Regina Spektor

So today I went to see Regina Spektor’s free in-store performance at the Borders on State St. I waited for three hours for a 20 minute set, but it was worth it. She is so cute and shy. She signed a CD for my sister, who couldn’t go because she had school.

Lucky you, because I recorded and uploaded all four songs she played to YouTube, and ripped the audio so you can play the the live tracks on your iPod (to save, right click and then click Save Link As)

AUDIO:

Fidelity
On the Radio
Man of a Thousand Faces
That Time

Click “more” to view videos and photos.

Emily Haines

Since I’m seeing Emily Haines on Jan. 12th, here are some Emily Haines songs, from her solo project, Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton,  and her other group Metric. This is mostly for Kales. Enjoy. These will only be available for two weeks.

Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton- Crowd Surf off a Cliff
Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton- Reading in Bed
Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton- Our Hell

Metric- Monster Hospital
Metric- Hustle Rose

& Purchase “Knives Don’t Have Your Back”

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

I recently conducted an interview with Owen Ashworth of the one-man band Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. CFTPA is definitely worth a listen, as the Seattle Stranger notes that “CFTPA is the solo moniker for Owen Ashworth’s sentiment-soaked, deceptively simple keyboard pop–chronicling in straightforward vignettes the middling malaise of adult mediocrity.”

CFTPA- Young Shields
CFTPA- Bobby Malone Moves Home
CFTPA- Lonesome New Mexican Nights

Visit his website at http://www.cftpa.org

&& Purchase “Etiquette”

How did you come up with the title of your one-man band, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone? The “Casiotone” part is kind of self-explanatory, but how did you come up with “for the painfully alone”? Is that a self-descriptive title?
A lot of my favorite songs growing up were sad country and blues songs that my parents would listen to in the car or whatever. I liked the feeling a truly miserable, desperate, tragic, pathetic story gave me. Sad songs could be comforting in a way that happy songs weren’t. I liked the idea of there different music for different times and moods. When I started writing songs, I wanted to give other people that same sort of miserable and comforted feeling that my favorite music had given me. It only seemed fair to let people know they were getting themselves into, though. Casiotone describes the music, Painfully Alone describes the listener. If you’re in the mood for something cheerful, you should probably put on something else.

How would you categorize your music? I’ve seen labels from “indietronica” to the God-forbidden “emo”.
I don’t think I would categorize my music. That’s someone else’s job.

Why did you first start creating music?
I started making sound collages with a hand held tape recorder when I was 15 or so. It was a few more years before I tried to sing in front of anybody.

talk a little magic

In the “Cheesy 1990s Pop With Completely Pointless Lyrics That Is Still Somewhat Catchy” category, we have “La-di-da” by the Murmurs. You should understand the depth of the poem from the title. The Murmurs– the duo Leisha Hailey and Heather Reid– got together in 1991 and got signed by MCA. They morphed into the band Gush [yeah... I don't know why they chose that title either] which was more indie-y and less pop-y, and then they broke up in 2005. Heather Reid is part of Redcar now.

The Murmurs- La-di-da

In the “As Angry as I’m Going to Get” category, we have “B is for Brutus” by the Hives. As you probably know, they are Swedish.

The Hives- B is for Brutus

In the “Just Because I Like It” category, we have “Found Out About You” by the Gin Blossoms. Some of their stuff is too twangy for me, but not this one.

Gin Blossoms- Found Out About You

In the “Amazing, The End [except that also, as a footnote, they have an awesome band name]” category, there is This is Me Smiling with “Feelin’ the Time Pass By”. They’re local, from Chicago, and I’ve interviewed them and seen them live and they are quite good

This is Me Smiling- Feelin’ the Time Pass By

buy the album Blender by the Murmurs

purchase Gin Blossoms

purchase the Hives

Emiliana Torrini

I love Emiliana Torrini. Her music is mellow and it’s perfect for falling asleep or just relaxing. Her songs are part of my “ceiling fan” playlist because I lie on the floor and stare at my ceiling fan while listening to it

To download these songs, click on the link and then click on the button that says DOWNLOAD. The songs were taking up too much space in my account so I decided to use YouSendIt instead.

The file will be available for SEVEN days only, so be sure to download quickly.

Emiliana Torrini- Sunny Road
Emiliana Torrini- At Least it Was
Emiliana Torrini- Heartstopper
Emiliana Torrini- Today Has Been Okay

 >> Purchase Emiliana Torrini

Other artists for you to check out:

Viva Voce
Thee More Shallows*
Say Hi to Your Mom
The Monolith
Joanna Newsom*
Half-Handed Cloud
Joshua Radin*
The Go-Betweens
Sia
Language of Flowers
The Motifs
The Long Winters
Benoit Pioulard*
Sarah Harmer*
Stars in a Coma
Tilly and the Wall
Ghostland Observatory
Amy Millan*
Dar Williams
Espers
Nellie McKay*

Mmmmm Mmmm

since it’s Saturday, here’s a elbowload of music by artists beginning with M. This should last you the weekend, eh?

Making April- Roses and Butterflies
Marie Leforet- Ils S’en Vont Sur un Nuage
The Monolith- The Sounding
My Brightest Diamond- Something of an End
Mellowdrone- Fashionably Uninvited
The Marshmallow Kisses- Everyone Else is Ahead, Far Ahead
Mat Kearney- Chicago
The Magnetic Fields- I Wish I Had an Evil Twin
Margot and the Nuclear So-and-So- Skeleton Key
The Mountain Goats- Family Happiness
Morningwood- Nth Degree
The Magnetic Fields- Washington, D.C.
Marie Sioux- Buried in Teeth
Measles Mumps Rubella- Algorithm of Desire
The Motifs- Diagonal
Metric- Combat Baby
The Midnight Hours- Get Gone

new home, new music, new love for all

Hi everyone, I’ve decided to merge my untitled music blog and my previously defunct Fanterview site into an invigorating mp3 blog. I know, I know, mp3 blogs are a dime a dozen these days, but I have nothing better to do with my time and music is my one true love.

Old posts can be viewed at http://jamina.vox.com, and I’m working on uploading all the old band interviews.

On to the good stuff.

Last night I saw Jack’s Mannequin play at UIC Pavilion. I first fell in love with Andrew McMahon’s music when it was featured in One Tree Hill over a year ago. However, I overdosed on the album and hadn’t listened to any of the songs in months. But when my friend Bethany offered me a ticket to see them, I couldn’t refuse. Plain White T’s was the opener and Panic! at the Disco was the headliner, unfortunately. While I detest P! atD like the elitist I am, I must admit they put on a very entertaining show. The show was more of a circus-type performance than an actual concert. I got a headache halfway through, so I just sat down in the back and watched it on the screen. They covered “Eleanor Rigby” though, and I enjoyed that.

Speaking of the circus and Eleanor Rigby, the “new” Beatles album, LOVE, was released two days ago. The album was created for the Cirque du Soleil show of the same name. The songs all have a kind of wonky, surreal feel to them. And Octopus’s Garden is one of the Beatles stranger songs, but I love it, so here are three versions.

Octopus’s Garden (LOVE version)

Octopus’s Garden (original)

Glass Octopus (Beatles vs. Blondie mashup)

>>Purchase LOVE

The Watson Twins

Here is a very old interview conducted on February 24th, 2006, with The Watson Twins, Chandra and Leigh Watson. They are most famous for their collaboration with Jenny Lewis for the album Rabbit Fur Coat, but they have also released their own solo album, Southern Manners. Their music is labelled “indie folk” and they have been featured on the show Grey’s Anatomy.

You are What You Love- Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins

 Shoot the Lights Out- The Watson Twins

>> buy Rabbit Fur Coat

 >>buy Southern Manners

How did you begin your musical career?
We’ve been singing since we were little, started in church choirs and then took some guitar lessons in high school… we had a couple bands in college and then when we moved out to Los Angeles and started a band with some fellow musicians called Slydell. We also sang back-up in that band. The Watson Twins is the first project in many years where we are the main vocalists.

Have you both always loved singing?
Singing is something we have both always enjoyed and it seemed to come naturally for us, don’t know if that is because we are sisters or twins… but some people think that siblings generally have an easier time singing together. We’ve always wanted to pursue music and feel lucky that we’ve met folks along the way who have helped that happen.