Glastonbury 2008

The official lineup for the 2008 Glastonbury festival has been announced, and it looks like it's going to be one hell of a weekend at old Worthy Farm. The festival takes place June 27-28 at Worthy Farm in England. I, of course, am too broke and lame to ever get to go, but hopefully I will make it there someday!

Here's a partial list of some of the bands who will be rocking the crowds at Glastonbury this year (those with an asterisk are 100% Ayala-approved!).

Band of Horses
Battles
Ben Folds
Biffy Clyro
Black Kids
The Black Lips
Black Mountain
Brian Jonestown Massacre
British Sea Power
Caribou
The Cave Singers
The Cribs
Crowded House
Crystal Castles
CSS*
Dizzee Rascal
Duffy*
The Duke Spirit*
Editors*
Elbow*
Emmy the Great
The Enemy
The Feeling
Foals
The Fratellis
The Futureheads
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.
Glasvegas
Goldfrapp*
The Gossip*
Groove Armada
Holy Fuck
Hot Chip*
Jack Penate
James Blunt
Jay-Z
Joan Baez
John Cale
John Mayer
Kate Nash*
Kathryn Williams
Katie Melua
The Kills*
Kings of Leon*
Kool Keith
KT Tunstall*
Laura Marling*
Leonard Cohen*
Lightspeed Champion
Mark Ronson*
Massive Attack*
MGMT
My Morning Jacket
Mystery Jets
The National*
Neon Neon
Operator Please
Panic At the Disco
Patrick Watson*
Pete Doherty
The Pigeon Detectives
The Proclaimers
The Raconteurs*
The Rocket Summer
Ron Sexsmith*
Santogold*
Scouting For Girls
Sinead O’Connor
Sons and Daughters*
Spiritualized*
St. Vincent*
Stars*
The Subways
Suzanne Vega
The Swell Season*
The Teenagers
Thea Gilmore
Tift Merritt
The Ting Tings
Vampire Weekend*
The Verve*
Vetiver
We Are Scientists
Will Young
The Wombats
Yeasayer
The Young Knives
The Zutons*

For the full lineup and ticket information, click here.

Violet Hill

Perez Hilton said it best: "Gwyneth Paltrow may be a douchebag, but her husband is a genius."

New Coldplay. God bless 'em. New album, Viva La Vida, out June 17th.

mp3:
Coldplay - Violet Hill

A Quick "Tack"

Since I posted my massive Swedish smorgasbord post, I noticed I've been getting a lot of hits from Sweden! I just want to let all my Swedish visitors know that I totally adore you and your country and I hope you found my post on the current Swedish music scene inspiring and enjoyable. In other words, tack så mycket!

As a special little thank you, here's an mp3 of Swedish songstress Marit Bergman doing a cover of "Walcott" by Vampire Weekend. (And for those of you who aren't familiar with the original, I'm going to go ahead and share that as well!) Enjoy!

mp3:
Marit Bergman - Walcott (Vampire Weekend cover)
Vampire Weekend - Walcott

My Coachella Fantasy

I'm sure you are all aware that the Coachella Festival is taking place this weekend in Palm Desert, California. Those of you who know me personally know that one of my lifelong dreams is to go to Coachella. Unfortunately, I'm broke and far away in boring Georgia, so that's just a pipe dream for now. But every year, I dream of what I would do if I DID get to go to Coachella, and I pick through the schedule and choose which artists I would be waiting in the sweltering sun to see. So here's who I would check out if I were one of the lucky bastards headed to Coachella this weekend!

FRIDAY
4:35 Jens Lekman
5:40 Vampire Weekend
7:10 Goldfrapp
8:25 The Swell Season
9:35 Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
10:50 The Black Lips

I'd start out the weekend by feeding my current obsession for all things Swedish with the lovely song stylings of Jens Lekman. While The National is playing at the same time as Vampire Weekend, I have a feeling the latter's performance is going to be extremely buzzworthy this year, and besides, I've seen The National already. There's no way in HELL I'm missing Goldfrapp, especially not in such an amazing setting as Coachella. Then I'd head on over to catch The Swell Season, not just because I love Glen Hansard but also because it would make up for having to miss them when they play Atlanta in three weeks. Besides, I've already seen The Raconteurs, who will be playing at the same time. I'd probably opt to go see Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, but I might consider catching the tail end of The Verve's set instead. But I would definitely end the night with Atlanta's finest rock export, The Black Lips.

SATURDAY
4:05 Bonde do Role
4:55 Kate Nash
6:10 Hot Chip
7:20 Rilo Kiley
8:20 M.I.A.
9:15 Portishead
10:45 Prince

It'd be a good idea to start off a day at Coachella with some booty-shaking Brazilian baile funk, courtesy of Bonde do Role, taking over where CSS left off last year. However, I might choose to skip that first show altogether and just save my energy for Kate Nash. She's playing at the same time as St. Vincent, but Kate just seems like her music would be more fun in a festival setting. I would definitely go for seeing Hot Chip instead of Death Cab for Cutie, for, while I adore them both, Hot Chip is a total party band and I would be worried that Death Cab would be a bit of a drag (especially if they plan on playing the weird, 12-minute-long, proggy-sounding stuff from their upcoming album). I've already seen both Rilo Kiley and M.I.A., but they're the only decent options to kill time while awaiting the only reason I would want to go to Coachella this year - PORTISHEAD. That's right, kiddies. In fact, if I were there, I might blow off all the other bands and just stake my claim in the front row at the main stage so I would be sure not to miss Portishead. And, of course, Prince. EVERYONE's going to be watching Prince.

SUNDAY
1:20 Grand Ole Party
3:00 Shout Out Louds
3:55 Duffy
6:15 Metric
7:45 Sia
11:00 Justice

Sunday at Coachella would be a slow day for me, but a damn good one as far as music is concerned. San Diego's Grand Ole Party are NOT to be missed - not only do they rock, but their drummer is the singer...at the SAME TIME. She's a total badass, and worth your time. I would definitely be in the audience for my current musical obsession, Sweden's Shout Out Louds, if only to ogle my future fantasy husband, lead singer Adam Olenius (Jason Schwartzman's long-lost twin!). If I could tear myself away from him in time, I would also be keen to check out the amazing Duffy, whose soul stylings and honey-coated voice are causing quite a stir in the music world lately, and with good reason. But the main attraction for me on Sunday would DEFINITELY be Metric, one of my Top 5 Favorite Bands of ALL TIME. And who better to ease me into a post-Metric haze than the amazing Sia? After all that, I would end the weekend on a Eurotrash trip with France's new kings of electro, Justice.

I think it would be a pretty amazing weekend. Too bad I'll be stuck here in Georgia working at a job I hate instead. Oh well - SOMEDAY. To all of you who are lucky enough to be going, I hope you enjoy it and tell me all your amazing Coachella stories!

Absolut Sweden

My obsession with Sweden and its current music scene is growing exponentially larger by the minute. Since I've been at home sick with the flu for the past couple of days, I spent the few moments of consciousness before my medication kicked in researching new Swedish bands on the Internet. There's something about that beautiful, cold country that just breeds great musicians, and someday, I hope to find out what it is.

So in order to pass on to you my infectious Swede-love (and not my infectious cough, hopefully), I've created this Swedish megamix for you all to download and enjoy. I hope it will introduce you to some great new bands you might love and rekindle love for Swedish artists you may already know.

Unfortunately, I'm a little new to this and couldn't figure out how to get them all into one big downloadable file, so you have to download them one at a time for now. Just right-click and "Save as...", you know the drill.

Ayala's Absolut Sweden Megamix
1. Frida Hyvonen - I Drive My Friend
2. Shout Out Louds - You Are Dreaming
3. Maia Hirasawa - And I Found This Boy
4. Robyn - Who's That Girl
5. Jose Gonzalez - Down the Line
6. Love Is All - Turn the Radio Off
7. Jens Lekman - A Postcard to Nina
8. Sahara Hotnights - With or Without Control
9. Tiger Lou - Oh Horatio
10. Lykke Li - Little Bit
11. Peter, Bjorn and John - Amsterdam
12. Marit Bergman - Out On the Piers
13. The Cardigans - Godspell
14. The Knife - We Share Our Mothers' Health
15. El Perro Del Mar - Glory To the World
16. Jonna Lee - Dried Out Eyes
17. The Concretes - You Can't Hurry Love
18. Hello Saferide - Valentine's Day
19. Anna Ternheim - To Be Gone
20. Little Dragon - Twice
21. The Radio Dept. - Pulling Our Weight
22. Sambassadeur - Kate
23. Jenny Wilson - Let My Shoes Lead Me Forward

By the way, if you appreciate all these tunes and would like more, I need to do some field research. Current airfare from Atlanta to Stockholm is $934, so send me money. Or click on the ads. Whatever - just help a poor girl out!

For those of you lucky enough to live in or around the following cities, I highly suggest you go out and catch El Perro Del Mar, Lykke Li, and Anna Ternheim on their US tour. I would definitely be there if they were coming to Atlanta!

El Perro Del Mar, Lykke Li, and Anna Ternheim
May 6 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
May 7 - New York, NY @ Joe's Pub
May 8 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
May 9 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
May 10 - Montreal, QUE @ Club Lambi
May 11 - Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club
May 12 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern
May 14 - Vancouver, BC @ Red Room
May 15 - Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
May 16 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
May 18 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's 365 Club
May 19 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre

Not to be outdone, Peter Moren, one-third of Peter, Bjorn and John, has just started an American solo tour in support of his debut solo record, The Last Tycoon. Check him out too!

Peter Moren (solo tour)
April 22 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
April 23 - Montreal, QUE @ Cabaret Du Musee Juste Pour Rire
April 24 - Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club
April 25 - Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center
April 26 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern
April 28 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
April 29 - Seattle, WA @ The Triple Door
April 30 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
May 1 - San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Hall
May 2 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hotel Cafe
May 3 - West Hollywood, CA @ The Troubadour

And, of course, Robyn, the greatest Swedish pop diva of them all, has touched down in our beautiful nation for a few American shows. You're TRULY lucky if you're headed to one of these shows!

Robyn
April 29 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
April 30 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore
May 2 - New York, NY @ Grand Ballroom
May 4 - Montreal, QUE @ La Tulipe
May 5 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
May 7 - Chicago, IL @ Park West
May 13 - Portland, OR @ Berbati's Pan
May 14 - Seattle, WA @ Neumo's
May 16 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's 365 Club
May 17 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern

And, to give you more of a taste for my current favorite Swedish band, the Shout Out Louds, here's a lovely little video of the band performing "Tonight I Have To Leave It" in their native Stockholm last fall. The performance is so charming, and the little girl dancing at the end almost seems too perfect to be true! If you're headed to Coachella this weekend, check out the Shout Out Louds on Sunday (and tell lead singer Adam Olenius his future wife, ME, says hi.)



Well, I hope you all enjoy these tunes and artists. And you thought Sweden was just ABBA and IKEA, didn't you? Shame, shame. Oh well...happy listening! I'm off to add some Ingmar Bergman movies to my Netflix queue.

Wanna taste the vanilla?

Better WATCH YOUR TONGUE!

Robyn kicks ass. You all should know that by now, and if you don't, well, you need some serious schooling. Not only is she a huge star in both her native Sweden and the UK, but her self-titled comeback album hits the States next Tuesday, April 29 (although some of you more savvy hipsters, myself included, have probably had it for a while now). I cannot recommend the album enough - it's weird, catchy, fun, and even beautiful in parts ("With Every Heartbeat," anyone?)

So now Robyn is on a balls-out promo tour of the US in order to teach all you fools just how truly badass and awesome she is. She recently performed a live session for an empty AOL studio and truly ROCKED IT. Here's the live AOL-studio version of "Konichiwa Bitches." If it's possible, it's even more badass than the album version. Robyn, please come to Atlanta!

I'm In Love...

M83's new album, Saturdays=Youth...the word "beautiful" does not even begin to describe it. I'm definitely going to be saving a spot for this one on my year-end Best Of list. Here's the video for the amazing first single, "Graveyard Girl."



mp3:
M83 - Graveyard Girl

The Girl You Lost To Cocaine

I seriously have nothing but love for Sia, but damn, the bitch is CRAZY. Check out her new video, "The Girl You Lost to Cocaine."

Belle and Sebastian, heal me...

I'm home from work today with a horrible, miserable cold and a fever and I really just want to curl up in a ball and die. But for some reason, whenever I'm sick or sad, this little clip ALWAYS cheers me up. Thank you, Belle and Sebastian, for making every day a little better.

New My Brightest Diamond

Here's the first track from My Brightest Diamond's upcoming sophomore album, A Thousand Shark's Teeth, out June 17 on Asthmatic Kitty. It sounds as if Maria Callas was resurrected to record a PJ Harvey tribute album. In short, it's AWESOME.

mp3:
My Brightest Diamond - Inside a Boy

Five Fab Femmes

I seemed to have regressed back into my high-school-Lilith-Fair phase, as I've been listening to a lot of female singer-songwriters lately. But this new batch of girls who've been serenading my eardrums are a far cry from my old Sheryl Crow and Dido records. These girls are innovative, bold, daring, and incredibly enchanting. So I introduce to you now five of my favorite females making waves in the music world.


1. Laura Marling
Let's start with the young lady whose name seems to be on the tip of every music fan's tongue these days - Laura Marling. This eccentric Brit - she's only 18! - writes folky, witty songs akin to Regina Spektor or Joanna Newsom. Her voice is absolutely lovely and soothing, but her lyrics have a worldly and somewhat smartass vibe to them. Any girl who writes lyrics like "I gave up morals when I took up booze" and sings those words so sweetly is definitely worth hearing. Her debut album, Alas I Cannot Swim, is already available in the UK and should be heading Stateside soon. Laura is also a member of the English folk-rock band, Noah and The Whale, who are also worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of Sufjan Stevens.

mp3:
Laura Marling - Typical
Laura Marling - New Romantic


2. Dawn Kinnard
Dawn Kinnard is a preacher's daughter who was raised in a small Pennsylvania town and grew up worshipping Elvis Presley. In fact, when she found out the King was no longer living, she famously told her parents she would never marry for the one man for her was already gone. That story goes a long way in telling you about Dawn's music. Her husky, dark voice is highly reminiscent of Lucinda Williams, and her songs have a somewhat Gothic melancholy air about them. However, her recent move to England has also informed her songs quite a bit - there's a tinge of old English folk music in her sound. Her debut album, The Courtesy Fall, should be on iTunes now.

mp3:
Dawn Kinnard - Clear the Way


3. Maia Hirasawa
I have to thank my friend Patrick for recommending Maia to me. I am now absolutely in love with her music. She reminds me a lot of her Swedish copatriot Jonna Lee, who I wrote about in an earlier post. While their music is indeed similar, Maia definitely has a bit more of a quirky side to her. Listening to her voice makes me feel like I'm walking down a snowy street in Stockholm at dusk arm-in-arm with a good friend, whispering and telling secrets. Maia is definitely now one of my favorite musical secrets, and now I'm whispering her name to all of you! Her song "Gothenburg" is my particular favorite - I'm a sucker for songs about cities. So far, her album is only available through her website or her myspace page, but it's WORTH it.

mp3:
Maia Hirasawa - Gothenburg
Maia Hirasawa - Mattis and Maia


4. Stephanie Dosen
Much like Dawn Kinnard, Stephanie Dosen grew up on a small town, although this time in Wisconsin, and recently relocated herself to the English countryside. It says a lot about her music that she is signed to the Bella Union label, which is owned by former Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde. There is definitely a Cocteau Twins influence in her music, although Stephanie herself has said her biggest influences are Sarah McLachlan and Kate Bush. Her new album, A Lily for the Spectre, is out now.

mp3:
Stephanie Dosen - Vinalhaven Harbor


5. Sandrine
I don't know much about Sandrine, I just know that I really love her music. My friend Tony (the one-and-only tstarkmi to you last.fm'ers) recommended her music to me, and I owe him a huge thank you. He seems to believe she's even greater than Feist - I don't think I agree with that, but Sandrine definitely gives Feist a run for her money. Her album, Dark Fades Into Light, is out now.

mp3:
Sandrine - Let the Love

My New Love

Last night I saw my second favorite band, Spoon, in concert, and of course, they were incredible. But I also walked away from the show with a new imaginary rock-star boyfriend - Hamilton Leithauser, lead-singer of The Walkmen, who opened for Spoon last night. I still don't care for his band at all, but sweet Lord, is he beautiful. He's officially my new rock star crush!

Kylie Kills!

I noticed this article over the weekend and felt very disappointed and upset -

"Heavy Promotion, Light Sales For Kylie Minogue"

Kylie Minogue, my 2nd favorite Australian (after Cate Blanchett), released her new album, X, last Tuesday in the US. Many of you may have noticed she has been EVERYWHERE promoting this album - all over TV, magazines, even performing on freaking "Dancing With the Stars." But the first-week sales of her new album failed to live up to its high expectations, especially considering it was supposed to be her big comeback after her ordeal with breast cancer over the past few years.

I cannot understand this. This is one thing that I just don't comprehend about the American music-buying public. Kylie is a true pop artist, but like Justin Timberlake or Madonna in our heyday, her music doesn't play by the traditional rules of "pop" music. With each consecutive album, she has reinvented herself and explored new sounds and styles. I'm one of the few who purchased X this past Tuesday, and trust me, it's a damn good album. It's got everything you could want from a great pop album - upbeat, Scissor Sisters-style pop, Daft Punk-ish techno pop, a few sultry slow jams, and lots of sexiness, style, and even some substance underneath all the shimmer. The rousing opener, "2 Hearts" has a drumbeat and refrains of "Whoos!" that would make Hunky Dory-era Bowie proud. And you have GOT to love a pop star who can sample Serge Gainsbourg (on "Sensitized") and still leave the legendary French lothario's Gaulois-scented perviness intact.

I have been a fan of Kylie's for a while now, and I think she definitely deserves to be a bigger star in the US. This is a woman who has been through so much in the past year. Her battle with breast cancer and her charitable endeavors make her a woman who definitely earns your respect, and she's got the talent to back up her mega-pop-star credentials. Although, in some respect, I blame Kylie's record company for deciding to make "All I See" the first single in the States. While it's definitely a decent song, it's NOT a great example either of Kylie's talent or of X's many delights. It's too mediocre - it sounds like something Mariah Carey might choose to record (which is not a good thing for someone as inventive and daring as Kylie can be.)

Here's a little incentive to make all of you give Kylie a little love - my favorite track from X, "In My Arms", which definitely should have been the first single. The video is completely BADASS, as well. See for yourself -



You have no excuse not to love Kylie. After all, Nick Cave does -



Of course, he killed her. But out of LOVE.

Hello all!

Hello there readers...whoever and wherever you may be. It's been a week since my last post, and I just wanted to let you all know I'm still here. It has been one CRAZY busy week here - lots of work, a particularly bitching French test and some personal stress just to make all the craziness just a bit more delicious. Anyway, it's also been a very musical week, which is always a good thing. I've discovered a lot of great new music in the past couple of days, and I will be sharing those with you VERY soon. Unfortunately, my fileden account has been suspended so I can no longer share any mp3s with you until I figure out an alternative method. Any suggestions?

In the meantime, I noticed that this blog has been getting a lot of hits from international readers, and I was just curious as to where you all come from and how you all stumbled across my shabby little corner of the Internet. I'm very curious to hear from all of my readers, actually. This blog has only been around for one month, and I'd love to know what you guys think of it - any comments, suggestions, things you would like to see more of, or any music recommendations you may feel like sending my way. Bring it all on! Please please PLEASE share your feedback....even any negative comments you may have might help me to make this blog even cooler. And if you really, REALLY like me, why not spread the word to your friends so I get even more readers? Yay! New readers rock.

So yeah, that's all I wanted to say today. Drop me a line. I want to know all about YOU. I love making new friends, and chances are, if you've read this far, we probably have at least a FEW things in common. So don't be shy! I'll be back with a new post full of yummy musical goodness (I ALMOST typed "gooiness" there!) sometime before Tuesday (once this hellacious weekend is over!).

And do a poor girl a solid - click on the ads so I get some money! Yeah!

Mark My Words.

Album. Of. The. YEAR.



I just finished listening to a leak of it, and yeah...it's pure genius. That's all the review you need, trust me. If this record doesn't make him huge, I don't know WHAT will!

Out April 29th on Warp.

Wow. Just wow.

I introduce you all to the lovely Jonna Lee, whose music I literally discovered like an hour ago just by browsing on Myspace! No kidding! I was so enamored by her that I immediately bought her album online and now I'm totally in love, so I want to share her with you. And guess what else? She's Swedish! Man, that country knows good music. Fans of Feist, Leona Naess, Bat for Lashes, or The Delgados - this girl is for you!

Here's the video for the song that won me over, "Dried Out Eyes" -



Buy her album here! (I did!)
Jonna Lee's Myspace

A Little Bit of Feel Good

First video and single from Jamie Lidell's upcoming album, Jim, out April 29th on Warp. He's SO weird. Yet so oddly HOT. Me likey.