Music That Makes Me Happy

The warm sunshine appears to have turned into brisk fall weather this week but the music I have been listening to lately makes me feel like I am at a festival in the sunshine.

Bon Iver: I had been hearing about this group but after experiencing it last week live, I am in love (still not sure how I missed out for so long). The sound is so rich, which makes sense once you see the 10 people on stage making music. Singer-songwriter Justin Vernon is engaging and extremely talented. Whether he is up on stage alone or joined by the rest of the group he is captivating to watch. Something about having two drummers and a brass section made you feel some of the songs in your whole body. My current favorite song is Skinny Love but both of their CDs, For Emma Forever Ago and Bon Iver are excellent purchases. In listening to their music, I also found this Kanye West collaboration, Lost in the World, that is great. There are songs for sad days, happy days and times when you just want some background noise.

Los Campesinos! : This music makes you want to dance and drum on your desk. The best way to explain the way their music makes me feel is that it is like the final concert scene at the end of Empire Records when Renee Zellweger sings Sugar High. They have a new album, Hello Sadness, coming out in November but you can hear the first single By Your Hand now.

Grouplove: As a band formed at an artists colony in Greece, their music has a natural joy to it. I only saw a bit of their set at Outside Lands but it seemed like they have great energy to go along with their music. Their new album Never Trust a Happy Song was released this month so you can enjoy several happy songs and then decide if you want to trust them.

Gotye: Big thanks to Ben for introducing me to this Australian singer-songwriter with a great voice and quirky videos (see Somebody I used to Know for a sample). The music has an 80s synth vibe that is nostalgic while still sounding very current. His new album, Making Mirrors, is available on iTunes.

I am enjoying the songs Video Games by Lana Del Rey and It’s Real by Real Estate and look forward to hearing more from them. Other Lives opened for Bon Iver and won me over with their beautiful orchestral folk music (sample their music on this NPR Tiny Desk concert).

I heard about several of these bands from the Fall Music Preview on NPR. There are other previews from USA Today, Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone.