were Amazing Grace and Thiller.
2. Just because the music is local, doesn't make it horrible. Local legends are gold mines for good concerts, cheap CDs and hours of musical bliss. Even more, any local band could be the next big thing and you'll see them off into the big time as you rock out and grab a pint with them after the show in their little league years. You'll be thankful you listened to them before they sped off to their European tour.
1. The best band of your generation is just waiting for you to hear it and love it.
9. When your entire music selection plays only on Oldies radio, it's time for an update. New artists write songs influenced by those from your golden age. Don't worry, Build Me Up Buttercup will still be there when you get back from listening to music from 2000.
8. Bands don't last forever. What are you going to do when Paul McCartney finally stops writing music?
7. What better to do when you're bored than flip on Slacker/Pandora whilst you run around looking for blogs like this?
6. One of the easiest things to do in a city for a tween/college/grad crowd is attend a concert. It might be in a local bar or in a trendy theater or in a mainstream hot spot. Chances are it's a band you've never heard. The point is, new music's out there and everywhere. You can try a concert on a whim, or if you are nervous about throwing down $10 for cover, use the handy dandy internet to see if you like the band's vibe before you go.
5. As good as your favorite hits are, a few weeks of just one song can turn it into something you hate like an overused cell phone ringer.
4. The more you support music now, the more good stuff there will be later.
3. Not listening to something new just because you're comfortable and set in your musical ways is like saying why bother developing new energy when we've still got a little bit of fossil fuel left? Just as no fuel would suck for the next generation, it would also suck if the only songs they grew up with were Amazing Grace and Thiller.
2. Just because the music is local, doesn't make it horrible. Local legends are gold mines for good concerts, cheap CDs and hours of musical bliss. Even more, any local band could be the next big thing and you'll see them off into the big time as you rock out and grab a pint with them after the show in their little league years. You'll be thankful you listened to them before they sped off to their European tour.
1. The best band of your generation is just waiting for you to hear it and love it.
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