CATEGORY: MP3

If you’re looking for a weather update for the Los Angeles area, let me give it to you:  It’s midnight, I’ve got both windows open, and I’m still sweating like Ruben Studdard in a tuxedo.  Yeah, it’s that hot.

On the other hand, if weather isn’t your thing, and you’re simply looking for some top quality summer music, look no further than the Donkey’s newest mp3 ‘Walk Through a Cloud’.  The drummer’s easy, steady snare-drummy thingies, the playfully plucked guitar strings, and the laid back vocal harmonies all remind me of the Eagles or some really good 1970’s folk rock band with 4 accoustic guitarists and a dude in the background playing on one snare drum.  A qualified blogger can fill in some names here for me.  All I know is that ‘Walk Through a Cloud’ is immediately memorable and opens a pretty good door for the band’s September release Living on the Other Side.

The Donkeys - Walk Through a Cloud

Listen to more songs off the Donkey’s up coming album Living on the Other Side @ their Myspace page

CATEGORY: Editor's Pick - MP3

Sibling labels Jagjaguwar, Dead Oceans, and Secretly Canadian have always attracted solid talent to their roster and Wisconsin’s Bon Iver is no exception. Meaning “good winter”, Bon Iver is the stage name for solo artist Justin Vernon and his sparse, personal folk music which has collected much praise since his debut record For Emma, Forever Ago was released in February. The album was recorded in a remote cabin in Wisconsin during Vernon’s self-imposed hibernation from the outside world. The plan, according to Vernon, wasn’t to write a record during this time but it happened and no one can complain with the end result. On ‘Skinny Love’ the grizzled, flannel-loving Vernon shouts, whispers, and sings in his ear-grabbing falsetto, finding any way he can to get the lonely feeling of the track across. The acoustic music and sparse tone may be familiar ground for these kinds of projects but the raw delivery is something worth hiding out from the world for.

Bon Iver - Skinny Love

Purchase Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago on Amazon.com