Music for your Midweek: Sufjan Stevens and Chris Thile

This song is a match made in heaven. Sufjan Steven's The Age of Adz has a special place in my heart. I listened to that album constantly when I was living at Aspen Grove. It's the soundtrack to my daily drives through Provo Canyon and the Alpine Loop. I watched him perform at Kingsbury Hall and was mesmerized. Sufjan has become progressively weird and great. I've loved seeing his transformation.

Later that month, I discovered Punch Brothers while listening to Prairie Home Companion. And their album Antifogmatic became another driving soundtrack. Little did I know that these two musical worlds would one day meet!

Here's Chris Thile and Gabriel Kahane covering "Impossible Soul". Well, the first 4 minutes of it. I know the video looks a little rough, but when the music starts, it comes through pretty clear. Enjoy:

Heaven.

Music for your Midweek: Chance the Rapper and James Blake

I love these two. James Blake, your voice is too much:

...for real.

Starting today...

April Mix: We All Shine On

Your mix for the month, dear friends. I move from Provo in a couple weeks, so I believe this mix declares it the end of an era. Onwards and upwards!

1. Happy (Woodkid Sad remix) - Pharrell


2. Flickers (Zeds Dead Remix) - Son Lux


3. Tainted Love (Original) - Gloria Jones


4. Other People - Beach House


5. The Suburbs (Arcade Fire cover) - Cuff The Duke


6. Trying To Be Cool (RAC Mix) - Phoenix


7. Black Out Days - Phantogram


8. Distance - Emily King


9. Red Eyes - The War on Drugs


10. The First Cut Is The Deepest (Original) - P.P. Arnold


11. Now You Know My Name - The Derevolutions


12. My Evaline - Weezer


13. Hannah Hunt - Vampire Weekend


14. Velvet (The Big Pink cover) - Lykke Li


15. Younger - Seinabo Sey


16. Instant Karma - Scattered Trees


17. Katoucha - Seydou Boro


NOTES:
1. I have a well-documented love of Pharrell Williams. But sorry mom, I do not love "Happy". It bores me. This remix is absolutely beautiful though.
3. The best. One of these days, I'm going to be a karaoke star, and this will be my go-to jam.
7. I got to see these guys on Wednesday. So fun. Thanks to little brother Jeremy for the tix!
13. "If I can't trust you, then damn it Hannah...
      There's no future, there's no answer
      Though we live on the US dollar
      You and me we got our own sense of time"
14. A shout-out to 4 years ago. My first semester back at BYU, I listened to this song on the daily. Later that year, The Big Pink came into town and did a free DJ set at Graywhale...And nobody came. OK exaggeration, me and Jeremy and 3 random teenage girls were there. Have you seen these two? Such a funny pair. Their size disparity is even more pronounced in real life. We chatted with them a bit, and they were friendly. But I could tell that they were thinking: "What in the bloody hell are we doing in the bloody tiny record store and there is no one here and WTF". But they didn't let those thoughts show. They kept asking if we were coming to the show, and I'd never been to Urban Lounge and none of my friends were going and I didn't want to go by myself. So I didn't go. And, don't laugh. It's one of my biggest regrets. I have always felt this burden to play hostess and be like, a representative of all of Utah and all of Salt Lake and all Mormons when I meet semi-famous people. I don't know. I want every person who stops by Salt Lake to have a great time, and to love this city as much as I do. Is that weird? Anyway, here is LykkeLi doing a cover of one of my favorite songs.
15. Life motto
17. Do you feel like sobbing? Watch this. I love this movie.

Music for your Midweek: Eva Cassidy - "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

I first heard Eva Cassidy at my cousins wedding. His father has passed away unexpectedly just a week before their marriage. It was a difficult, bittersweet time, and feelings were close to the surface. He and his mom danced to Eva's beautiful cover of "Fields of Gold". A day later, we held a funeral for his dad.

I hadn't really learned about Eva Cassidy, or her music, but recently rediscovered her through this music cover blog. They call it the best cover of the song, and I think I agree.

"When I think of my wife, I always think of her head..."

I've been in a literary slump, so I picked up Gillian Flynn's debut novel, "Sharp Objects" from the library yesterday. On a whim, I checked to see if a trailer had been released for the the movie version of Gone Girl. Guys, that book was addicting.

And they just so happened to release the trailer to the movie yesterday. Posted online at the exact moment I checked out her first book from the library. Coincidence? I think not. It was meant to be.

Watch it. I AM DYING.

Absolutely perfect casting. Cannot wait.

Music for your Midweek: Miguel and Wale - "Bennie and the Jets"

Super super great cover from Miguel and Wale of Elton John's Bennie and the Jets. We like Elton John in my family, both old and new incarnations. His album, "Songs from the West Coast", reminds me of driving back and forth from Wendover. Guys, JT was in one of his music videos from that album. This is before we knew that Justin Timberlake was legit. And his music video for "I Want Love" has Robert Downey Jr. in his first acting role after being in rehab, eventually kicking off the slow climb to one of the best comebacks in Hollywood history?

Legendary stuff. No joke.

Anyway, the more I hear stuff from Miguel, the more I think he's alright. I like the sound of this cover:

Don't know why there's an ad for sneakers the whole time... whatevs.

Priorities

I'm moving out of Provo in less than a month guys! I have so much to do to prep, I'm really excited. I also just found out that I need to buy a new car within the next 4 months... humph. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. So I'm starting a savings plan and trying to be really responsible BUT ALL I WANT TO DO IS BUY THIS COOL TABLE IT IS PERFECT AND I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR IT ALL MY LIFE:

My precious...

Glossy white lacquer...

Brass tipped feet...

Perfect to hold my turntable, records, and speakers...

And it can be mine for only $2,300!

TWO THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS

Guys, do I even really need a car? Curse you Gwyneth Paltrow and your good taste in furniture. Though I guess if I was going through conscious uncoupling, I would want to buy myself a few nice things too. 

Maybe I can just get this gold-leafed hexagonal table instead. It's a third of the price, and very chic. What a steal! Some days I don't want anything to do with money, and some days I just want all the money in the world. quite a conundrum. 

Music for Your Midweek: JACK WHITE RETURNS

Jack White released a video for his song "High Ball Stepper" from his new album "Lazaretto". Comes out June 10th. I'm ecstatic, to say the least. And the video is THE BEST.