Travelmarx Music Picks – Summer 2011

It’s been a long time since we’ve discussed music and our favorites. The Sonos system and the various services have becomes a routine part of our life and we’ve discovered a number of old and new releases through music services*. Here are some of our favorites of the summer in the order that they appear in the associated composite album cover art image. The 25 tracks in the playlist are on Spotify: Travelmarx Summer 2011.

* Back in 2011, we started with Pandora and Rhapsody, moving to Last.fm and MOG. As of 2018, we exclusively used just Spotify.

Row 1

Asaf Avidan – "The Reckoning" [2008] (Israeli)
A strange and endearing album. It’s hard to grok on the first listen. For our playlist, we have "Reckoning Song", which remixed became a worldwide hit.

Broken Bells – "Broken Bells" [2009] (American)
Nothing broken about this release. It works well. All songs are super catchy. We include starting track "The High Road". Love the ending lyric in the track "It's too late to change your mind / You've let loss be your guide".

Caribou – "Swim" [2010] (Canadian)
Part electronic, part folktronic, from a Canadian Dan Snaith. We include the track "Odessa" on this playlist.

Devendra Banhart – "What Will We Be" [2009] (American)
Part of the New Weird America genre of music, we love anything Banhart puts out. On this playlist, we include the track "Brindo", which starts with the lyric "Brindo este amor / Un amor tan raro" - "I offer this love, such a rare love".

Vetiver – "Tight Knit" [2009] (American)
This album and 2004’s self-titled album are popular with us. This playlist has the bouncy track "More of This".

Row 2

Camille – "Music Hole" [2008] (French)
Our favorite track "The Monk" is on this playlist. "Music Hole" is the third studio album by Camille.

Florence & The Machine – "Ceremonials" [2011] (English)
Our favorite track: "What the Water Gave Me" is on this playlist. The track title is 1938 Frida Kahlo painting of the same name.

Inara George – "An Invitation" [2008] (American)
Like crickets, starting with a track called "Overture" gets our attention. Also, having Van Dyke Parks as a producer gets our notice since we like his music too.

Kate Havnevik – "Melankton" [2006] (Norwegian)
Favorite Track: Travel in Time. An evocative song. 

Cotton Jones – "Paranoid Cocoon" [2009] (American)
Once, during the waning days of a work-from-home, going-no-where contract job, we listened to this album 50 times straight. That has to have an effect you think?

Row 3

Eddie Vedder – "Into the Wild Soundtrack" [2007] (American)
It was a yoga teacher at L.A. Fitness who first played the track, "Hard Sun", from this album and then we had to hear more...it's on this playlist.

Gabin – "Third and Double" [2010] (Italian)
The whole album is great. Wikipedia calls it “nu jazz”. Love the double album with contrasting styles. The track "Lies", featuring Chris Cornell (what a voice) is on our playlist.

Mezzanine de l’Alcazar IV [2005] (French)
A Pschent Music release. Compilations like this (think Hotel Costes) can be hit or miss. This one is consistently interesting. It's on this compilation we first heard "Twisted Cupid" by the Danish band Slow Train.

Michael Franti & Spearhead – "All Rebel Rockers" [2008] (American)
We could listen to "A Little Bit of Riddim (feat. Cherine Tanya Anderson)" all day. Who cares if that chick-a-lina in yoga class doesn’t like it.

The Sleepy Jackson – "Personality – One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird" [2006] (Australian)
We listened to this release once for two weeks straight and overdosed. It's addictive. Oh, all are gems here, let's put "Miles Away" on the playlist.

Row 4

The Great Lake Swimmers – "Ongiara" [2007] (Canadian)
Serious melodic folk – we'll put "Changing Colours" on the playlist.

Mike Snow – "Mike Snow" [2009] (Swedish)
Our favorite track "Sylvia: is on our playlist.

Telepopmusik – "Genetic World" [2001-2002] (French)
We remember when this album came out, but not until this past year did we start listening to it. Angela McCluskey’s voice is memorable. We put the popular "Breathe" on our playlist.

Fruit Bats – "Mouthfuls" [2003] (American)
On the playlist, our favorite track: "Slipping Through the Sensors" with the lyric “Slipping through the sensors / tripping over rails and fences / superheroes fighting crime with love and broken fists”.  

Trentemoller – "The Last Resort" [2006] (Danish)
Dark and melancholy – we like it!

Row 5

Elbow – "Build a Rocket Boys!" [2011] (English)
While the track "With Love" was popular, we love the opener "the birds", which is on our playlist. In the middle of the song the repeated lyric is: "What are we gonna do with you? / Same tale every time  / What are we gonna do with you? / Come on inside, looking back is for the birds".

Iron and Wine – "Kiss Each Other Clean" [2011] (American)
The track "Glad Man Singing" gets us going every time.

Lamb – "Between Darkness and Wonder" [2003] (English)
There has been a lot of Lamb-listening at Travelmarx, this and other albums by this group. "Wonder" is on this playlist.

LCD Soundsystem – "This is Happening" [2010] (American)
An odd album but strangely attracting album of dance-punk (that’s what this is called!?). We put the track "I Can Change" on our playlist. We first heard it over the L.A. Fitness speakers of all places. It was the day they weren’t playing the teen-angst, sneer- rock station.

M. Ward – "Transfiguration of Vincent" [2003] (American)
Start an album out with crickets and you got us hooked. We include the track "Involuntary" on the playlist.

The Perfect Playlist

Asaf Avidan from "The Reckoning" – Reckoning Song
Broken Bells from "Broken Bells" – The High Road
Caribou from "Swim" – Hannibal
Devendra Banhart from "What Will We Be" – Brindo
Vetiver from "Tight Knit" – More of This
Camille from "Music Hole" – The Monk
Florence & The Machine from "Ceremonials" – What the Water Gave Me
Inara George from "An Invitation" – Right as Wrong
Kate Havnevik from "Melankton" – Travel in Time
Cotton Jones from "Paranoid Cocoon" – I Am the Changer
Eddie Vedder from "Into the Wild Soundtrack" – Hard Sun
Gabin from "Third and Double" – Lies featuring Chris Cornell
Mezzanine de l’Alcazar IV – Twisted Cupid by Slow Train Soul
Michael Franti & Spearhead from "All Rebel Rockers" – A Little Bit of Riddim (feat. Cherine Tanya Anderson)
Sleepy Jackson from "Personality – One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird" – Miles Away
The Great Lake Swimmers from "Ongiara" – Changing Colours
Mike Snow from "Mike Snow" – Sylvia
Telepopmusik from "Genetic World" – Breathe
Fruit Bats from "Mouthfuls" – Slipping Through the Sensors
Trentemoller from "The Last Resort" – Evil Dub
Elbow from "build a rocket boys!" – the birds
Iron and Wine from "Kiss Each Other Clean" – Glad Man Singing
Lamb from "Between Darkness and Wonder" – Wonder
LCD Soundsystem from "This is Happening" – I Can Change
M. Ward from "Transfiguration of Vincent" - Involuntary