La Blogotheque

How was everyone's long weekend? Please excuse my lack of a Monday post, I was on serious vacation mode and didn't want to touch my computer! We had a great Memorial weekend in Chelan, WA, camping out, cooking, and wine tasting, and this coming weekend we have our wedding shower and engagement photos, so things are a bit crazy around the A&B household. Which means this week's postings are going to be a bit different so bear with me :).

In leiu of Travel Tip Tuesday, I wanted to share with you all a bit of my favorite music. Have you ever heard of take-away shows? My friends have been raving about this French music blog called La Blogotheque, and they film amazing musicians singing on a street corner, in the subway, or just walking around town. These take-away shows are great because you can truly hear how amazing the artists voices are and the people around them usually have no idea what's going on.

About a year ago now I was listening to KEXP and heard Aloe Blacc. He has a voice as smooth as butter... Here is his take-away and if you don't want to listen to all 8 minutes, fast forward to minute three to hear "I need a dollar."

Bon Iver, another amazing singer

#93.2 - BON IVER - Flume by lablogotheque

Sigur Ros, I love his voice...

I've never listened to Nick Waterhouse, but I loved his takeaway when I saw it.

Hope you enjoy these and here's to a short work week! 

Music: Lianne La Havas and Lana Del Rey

Besides having three names that each start with "L," Lianne la Havas and Lana Del Rey both share an insane musical talent.

While browsing Sho & Tell yesterday, I stumbled upon her post about Lianne la Havas and instantly fell in love. This girl can sing! She is able to twist her soulful sound and make it playful, like her massive side bun (which, hey if I sung like this girl, I probably would rock one too!).  Anyway, here is my favorite song of hers so far, sung in that back of a taxi no less:

Lianne La Havas from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.

This is like kismet or fate or something, but the Gods wanted me to start listening to better music yesterday and out of the blue (before I had heard of Lianne La Havas) a friend mentions Lana Del Rey. Now what are the odds that I would hear about two insanely talented musicians that vaguely sound like each other, all in the same night. 

Moving on...Love Lana del Rey as well, you would never expect this sultry voice to come out of a woman this small. She also kind of resembles Natalie Portman!

I'm thrilled to have two new artists to listen to, and so is the fiance (he was going to break my Nina Simone CD if he had to listen to it once more!).