Tastekid + Crafty Playlist #3

I love music, books and movies but I hate wasting time and money on things that I don't like. I'm assuming that I'm not the only one in the world that takes issue with this which is why I'm sharing this nifty website with you. Tastekid is a suggestion generator that takes your favorite movies, books, authors, musicians, TV shows and video games and recommends a short list of similar movies, books, video games and whatnot that you would most likely be interested in.

Click to read more ...

Music to Get Crafty To - an Indie Playlist (2)

My nephews on Strange Hair Day last week! Nothing to do with music, but they'll dig seeing their pic on the blog :)

Today is a gloomy and not very bright day, which isn't great for snapping pics of tutorials. So I'll be getting crafty mostly for myself. Here is my playlist of tunes I'll jammin' and creatin' to.

We've got Some First Aid Kit, Vacationer, The Raveonettes and one of my new favorites, Lonesome by Dr. Dog. 

Music to Get Crafty To - a Playlist

Miss Marla is zonked out after some Christmas crafting last year. Because being crafty is so dang hard.

I have a tendency to cram far more into my day than I can actually accomplish. Often I get grief over it but I'm one of those "shoot for the stars and land on the moon" kind of thinkers. When I get to work, I. Get. To. Work. Whether that work is reorganizing a spreadsheet, working on a marketing plan or gluing glitter onto a pair of size seven flats, I take it all very seriously.

But that's not to say that I want it to be quiet while I'm working, in fact, quite the opposite. So every day, before my work begins, I schedule time to create a playlist for my work session dependent on the mood I'm in. It may seem crazy to some that this is a part of my daily grind, but it is.

So today as my playlist was rolling through, I found it particularly enjoyable and thought I'd throw a quick post up in here to share it with all you other hard workin' music lovers out there. This playlist is pretty darn indie. We've got Guster, Pixies, Miike Snow, Radiohead and a newer release by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down that is absolutely killer in these 14 tunes. I hope you enjoy and leave links to your playlists or let me know if there is a song I need to hear! 

---

Screw Valentine's Day Playlist

Sometimes we don't want happy love songs. Sometimes we don't even care if Valentine's Day is just around the corner... screw it! So despite the fact that V-Day is in less than a week, I'm sharing this playlist I compiled of all of my favorite songs that are about heartbreak, cheating, unrequited love and similarly not lovey dovey themes. As it turns out I have more non-love songs than love songs so paring down the list was quite an effort. Check it out!

I skipped around generations and genres to bring my absolute favorites. We've got the likes of Claexico, Imogen Heap, The White Stripes, Ida Maria, Vivian Girls, The Velvet Underground... and what mix tape about heartbreak would be complete without a song by The Smiths?" Hoping that your Valentine's Day is fantastic, but if it's not remember - screw Valentine's Day and carry on!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What's your favorite song that says, my heart is demolished, he's a top shelf a-hole, or why doesn't he know that I exist? I'd love to hear in the comments!

---

Lovely Love Song Playlist for Valentine's Day (mostly indie)

Not gonna lie, I'm not terribly crazy about the whole Valentine's Day thing. I think that I've heard too many pessimists talking about how it is a "greeting card holiday". Maybe they're right and maybe they're wrong but that doesn't matter today, because I am terribly crazy about music. So while I'm not too hip on good ol' V-Day I am really into making playlists (digital mixtapes :)

Not gonna lie again, when I initially made this playlist, it had 62 songs on it. Hearing somewhere about brevity and wit, I decided to pare this baby down. So have a listen to my favorite songs to celebrate the holiday of love. I've included my favs with keeping in mind that the day shouldn't be solely about romance in a traditional sense, but also friendship.

So please enjoy this playlist that features the likes of My Morning Jacket, The White Stripes, Florence and the Machine,  Stevie Wonder and The Moldy Peaches!

what is your favorite love song? I'd love to know! Share in the comments

A Quiet, Indie Christmas (playlist)

I love music. Always have. Always will.

When I was in the 5th grade we moved to Oklahoma late in the school year. It was hard for me moving away from my Mimmie, Poppa and the rest of my family and it was hard to make good friendships having gotten thrown in the mix in late February. It was a lonely summer.

I think because she felt sorry for my Momma bought me a pair of roller skates and gave me my very first stereo. The skating didn't stick, but I fell in love with the stereo. It was silver, heavy and it had these awesome bright blue lit up panels. I used the heck out of it. I didn't have my own collection of music at the time, so I listened to Bette Midler, Elvis Presley, Elvis Costello - all tapes that had made the trip across the house to also  sit on my desk.

Soon after my dad was in the heat of negotiating a new car at the Nissan house. A salesman pulled me to the side and asked what I had on my Walkman. I proudly showed him my yellow REM tape (Automatic for the People). We sat in a red Nissan Sentra and he shared with me as much of his favorite music as we had the time for (PS my dad negotiates for cars like he's putting in a full working day). I left with the Blind Melon "No Rain" single in my Walkman and a list of tapes I needed to save up for.

That young guy in a cheap suit tying to make a living and just as bored out of his mind as me gave me my introduction into indie music. I've always been appreciative of that. Since it's the genre of music that I most love, I'm sharing a Christmas compendium of my favorite quiet indie Christmas carols. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carol of the Bells The Bird and the Bee

All I Want is Truth (for Christmas) The Mynabirds

Get Down for the Holidays by Jenny O

It's Christmas by Coconut Records

Snow Down Kensington Prairie

Hang a String of Lights Great Lake Swimmers

Don't Shoot Me Santa Claus The Killers

Christmas Don't Be late Catwalk

It's Christmas Time Yo La Tengo

Amazing Grace Jeff Buckley

Special thanks for the free blog bling! paper texture (Animus), font (a Beautiful Mess) , antlers divider (I Rock So What)