Tuesday Tunes - "Everything to Me" (Lips)

Oh man, I am so happy I found this song. I will try my best to articulate what it is about "Everything to Me" that made it an immediate favorite for me, but really, just give it a listen and you will understand. You may have heard of it before, but likely a different, remixed version (the Adventure Club Remix is quite popular on Youtube, although I'm a bigger fan of the DJ Fresh Direct remix).

It's just so simple and smooooooth. Stephanie Brown's voice is very cool and down-to-earth, which can sometimes lead to boring music, but that is certainly not the case for Lips. I have already listened to this song like 10 times and I'm still in love with it. Like most of the stuff I recommend, this is perfect music for just playing in the background while studying or reading.

Photo from the LIPS Facebook page

Let's talk a little bit about the lyrics. Just try and tell me that you don't sometimes feel like "there are days I would pay anything just to leave it all behind". This song really speaks to those times when you just wish you were living a different life. Lips frontman (er, frontwoman?) Stephanie Brown, who aptly describes this song as "an everyday account of needing to take a break from your everyday." Sometimes the simplest topics can be the most poignant choices for music, and I'm a huge fan of songs with relatable lyrics.

Photo from Facebook

Stephanie Brown also just seems like a cool chick. I mean, come on. She categorizes her style as DIY Casio Pop, and her keyboard has floral print on it. She looks like the kind of person I would want to party with, and she is from New Zealand, which everybody knows wins bonus points from me.

Anyways, join me in listening to this song on repeat for the next month. Click heeeeere to download the song for free!

Tuesday Tunes - ArchAnimals

This song is called Pokemon. I'm not gonna lie, that's the main reason I even listened to it in the first place. And I'm really glad I did, because this is some really cool sound. And it comes from another band that you likely have never heard of (put on your hipster glasses, everyone)! I mean, they only have 117 likes on their Facebook page.

Picture from GMAD Indie

I haven't been feeling my greatest lately, so that might partly explain the sparseness of this post, but I will also blame it on the fact that this band really is still super local - currently stationed in New Orleans - and this is the only song that they've recorded and released. It's available as a free download (yay free music!), but I'd say support new bands and name your price for the song on their website!


Pokemon's a hard one to describe, but I just really like the feel of it. It's like the music starts out just as barely intentional noise, and then there's this part right around 1:30 when it turns into something really beautiful. Only for a brief moment though! And then it comes back at 3 minutes and makes you feel like you're in the emotional climax of a movie when the main character has this epiphany that he's really in love with the girl he just said goodbye to. Or something. Either way, give it a listen, because it's cool stuff. And "Like" them on FB!

Tuesday Tunes - Cherub

I unfortunately have no free music to offer this week, but this band is still definitely worth checking out. When I read the band description ("sexy, avant-garde, electro-pop duo that is the dance love-child of 80's funk, and pop-music from the future" - Facebook), I was a bit skeptical. But then I figured that if I've given folk a chance, might as well do the same for funk. I was very pleasantly surprised, and also a bit relieved, to find that their music actually has a lot of variety to it; it's not all James Brown funkadelic but instead finds a happy, unexpected medium between that and...I dunno, some popular electronic band these days.

Photo from ThisSongIsSick.com

The members, Jordan Kelley and Jason Huber, hail from Nashville, Tennessee, but there is not even a glimpse of their Southern roots in their music. Instead, their sound is very sultry and Prince-like (as in "the artist formerly known as", not royalty =P). As in, remember the time Prince wore those ass-less chaps? This band reminds me of that moment, although maybe just toned down from pure sexual energy to somewhat more subtle sensuality. It's like Prince's funky grooves meet Robin Thicke's sexy falsetto. Plus some electronica...

I just really like that these guys have taken music styles of the past and mixed them up with a contemporary sound. I mean, how cool is it that they have essentially brought back the 60's, reincarnated into music that my generation would totally bust a move to in the clubs? So cool. So suave. 

Check 'em out on Facebook and their Official Website!

Tuesday Tunes - Milk Carton Kids

I have pretty much continuously listened to this song for the past month. There is something so entrancing about the guitar work and the fact that Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan have this crazy ability to be indiscernible from each other. As in, their voices have essentially melded into one super voice that ties in with the somber lyrics in a hauntingly beautiful way.

The guy who wrote the Foreward to their album Prologue found the perfect word for how this music makes me feel: seduced. Not in the lustful, rock-my-body kind of way, but in that I always want more. More of those subtle harmonies, more of that effortless finger-picking, more of their emotional lyrics that feed the "sometimes crying feels good" mentality. I mean, come on...these words are perfect for us self-defined tortured souls:



"You took the words right out my mouth,
When you knew that I would need 'em.
What am I supposed to do now,
Without you?
Without you." ~Michigan

Photo from Birmingham Box Set

"I come in pieces, I always have
I miss your face, the way you laugh...
I'm glad we met
In God we tried
My one regret
We got one goodbye." ~One Goodbye


I'm feeling like having myself a good cry just listening to the album in order to write this post. My lady readers will understand. This is the perfect music for a rainy day, or to play in the background while you're doing homework. I'm finding it to be the perfect accompaniment for blogging, so there's that! And don't worry, they do have some cheerful tunes in their repertoire =P

To add frosting to this already delicious cake, this band has put their two albums up as FREE downloads on their website.  I IMPLORE you to grab those freebies, even if it's just because turning down free music offered up by the musicians themselves is a waste. I wouldn't be surprised if this incredible sound starts catching like wild fire - they've been around for a year and I personally think they should already be much bigger than they already are.

Quickie: Ingrid Michaelson covers Gotye

No way. Ingrid Michaelson covering “Somebody That I Used to Know”?!?  (don’t lie, you’ve definitely heard of this song and you’re definitely just as obsessed with it as I am). This song has now spurred TWO awesome covers (previously, by Walk off the Earth) including this new one, and I am just so pleased with the music world right now. I love that super talented people have been inspired by this great song enough to put their own unique spins on it.




...quickie posts are hard to end.

Tuesday Tunes - Five Mile Town

Let me introduce you to Five Mile Town. First things first, this band is from New Zealand. Number 1 reason for thinking they’re awesome.

Number 2? There is a banjo in this song. In my opinion, the banjo is a sadly under-utilized instrument in modern music. And it brings such an interesting feel to this song in particular, giving the otherwise pretty typical song a nice twangy (twangy? Twangy.) accompaniment. Also, playing an upright bass in the woods is downright baus (see what I did there?).

Liking this song also means being one of probably less than 500 people who have even heard of this band (their Facebook page only has 472 likes so far). They’re a hipster’s wet dream, really. They don't even have a Wikipedia page. However, they are gaining some popularity in recent days, thanks to a random fan posting their new video on Reddit, so you'd best start following them now while you still have the chance to start hating them later when they become mainstream.

But seriously, a friend (Pete!) randomly introduced me to this band, and I really like their sound. It’s a solid first single and the video for it is simple but beautiful. Considering I have some friends who are trying to make it big in the music industry, I have a fondness for aspiring musicians who need a little help getting their names out there. Check out their Facebook page, Like them if you like them, and share this post with your friends =)

Tuesday Tunes - BOY

I first saw this song posted on another blog (JK JK), and I followed the advice to “take a moment and breathe this in.”  This song really is just…so simply beautiful. The original is also really good, I just have a soft spot for acoustic versions. I did a little digging (read: did 1 Google search) and found the band’s official website, which loads to a full window video of their song “Little Numbers”. 

This song and video are SO CUTE, and I now officially adore this band. I mean, who doesn’t love a video montage of beaches, miniature pianos, children playing with chalk, and lots of sunshine, all set to a cheerful tune about “all the pretty things that we could do”? I also found that this Swiss-German duo, made up of singer Valeska Steiner and accompanist Sonja Glass, writes all of their songs in English, a fact that I love because the lyrics of the two songs I’ve mentioned are simple, playful, and leave you wanting more.

I’m no expert at articulating in words how I feel about music, but I do know to say that this band’s sound has definitely caught my attention. Two uniquely beautiful women making uniquely beautiful music…what’s not to love?