Hi friends! I hope everyone is taking care.
TUATI archives are on Spotify
13 Augwe were running wild
2 MarToday’s Indie: If I Go / Jake McMullen
‘we were both new to this we were running wild / torches in hand we set the world on fire’
Last week I discovered the power of Spotify’s Discovery Weekly playlist feature, and I am elated / borderline freaked out by the magic their algorithm is playing on my music collection. The standout track of many recently unearthed new favorites is this slow strummer by Jake McMullen, a songwriter based in Nashville by way of California.
ophelia
5 Feb
whenever I fall
26 JanHi friends. Hi internet. I will make no excuses for not posting in the past several months or proclamations of better ongoing maintenance and a 2016 resurgence of the TUATI blog, because, enough. Instead a really good song. From 2010. Easing back into the music world slowly…
Fall at Your Feet / Boy & Bear
‘let it go / I’ll be there when you call’
It’s fitting I am sharing a Fall at Your Feet cover given that I first heard the song, many, many moons ago when I was in high school, as another cover. James Blunt shared his take during a riveting, and particularly emotional (weren’t they all?) episode of The OC. My poor television choices aside, the song and Blunt’s take on Fall at Your Feet struck and stuck with me the last 10 years, so I was surprised and delighted to stumble upon another re-imagined version from Boy & Bear, an indie-folk-rock group from Australia, on a recently gifted playlist from a friend (thanks Joan!)
A steady strum, strong harmonies, keys and strings for days and just the right amount of twang leading into a triumphant finale, met with my teenage nostalgia — this has all the makings of a TUATI classic. If you like what you hear but want to get back to the modern era, Boy & Bear recently released their newest album, Limit of Love, available on iTunes. #indie
a few good things
12 NovFriends, I know it has been far too long since I have posted. Since July, I have crossed the globe to Africa and back, started a new role at work, and gotten engaged to my best friend. So to make up for my absence, sharing a few good things.
Like a Dream / Chelou
‘its not magic, though it feels that’
‘Like a Dream’ is stripped down to just steady tapping, guitar strings and its artist’s sleepy vocals, but in this parred down state, nothing is missing from the song. I have had this one on play all week.
Berlin / Ry X
‘sorry love I’m running home / I’m a child of sun and the stars I love’
With songs with intros out of a Beach House song or Explosions in the Sky track off of Saturday Night Lights, and vocals that draw an unavoidable resemblance to Bon Iver, Ry X’s EP, Berlin, has officially managed to attract my attention – it only took me a year to stumble upon it. The summer 2013 releases’ title track is my favorite of the four, with its beautiful pacing and an ability to be both pleading and subtle at the same time, but the whole EP is worth a solid listen and repeat.
On My Way Home / The Young Folk
‘taking some of my lines, and you make them into your own; turn your back don’t run’
Young Folk is a Dublin “alt-folk” (yes, this is a genre now) band that I stumbled upon on Soundcloud and have been thoroughly enjoying– they captured me with their lively strings and catchy vocals as so many of these types of songs do. The foursome released their debut album, Little Battle, this year.
#indie
this is our garden
22 JulToday’s Indie: Oceans / Coasts
‘we fell in love / right by the ocean / made all our plans / down on the sand’
On first listen this song had me back to watching the sun slip into the Bay with light bouncing off of Baker Beach on a Saturday a few Novembers ago. Unabashedly with its heart on sleeve, Oceans pulls with its first catching chorus, and I have listened to it a dozen times today since my other half shared it this morning.
This is the first I have heard from the band, and I am smitten despite the confusing song/band name combo for the track (is it Coasts’ track Oceans or Oceans’ track Coasts?) A little research has proven that the track Oceans, by Coasts, was released in 2013, but was retouched and re-released for this summer with the help of Alan Moulder (of Foals and Arctic Monkeys fame). The quintet from Bristol reminds me of Geographer meets Chapel Club’s All the Eastern Girls, and brought me to a happy place today. I hope you enjoy. #indie
drifting / tunnels
7 JulToday’s Indie: Drifting / Nate Eiesland
‘but when I looked beside me where you should have been I started drifting’
This is what happens when really talented people get away together on a retreat and make music. ON AN ON‘s Nate Eiesland, the producer of Half Moon Run, and Canadian singer STACEY produced this track on day one of a musician retreat called Red Bricks, which included 15 artists from around North America gathering up in Canada. The song starts out with the all the allure of a love song, but tells the tale of falling out, not in. Eiesland’s voice is as mesmerizing as in Ghosts, and the feeling the song captures reminds me of the National’s classic About Today.
As a bonus track with a little more oomph for your Monday evening, here is the first track released by the Red Bricks artist collective last month, Tunnels. Wish I could grab fourteen of my closet friends casually produce such feats. #indie
Tunnels / Erin Fein & Ryne Estwing
how will I know
25 JunToday’s Indie: How Will I Know / Sam Smith (Whitney Houston cover)
‘I fall in love whenever we meet’
Sam Smith is no stranger to transforming songs with the tone of his voice – when his vocals in Disclosure’s Latch are slowed down and stripped of their beats, it goes from a dance floor anthem to a slow, stirring proclamation of commitment. But to hear him take Whitney’s almost unrecognizable 80’s dance hit of a school girl crush level of adoration, make a few necessary lyrical changes and then ground it into one of the best ballads I have heard this year is unreal. I have had this on repeat all week since my friend Jen sent it my way with the message: “Serious good. So much wow.” Pretty much sums it up. #indie
sleepless, again.
15 MayToday’s Indie (video!): Sleepless / The Tropics
‘when the sun gives off its morning light / you’ve still got sleep in your eyes’
Today I am thrilled to share the brand spanking new first ever official The Tropics music video for my favorite of their songs, Sleepless. I posted about my friend Eric’s band way back in August of 2012 (sorry, they made me take down all my bootleg Soundcloud links on that post) when The Tropics was just getting started in this world and gearing up to play one of their first shows at the Boom Boom room. As you can see, they have come a long way in the last year and a half and have been on to big things like touring and getting sued for their name. Could not be more proud of Eric and the band, or more sure of where they are headed. Bay Area friends, be sure to check them out live at two of my favorite venues, The Great American Music Hall on Wednesday, May 21st, and The Chapel, July 16th. #indie
I love you when you’re singing that song
6 MayToday’s Indie: Riptide / Gossling (Vance Joy Cover)
‘this cowboy’s running from himself / and she’s been living on the highest shelf”
I am predictably a sucker for this slowed down cover of one of this year’s everywhere songs, Riptide, which I still have a spot for despite serious over exposure (self inflicted and otherwise). Melbourne songstress Gossling puts a puckery sweet spin on Vance Joy’s lyrics and the switch of strings for keys, met with simple tambourine, makes this cover its own. Gossling, aka Helen Croome, released her debut album, Harvest of Gold, in 2013, but this track debuted last week. Enjoy. #indie