One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong.

This week's music has been mixed, with continued leanings towards the ambient and the quiet,

but at some point almost every day I have listened to one or all of Gregory Alan Isakov's albums. 

So I thought I share this little gem with you. It's a cover from his last album, 2009's 

'This Empty Northern Hemisphere', of a favourite Leonard Cohen song of mine. This live version is with Brandi Carlile who sings so beautifully on the album with him.

I hope you enjoy it!
(And you can listen to more from Mr. Isakov here.)

Slipping Softly Back Into Quietude.

Hammock: Breathturn.

Heartsoaringly beautiful, quietly haunting.

Indelibly moving.

Mariee Sioux.

Another new discovery for me is this lady Mariee Sioux. 

I love her take on folk, and puts me in mind of a modern Buffy St. Marie, only sweeter, in a Jewel way.

So nice to meet you Mariee Sioux!

My Musical Highlights of 2010!

What a year for music! 

Each morning when I rise, the first thing I do is open my laptop on the kitchen counter, plug in the speakers and open either iTunes or Spotify, depending on whether I have a current obsession, or am in the mood for something new. And oh the wondrous places I have been transported to! 

So a quick recap of my highlights. Not all were released last year, but all were new to me and on my 'repeat' playlists for some time.

James Vincent McMorrow's album 'Early In The Morning'. A flawlessly beautiful album. Read my thoughts on it here. 

Phosphorescent's album 'Here's To Taking It Easy'. 

Matthew and the Atlas. Two EP's on loop, 'Kingdom Of Your Own' and 'To The North'. 

Joanna Newsom's new, three disc album, 'Have One On Me', a stunning offering. Sorry, she doesn't do myspace, or the internet in any way so no links to hear any of the album. But you can have a listen to a couple of my favourite tracks here.

Band of Horses new album 'Infinite Arms.'

There are so many more bands and musicians I have been listening to, I couldn't begin to list them all, but most of them are here on ~Carnival~ somewhere back in my posts, and I have a few other posts lined up for the New Year on my eclectic range of genres that somehow seem to fit together in my head!

2010 was a wonderful year for gigs. The previous year saw me take my eye off the ball and miss three or four gigs that I really regretted, so I made sure to keep tabs on all my favourite musicians so as not to miss a thing. So, considering it was a rather frugal year, money wise, and there is always the issue of babysitters to be found, I have to say, looking back, I didn't do too badly!

February was Midlake, in Vicar St. Dublin. 

June was James Vincent McMorrow, in Whelan's, Dublin. 

July was Bonnie 'Prince' Billy in Whelan's, Dublin.

September was Iron & Wine and The Low Anthem in Belfast.

and also Joanna Newsom in Dublin.

November was Jónsi in London!

So here's to a New Year, and to new discoveries, and new releases. I can't wait to see what musical offerings 2011 brings!

Evening Hymns.

A new discovery for me (via Spotify) is this band from Ontario Canada, Evening Hymns. They are essentially main man Jonas Bonnetta, and 'a rotating collective of musicians which includes members of Ohbijou, The Wooden Sky, The D'Urbervilles and Forest City Lovers.'
I've been listening to their album 'Spirit Guides' over the last couple of days and while there are echos of Fleet Foxes, I do think there is enough here that is totally their own to make this a really nice listen.
Take a moment to check them out here. Love the slow build into something quite joyous and uplifting.

And I really love this lovely live performance by Jonas and an uncredited lady friend. Very sweet.

Brown Bird, Take Me Away. Take Me Away.

These wonderful people are my latest joy in the world of music.

Really love how earthy this music is, quite different from their two

previous albums which I love, though are much more low key and less bluesy.

Check out this great interview too!

Over The Sea For A Birthday Surprise.

I was taken to London on a surprise trip to see one of my very favourite musicians,

Jónsi!

It was one of the most incredible gigs I've ever been to,

you can read about it here.

Today's Music.

Stornoway. Love this. Another Folk Radio discovery. Thanks guys!

Across The Sea For A Trove Of Treasure.

When it comes to finding out about new music, something that is a bit of an obsession for me, I have a few favourite means. I did mention here before my favourite music magazines and Spotify as two places I go to, but I'd now like to share with you a new, very firm favourite.

Folk Radio UK is an online radio station and blog run by husband and wife team Alex and Amanda Gallacher, that is a daily musical Aladdin's Cave. I now keep a notebook handy for jotting down names that catch my attention throughout the day and then later on off I go to youtube or Spotify to check them out further. Nothing beats hearing music you love on someone else's playlist, and combined with endless new-to-my-ears artists, well, it makes for one endless happy experience!
I first discovered Folk Radio UK when booking tickets for a gig which I will blog about very soon, and since then have been listening almost every day. Do check it out if any of what you see here is up your street.
So here is one gorgeous lady I have discovered thanks to FRUK. And there is many more to come!

Kathryn Calder is a member of The New Pornographers and this song is taken from her solo album 'Are You My Mother?'  And you can hear more of this gorgeous album here.



Enjoy!

Joanna, Oh! Joanna!

Joanna live!

In Dublin.

And oh what a wonderful night it was.

Northbound, On The Road.

Train to Belfast for the night with my man 

to see Iron & Wine

and The Low Anthem.

Wonderful show apart from the incredibly noisy and talkative audience.

Very frustrating.

These guys were my highlight.

Absolutely incredible.

Sounds Of My Summer.

I think this may well have been where it all started. And with song titles like "Perfect Neglect In A Field Of Statues", and "An Accidental Memory In The Case Of Death", of course I was bound to want to know more.

Who: Matthew Robert Cooper, here known as Eluvium.
Where: Now based in Seattle, Washington.
What: His 2004 album 'An Accidental Memory In The Case Of Death', and 2006 EP 'When I Live By The Garden And The Sea'.

Listen here for more devastatingly beautiful melancholia.

Sounds Of My Summer.

Continuing on this most lovely of ambient soundtracks of summer, I became lost somewhere in the ice fields of this impossibly young man's impossibly beautiful mind. His music described as "beautiful in the same way the Arctic is..."

Who: Ólafur Arnalds.
Where: Iceland.
What: His 2009 album 'Found Songs'.

Listen here for more exalted loveliness, including from his 2010 album "...And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness". And read here for a lovely review of him performing.

Sounds Of My Summer.

At some point in this summer I found myself on a beautiful winding gossamer path of ambient loveliness, thanks to Spotify and my own curious mind. I can't even remember where it began, but I'd like to share with you some of the gems I found.

Who: Balmorhea.
Where: Austin, Texas.
What: Two of their albums in particular, River's Arms, and Constellations.

Described as a 'minimalist instrumental ensemble',  they create music that is both evocative and visionary. I find listening to them sets off a visual transportation of the mind! Wonderful and sublime.

Listen here for more.

Sounds Of My Summer.

Who: (Fleet Fox) J Tillman.
What: This year's album I Will Return-Long May You Run.

Sounds Of My Summer.

Who: Phosphorescent.
What: This year's album Here's To Taking It Easy.
Listen to more: Here.

Sounds Of My Summer.

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been listening to so much incredible music over the summer. So, over the next week or so, I'm going to give a taster of what has been the soundtrack to this most lovely of summers. I hope you enjoy!

~*~

Who: Band Of Horses.
What: New album, Infinite Arms, out last May.
Listen to more: Here.
(This song from their previous album Cease To Begin.)

Finding Our Way Back Home.

It's been such a fun, busy summer in so many ways with lots of beach days, visiting and visitors, catching up with friends old and new, near and far, that this ol' blog has been sorely neglected. (Though I do think I may be blogging here for myself alone! Something I'm more than happy to do and which takes the pressure off me when I am more than sporadic!)

So, Autumn is approaching fast, as is evident in the cooler evenings, although we have also been having some of the loveliest warm summer days too. Summer is tenacious.

The list of new music has been growing longer and longer and I will be getting around to posting some over the next few weeks, and I also have some delicious new clothing sites to share with you.

Here's to the coming home that Autumn brings, to turning my focus inwards and to increasing my output of creativity!

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang.

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang,

Whelan's, Dublin.

Most incredible, amazing, beautiful evening.

Totally blown away.

A Further Venture Into The Northlands.

I've been listening to so much great music over the last couple of months that I hardly know where to begin. But I think I might stay in the Northlands for this next installment that is my personal soundtrack. A common theme for me, I know, but there is something about Nordic music that brings a flurry of magical imagery that is all sunlit lakes and trees and snow and wild mountains. 

I actually discovered this guy, Emil Svanängen also known as Loney, Dear, late one evening while following a lovely thread of 'related artists' on Spotify. I'd never heard of him, and from the opening track I was spellbound. What intrigues me is that I can start off listening to their 2004 album Citadel Band and be immersed in the beautiful folky feel to his music, and love every song, and then as the play list moves on to his more recent album (2009) Dear John, there is a distinct but seamless crossover into electronica, which only then do I realise was actually shimmering through the surface of Citadel Band and his earlier albums all along. 

He has released 5 or 6 albums, with another one on the way, and if they are anything to go by, then he can do no wrong. 

Below is a rather beautiful fan made video of one of the songs from Dear John.

You can check out his website over here, and myspace over here.

Nothing makes my heart beat like music that makes the world feel like a nicer place.