Music Video Monday: Vampire Weekend

If you've never watched a Vampire Weekend video, it's about time you checked one out. The following video, for the first single off their newest album, Contra, is classic Vampire Weekend. It's quirky, nonsensical, and full of celebrity cameos.

Enjoy! (And be sure to check out VW on their summer/fall U.S. tour. I'll be catching them in Portland on August 31st at McMenamins Edgefield.)

Prepping for Sasquatch

Well, the big day is Saturday. I'll be hitting the road with my roommate Desiree tomorrow and heading through the scenic fields of central Washington for the best Memorial Day Weekend I've had in awhile.

If you're still trying to figure out your Sasquatch schedule (or just aren't even sure who's playing), check out the Oregon Music News Sasquatch preview, written by Chris Young with contributions from yours truly.

Music Video Monday: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

As long as I'm talking about Sasquatch, I thought this week's Music Video Monday featured video should be a Sasquatch band. I've been digging this song and video from Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.

It's a love song filled with hippies frolicking through a desert. Sounds like a recipe for success, right? I sure think so. Hope you enjoy it too.

Blog Fail.

C.S. Lewis once said, "Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement." Since Lewis (in my humble opinion) is pretty much a genius, I'm going to assume he's right.

In order to stay on the road to achievement though, I feel it's important to recognize and own up to one's failures. And, therefore, I must admit that I have completely failed at my goal of featuring Sasquatch bands on Kharmonious in the weeks leading up to Sasquatch. The big event is just five days away, and I've yet to post one article about it.

While this is clearly a failure, I also have an achievement to note. I have recently landed a writing gig with Oregon Music News and have been assigned the task of covering Saturday, day one, of the festival. Needless to say, I'm pumped. Saturday is featuring two of the bands I'm most excited to see: Mumford & Sons and Vampire Weekend. The lineup also includes several Portland bands I'm excited to check out: Morning Teleportation, The Nurses (who I actually saw open for The Tallest Man on Earth last week), and Portugal. The Man.

Because I'm writing this post while in class and therefore don't have time to fully make up for my recent failures, I would like to present my top ten list of bands I'm excited to see at Sasquatch:

10. OK Go

9. MGMT

8. She & Him

7. Freelance Whales

6. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

5. Local Natives

4. Tegan & Sara

3. City & Colour

2. Vampire Weekend

1. Mumford & Sons

Check out any of those you've yet to listen to. And, after you've done that, check out my coverage of Sasquatch at Oregon Music News.

I am Sasquatch.

In case you haven't heard of it, Sasquatch is a pretty big deal. It's the annual three-day music festival held at the Gorge Amphitheater Memorial Day Weekend. This will be the first year I have the opportunity to attend, and, needless to say, I'm stoked.

As an outlet for all my post-Sasquatch excitement, I'm going to try my best to use the (much-neglected) blog to talk about Sasquatch bands I'm excited about. Between now and the big weekend, I'll feature artists that will be performing at Sasquatch and tell you why you should be excited about said artists.

There are a ton of bands, and plenty of them I've never heard. So, I also want to hear which Sasquatch bands other people are excited about. Who do I need to check out before I head up to George?

In the meantime, if you haven't already heard it, check out and download Mumford & Sons' cover of Vampire Weekend's (just two of the bands I'm squealing with glee about seeing at Sasquatch) "Cousins" here: http://stereogum.com/files/mp3/Mumford%20And%20Sons%20-%20Cousins%20%28Vampire%20Weekend%20Cover%29.mp3

Songs That Didn't Make the Cut

I hate picking favorites. I'm one of the most indecisive people you'll ever meet. I believe this stems from growing up as an only child and always being asked which parent was right in the latest pointless argument. How can you choose one parent over another?

Similarly, how can you reduce an entire year of great music to ten great albums? Well, Kyle and I did it, and I still like our list quite a bit. However, that stubborn egalitarian in me just won't rest until I also write about some of the other awesome songs, bands, and albums that I loved in 2009.

The first of those that didn't make the cut is Bon Iver's Blood Bank EP, which was released last January. Despite the snowy cover and wintry release date (not to mention, I suppose, that "bon iver" means "good winter"), the EP has a more upbeat, warmer feel than the beautifully somber For Emma, Forever Ago of 2007.

Originally a one-man band, Justin Vernon has been joined on the EP by two more musicians, and the additions seem to have been an excellent decision. This isn't just For Emma, Forever Ago part two--Blood Bank is fuller and richer and, somehow in just four songs, demonstrates new sounds and new variety that For Emma didn't have. That being said, some fans may long for the acoustic aching of a lonely man in his Wisconsin cabin and see Blood Bank as a betrayal.

Some of what fans of For Emma loved is still there--Vernon's eerie, layered vocals and his reminiscent lyrics shine on the title track--but there is also the addition of electric sounds, pianos, and slide guitars throughout the EP, as well as the love-it-or-hate-it vocoder (think Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek") on the last track, "Woods."

Blood Bank is different, to be sure. But then, how could the brilliance of that first break-out album be repeated? I say kudos to Bon Iver for experimenting and giving us an EP to enjoy while we wait for the next album, whatever it may bring.

You can listen to (and download for free) "Blood Bank" (and several other songs) on Bon Iver's website.

RIYL: Fleet Foxes, Jose Gonzalez

The Top 10 Albums of 2009 -- #1 Strict Joy by The Swell Season

I have this thing for sad songs. After all, as Elton John said, “Sad songs (say so much).” It might be no surprise, then, that my favorite album of the year is The Swell Season’s Strict Joy. An album filled with songs written by partners in music and ex-partners in life is bound to be filled with some powerful emotions, and listening to Joy can feel a bit like a rollercoaster. Irish singer-songwriter (of The Frames) Glen Hansard, half of the duo, explains that the album is a bit like a diary, and I think that description is accurate.

Perhaps it’s really more like two diaries. Hansard and Czech singer-pianist Marketa Irglova became romantically involved during the filming of 2006’s Once (in which they played, oddly enough, musicians who fall in love but then part ways). Since then, their romantic relationship has ended, and, listening to joy, you can feel each artist grapple with the loss of love, sometimes with sadness, sometimes with anger, and sometimes with relief.

One of the most beautiful things about the album is the transition between songs. The quiet simplicity of “In These Arms”—where Hansard wonders if “maybe I was born to hold you in these arms—gives way to the angst of “The Rain:” “I know we're not where I promised you we'd be by now, but maybe its a question of who'd want it anyhow.” Whether the songs are inspired by the real-life break-up or a prescribed narrative that functions as a sequel to their film, as one reviewer suggested, the result is lovely.

Each track on the album is honest—sometimes painfully so—and, together, they form a truly beautiful piece. The combination of Hansard’s energetic folk rock and fiery voice and Irglova’s honeyed vocals and peaceful piano lends the album variety. Irglova is at her best on the dreamy and melancholy “Fantasy Man,” while “Back Broke” demonstrates that, even on a softer song, Hansard’s voice and lyrics can make you want to laugh and cry all at the same time (“Back broke and dancing, cause you’re here beside me”). “The Verb,” “Two Tongues,” and the bonus track “Somebody Good” showcase the vocal chemistry of the pair perfectly.

The duo also recorded a live session at Daytrotter, which features three songs from Strict Joy, as well as a beautiful rendition of “Star Star.” While I’m not sure if Hansard and Irglova will continue to make music together or choose to pursue their individual projects—I certainly hope Swell Season will continue on.