james gulliver hancock

I've absolutely fallen for the artistic talents of Mr. James Gulliver Hancock.  This Australian creative genius stumbled into my world through the musical wonderings of Lenka.  This creative pair brilliantly incorporates a visual outlet to the music that so pleasantly graces our ears.

James has, in fact, created the visual representation of the world in which Lenka and her music thrives.  The picture above is a clear-cut example.  It's the album artwork for Lenka's debut album and it so perfectly captures the essence of her whimsical and fun music.  For me, it's close to a perfect combination.

One of my favorite pieces by James includes his visual imagery of Lenka's lyrics.  He takes the words, the story, the feeling from the song and creates mesmorizing pieces of art.  I've actually purchased the two examples shown below.  The first includes the lyrics for the song Skipalong, and the second includes lyrics for We Will Not Grow Old.

James and Lenka have also collaborated on her music videos, which often include stop-motion techniques.  Below are a couple of my favorite collaborations between the two.

Here's the video for the track We Will Not Grow Old.

And here's a link to the promo video for the track, The Show.

James also recently designed set designs for Lenka's tour.  From what I've seen in some fan photos, it really helps to bring the stage to life.

I'm really quite glad that I happened to come across James and his cheerful pieces of art.  I can't wait to see what he debuts next!

sara bareilles

The lovely Sara Bareilles has captured my full attention.  It's just a shame it took me so long to become enraptured with her music.

I've known about Sara for a while - a really long while.  She was an instore play when I still worked at Barnes and Noble, I heard her song on the radio multiple times, and I even purchased her album for my sister for her birthday almost a year ago.  Where was I?

Seriously though, although it took me an incredible amount of time to "discover" her for my own listening pleasure, I've fallen head over heels for Sara's music.

Her album, Little Voice, debuted July 3, 2007 headed with the insanely catchy first single, Love Song.  You've undoubtedly heard it, whether through the free iTunes download or the feature in that Rhapsody commercial - Sara was even in it herself!  Regardless, I find myself still listening to it.

The best part about the song, though, is the fact that Sara wrote it in response to her record label's demands that she write a "marketable love song."  For that, I give an immense amount of respect to Sara.

My favorites off of her album include Love Song, the ever-so-pleasant Bottle It Up, and Between the Lines, but who am I kidding.  I've been listening to her album incessantly this past week.

Here's the music video for Bottle It Up:

Sara also recently released a DVD, Between the Lines, of a show at The Fillmore in San Francisco. I can't wait until I can sit down and watch it. I keep hearing from so many people that she is such a captivating performer.

In addition to being a great musician, respectable person and performer, Sara has to be one of the kindest people I've ever met. I ran into her by absolute chance the other night at a show and she couldn't have been sweeter.

And from what I've seen of her YouTube videos, she's pretty funny and down-to-earth.  Again, I can't embed a video I'd like to show you as an example, so here's a not-so-attractive link as a replacement.

So, you can clearly understand why I've decided to add Sara to my dream tour.  It's an obvious inclusion.  Sara Bareilles is legit in my books.  Enough said.

dream tour update

Somehow I forgot to mention Brandi Carlile when I was listing the line-up of my dream tour.  What a silly mistake!  I'm also adding the lovely Sara Bareilles.  So now the current line-up of my dream tour includes: Jaymay, The Like, Brandi Carlile, Sara Bareilles, Amy Kuney, and Giant Drag.

I feel like I have so much to update you guys with.  I should really get better at this blogging thing!

lenka

I must have seen one hundred references for Lenka on twenty different sites before I actually listened to her music.  Sometimes a good new tune is right under your nose, cliche as it may seem.

Lenka doesn't go by her full name, Lenka Kripac, and it seems appropriate.  It's almost too formal for her music.

The Australian-born singer released her self-titled debut, Lenka, in September of last year, sweeping audiences with her single, The Show.  The song is so unbelievably catchy, it's no surprise she co-wrote it with none other than the wonderfully talented Jason Reeves.

Lenka's songs are buoyant, full of life, and undeniably put you in a good mood.  In a sense, they're quite youthful, but touch on subjects a person of any age could relate to - which seems reasonable coming from a (surprisingly) thirty-year-old.  Regardless, my feet are sure to tap along every time one of her songs reach my ears.  

My current favorites off of her album include the obvious mention of The Show, along with the sultry Skipalong and the kickdrum-heavy We Will Not Grow Old.

Lenka's music video for The Show is quite cute and innovative.  Look for the dancing tomatoes - they're my favorite part.  I'd link to the Youtube video here, but embedding is unfortunately disabled.  A simple link will have to suffice.  Check out the video here.

Lenka has also released quite a few promo animated stop-motion videos you should be sure to watch.  They're quite entertaining and done with Lenka's partner in crime, artist James Gulliver Hancock, but more on him later.

It might just be the obvious Australian accent incorporated into the music, seeing as how I also love Kate Nash's noticable British tint in her music, but nevertheless, Lenka's music sure makes smile. 

Since I have no official video clip to leave you with, here's a short VH1 promo as the network's You Oughta Know Artist.

the hotel cafe tour at the henry fonda

Wow, I'm way past due on blogging, so I guess it's best to do some catching up and fill you in on what I've been listening to lately.

In November, I went on the spur of the moment decision to the Hotel Cafe Tour's last show at the Henry Fonda Theater. The line-up included Rachael Yamagata, Meiko, Jaymay, Lenka, Emily Wells, and Thao Nguyen.

Overall, I would have to say the show was fun, but not necessarily the best it could have been. Because it was the final night of the tour, it didn't seem as though any of the acts really took the show seriously. It was more like a party with everyone drinking and half-drunk, as opposed to a concert, and the fact that artists kept going on and off of the stage made the arrangement just seem messy.

Nonetheless, it was fun seeing one of my favorites, Jaymay, again and I always love to hear about new artists. Lenka's songs were fun to tap my feet along with (who can resist Australians?) and Meiko wooed the crowd with her well-known song, Boys With Girlfriends. Emily Wells' music surprised me, simply because I wasn't familiar her beforehand and Thao Nguyen's songs added an extra kick of spunk to the show. Rachael definitely turned out to be the most impressive act of the evening in my books. I had heard of Rachael before, yet never really sat down to give her songs a serious listen. She's so extremely talented and her voice is mesmorizing. Needless to say, I made sure to pick up a copy of

her album, Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart, not too long after the show.

Here's a clip of the entire night's line-up singing along with Thao's song, Bag of Hammers. This might have been my most favorite point in the evening.

Afterward, I managed to get a few shots with some of the performers as security was kicking everyone out.

the time has come

To return to the blogging world.  Freshly released from school (forever), expect to hear a lot more from me via blogger.  More soon.  Promise.

amy kuney: bird's eye view

I have no excuse for not posting about the long-expected release of Amy Kuney's debut full-length album until now, other than I wanted to do it justice.

Bird's Eye View, released August 12th, has to be one of the best album's I've heard in a long time.  This 10-song package sets a new, higher standard in the music world.

Unlike other musicians today, Amy writes lyrics that are smart, evocative, powerful and actually have meaning.  They tell stories rather than just providing outlines.

Combined with her beautiful vocals and charming manner, Amy defines the complete package of an artist.

Bird's Eye View ranges from upbeat tales of relationship circumstances in Rocket Surgery and Love is Trippy to poignant scenes in everyday life in Appreciate Your Hands, while still fitting seamlessly together.

The world is waiting to hear an album of a such high caliber and they can find it in Amy Kuney's Bird's Eye View.  You can purchase the album on iTunes or as a hard-copy here.

Not enough good things can be said about Amy simply because of her sincerity and genuineness.  It is truly an honor to be able to work for a person with such admirability.

I leave you with a video of Thank You For Last Night from Amy's live performance DVD. She leaves me speechless with each viewing.