Music Monday: La Sera

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring! Unfortunately, Los Angeles is kind of a seasonless place because I really love transitioning weather music. By which, of course, I mean things that you listen to when it's no longer predictably hot or cold and you get to see beautiful things like colorful leaves while the sun is warming your cheeks or you go outside wearing a skirt with no tights for the first time in a long time and your legs are like, "What is this magical world of outside?!??". One of my very favorite transitioning weather albums is Bob Dylan's, "Desire".

Anyway, lucky for me, despite Los Angeles' reputation of summer all the time, sometimes there is a break! A tiny little break that lasts maybe a day or two & then it's magically eighty degrees or whatever again because I don't know, perhaps the sun just enjoys hanging out around Southern California. At the very beginning of March, it was freakishly hot. But this week things got chilly which I initially thought was actually an illusion because the time change made me get out of the apartment earlier & when I get a chill in the morning, I'm cold all day, but actually turned out to be a warning of a tiny, perfect, adorable little rainstorm! Today was sunny & windy & this past weekend just felt like the wonderful transitioning period I love so much.

Basically all I was listening to besides Leonard Cohen's latest (duh) and The Hunger Games Soundtrack (are you excited too?) was La Sera's new album, "Sees the Light." I've never actually listened to Vivian Girls despite being told numerous times that I would enjoy them (I am the kind of lazy where until you actually give me music I will be "meaning to check them out . . " for my entire life), but I did get my hands on this solo project of one member. Katy Goodman has this kind of ghost girl voice that I really love listening too & initially I felt like I liked this album because it sounded kind of like Hello Seahorse, but in English, and less ethereal, more gritty. The track "It's Over Now" feels especially Hello Seahorse-y to me and "Real Boy" sounds like it could have been written by Jens Lekman and feels like summer vacation. The little bounce between these sadder, more retrospective tunes & the more upbeat, cheery ones make it my favorite thing for this week's faux seasonal change.

Music Monday: Lana del Rey

I think I already gave this one away to anyone who has had any type of contact with me in the past week or so because Lana del Rey is all I want to listen to lately. This is what I call really wonderful pop music. Some of Lana del Rey's tracks are upbeat and a little silly, and others are incredibly heartbreaking and moving. She has excellent control over her voice, jumping all over the place from low and soulful to the higher pitched, pop style, and throwing in little trills here and there as if that were super easy. You can't listen to one of Lana del Rey's songs without reacting, whether it's dancing, singing along, or getting watery eyes, and that is why I love her.

Music Monday: yMusic

I had the great luck of purchasing this album on the same day that a very tiny rainstorm came into town. It's beautiful, transporting music. I got out of the subway, greeted by lots of wind and a show of pigeons heading for drier places. I was also lucky enough to get a window seat fairly early on the bus portion of my trip. With yMusic, every tiny detail outside that window became absolutely fascinating. The way asphalt slowly becomes darker and darker as the rain starts picking up. I saw a man biking in the same direction as the wind, leaves were kicking up past him, it made me wish I were on a bike, but I still had a cold so that wouldn't have been a good idea. Even things that generally annoy me about this city became wonderful. No, this traffic isn't keeping you from home, it's giving you a twinkling light show, white & red in the rain, something to watch while we wait for the rain to stop.

Music Monday: tUnE-yArDs

I've been so so so so absent! I visited home & then had school madness & I just could not keep up with things! I had never really heard of tune-yards until I saw them live some time ago in San Francisco. Love at first listen obviously, I still adore them!

Music Monday: Gem Club

Rainy weekend makes me want moody, beautiful music.

Music Monday: Angus & Julia Stone

I love this song so much!

Music Monday: Wild Beasts

For some reason, I just get really obsessed with this band in the cooler months.

Music Monday: Beirut

I figured the first song I ever heard from them (him) would be appropriate.

Music Monday: Air

I almost got to see them live once upon a time & I am still so so so disappointment it never worked out.

Music Monday: Feist

Not much on YouTube regarding her brilliant new album, so here's an old favorite.

Music Monday: Paper Aeroplanes

Music Monday: Russian Red

I still love her.

You're the Only Thing I Ever Want Anymore

Okay so the other awesome thing I did last weekend was to go see The National play! The Hollywood Bowl again so I won't bore you with too many pictures since I still didn't have very great seats & there were no fireworks this time. It was just so good & I really want to see them again in a more intimate venue! I'm barely coming down from the post-show needing to listen to them all the time, can't sit still while listening to them, ohmygoodness, ohmygoodness! phase.

I did get a very touristy picture of the sign since I wanted to make sure I took at least one in my time living here!




So yeah, it was really great! Even though I was such a zombie the next day at work, I can't think of a better way to have spent the evening!

Spectacular!

So one of the other things I did last weekend was to see the Tchaikovsky Spectacular at the Hollywood Bowl! I really like Tchaikovsky so even the firework free parts seemed pretty spectacular to me.


L.A. Phil did a really wonderful job! They played "Romeo & Juliet", "Rococo Variations", music from "Swan Lake", & "1812". "1812" is when the spectacular part of the spectacular began. Fireworks! It was so over-dramatic & very Tchaikovsky-y, I think he would have appreciated it.

At first it was like, "oh, fireworks, there they go."

Then it was like, "Whoa!"

& then it was like "WHOAOAOAOOAOAOAOAOAOAO What even is this? Amazing! It's amazing!"




& then it was all smokey & we left in a fit of giggles.

Music Monday: Amy Millan

She has always needed more attention paid to her solo work.

Music Monday: Uncle Mountain

As always, I'd like to know what you're listening to lately.

Music Monday: Braids

Music Monday: Dirty Projectors

Music Monday: Zoé

Obviously I learned of this band through the Hello Seahorse! connection. So here is a video of Zoe playing with Lo Blondo!

Music Monday: Seryn