Friday Five: Lady-tunes!

St. Vincent

My brother introduced me to St. Vincent one afternoon at the office, and as Now, Now’s repeated lyrics “you don’t mean that, say you’re sorry” thoroughly creeped out my colleagues, I caught a St. Vincent fever. An incredibly talented musician and songwriter, (I think she plays just about every instrument on the album), Annie Clark’s songs are strange and dazzling.  This means a lot, as I hate to use the word dazzling unless absolutely necessary.  Recently a friend of mine mentioned how tired he is of the ever popular ‘indie-girl cooing’. If you feel the same way, St. Vincent is your coo-free alternative. Clark sings expressively and with intention, and you’ll consider her album title’s Arrested Development reference an extra bonus!  Watch Jesus Saves, I Spend, (the caterpillar!).

Lavender Diamond

Sounds like: a gang of all-female superheroines, donning flow-y vintage dresses and rollerskates, with the power to turn everything into a nostalgic super 8 mm video. All are welcome to listen, but I’m not going to lie, Lavender Diamond are mega girly. They’re called LAVENDER DIAMOND. You’re not allowed to name your band Lavender Diamond unless you’re the soundtrack to teen girls on car rides with other teen girls, holding their hands out the window and ‘feeling infinite’ and stuff. I uploaded my favourite song from Imagine Our Love here for all to listen to. Enjoy!

Cibelle

Cibelle very recently usurped Liz Phair as my musical obsession of the week. This seems like a natural progression, especially considering my mood and the weather recently.  Last week was what I hope to be the last winter chill, trapping a snarky and moody me in my overheated house all day. This week is a huge contrast; the air has become clear and warm, and I feel like magic. If you don’t know what feeling magic is like, it’s important that you add The Shine Of Dried Electric Leaves to whatever music listenin’ device you have and take it on a sunny spring walk. Some of my favourite parts: the electric guitars on Phoenix and the Devendra Banhart cameo appearance.

New Buffalo

I was an instant fan of New Buffalo’s Cheer Me Up Thank You and I’ve Got You And You’ve Got Me, but her album Somewhere, Anywhere had to grow on me. Being a pianist, I’m surprised I didn’t immediately latch onto the piano arrangements, which now create a familiar, personal feeling for me. My first impression was that the other songs were too sparse, and I thought she needed to add more vocals and instruments, (seeing as I’m an experienced producer and all). However, Somewhere, Anywhere’s simplicity quickly became the quality I loved most. I felt like I was reading each song as a private, musical letter, (was I recreating the act of reading by picturing the musical notes in my mind? Insert deep comments on music as a language here). Considering this simplistic, familiar quality I’m describing, it’s no surprise the video for I’ve Got You(…) was created by duo Ryan & Sverre whose creations feature the home videos of strangers you feel like you know.  Look here.

Lykke Li

Oh man, I love Lykke. I even learned how to pronounce her name, and think it might be my favourite word, (if names can be favourite words). I’m not much of a prestigious music nerd; I actually discovered Lykke last year on MTV when the Little Bit video had some kind of promo thing going on. I just sat there marveling at her fashion style and her badass dancing, while a bunch of people writhed spastically behind her. I think they were expressing how love feels through movement, (love is weird-looking), and thus began my fascination and envy for Lykke Li, (think of that feeling you get when someone your exact age has accomplished all the cool stuff you daydream about doing). Lykke’s vocals range from shy echoes to fearless retorts, which all combine nicely into one very solid album. Peer her talent first hand here.

Tags: cibelle, female musicians, friday five, lavender diamond, lykke li, music, new buffalo, st. vincent