Voting early tomorrow!

Best. Ever. I want to ride a unicorn too! Shame I am not in politics. Har har.

 

Regardless of who you plan on voting for this election season, it's obviously a very important race and one that many people are taking seriously and personally.  That said, do try to be respectful of others who may not share the same political views as you. A friend of mine came out of Kroger today to find a woman (a strong McCain supporter) bashing her shopping cart into his car repeatedly because it bore an Obama sticker.  When confronted she told him it was because he would be "Voting for a terrorist." 

Regardless of your viewpoint, engaging in physical or verbal attacks on people (or their cars, natch) is completely and totally unnecessary. These displays of allegiance will never change opinions and only put a negative face on the candidate or ideal that you are, in fact, trying to support. So lets be respectful, tolerant, and, if you choose to go out fighting the good fight, be informed. 

Wish me luck tomorrow! Give me good vibes for short lines.

Songs to Obsess Over, Case file #1: Chairlift- "Bruises"

Ok, Apple. You win this round. I cannot for the life of me get "Bruises" by Chairlift out of my head.

 

Despite it's iPod hock-ability, "Bruises" is one of the best indie-pop tunes I have heard ALL YEAR. No, I am not exaggerating. Although I didn't care for the commerical "edit" the first few times around, the full length is a giddy pop tune that is unbelieveably cute on the surface, but still surprisingly substantive. Caroline Polacheck's lithe voice hops atop a danceable beat...and couldn't be more perfect for this song. A quirky love song, "Bruises" captures a snapshot so vividly it tells an entire story. 

Regardless, any song that cries the lines "Got bruises on my knees for you/ Got grass stains on my knees for you/ Got holes in my new jeans for you" is pretty alright by me. Kinda reminds me of someone I used to know (that person being me).

The tune is lifted from the recently released Does You Inspire You (Kanine Records) and the group is currently on the road with 2007 big buzzers Yeasayer.

I gota say though, good as it is, the song still doesn't make me want one of the new iPod Nanos. So I guess I'm the real winner here.

White turtley updates!

White Turtle Mochas are great on a Sunday morning, I must say.  This one certainly makes up for my getting up so early today. Woot woot.

Anyway, for those of you that follow my writing, my interview with The Presets went up this past week on Stereo Subversion.  Unfamiliar with The Presets? They're a dance/techno duo from Australia who recently finished up a U.S. tour alongside Cut Copy (who are pretty awesome) and, for you 90s grungeheads out there, the group also has some ties to Silverchair. Although not one of my best interviews of late--Kim Moyes was under the weather and I wasn't in top Natalie shape--we still managed a few laughs and it was interesting to feel out the group's dichotomies of fame and musical style. And they also have an interesting definition of "funky." Check it out.

Katy Perry kissed...an eel?

2008's favorite non-Disney pop tart (and my recent cover story subject), Katy Perry, has recorded a cover of uber-buzz band MGMT's dance groove "Electric Feel". The KP version features the pop starlet's voice over acoustic guitar and some obligatory keys. One of SPIN.com's "Top 25 MGMT Remixes" (even though it's not, technically, a remix), the remake isn't anything groundbreaking, but it is a pretty fun (and can we say unexpected?) take on the track. Get the goods, here.

Guess what I'm up to today!

 

This sign is down the street from me. There's not much to say about it (as the economic downturn has been blogged ad nauseam) but thought I'd share. 

In other news- sorry if you're reading this blog on Safari or IE. I messed around with the theme and, although it looks PERFECT in Firefox, people using less awesome browsers have the background and text overlap, which should not be the case. I'm working on fixing it so everything should be a-ok in the next day or so. Yay! Technology!

Cover Man Witmer

I recently had the chance to interview Denison Witmer for a spotlight in the November issue of Athens Blur.  He is one of the most down-to-earth musicians I have ever had the pleasure of speaking with (and I think he may be one of the nicest guys out there, too).

His latest collection of well-penned, 70s-inspired folk tunes, entitled Carry the Weight (via The Militia Group), hits stores on November 11th. Being a total cover-song geek (and a big Witmer fan), I was ecstatic to find that Witmer had launched into a covers project with the aim of recording and releasing one cover song each week leading up to the new album's release. Cool, no? Songs can be downloaded on a per-week basis--for FREE--via Witmer's MySpace and for any weeks you may have missed (or if your computer hates the new MySpace music player like many others do), the entire project can be found at the Cover Lay Down blog on an ongoing basis. So far he's covered songs by Bonnie Raitt ("I Can't Make You Love Me"), Oasis ("Champagne Supernova"), Red House Painters ("Have You Forgotten"- which is one of my all-time favorite songs), Van Morrison ("Comfort You") and Band of Horses ("Is There a Ghost").

The neatest thing about Witmer's current covers project is that they aren't overdone. Recorded live in different rooms of his house featuring just vocals and guitar, the tracks have an incredible sense of intimacy and spontenaiety, working songs like "Champagne Supernova" and "Is There a Ghost" into entirely new forms. If they don't sound overly complicated, it's because they're not. Witmer explains: 

 "I just go from my record collection and whatever strikes me. If I find myself walking around the house humming something, I’ll go, “Oh, well I’ll see if I can figure that out.” That’s what I’ve been doing and it seems to be working."

Unlike Recovered, Witmer's  2003 influence-heavy covers album, the tunesmith says he chooses these songs just for fun, regardless of how well they turn out, more as an exercise to get him out of his own recording ruts and issues with semi-perfectionism.

 "I’m just trying to pick really random songs that I like and play them and see if they actually work. And I don’t really know if they do. I’m just putting them out there and if people like them, great. It’s just as well if they don’t. I don’t really mind, but it’s really fun for me to play other people’s melodies and think about why people make those different choices."

So, check out the covers and pick up Carry the Weight when it hits stores in November. For anyone out there unfamiliar with Witmer's previous work, get your paws on a copy of 2002's Philadelphia Songs as well. Not only was it the subject of the first CD review I ever had published, it's also an incredibly beautiful and heartfelt collection of songs. Get on it!

Back to back...

Haven't seen me in awhile?  I've been a busy bee..

 

Back-to-back cover stories on Katy Perry and Kings of Leon for Athens Blur magazine!  For those of you not living in Athens who can't get your hands on copies of the mag, these stories are up on my portfolio. Both were a lot of fun to write and were interesting stories to tell. I'll cop to Katy Perry being a guilty pleasure (have you not heard "Hot and Cold"? I can't get that song outta my head!) and, I gotta say, I'm impressed with how far Kings of Leon have come. I caught the band live years ago opening for The Stokes (with an as-yet-unheard of Regina Spektor!) and although their live show was spot-on, it's not until their most recent albums that the band has really hooked me. It's interesting what trading in strong southern rock roots (and coifs!) will get you. 

Anyway, if you live out in UGA country, do pick up a copy of the mag. It's free, it's pretty and it has a lot of fun articles (besides mine *shameless grin*). 

Also, for those that follow the publications I write for, the folks over at Stereo Subversion just pulled off a snazzy site redesign. Go check out the goodness over there and wish them a happy belated 1 year anniversary! The editor there is a super guy and he's done a wonderful job with the site in such a short time. 

Nat-attack out!