Top 5 Songs Of The Week (Cleaning the House Edition)

This past week we have been super busy (Becky and Paul were in town from Ireland), under the weather, and just flat out unable to find any free time -- thus the reason why we have not posted in quite a few days. However, this past Wednesday we *finally* had the opportunity to see There Will Be Blood (adapted from Upton Sinclair's novel, Oil!) which we found to be a very beautiful yet dark film (in imagery, score, and script). One thing that was especially impressive, was being able to understand what all the fuss has been about Daniel Day Lewis's performance -- there is no doubt in our minds that he deserves an Oscar.

While I am working on this post I am in the process of doing some much needed cleaning around our domicile while Kelly is at work on Saturday afternoon (beh). Yesterday we found out that one of the best tours this spring is coming to c-town: The New Pornographers are coming to The Beachland Ballroom on April 22nd with Okkervil River. We are both are very excited about this (does anybody know whether Neko Case will be joining??), but at the same time we are very disappointed that Vampire Weekend are not coming here. We do think it's awesome that they will be playing at The Andy Warhol Museum (one of our all-time favorite places to see shows) in Pittsburgh on February 15th -- however, it is already sold out :'(

While we celebrate and lament about shows that do and do not come, we are comforted by these Top Five Songs of the Week:

5. (mp3) Die Die Die - Blue Skies This New Zealand band makes music with frantic post-punk energy brings to mind (dare we say) At the Drive-In, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and some influence of Wire? One thing is for sure, the driving bassline fueled my cleaning!

4. (mp3) Girls in Hawaii - This Farm Will End Up on Fire This Belgian band was introduced to us last week by the likes of a great blog called Cause = Time. We love that this song blends the shoegazy elements of Grandaddy with the FM indie rock stylings of Snow Patrol.

3. (mp3) Tulsa - Shaker This twangy Indie rock band is coming to The Grog Shop this Friday Feb. 8th with their lush melodies and soothing vocals which bring to mind MMJ and Band of Horses. Their haunting sounds will lure you to the deep south but they are actually based out of Bean Town.

2. (mp3) The Raveonettes - Dead Sound (Peter Holmstrom & Jeremy Sherrer Remix) This remix is among the prettiest remixes we have heard in quite a while. We especially enjoy how well the vocals blend with distortion and a back drop of beats with scratches that go down together smoothly.

1. (mp3) Dawn Landes - Bodyguard You may recall her awesome bluegrass cover of "Young Folks" from last year. Fortunately, this young lady is back with her second album and first official stateside release. This lovely single was actually inspired by a frightening brake in at her apartment. If you take a listen, you will see that this track takes a departure from her more folky side and shows us a very seductive and soulful element (complimented nicely by a banjo no less!). She is coming to The Beachland on February 15th, with tour mates Jason Isbell (from Drive By Truckers) and Will Hoge.

ps - We meant to mention that today is Groundhog Day, but for those of us in the working world, everyday feels like Groundhog Day ;)