No video for this song.
A slow sauntering song by Mimicking Birds. This is off their self-titled debut album.
This band has just released the one album, and currently working on their second. Most of their music is acoustic guitar-driven, with Nate Lacy’s distinct voice. Probably a great band to see live.
No video for this song.
Bad Books play this sad acoustic ditty. The melody is slow and sad, and the lyrics are emotionally charged. This is off their first album, the self titled, Bad Books.
This band is composed of Kevin Devine and members of Manchester Orchestra. They’ve only released 2 albums so far with the latest II just coming out this year. This collaboration essential sounds just like the mellower side to Manchester Orchestra, and it’s very hard to tell the two apart, but I’m not really complaining, as I love both versions.
An odd video that reminds me of the Mighty Hercules cartoon series.
José González emotes this epic song with his classic guitar. This Massive Attack cover (click here for the original) is off his second album, In Our Nature.
This Swedish artist has released 2 albums, and 8 EPs. He has a very distinct voice, and sound thanks in part to his guitar tuning. He’s collaborated with many artists and most recently re-joined the band, Junip.
A live studio video.
This is a great live rendition of Soldier On by The Temper Trap from their debut album Conditions. Two acoustic guitars and a soulful sometimes falsetto voice make this a great performance. It’s too bad the audio isn’t that great.
This Aussie band has had a bit of success in the indie scene. Their unique use of vocals, dance beats and atmospheric sound set them apart from other indie acts. They’ve won a few awards in their native country, but have barely scratched the surface across the Pacific. Soldier on boys.
Here is a nice acoustic video at a radio station. Well actually the video is pretty sucky, taken with hand-held camera.
Mando Diao, a Swedish alt-indie-rock band deliver a nice acoustic version of their tribute to the unabomber. And really what self-respecting band doesn’t have a song about the unabomber.
They’ve released 5 albums, and tons of singles and EPs. They’re big in Western Europe, but fame continues to elude them in English speaking nations, which is odd, since all of the their music is in English.
Here’s a live video, with a beautiful mountain in the background. One man alone with one instrument.
Andrew Bird delivers an amazing live performance with the aid of a loop pedal. He layers one sound after another building an entire song relatively quickly with just his violin. Oh yeah, and he whistles.
This man is an amazing musician mastering the violin, guitar, and mandolin, and weaving them all together to make beautiful music. I almost prefer his live music to his studio work, because of the tangents, he goes on, creating amazing variations of his songs, in the moment.
He’s released 8 studio albums, 4 live albums, and 4 EPs. There is a ton of great music out there, but I highly recommend the From the Basement live series with Andrew Bird. A quick Google search will net you a few songs.
I still don’t know what a cilice is.
Instead of spotlighting a song, let’s hear a whole album without any distracting images.
Amanda Palmer (one half of The Dresden Dolls) broke up with her record label and decided to celebrate by releasing a bunch of Radiohead songs on ukulele. Her magic ukulele. Probably pried from Tiny Tim‘s cold dead hands.
She’s released 1 solo album, as well as 2 albums with the Dresden Dolls
If you’re a Radiohead fan and a fan of the ukulele (yes the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive), then you’ll love this. Give it a listen…
Since there is no official video for this song. I found the next best thing, which is an acoustic version of the song.
The Airborne Toxic Event remind me a lot of Arcade Fire and this particular song could be from either band. A slow build culminating in violin anarchy. The original version is a little more edgier and angstier, but I love both for different reasons.
This LA band has only released the one album, and they’ve acoustic versions of all of their songs with accompanying videos, all shot from a single camera in one take. You can find them all on their MySpace page.
Noisezilla 