Some songs just have a charm- an inexplicable twinkle. When I listen to ‘Where Damage Isn’t Already Done’ by The Radio Dept. I feel something inside of me light up. It’s an overwhelming rush of happiness. I don’t know how else to say it. Whenever the song comes on I want to sit outside and smile. I want to smile until it hurts and smiling becomes a chore. The combination of the drums and guitar during the chorus are serene. It’s perfect. There are very few other tracks that ignite this sort of reaction in me. This is my summer 2011 jam, or, really, my overall jam. I’m hoping they perform it at Pitchfork Music Festival this year. Dear god I hope they do. There’s no place I’d rather hear this track than a park in the middle of Chicago with all my closest friends surrounding me. It might even bring tears to my eyes.

Where Damage Isn’t Already Done- The Radio Dept.

Oh hey, blog readers, long time no talk. How’s it going? Summer treating you well?

Mine has been stressful and routinely blogged about on my other Tumblr. I won’t go into details because this is a music blog, and if you are truly interested in reading rants and journalism woes, you can click that lovely hyperlink.

As far as summer music goes, there has been quite a bit. Much of the music has been older, but I’ve only recently discovered it.

Number one in iTunes as of late? Adele. I absolutely love her. Yeahhhh, she’s a Billboard top hits celeb, but I’m down with that. If every horrible female musician (ehm, Katy Perry) that was on the Billboard Top 20 morphed into Adele, I’d be the happiest little soul-lover in the world. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon, though. Depressing. Adele’s most recent album is called 21 and it came out in January. Geeze, I really missed out on that release. At least I’m getting it now, though, eh? For those of you who have somehow evaded hearing her gorgeous voice, Adele does soul. Very piano based soul. It’s perfect for sitting in your room with headphones on and writing music….not that I’m doing that right now or anything. I’m putting up my favorite track, ‘Set Fire to the Rain.’

Adele- Set Fire to the Rain

Up next we got Cults: Pitchfork’s favorite darling couple. I was a bit apprehensive to download this album; I figured it would be the same as anything else they released. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is an album filled with pop-goodness. The music type is one we are all familiar with, from She & Him to Smith Westerns to Tennis, it’s that retro 1960s throw-back. This isn’t a complaint by any means. I love these vintage, low-fi groups. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Cults has become my go to bike music. (right after Fleetwood Mac) I’m giving you guys the track ‘Never Heal Myself,’ which has a super groovy bass and drum part. Let’s just go ahead and call them my Best Coast for summer 2011.

Cults- Never Heal Myself

That’s all I have for you right now, sorry if this post wasn’t exhilarating, I’ll try more next time. I’ll find you guys total underground bands. oOoOoO

So…I’m lazy. Yeah, I am. Would it be cool with everyone if I just uploaded a track, didn’t provide any form of context or description, and let it simply suffice to say it’s good? Well, that’s the path I’m going to start taking. …after this post.

Tonight’s soundtrack has been that of Horrors’ front man, Faris Badwan’s new group, Cat’s Eyes. I first heard their song ‘Not a Friend’ back in January and absolutely loved it. I mentally filed them into the back of my head and hoped I’d hear more of their material in the future. That day is upon us. Hallelujah! Their self-titled album is actually really, really awesome. If I had to give it a genre I’d say, “goth pop.” The sound is super eerie at times, but also very catchy. I’d imagine this is what Go-Go dancers in a James Bond movie would listen to while snorting their cocaine and smelling their millions of dollar bills. To complement Badwan’s deep voice there is Rachel Zeffira- a Canadian opera singer. The album has a delicate beauty that can truly only be understood upon listening.

I’m putting up ‘I’m Not Stupid,’ which is probably my favorite track on the album. I love the background vocals. So gorgeous. I’m also putting up ‘Over You,’ which demonstrates the dichotomy between all of the tracks on the album. Enjoy!

Cat’s Eyes- ‘I’m Not Stupid’

Cat’s Eyes- ‘Over You’

I’m slightly ashamed to admit this right now, but I am addicted to a song by The Sounds. I’m sitting in class, in the back, and silently shaking my butt in my chair to the song ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’ off of their new album Something to Die For. I can’t help that it’s catchy, okay!!?! To make myself feel a bit better, I’m going to get you all addicted to it as well. Muahaha. Deal with it. I know that in the end, you will only thank me. I should probably confess that I haven’t listened to any other tracks on the record, so I can only speak on behalf of this one track. GET YOUR DANCE ON.

The Sounds- ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’

oh my poor little music blog, how I have neglected you. Finals are on the way, and all my classes have kicked into high gear, so instead of a post I’ll send you the link to my radio show. I play a buncha new songs, and you can view the playlist for the show on the Facebook page. Like the page, listen to the show and check out the playlist!

It’s time for some sensual tunes up in here. Like, damn, these songs are hot. It should be noted that I don’t mean that in a Paris Hilton hot kind of way, I mean that in a holy shit, this is some down right love-making music. I, I, yeah, that is all that needs to be said. The group is The Weeknd, and they are blowin up on the interwebs. Give it a week. I guarantee you won’t be able to escape their music once every R&B fans gets their hands on this. The band is actually just one Canadian guy: Abel Tesfaye. Not much else is known about the group, other than the fact that Drake has been praising them. You can download their debut mixtape, ‘House of Balloons,’ for free on their website. So get out there. Take advantage of the warming temperatures, and find yourself a lil’ honey to get your lovin on with to The Weeknd.

Unfortunately, my file sharing website has gone down. While I try to find a replacement you guys are stuck with YouTube videos of songs. Sorrrrryyyy.

Now just for fun, I think it would be nice to share a couple of other songs I have officially deemed “hot.” (In the non-Paris Hilton way, of course) So, basically, put these three songs on when you invite your special friend over, and thank me later for setting up the mood.

I tend to listen to new albums during my breaks between classes. Instead of working on homework, or doing anything relatively productive for my courses, I always find myself cooped up somewhere while listening to a new album and reading the Huffington Post. If you haven’t allotted yourself time to do those things, I must recommend it. It’s highly therapeutic, and I think it keeps me sane in between every hectic and stressful class I’m enrolled in.

Anyways, I bring this up because I sometimes write random sentences down about the album I happen to be listening to. One quick flip through my notebook is bound to turn up at least a paragraph about some sort of music. The really cool part about all this, though, is that I always forget that I wrote something down, so days, or even weeks, later I find these descriptions.

The other day I was sitting in Poly Sci and happened upon these couple sentences, “Feels like you’re bouncing on a cloud made of young dreams and love. Not much has changed since the first album, but hey, why change something when it works? Right?”

I took a second and tried to think of what album I was writing about. I realized it was the Smith Westerns’ new album, Dye It Blonde. I know this is a pretty pathetic excuse of an update, but I figured it’s worth it to post at least a little something. The moral of the story is this: Smith Westerns’ new album is great, and while I prefer their first one a bit more, I still recommend checking out Dye It Blonde. It is perfect for the days of spring when everything is starting to bloom, and life is slowly beginning to get back to normal. ie: humans, yes, real life human beings, can be seen outside their homes soaking up the sun. I live for these days and Smith Westerns make it all the better. I’m putting up the track ‘Fallen in Love.’ Happy March!

Smith Westerns- ‘Fallen in Love’