You MUST see this movie!

You know that commercial for Target that aired during the holiday season with the huge advent calendar? I was WONDERING what the song playing during that commercial was, because it’s awfully catchy, and it turns out it’s this guy, Jim Noir. His music is described as “psychadelic pop electronica” (whatever that means) - it basically sounds like a relaxing electronic blend of the Beach Boys or the Beta Band.

The 411: he’s British, has one album out (Tower of Love), is known for his eccentric dress, and he plays all the instruments on his work. For live shows however, he uses a band. Check him out on his myspace.

This weekend I was fortunate enough to see Ben Taylor (son of James Taylor and Carly Simon) perform live at The Cutting Room with his mom and David Saw. While musically a modern-day clone of his dad, Ben’s hilariously honest songwriting sets him apart from others in his guys-with-acoustic-guitars genre. His song “Wicked Way” had people cracking up.

Carly’s performance was her first in 2 years. Although she’s known for suffering from stage fright, this was not apparent at all during her Saturday performance where she really let loose and sang her heart out (or “had a few emo moments” as some said). Despite not playing her popular hit “You’re So Vain” her performance was great - also, she looked ridiculously phenomenal for being 62.

David Saw was also awesome. His subtly named song “Buy My Record” was a crowd favorite and is definitely worth checking out.

Catch Ben Taylor and David Saw play again at the Cutting Room on Valentines Day at 10pm. I leave you with some Ben Taylor goodness:

I LOVE THIS BAND. These four nerdy rock guys from Columbia University have an upbeat, quirky sound that blends punk rock with South African traditional music. Their self-titled debut album comes out this Tuesday, 1/29. Check out their video for “A-Punk”! Seriously, DO IT.

Read what NPR has to say about Vampire Weekend.
Vampire Weekend’s myspace.

I’ve never been the biggest fan of “web jukebox” sites like Pandora because they try to “introduce” me to crappy bands like Interpol when I say I like the Strokes. It’s also not very good for genres other than rock or country (who wants to listen to a cappella versions of rap?). Okay okay, I suppose it’s not the worst site in the world, especially if you find yourself ipod-less, but I FINALLY discovered a music site that I like. It’s called Songza; the interface is beautifully simple and easy to use:

The site was created by Aza Raskin, the son of Jef Raskin (interface expert who worked for Apple Computers). It streams all its music from youtube and other sites. As a result, it doesn’t have everything, but it won’t try to impose lame bands on you. And it’s pretty. So check it out!

In case you missed it, the video for the mash-up of The Strokes’ “Hard to Explain” and Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle.”

You probably think you don’t know what a theremin is, but if you’ve ever heard the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” then you’d recognize the eerie, high pitched sound (this is the most famous example, although apparently it was just an Electro-Theremin, a machine made to mimic the sound). Invented in 1919, it’s the only instrument in existence that you play without touching anything. You actually just play the air around two metal wires, manipulating the pitch and volume, respectively. Sounds kinda fun, right? Turns out (and I know from experience) it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to play- think about it, you have no keys, no notches, you’re just playing air. That’s why when I saw this video from the 70s, of someone not just playing the theremin, but playing it beautifully, I was floored. Anyway, it’s pretty wild, you should check it out. Remember, there are no strings, she’s just playing the air around the wires.

This NY Times article has some great suggestions for free/cheap live music in NYC.

If you don’t already know Swedish brother/sister act The Knife then you have to get on that. Not only do they wear weird masks all the time in public, but their music is pretty awesome too. They also do hilarious things like protest sexism in the music industry by sending gorillas to accept their awards. Anyway, if you’re into electronic music at all you should check out their 2003 album Deep Cuts. Their song “Heartbeats” was made even more popular by another Swedish act, Jose Gonzalez; his acoustic version of the song was used in a Sony Bravia commercial that features bouncy balls tumbling down a street in San Francisco. I promise it will make you happy.

Check out both videos/versions. They’re both awesome in their own right, and totally different.