Listening Assignments 9.10.07

1. William Fitzsimmons - It's Not True - This breathy ballad easily recalls Ari Hest, but brings in a nicely placed electronic element that doesn't sound out of place with intertwining acoustic guitars. Sounds like rain, lazy gray clouds, and missing something. [from Goodnight|buy]

2. The Shaky Hands - Summer Life - I love bands from the Pacific NW; the soul of music up there is just staggeringly alive. This track is understandably bright and knee-slapping, an ode to the end of the fertile sunkissed warmth that is summer. [from Shaky Hands|buy]

3. Rosie Thomas - Why Waste More Time? - The beginning of this song and Rosie's little voice is impossibly cute. After that, it's impossibly beautiful. Shivers, people. [from These Friends of Mine|buy]

4. Marla Hansen - A Friend Indeed - Another angel-voiced songstress accompanied by Sufjan Stevens' lively ukulele. She's amazing in her own right, but also performs or records with My Brightest Diamond, Inlets, and The National. When you play viola, you get asked to do a lot of awesome things. [from Wedding Day EP|buy]