Blisslist - 5/25/08, concerting bender edition

During lunch last week, my dear friend Eric told me that I am his best friend—and that after years of having close male friends, he "cannot believe he  is best friends with a girl. I told him that it's okay, because I am only part girl. Most of my friends are male. And I like music and hiking and run away wide-eyed & screaming with circle-motioned helicopter arms when my girl friends try to get me to drop money on a professional manicure. Girls in groups scare me. It's the stuff of nightmares: sororities. bachelorette parties. shoe shopping. face masks. *shudder*

Back to Eric.

So we then proceeded to talk about the concerts we have in common this week (Ladytron! Beirut!), and I launched into one of my favorite topics of conversation:

Me: So when's the part of my life happening where you sign up for sonicliving.com?

Eric: Um...well, I already have a concert calendar and its name is Liz.

Me: I know, but Sonicliving is so great, man. See, you upload your bands from itunes—or cut and paste them in—and the site emails you when they are coming to town. It's the best thing ever and I love it and you will too and I think we should be Sonicliving friends. Come on!   

Eric: Maybe I will get around to it this week....

Me: And when you add shows to your calendar they will sync with my calendar. When you are "interested" in a show, the block is blue. When you "confirm" a show, the block is green. We can be concerty color-coded together, Eric!

Don't you want to be color-coded with me?

Eric: I thought you just said you are only part girl. In the span of one minute you managed to nag me again about Sonicliving and talk about being color-coded together. With much animation too. I never realized you were this girly.

Me: .....take it back.

My lunch with Eric was on Monday. And although lunch with Eric is always a major highlight, my week was about to get way more awesome. That's because I was contacted by the founder of Sonicliving (if you are reading this, hi Gabe!) to see M83 with him & his friends. He knew from my calendar that I was interested in M83, and it turns out that he had an extra ticket to the sold-out show. At the time, I wasn't entire certain he was the founder, but I did suspect it. He is heavily present on the site (there are more than a few heavy hitters - I am probably on the cusp of that line), so I recognized him immediately. I almost saw bunnies when I read his message.

O holy hell yes, I wanted to go.

The show ended up being fantastic, with the majority of their set lifted from their superb new album,  Saturdays = Youth. And Gabe is super-fun and nice—cordially fielding the few questions I fired his way about the site and how it came to be (of course I had a ridiculous amount and did not ask them all).

It was a very unexpected slice of awesome wedged into my already great week. Gabe is such a rock star to me.

1) Red Sea Black Sea / Shearwater

I had the pleasure of catching Austin-based Shearwater last week with a fellow weekly list writer and live music enthusiast (Hi Roger!). Shearwater was founded by Jonathan  Meiburg (formerly of Okkervil River - he left the band a couple months ago to pursue his interests in Shearwater full time). Their new album drops within the next 2 weeks or so—which is fantastic because I really enjoyed their live set. Definitely take the time to check out "White Wave" and "SeventyFour SeventyFive," but this particular is an excellent introduction to the band. "Red Sea Black Sea" displays a perfect pairing of Jonathan's impassioned vocals with the band's self-assured but enlivened instrumentation. Great song.

http://www.myspace.com/shearwater

2) Water Planes in Snow / Chin Up Chin Up

Chicago-based Chin Up Chin Up's sophomore effort, This Harness Can't Ride Anything, was a happy find last year. The record manages to achieve a whimsical vibrance despite Jeremy Bolen's rather drab, monotone vocals. It always gets my foot tapping.

Definitely check out the title track as well. I always have a terrible time choosing between the two.

http://www.myspace.com/chinupchinup

3) Find a Way / Lavender Diamond

No, not My Brightest Diamond. This is Lavender Diamond - a smallish, LA-based band with a prepossessing, tuneful, sweet-toothed sound. I connect with the the sad innocence beaming from most of their tunes, though many are fairly forgettable. But on this particular track, I love it when  Becky Stark repetitively coos, "Find a way, find  a way, find a way to love...."

http://www.myspace.com/lavenderdiamond

4) Orange Sky / Alexi Murdoch

I have a soft spot for this acoustic tune by English folk songster, Alexi Murdoch. I found it back in 2006, and it is included in the majority of my hiking playlists.

http://www.myspace.com/aleximurdoch

5) So Many Ways / Mates of State

One of my favorite bands. I saw Mates of State last week (yes, I am in the middle of a concerting bender) with Jason, Ben, and Monica. Yes, I finally got my "re-do" after missing half of their Greek Theater set 2 years ago. They performed a few of their new tunes from Re-Arrange Us, but they also plucked several favorites from their old catalogue as well. It was a very good show.

And this particular song incited some frenzied hand-fanning in front of my eyes as tears began to collect in my lower-lids. It didn't help. I totally cried. I love this band.

6) Digital Love / Mobius Band

Even though I briefly mentioned it last week, this song wasn't a formal inclusion on the Blisslist. I now regret the omission. Mobius Band's cover of "Digital Love" is a well-executed respite from their typical sound, and I found myself listening to this track over and over at work last week. It's playful and a little flirty. Just fun.

Oh, I don't know what to do
About this dream of you
I hope this dream comes true

http://www.myspace.com/mobiusband3

7) I'm Your Man / John Hancock

  I'm digging this soulful tune by Stereogum's "Artist to Watch," John Hancock, who spends most of his time as lead singer and drummer of Awesome New Republic.

  "I'm Your Man" is off of John's solo record, Part Mongolian.

http://www.myspace.com/mongolianjermainemusic

8) Get Out / Sound Team

So I decided to explore one of my car's seat side-crevices, where many treasures were unearthed (or un-Janed). Among several rubber bands and Starbucks lids, I was quite pleased to find my lost (and vehemently Pitchfork-loathed) Sound Team CD, Movie Monster. "Handful of Billions" is my favorite track from this now broken-up band, but I found myself clicking back to the album's short intro tune, "Get Out," over and over.

http://www.myspace.com/soundteam123

9) Balloons / Foals

Recently signed to SubPop, poppy post-punk Foals' debut album, Antidotes, has only been out a few weeks. Yet this emerging British band has already received press from most major music publications. I am not extremely familiar with them and have only given a few of their songs a spin or two, but I really like this single.

10) Heaven / HEALTH

HEALTH dropped an album of remixes last week—featuring track reworks by Crystal Castles and Acid Girls, among others. Reading about the album reminded me of "Heaven" and how I always liked this song and its accompanying video. Intense, man.