Song of the Day

Song of the Day: Sally Shapiro – Sundown

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sally shapiro

Is the above picture not the most twee promo shot ever? Let’s look at the requirements

1) guy in plaid/flannel? check
2) in a forest/outdoors? check
3) girl in vintage/sun dress? check
4) could this be a screen shot from a wes anderson movie? check

The above pictures belong to that of duo Sally Shapiro, a Swedish act that is surprisingly not on Labrador records (It’s on Paper Bag Records). The duo recently released a delightful record named Somewhere Else. The album is the second record from the duo and given some of the names associated with the record (Anoraak, Electric Youth), you can bet it recalls some of the late 00’s Valerie movement. Laid back synths are a plenty and there’s just a general chilled vibe over this record. One of the highlights is this track – Sundown, which features a sax solo so smooth it makes me want to grow jerry curls. Check it out

Song of the Day: Conner Youngblood – Proportion

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Conner Youngblood will get in your head. His songs are powerful and they hit hard. He’s an artist you immediately recognize with a trademark sound somewhere between heart-wrenching and elevating.
Hailing from Dallas, Texas the young man self-describes as bluegrass/club/indie which is… semi-unbelievably… very accurate. The Yale student also seems to have a sense of humor, admitting he opted for an American Studies major despite his architecture dreams because “I didn’t get into the architecture school (apparently you need to know how to draw), and American Studies kindly accepted
all of my credits.” Architecture’s loss, Conner.

As for the music: Monsters and Better Slow Down are two of my favorite tracks by Youngblood, but my first love is Proportions. The track is haunting and addictive. If you haven’t heard of Conner, think of it as a point of entry into a world of music you will love to explore (unless you’re more of my sister’s taste, whose reaction was, in a word: bleeeeeeeeeeh). If you have heard of Conner, enjoy this little reminder of his greatness.

Song of the Day + mini SXSW review: Lucius – Don’t Just Sit There

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Lucius

According to Google the word ‘dulcet’ is often used ironically. I was going to start off this song of the day by saying that if you want to understand the meaning of the phrase ‘dulcet tones’ you should listen to Lucius frontwomen Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, but now that Google has hit me with some knowledge I’m not sure that’s what I actually want to say. Regardless, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Brooklyn based fivesome Lucius sound lovely on “Don’t Just Sit There.” Give it a listen – they’re currently on tour, here are some tour dates:

4/25: Buffalo, NY @ University of Buffalo
4/26: Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
4/27: Detroit, MI @ Garden Bowl
4/30: Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater Pub
5/1: Springfield, IL @ The Radon Lounge
5/2: Chicago, IL @ Schubas
6/1: Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival (what? where?)

Ricky’s note
The picture above took place in Austin. Lucius played a set at a free taco breakfast at SXSW at the Moody Theatre. Despite the fact that 99.9% of the people (including us) were there for free breakfast tacos, Lucius still managed to capture the attention of some of the crowd with what I can only say is talented harmonies. They even had the balls to try to sing a capella for their last track, which kinda worked out well for the thirty people who can hear them over the chit chat. A pleasant way to start off the day.

Song of the Day: Mansions on the Moon – Radio

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“Cause you heard it on the radio/Doesn’t make it beautiful.”

A song with a good beat can hold it’s own any day in my book, but when the lyrics make you think it’s definitely an added bonus. Mansions on the Moon‘s latest single, Radio, does just that. The track is a great synthesis of upbeat (I can’t listen to it without doing the unprofessional but inevitable office-chair-wiggle) and contemplative. It’s mellow enough to allow you to actually listen to and appreciate the lyrics. The group’s put together a narrative that paints a refreshingly accurate picture of the music market and its contradictory tensions between making money and art. I’ve just recently gotten into this band, and the more I listen the more I like.