Namibian artist #1...Jackson Kaujeua..RIP

It seems I discovered him about 4 days too late. Influential Namibian musician Jackson Kaujeua passed away from kidney failure on May 27. I literally just discovered his music an hour ago, and it's very hard to find his songs online, so this weekend I plan on picking up an album or two at the music store here in town. Until I can get my hands on full songs, here's one of his songs on Youtube, "Kalahari." For a little more information about him, here's an article in The Namibian:






UPDATE: found a better video that has a compilation of a bunch of his songs...check it out!

terrible pop music and slow internets in Namibia

Oh boy. Do I ever need some good tunes. I'm currently in Namibia on an internship for grad school, and though it is totally awesome here, my ears are certainly paying a price. I am forever being bombarded by Celine Dion, Richard Marx, and Justin Bieber while I'm at the office working. It's usually the same 10 songs just repeated for 6 hours. I usually can't wait until I get home and can open my computer and play something that doesn't make my ears bleed. Glad I was able to snag Josh Ritter's FANTASTIC new album before I left, but in my haste (aka leaving EVERYTHING to the last minutes before I left the US) I didn't get a chance to grab the seemingly 4000 other new albums that came out in the last month or two (not to mention the ones being released in June). Now I'm left feeling like a junkie who just doesn't have the money for a fix. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but internet is so painfully slow it takes 20 minutes to download one song! Ack!

My aim while I'm in Namibia is to check out the local music scene and hopefully post some updates on what music (besides terrible terrible American pop) people are digging here. So stay tuned...hopefully I'll make some good finds! For now, enjoy a song off Ritter's new album. The whole thing is completely amazing, and if for some crazy reason you haven't bought it yet, do it NOW!

Another New World - Josh Ritter

Help with the ultimate travel playlist

Ok folks, I'm going to be doing an insane amount of traveling this summer. I'm spending most of the summer in Namibia (and possibly some time in Kenya) for my internship, and that equals DAYS spent on planes, trains, cars, and buses. I need your help in compiling the ultimate travel playlist (or playlists).

What are your favorite tunes to keep you sane when traveling? Comment here, email me, respond via twitter (@candy4ears), shout on last.fm (kari8306), whatever you choose. You have 2 months....ready GO!

trying really really hard to stay sane

If anyone out there is still reading/following, I apologize for the lack of posts. The past few months have been a gigantic ball of stress and calling them an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement. It was mostly due to school, but now that I've nailed down an internship for the summer (and it's FUNDED!), I'm a much happier person. But enough about me, here's what's been keeping me happy and what I'm looking forward to:

The FOLK FESTIVAL. I never officially wrote a response. Well, it was BALLER. Even though Doc Watson couldn't make it (reason number 32849287234 to hate winter), it was still an amazing two nights of music. This year, like last, had a seemingly breakout crowd favorite, Hoots and Hellmouth. They were asked to come play the second night after Doc Watson cancelled and rocked out hard. I'm really looking forward to when they come back to Ann Arbor next month. Iron & Wine was mesmerizing the first night, and Richie Havens was wonderful the second night. Props to Rosanne Cash who "headlined" the second night, but I wish it was Richie. I could listen to him for hours and hours.

I got to catch The Avett Brothers in concert last week, and it was unbelievable. They are totally 100% awesome live. I had a bunch of their albums prior to the show and liked them ok, but holy shit. I've been listening to their music pretty much nonstop since the show. If they are playing anywhere near you (like 3 hour travel time radius) GO SEE THEM!!! The Low Anthem opened and they were great too. I'm probably going to see them on their headline tour in a couple weeks, so I'll try and get a more in depth review up for them then.
Slight Figure of Speech - mp3

And last little bit for this post, I FINALLY got Vampire Weekend's new album, Contra, last week and I like it a lot. I think I like it better than their debut. You can totally hear the Graceland undertones, but whatever. It's catchy and it makes me happy. And that's all that really matters. :)
Diplomat's Son-mp3

Quick note about what I'm excited about:

• Ra Ra Riot is releasing a new album this summer. It's about fucking time. I cannot wait.
• She & Him Vol. 2 is being released next week. I streamed it on NPR and loved what I heard.
• SXSW NEXT year. After being updated multiple times a day by my friend that got to go this year, I don't care what's going on with my classes. I'm going to be in Austin this time next year.
  
• Either the Deer Tick concert or The Low Anthem concert on April 7th. The concert gods apparently hate me and two of my favorite bands at the moment are playing on the same night 40 miles apart. I still haven't decided who to go see. Any thoughts?
  

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll come up for air from school again soon.

One of my favorite weekends!

It's here! It's here! It's here! Folk Festival weekend is finally here! The Ann Arbor Folk Festival is one of my favorite times of the year. For those who aren't familiar, The A2 Folk Fest is basically a giant fundraiser for The Ark which is this awesome super small and cozy music venue that showcases folk and roots music. The Ark is one of my absolute favorite places to see live music. Not a bad seat in the house, the hallways are lined with photos of artists (both legendary and up and coming) who've played there, and the dressing room walls are covered in their signatures. If you're ever in the Ann Arbor area, you definitely have to catch a concert there.

This is the 33rd year that they've put on the festival. It's a two night festival, with the first night focusing on the "new direction" of folk and roots music, and the second night brings in musicians playing more traditional folk and roots. Since I've been back in the area, I've had the awesome opportunity to volunteer for The Ark, which means I get to work the festival and see the concerts for free. Best. Gig. EVER.

This year they've got Jay Farrar with Ben Gibbard, and Iron & Wine headlining the first night. Rosanne Cash, Richie Havens, and Doc Watson are headlining the second night. Those are some damn good headliners if I do say myself. But one of the great things about the Folk Festival is they showcase lesser known acts throughout the nights as well. That's how I discovered my absolute favorite artist of the past year, Joe Pug (I've since seen him three more times live and can't wait until his first full length album comes out next month). I'm hoping I can make a similar discovery or two this year. Check out the full line-up here.

So, as a preview, here is some music by the artists featured this year. Brace yourself for some post-concert gushing about how awesome it was...


He is going to be awesome to see live. True story.

All Along The Watchtower - Richie Havens
LOVE seeing him live. I could listen to him play and tell his stories for forever.

Hickory - Iron & Wine
CANNOT WAIT to see him.

Sea of Heartbreak - Rosanne Cash w/ Bruce Springsteen
I honestly don't know a lot of her music but I really love her album, The List, and I feel like it'll almost be like seeing her dad right? ;)


Love it. It will be neat to have seen both main members of Uncle Tupelo at back to back festivals (Tweedy headlined last year)



Of the non-headliners, I'm most excited to see this band. I've gotten a few recommendations to check them out, but keep forgetting so yay for Folk Fest for giving me that chance. haha.

Whew. It's going to be a busy but crazy awesome couple of days.

This Too Shall Pass

I'll be honest. Aside from the epic treadmill video a few years ago, I don't really follow the band OK Go. I had no idea they released a new album recently. And I had no idea they released a new video. And surprise surprise, it's actually really really catchy. Their label won't allow embedding from YouTube (lame) but I was able to track it down on Vimeo. Head on over to their site to get the marching band version of the song for free (and to check out their new album, upcoming shows, etc.).

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

This Too Shall Pass

pursuit of happiness

Kid Cudi took a break from touring with Lady GaGa recently and made a stop in Ann Arbor. I was beside myself when I saw he was coming to town. He didn't disappoint at all. Though the barrage of opening acts almost made me go crazy...minus local rap legend One Be Lo...Kid Cudi was fantastic. The strobe light extravaganza blew my mind. The segue into Day N Night was amazing. I thought he was gonna do the remix version, but he broke it down into the slow burner that I love. The acapella "Daps and Pounds" was fantastic, and "Pursuit of Happiness" was pretty much perfect. DEFINITELY see this kid if he's performing in your area. He puts on one hell of a show.
Not the best quality but here's him performing Day N Night...trust it was amazing live...



Pursuit of Happiness


I also want to plug for local rapper One Be Lo. Not too many people paid any attention to his opening act, which is too too bad. It should have just been him and Kid Cudi. Def check him out. He was half of Binary Star, and has released three albums on his own label, Subterraneous Records. Def check out his album, S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. It's time that he hit the national stage. He's way past due to be a breakthough star.

Evil Of Self