You know, it’s hard to say which could be considered the bigger pop culture achievement for the gang at Facebook. The multi-million-dollar Oscar-bait movie directed by David Fincher… or the Turkish pop song?!:

If anyone speaks Turkish, BTW, I’d love to know what young master Ismail YK is actually saying. (Call me crazy, but it might be something about picking up hot chicks on Facebook?) Also, the games must really be improving over there because clinging to a helicopter while you escape the tidal wave that destroys New York > FarmVille.

Magnum, P.I.! (P.I.=Pinchable Infant)

I suppose by now, I can dub myself Nerdist’s resident Bon Iver liaison / fangirl. My blog partner, Matt, has told me countless times that I’m borderline obsessed and might want to tone it down a notch (or 5). So have peace of mind Matthew, the stream of consciousness/word vomit that you claim possesses me when Bon Iver or frontman Justin Vernon is mentioned – will stop. Why? Because Jagjaguwar Records has debuted the vaguely familiar sidekick of my boy Justin –Sean Carey.

Commonly known as “The only other dude in that Bon Iver A cappella video that has a solo” (see above), Sean Carey has finally found the time to write and record his own album, separate from Bon Iver. I’ve been waiting for this album for quite sometime, and before I listened through it, I admit I was nervous for 3 reasons.

1. It would suck.
2. It would sound exactly like Bon Iver.
3. It would be brilliant and then I’d find out that he wasn’t touring anywhere near me.

To immediately discount worry number one, Sean Carey’s  All We Grow definitely didn’t suck. There were some mild resemblances to For Emma, Forever Ago, when it came to vocal harmony and instrumentation, but nothing that was unoriginal or unwarranted (worry number two taken care of). So leave it to Murphy’s Law…  S. Carey is touring with one of my favorites, The Tallest Man On Earth, and no, he wont be anywhere near me over the next six months. Damn you, worry number three!

Anyway…

The amount of emotion that was jammed into this album is astonishing. With a mix of both purely instrumental and vocal tracks, his piano arrangements brought tears to my eyes. S. Carey has a generally lower register than counterpart Justin Vernon, which is the first obvious difference to his previous work.

Beginning with “Move”, the woodwinds and horns mixed with bells chiming softly from a distance leaves you with clear images of anything tranquil. Lyrically, Carey began his album with a love song, depicting the simple setting of a shore and himself longing to simply “run fingers through your hair” – this alone made me blush. Later, we hear his single, “In the Dirt” which starts with a classic piano melody that recurs through the entire album. “Don’t” is a commonly uttered word on this track, lending a sense of regret and trepidation to the tone of the song . It’s mixed with his own harmonies, which when paired with the emotive piano and clarinet, can really impact your current emotional state (or at least mine). However, he did bring in some unconventional compositions and patterns to songs like “In The Stream” reminding  me of the beautifully forlorn Bon Iver track, “The Wolves (Act I & II)”. What these songs have in common is their timing. Unlike most indie rock tracks, there is no register for the beat. You cannot count beats in 3/4, 4/4 or any other time; it is constantly changing – speeding up and slowing down. In this song, certain melodies weave in and out, change tempo, and flow through an array of instruments. Listen closely, his mixes are almost magical: perfectly panning clarinets, bells, and even clapping hands – making the listener feel blissfully surrounded.

I have now made S. Carey’s All We Grow an essential album on my iPod and various “calm” playlists. It’s only been out a few days, but I hope and believe he will be welcomed to the singer / songwriter community with open arms (watch out Sufjan). If you are lucky enough to reside in a city along his tour, please go and let me know how it was!

Tour Dates HERE

There’s an underground movement of indie rock entitled “Trock,” or “Time Lord Rock,” which, as you might guess, is rock music about Doctor Who. It’s pretty awesome. The pioneering Trock band is Chameleon Circuit out of the UK. Here are a couple of their hits (videos made by users.) Enjoy the shit out of them.

You’re Welcome
-Kanderson

This past weekend was a very exciting one indeed: our beloved Chris Hardwick performed at Caroline’s on Broadway Thursday through Sunday, and I was lucky enough to attend. Aside from making fun of a few relatives who accompanied me (apparently my dad looks like Kenny Rogers) the night was a complete success. Well done, Chris, you’ll kill it in Austin!

Anyway, The MC, Nate Bargatze, who opened for Chris had a bit that really resonated and, naturally, it has to do with music.

The premise of the joke focused on the of Volvo’s new “Heartbeat Sensor,” which is made to detect intruders in your expensive new Volvo S80. So if the automatic locks fail, the alarm system decides to take the day off, and those beautifully tinted windows have impaired your vision, Volvo has just saved your life. (Whatever happened to the rape whistle?)

Bargatze brought up an interesting solution to this widespread problem with modern automobiles. “If you just have Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ playing in your car when you turn it on, no one in their right minds could possibly want to harm you!” Who would  commit murder during the most uplifting song America has ever birthed? Thats right, no one.

This got us thinking, as much as we love our boys in Journey, are their any other (more current) songs happy enough to potentially save you from that maniac hiding in your backseat? So, after scouring our iTunes libraries, The-Sound-Advice has come up with a playlist that we think could do just that (or, at least buy you some time to hit the panic button on your car key).

1. Swing Tree – Discovery

If someone were in your car when the beeping synths and kick-snare of “Swing Tree” came on, they’d probably just end up coordinating a dance with you before you ended up calling the police.

2. Song For Sunshine – Belle & Sebastian

3. Love That Girl – Raphael Saadiq

The only thing that can happen when Raphael is on is some consensual lovemaking. ‘Nuff said.

4. Girlfriend – Phoenix

The album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is one of the best mood boosters from this past year, and happens to be fantastic driving music, especially if you’re the owner of a snazzy heartbeat-sensing car. I wonder if it can sense BPM too?

5. Ragged Wood – Fleet Foxes

The first 5 seconds of vocal harmony on this track alone would bring anyone in your car to tears. So even if the attacker were hiding in the trunk, you’d immediately be alerted by loud snivels.

6. Song For No One – Miike Snow

3 guys from Sweden (just like our favorite new car) so they must possess some secret musical power that will save you in an emergency. Or maybe they’ll just come with the car.

7. White Sky – Vampire Weekend

The second track on Contra features synth arpeggios and falsetto cooing that could disarm a bear, much less a perp in your car.

8. Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear isn’t exactly known for their upbeat albums, and Daniel Rossen’s voice isn’t particularly peppy, but the keys and vocal congruity of this piece are so good it’s hard to conjure a single unpleasant thought when this is playing. If you like this song, you should also check out Childish Gambino’s remix, “Bitch, Look at me now”.

9. Hummingbird – Wilco

An oldie but a goodie. As you weave in and out of the chorus’, this song screams classic rock. Additionally, Jeff Tweedy’s lyrical genius should buy you at least the song’s span of 3 minutes and 9 seconds to run away.

10. Gonna Get Along WIthout You Now – She & Him

Actress and front-woman, Zooey Deschanel reminds you of ice cream, sundresses and white picket fences. Any song from either of the band’s studio albums could be a scene straight out of the 50s or 60s, or featured on an episode of Mad Men (Hint, hint AMC)

11. West Coast – Coconut Records

In honor of Scott Pilgrim’s release, Jason Schwartzman, lead vocals of Coconut Records needed to be included in this post. This music screams “relax,” “take it easy,” or in the case of this post “put down the knife”.

12 Surprise Hotel – Fool’s Gold

A pop band that incorporates African rhythms, Hebrew, and also claims to love the 80’s dance genre?! I knew this would exist one day!! Oh right…the music is pretty happy too…just got a little excited there.

13. Girl – Beck

The 8-Bit intro can be recognized anywhere, followed by one of the greatest drops of the 21st century. Beck continues to be one of the best producers/songwriters around, and if he can’t reduce a bad guy into musical mush, I don’t know who can.

I pray that none of these songs will ever be essential in the protection of your livelihood, but I do sincerely hope that some of them made your day a little bit better.

Check out the blog: www.the-sound-advice.com for more music!

Ray Bradbury: Making nerd girls drop their knickers since 1938.

(Rachel Bloom, you are true blue, woman.)

Greetings! My name is Becca, and I, along with my blog partner / best-bud Matt, will have the pleasure of recommending some delicious ear candy. Music nerds unite!

Annie Clark

Upon request, I would love to share with you, The Nerdist community, a special treat. I bring you St. Vincent! No, not the actual saint… or the hospital in New York City. If you haven’t heard of her already, I am happy to change this as soon as humanly possible. She, my friends, is one of the coolest women / musicians / poets around – who has a special ability to make your ears orgasm (eargasm?).

Okay, that may have been inappropriate, but still… she’s phenomenal.

Dubbing herself after a medical center in Greenwich Village, St. Vincent veered from the typical band-naming strategy (“THE”, followed by some meaningful proper noun). To Clark, The St. Vincent of Manhattan is where famous poet, Dylan Thomas, met his own death in 1953. Thus she elected the name because, in her mind, “It’s the place where poetry goes to die.” Deep, No?

Annie Clark is one of my favorite musicians on the planet. Sometimes it’s difficult to decipher whether I want to be her, or be with her (mind you, I’m straight). When she sings, it sounds like you’re hearing it from far away, yet its sincerity continues to linger. Her ghostly cooing placed with breathless reverb comprises a near operatic element, especially in her most recent album, Actor. She also hues many of her songs with subtle background harmonies, while filling the air with logically segmented percussion, piano, and strings. She’s of the few that can be both sweet and rockin’ at the same time. St. Vincent’s a mind-blower, people.

As a fan, one of the best and most endearing qualities of this girl is her frequent surprise appearances. As much as I would love to go see Annie Clark perform at any opportunity, my concert funds are depressingly low. But somehow, I’ve managed to see her play live on three separate occasions, meet her once, and only one of these was on purpose. “Surprise! St. Vincent’s here!” is a phrase I’ve gotten somewhat used to, and I’m not complaining. Not one bit.

Purposefully, I had the pleasure of watching St. Vincent sing with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie at a Central Park Summer-stage show, covering the songs of Simon and Garfunkel. But Clark surprised us in Cincinnati this April when she popped on the stage to perform Roslyn, the beautiful duet played with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver (which, *cough* you may have heard on the Twilight Sega: New Moon soundtrack, *cough*).  And AGAIN, in June,  she left audiences in disbelief when she walked on the Radio City stage to perform “Afraid of Everyone” with Sufjan Stevens and The National.

Certainly Annie Clark’s reappearance in my life has not gone unappreciated. Her voice is diverse, possessing a classical twang that can mesh incredibly with rock. The multi-instrumentalist flawlessly accompanies herself on the guitar and piano, mixing the harsher sounds of the strings with the melodic quality of keys. She’s even collaborated with some of the greats like Andrew Bird, Beck, and The National (if you haven’t heard of them, please do some googling, they’re all wonderful). Not to mention she’s the most intimidatingly adorable and genuine musicians I’ve held a conversation with. I certainly hope Annie Clark doesn’t go away anytime soon, the world, in my mind, is a better place with her in it.

So, my fellow nerdlings, if you liked this recommendation, visit www.the-sound-advice.com for lots more!

Dreams within dreams within dreams and losing your grip on what’s really, really, really,  real.  All that combined with mind-bending special fx.  It would appear that a certain Piano Man tackled these complex themes all the way back in 1982.  Click the link below and see for yourself.  Also, if you haven’t already done so, go see INCEPTION 23 times!

The video is only a few minutes to watch but if you were IN the video it felt like HOURS! Thanks, BJ!

I LOVE THIS! Stop-motion Gypsy Punk has never been sweeter!

“…cuz they like the kissing AS much as we DO! HEY!!!”

via Sally Zybert

HOLY SHIT!!! WHY WASN’T I THERE???

via @kingsantaric