May I Suggest...

I'm not a hipster. I'm not a true fashionista. I'm not the earliest early adopter out there. However, once in a while I make a few finds that I think not everyone has heard of yet and are worth sharing, so I came up with the "May I Suggest" blog category. I'll pop these up from time to time when I've achieved a critical mass in a category of items worth sharing.

Today, it's music. Keeping up on the newest bands in even one field is relatively time-consuming, even with the Internet. That is one of the reasons why I love my XM radio. They pay people full time to go find me new music, play it, and see if their national audience likes it enough to keep it around. So I know about cool bands waaay before George does (which really irritates him), not because I'm just that cool, but because I pay minions to do it for me. For instance, I had memorized all the words to "Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons a solid 8 months before I heard the local rock station, DC 101, play it for the first time as a "new" artist.

So here, in case you are getting bored with some of your current summer tunes, are a few of my new favorites and recent discoveries.

"My Body" by Young The Giant
The chorus to this song is so infectious that I don't even really care what the verses are about. The tempo varies, and it just really makes me happy. I just purchased their whole self-titled debut album, and am liking it a lot so far. Check out most of the album on Pandora for free. Here's the video.

"Rumor Has It" by Adele
This British pop maven has a truly unique voice and puts out some very mature lyrics and vocals for her age (21!). If you haven't heard "Rolling in the Deep" you must live under a rock, because they play it on every one of my preset stations, from rock to hip hop, and it's awesome. This song is much more fun, in a stick-it-to-your-ex kind of way, and so, so catchy. P.S. You need to own this whole album. I don't care who you are.

"Crystal Vase" by Last Royals
This is a great upbeat song about sadness and self-destructive tendencies after a divorce, in the tradition of Elton John's "Sad Songs." The lyrics are witty, and I'm a fan of anyone who can sing about their personal pain to a catchy and original tempo. The "lyrics video" manages to be amusing too.

"White Blank Page" by Mumford and Son
This may be a single by now, but if you haven't heard it, check it out. I think it's an even stronger song than "Little Lion Man" and it asks the eternal question, "why was loving you such a bad thing?" They're another band with the genius for writing sad songs that don't make you feel down. They were nominated for a very prestigious British music award, and I think you can see why.

"Light of the Morning" by Band of Skulls
Don't be intimidated, it's just a name. This group puts out a really gritty vintage sound that you won't confuse with anything else on the radio now. It's like the musical love child of rock and blues bands woke up in the '60s in London and listened to the Beatles and stuck around for the Sex Pistols and Stones, then made this album. They also have cool duet songs with their female base player/vocalist.  Try it, you might like it!

"Wait Up (Boots of Danger)" by Tokyo Police Club
While we're on the topic of vintage-y sounding bands with a British feel who make upbeat and brazen alt rock, I'll mention these guys. Apparently they picked their name with 3 semi-random words, but musically, they know what they're doing. Also, please enjoy their music video, which features dogs having a pool party. So cute!

"Uprising" by Muse
Okay, you've likely heard of these guys, but I wanted to put my plug in anyway. Not too many bands can open up for U2 on the biggest tour in Earth's history and convert a crowd to fans in about 60 seconds. Their sound is big enough to feel stadiums, their beats are great, and you can put this one on your running mix and sing along about sticking to The Man. The whole album is a win, really.

"Internet Killed the Video Star" by the Limousines
People of my generation will appreciate this witty update of the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" (the first video ever shown on MTV). It cheekily expresses the wish that rock and roll will triumph over the current "drum machine" music. Check out the song & video here, but be warned that the zombies are a bit icky looking.

"Natural Forces" by Lyle Lovett
Ok, I'm going to say this on the Internet so I can never deny it. Lyle Lovett makes great music. I had literally never heard one of his songs before hearing it on XM, so I was very pleasantly surprised to like his brand of folk/rock/country/genius. This is an excellent song about having a rambling spirit, which I can appreciate after feeling at times that "home is where my horse is," metaphorically speaking. I also really enjoy his cover of "Bears" which I'm sure is a metaphor, but I'm not sure for what.  

"Baptized by Fire" by Spinnerette
This is another catchy one that's great for a running mix. I love the self-righteous lyrics and female vocals  in this electronica/rock song. It seems to me like a very metaphor-heavy song about finding yourself and doing what you're meant to do. The video features fire, of course.