Apologies via New Buffalo,

So you'd think I'd forgotten this. All I admitt to is neglecting it. And being Fickle. Because it's not like i havent been spening this time not collecting downloadable-from-the-net without using yousendit or any of those, type things. In fact i have a whole folder on my computer for this little project ii and I are sharing. But it's just super hard to choose who to show when and after who and things like that. But I'll tell you a story that made me decide to show you New Buffalo. Basically I keep a livejournal. Which is very lame and the most recent post I made, a friend of mine commented on the post saying "I've got you and You've got me". And then another friend of mine went into this grand spiel about how wonderful it was that someone was quoting Sally Seltmann (New Buffalo) and how it brought a tear to her eye (even thought that is a line that is common in a lot of songs and poems and books and things, but whatever) and oh all this stuff that makes me sound much nicer than I am so I dare not repeat it. And last night was the ARIA(australian record industry association) awards on tv so it's only appropriate that I do a bit of OMG MY COUNTRY HAS AMAZING MUSIC AND YOU SHOULD ALL GET INTO IT RIGHT NOW NOW NOW DO IT ALREADY JIMMENY CRICKETS etc. Even though New Buffalo wasn't nominated for anything, It's my (and ii's) blog and I'll do what I like thankyouverymuch.

New Buffalo is Sally Seltmann who is from Melbourne, and is married. She was with Lustre4 but then Ben Lee picked up one of her songs. She is influenced by Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Nina Simone, Sigur Ros and the Rolling Stones. Her most recent full-length realease is The Last Beautiful Day which she signed with Canadian label Arts and Crafts in 2005 (it was originally recorded with dot dash in '04). If anyone has stolen my copy of this CD (because I can't find it, bitches!) I will cry. And if it happens that I've lost it, well that would be very common of me. Her music is very personal and beautiful and she uses her casio in an amazing way (ie. not in the way you think she might, if you've been eyeing-off the latest common influx of indie post-punk/noise-art/i have no idea what they're actually calling it and dont care because only bits of it are ever any good so ner).
'New Buffalo brings the whimsy of a big band and drama of a doe-eyed stalet into indie pop...' hot press, january 2005.

'Recovery'
'I've got You and You've Got Me'
'Yes'
thanks to newbuffalo.net for the image and mp3s.

Paavoharju

Paavoharju are another oddball of the so-called "Finnish Folk Movement", probably best known rather outside the country than among the local listeners. I only recently discovered them through foreign links and recommendations! The band uses lo-fi techniques, tying electronic crackles, snaps and pops to folk-ish melodies; into something I would like my best dreams to have on their soundtrack.

Really, I don't think I can say anything about them, anything that would do them justice. Just listen carefully and close your eyes.

Downloads from Fonal.com:
Valo tihkuu kaiken läpi
Kuljin kauas

Downloads from Mikseri.net:
Hän teki minut autioksi
Kuljin kauas (Live)

Photography courtesy of Paavoharju.com. See the band's homepage for more information.

Likeness to Lily is the new Opera.

I can't think of what to write about Likeness to Lily. But I love what they do, a lot. Maybe Likeness to Lily is an opera, no, an operetta? Something amazingly beautiful that makes me not ashamed of loving classical music without knowing as much about it as my friends who are musicians do. I forgive myself because I am not a musician, but I can tell the difference between a couple of composers just by listening to the style, even if i've never heard the song before. Which is easy, but tricky. Likeness to Lily play mostly in New York/Brooklyn which also says something about them, too. what i can tell you is that david durst and susan oetgen met whilst working on an experimental indie-rock opera by bob massey. I only know this because Likeness to Lily's website says this and so I know. I'm going to say their music is classical, just because it is full of cinematic class. What else? Extremely talented. Extremely Courageous. Extremely Special. Definitely Special.

though the lyrical nature of their original compositions calls to mind the art of the concert stage, the ensemble generally plays downtown venues where genre-defying new music has popular appeal. - likenesstolily.com'Little Night Song'
'Apollo'
mp3s and photograph of david hurst from likenesstolily.com

LIVE: Joanna Newsom.

really quickly. by chance (and having really great friends) i was able to attend a sold out performance of holly throsby, smog, and joanna newsom at the Globe theatre. in that order. of course it was as flippin' wonderful as you could imagine. joanna was sick and didn't seem to enjoy brisbane's disgusting heat, but she was a darling. for the occasion have some mp3s of songs that joanna played. i was going to try and find some smog or holly mp3s but i had these links already and it's rather past my bed time.
'clam, crab, cockle, cowrie' live at the earl april 10 2004.
'cosmia' live at queen elizabeth hall april 2 2005
'the sprout and the bean' live at the earl april 10 2004.
mp3s from acousticwood.net and home.fromamouth.com/milkymoon and picture courtesy of myself and my digicrap camera.

Everyone's a cousin with Brian Molnar.

Brian Molnar’s music reminds me that every human being is in fact, connected. And that there is a reason why we like the things we like, music, art, all those lovely subjective things. Brian Molnar makes music that I’d make if I was a boy (because its not the same as the music I think about making as a girl). Brian Molnar I find him to be a calmer, more sweet Bob Dylan. If only because of the resemblance Dylan and Molnar have in their voices (Molnar says this comparison happens to ‘anyone who writes good songs and plays acoustic guitar’ and lists Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson as other close comparisons, which I hadn’t initially thought of but now that he mentions it, I can see it. Hear it. Whatever). You’ll find I have a great bias towards music that is simple-sounding. This is because it is the sort of music I like. This is because simple music isn’t easy. It’s easy to dress up a song. It’s easy to use what equipment you can get your hands on to help your song get more adjectives. It’s easy to write a simple song, sure, but it isn’t easy to play a simple song well. This is why I like to show off artists who have achieved perfection in simplicity. Brian Molnar does just this. His music sounds so easy, but it’s amazing. Another bias I have is with surnames and some countries (ie. Finland, Canada, Australia, Hungary, France, Russia…). Brian Molnar takes up one of these biases too. This makes me think I could be related to him distantly, even though I know I’m not. (The bias we have here is with surname. His surname is mine, but due to the circumstances in which my father’s family migrated to Australia, there’s no way we’re related. But y’know, it’s a nice thought.) Which brings me back to Brian Molnar’s music reminding me that every human being is in fact, connected.

In an age of clever hooks and slick production, Molnar's music is a rarity in that it breathes with that quality that can only be described as truth in experience--that breath that can only come from the artist's soul. – BrianMolnar.com
‘Black and Blue’
‘I Need You’
‘Throw Me a Line’
mp3s and photograph (from the unterdon county democrat 10/06/04) courtesy of brianmolnar.com