In a sea black with ink...

Jeff Tweedy is God.

I've mentioned before my favorite band in the world, Wilco. Jeff Tweedy is the front-man of this band, and is one of the most clever-cats I have ever had the fortune of laying my ears upon.

A poet, musician, and general well-rounded artist, recovering drug addict, Chicagoian, pizza lover... this man is my generation's Bob Dylan. I'm telling you.

Here is a live version of my favorite song, and my inspiration for the name of this blog, "Sunken Treasure," with the lyrics below, courtesy of BeMyDemon.org.

Sunken Treasure

There's rows and rows of houses

With windows painted blue

With the light from a TV

Running parallel to you

But there is no sunken treasure

Rumored to be

Wrapped inside my ribs

In a sea black with ink

I am so

Out of tune

With you

I am so out of tune

With you

If I had a mountain

I'd try to fold it over

If I had a boat (probably roll over)

You know I'd probably roll over (leave it on the shore)

And I leave it on the shore (leave it for somebody)

I'd leave it for somebody

Surely there's somebody

Who needs it more than me

I am so

Out of tune

With you

I am so out of tune

With you

For all the leaves will burn

In autumn fires and then return

For all the fires we burn

All will return

Music is my savior

I was maimed by rock and roll

I was maimed by rock and roll

I was tamed by rock and roll

I got my name from rock and roll

Games People Play

This past week, my friend from home, Michael Dylan Ferrara, came to visit from London, where he's studying Ethnomusicology at King's College at the moment.

Last Friday we went to go see the band Twin Sister, a member of which actually went to school with Michael and I, play at Fleche D'or in Paris. I hadn't heard of them until recently, but liked them so much I actually bought the album on iTunes. Go me!

This is an unofficial video for the song "All Around and Away We go," and I actually prefer it to the official video. I think that it captures the feeling of the song, which, when you close your eyes and listen, reminds you of riding a roller coaster (a tiny one!), with the wind blowing against your face on a warm summer day.

How's that for cheesy?

Enjoy!

snip snip snip i'm a woodland nimf

This year, I cooked the turkey.

A 30-person Thanksgiving Day celebration at Tennessee Jazz Bar in Paris, and an 18lb turkey, lovingly named Jean Luc.

In honor of this kind of twisted but also gluttonous and food-filled holiday, I want to share with you a song I probably not-so-coincidentally stumbled upon this past week. Thank you The Internet!

Please take a few shots, drink a Redbull, and then listen to the song Lawn Knives by GOBBLE GOBBLE by pressing play, just below. Don't forget the dance party and some gletta.

2 years and bottle of red wine please.

Today I'm feeling a bit morose and reminiscent. And soon you will be too.

Here's one of my favorite break-up songs of all time by Swedish musician, Ane Brun.

Goodbye Sky Harbour...

Sometimes I feel like I have the worst memory in the world. I keep my iCal loaded with plenty reminders for concerts I would like to see here in Paris, but for some reason I feel like I always forget about them.

There is a website that I constantly visit when I'm at home in New York or visiting friends in Chicago, where I went to Columbia College Chicago for my BA in Arts, Entertainment, & Media Management. It's called OhMyRockness, and it is loaded up with more concert date information than I could even dream of.

Any day of the week you can go to OhMyRockness.com, and if you're bored, it'll give you information on artists that are playing in the area, how much the tickets are, an

d where they're playing. It's absolutely genius.

The only problem is-- right now they are only listing shows for New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

I can imagine that the upkeep of such a project is fairly tedious; lots of phone calls, e-mails, and surfing the web for information.

Anyway, I am hoping that I can find something like this in Paris before I ship back off to the states. It would make it easier for me to find great musicians and shows here in this lovely city.

Although, I can't say I'm doing a terrible job; tomorrow I will go see JIMMY EAT WORLD and Minus the Bear at La Fleche d'Or. I have been waiting for this day for MONTHS!

I leave you with this very simple and colorful video for the song "My Time" by Minus the Bear:

Back to the island.

I'M HOMESICK!

Today, in the midst of sickness and never-ending rain, I am reminiscing about my car-rides to and from work at ClayNation on Long Island, to Union Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to Piano's in the Lower East Side. Last November was the best.

You know what the best part about those car-rides were? My favorite radio station, 90.7WFUV.

This public radio station, produced by Fordham University, has pretty much introduced me to 70% of all my new favorite artists. I went home almost every day with the name of at least one new band or artist. Not bad.

But what I have really been missing the most is Russ Borris and The Alternate Side, a show that plays on WFUV from 10pm-midnight, M-F.

The good news is that The Alternate Side streams their live radio broadcast online, so no matter how homesick I get, I can always listen to the station. Although, with the 6 hour time difference, I'm going to have a wait 6 more months until I get back to New York to listen to the radio broadcast time slot.

Anyhow, if you're looking for new, up-and-coming artists, I suggest you head over to The Alternate Side's website and stream the live broadcast. It's like candy for the ears.

Obrigado!

I have NO idea how I ever stumbled upon this musician--- if I can recall, it was on LastFM.

Last summer I was traveling to beautiful Porto, Portugal, to go see my favorite band in the world, WILCO. I believe I was looking for other live shows to catch while I was in the country.

My love affair with B Fachada is true and unending. You can go to his MySpace account page and download several albums, some for free and some very cheap (2 euro), courtesy of his label/distribution company, FlorCaveira. I think I spent my entire summer in 2009 falling asleep to his album entitled "Viola Braguesa."

His older music is a mix of traditional Portuguese folk, seemingly influenced by the American indie-alt-folk group, Iron & Wine. His new album, "B Fachada é Pra Meninos," which is being released on December 10th, reminds me a bit of indie-pop groups like MGMT and Animal Collective. Makes me wanna dance a bit.

Here is an awesome, documentary film-style music video for a new song called "Joana Transmontana."

Joana Transmontana - B Fachada from Tiago Pereira on Vimeo.

BERLIN!!

You know those moments where you feel like you are in the right place at the right time?

This past weekend, I was in Berlin visiting a friend and touring the city. I stayed with a extremely cool guy from CouchSurfing who was kind enough to host me last minute.

My first night we were barhopping around the Kreuzberg neighborhood, a very alternative and artistic district, and at the end of the night wound up in a small bar, which I hope to find the name of one day.

I was completely in distracted the entire time by the beautiful music I heard playing over the speakers, and demanded that my friend find out who was playing. It turned out to be a Berlin musician named Susanna Berivan. The bartender must have known I was gonna pop in. It's just the perfect mix of new folk, a bit of gypsy-jazz, simple guitar playing, with a voice that gives me chills.

Here's a song for you entitled, "Schoolgirl & Alora Siodora," and a photo of some street art I found in the city.

La Vie En Rose

Pamplemousse is one of my favorite words in French. It means "grapefruit" in English.

So imagine the joy I felt the day I stumbled upon the Pamplemouse YouTube page.

Pamplemousse is a 2 piece indie alternative/jazz band, composed of Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. Not only do they produce their wonderful music together in the comfort of their own home- they film the entire process of recording the song, one instrument/part at a time, and piece it all together in a music video mash-up that makes it seems as if you're right there in the room with them.

The duo produces and performs both cover songs (the most popular, with over 6million views, being a cover of Beyonce's "Single Ladies," which you can watch HERE) and originals, each one delightful to listen to. Singer Nataly Dawn also has her own YouTube channel, where you can hear her beautiful solo endeavors.

Here is a video of one of my favorite Pamplemousse covers,' Edith Piaf's "La Vie En Rose." Enjoy!

1 and 2 and 3 and 4

I only needed to visit New York University once in 2008 to discover that it wasn't for me. It was really the lockers, intended to house suits for NYU's Stern School of Business students, that completly turned me off.

However, NYU has redeemed itself just a little bit in my eyes after I learned of an indie-duo called Savoir Adore, composed of Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer. They met as students at NYU, and began colaborating in 2008. (I have to mention that my best friend now goes to NYU, so it can't really be too bad!)

I can't get enough of the drum-line beats and synth-rhythm- I could listen to their song, "Bodies," all day. Savoir Adore is so Brooklyn, it's not even funny. And I love it.

This is one of their latest music videos for a song entitled "MERP." It really brings out the disco lover in me.

I feel just like a child!

You ever stumble upon a song that sounds like nothing you've listened to before?

Devandra Banhart is an artist I first heard on New York's Fordham University radio station, WFUV.

Banhart was born in Houston, Texas, raised in Venezuela, and most recently relocated to California. Having lived in several very different locations, you could imagine that his music has had some diverse influences.

You can find a wide variety of music in indie/folk artist Devandra Banhart's catalog- some songs calming, and others that make you want to get up and dance.

Today, this one made me dance.



Check out Devandra Banhart on MySpace.com for more music, videos, and tour dates!

UO Music

I am attempting the impossible.

Today’s blog entry is being written offline. So far it is easier said than done. How did anyone exist without the Internet?

This week I have spent hours searching for, networking, and connecting with artists of all different shapes and sizes. It is my goal to create content on this website that you will love to watch. But please, be patient with me, because musicians (the real good ones) aren’t always too open to experimentation.

The past two weeks I have been trying to set up “Skype Sessions” for you— performances with artists from around the globe who have agreed to sit with me on Skype and sing you a song. I have been searching all over the Internet for some of the newest talent.

And so, you trendy, trendy kids…. I’m going to share with you another website that I use to search for your musical content.

I bet many of you know what Urban Outfitters is. Trendy clothing company- hipsters- Williamsburg- Brooklyn- blahblahblah. Okay. Have you ever clicked around on their website?

This past year, there was an Urban Outfitters around the corner from my home institution, The New School, in Manhattan, NY. Every time I went in to browse (every day….), I was always impressed by the tunes they were playing.

At some point I figured out that Urban Outfitters has a Music section of their website.

UNN-believable.

Not only can I buy trendy clothing, but also I can listen to trendy music.

Every month, Urban Outfitters releases a 20+ track album, entitled LSTN#-, which you can stream online or download for free, featuring some of the best new alternative, independent, and unheard artists around.

And it doesn’t stop there! Each Monday you can find have what they call “Music Monday,” where you can go to their website and download five free tracks from various artists. These artists differ from those offered on the LSTN playlists, but are equally as awesome.

So, I suggest, while you’re waiting for me to get my act together, that you check out UrbanOutfitters.com, and find the music portion of their website. If you love it, you can stream the Urban Outfitters free radio station. I promise that you will not be disappointed.

In Loving Memory Of...

My poor bank account.

Two days ago I bought a ticket to a concert that I was hoping to attend this evening.

Yesterday I remembered that I had made very important dinner plans with my wonderful friend, Marie, who will be leaving town tomorrow. Goodbye $40.

This post is dedicated to the band I was supposed to be seeing tonight, The Swell Season.

I saw this band perform this past February at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and it was one of the most pleasant concert experiences I have ever had. I was alone, drinking a glass of wine, and the band had encouraged the entire venue to sing along. I felt like I was a apart of the show.

The Swell Season is a band out of Dublin, Ireland, composed of Glen Hansard, Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová, and the supporting band, who were once called The Frames. They gained their popularity in 2006 with the movie/musical, Once- and independent film written and directed by John Carney. The film gained recognition when it won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Here is a video of one of my favorite songs by The Swell Season, When Your Mind's Made Up, being performed live two years ago in Paris. Every time I hear this band play together, I am blown away with how talented they are. The music is remarkably well composed, and Glen Hansard's voice is just incredible. Enjoy!

A Pirates Life For Me

Nothing ever comes easy. A theory that has been drilled into my brain since day 1.

I am trying to put together this wonderful music project for YOU (yes, you!). But you have to understand that it's gonna take a bit of time. I, sadly, do not have superpowers.

In exchange for your patience and understanding while I am sorting things out- sending out e-mails and generating musical content for my faithful blog followers- I am going to share with you a very handy tool that I often use for discovering new music.

Three years ago, I was recommended by my good friend, Stephanie Daniels, to visit a website called last.fm. This social music project has completely altered the way I listen to music.

Let me explain.

last.fm offers a program called the last.fm scrobbler, which links your iTunes music library to your last.fm account. The music you are listening to in iTunes is then automatically posted to your user profile. Anyone who visits my profile can then see what it is that I am listening to.

What's great about this is, not only can I share with my friends and the community the great music in which I am always listening to, but last.fm offers recommendations for artists similar to those in my library, and links me up with users from all over the world who are listening to the same things as me. I visit these pages, browse around for a couple of hours, and voila! 8 new albums. 6 hours of new music. It's just like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I urge you to visit the last.fm website and browse around. I have found some of my favorite artists on there, and have discovered some really great independent artists from all over the world as well.

One last thing that's worth mentioning--- last.fm has a channel on YouTube.com called LastFM Presents. It is not updated as frequently as it has been in the past, but there are still dozens of artist performances and interviews that you can watch and listen to.

For your viewing pleasure, here is a LastFM Presents session with one of my favorite folk/soul singers, Joshua James. You can almost see his old soul flying out of his mouth when he sings.

Tyler Lyle, Ladies and Gentilemen

Do you know who this is? Well, you should.

Atlanta, Georgia's very own Tyler Lyle is ready, willing, and able to sing your pants off.

This country and blues influenced singer/songwriter, and very good friend of mine, just released two EP's, and will soon be headed to Los Angeles, California, to record a full-length album with the big shots.

Tyler Lyle - No Relief

I urge you to head over to Tyler's MySpace account, listen to the tunes, and see if you are lucky enough to catch him on the road this fall.

BLACK CAB SESSIONS

I have toyed with the idea of creating a music-themed blog for a while now.

I think the time may have come.

About one year ago, I stumbled upon a YouTube video of one of my favorite bands, Grizzly Bear, performing an acoustic version one of my favorite songs, All We Ask, in the back of a black cab, driving through the city of London.



For years, I have been trying to figure out how to sneak myself in this post-modern music business. And all of a sudden... bands singing in the back of a cab?! The project is called "Black Cab Sessions," and the founders are absolute geniuses.

Black Cab Sessions Promo from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.

For a while now, I have been coming up with and throwing out ideas on how I could actually work this out for myself. Music is my passion. Four years ago I worked at a record label called Victory Records, but the music industry but it wasn't for me- I needed something more hands-on than PR, marketing, and sales.

Perhaps a blog with new and live music could do the trick... but the twist? Hmm. I'll have to work on it.

THIS BLOG IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING RE-VAMPED

things should be back in order by the weekend.
for now, please excuse the mess!