Monthly Spin: The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You

The Monthly Spin is a recurring feature on Feminine Things wherein I talked about an album I'm loving and the perfumes I think go with it.

"I haven't finished a thing since I started my life;
I haven't finished a thing since I started my life..."

I freely admit to having totally avoided the Avett Brothers in general and this album in particular because the song "Head Full of Doubt, Heart Full of Promise" was played approximately every two and half minutes for the entire multiple year run of TNT's Saving Grace which I did not enjoy (ads or show) and I got so sick of it I ran in the opposite direction anytime I heard the words, "And now, the Avett Brothers...."

...which, it turns out, was too bad. Here I am, two years later, finally enjoying the album I and Love and You thanks to "I and Love and You" getting into radio rotation on the PDX alt.station 94.7. Because folks, if someone had played "My Heart like a Kick Drum" or "Ill With Want" for me first, I might have overlooked that painful "Head Full of Doubt" period.

I admit that when I first heard "I and Love and You," my first thought went something like this. "Is that the Counting Crows? No..... Did Jakob Dylan's voice get super gravelly? No....." The Avett Brothers' sound feels comfortable and familiar, like you've heard it before, but I wouldn't necessarily call it derivative. I'd more describe it as filling a mental musical space you didn't realize was empty. It's a little bluesy, a little blue grassy, a lot of introspective navel gazing. ("Oh my favorite!" says my partner with sarcasm as he rolls his eyes.) I find it pretty enjoyable and easy to listen to. It seems like the kind of tunes good for a reflective, solo road trip of self-exploration and discovery. Since I indulge myself in such trips with almost monthly frequency, this works for me.

Also, if you're thinking about giving the Avett Brothers a chance, may I recommend you actually start with the 2007 release Emotionalism? It's terrific and not nearly as overplayed, though you'll probably find yourself thinking, "Hey I recognize this!" on the occasional track. I like that the bluegrass roots of the Avett Brothers is more obvious here, which of course makes it less mainstream radio accessible, but probably the better album. My favs off of Emotionalism are 'The Ballad of Love and Hate," "Will You Return", and "I Would Be Sad".

"Love arrives safely with suitcase in tow,
carrying with her the good things we know --
a reason to live, and a reason to grow,
to trust, to hold, to care..."

Recommended if you like: Counting Crows, Gin Blossoms, Bob Dylan, Jakob Dylan,  Mumford and Sons

While spinning, wear:  Olympic Orchids Arizona, slumberhouse Rume, Bulgari BLV Pour Homme,  Bellatrix Perfumes Titania. I don't really know what links these scents together with these songs/musical style in my mind.  I guess I think of these scents as being earthy and beautiful without trying too hard, just sort of appearing out of the ether in their beautiful complexity without even a backward glance of acknowledgment that they were really intensely difficult to create. Which is how I find the Avett Brothers' music -- accessible to the point of being deceptive in its complexity.

The Monthly Spin: The Band Perry - Self-Titled

The Monthly Spin is a recurring feature on Feminine Things wherein I talked about an album I'm loving and the perfumes I think go with it.

I got a little behind in my monthly spin posting, though not in my listening to new music. To make it up to you, lovely reader, I'll be posting one a week for a couple of weeks.

If you listen to any kind of mix station, you've probably already heard the music of three Perry siblings of Greeneville, Tennessee, even though you may not realize it. The remix of their double platinum country single "If I Die Young," which was written by the lead-singing eldest Perry, Kimberly, made it to #4 on the US Charts, while the original country mix was #2 on US Country. Personally I feel like you can't turn on the radio without hearing "If I Die Young," placing it in the category with current radio-ad-naseums like Katy Perry's "Firework" and Lady GaGa's "Edge of Glory." FN1.

As catchy as "If I Die Young" is, I hope those sick of it will look past it to the actual album, which was released way back on October 12, 2010. Setting aside the other two hits, "You Lie" and "Hip to My Heart," the remaining tracks are just as good or better. My personal favs are "Lasso," "Postcard from Paris," and "Walk Me Down the Middle." And, okay, yes, also "You Lie," which is why I got the album in the first place. Because, let's face it, I love wordy cleverness -- and also, she knows there's cheating because she detects foreign perfume! J'accuse!





I think the eponymous album is a great first effort from a relatively young trio. Okay, yes, it's not the Dixie Chicks Wide Open Spaces, but remember that their first charting albums was also their third full length effort. Compared to Thank Heavens for Dale Evans, this is about par, so my hopes are high for future Perry Band developments.


Recommended if you like:  Dixie Chicks, Taylor Swift, Patti Griffin, Sugarland, Thea Gilmore, Lady Antebellum, Bonnie Raitt

While spinning, wear: The album has a youthful naivte about it that I find charming and youthful, if naive. Scents I find charming in their innocence.  For me, that means: Demeter Fragrance Library Fresh Hay, Ava Luxe Milk, DSH Spring Moss, L'Artisan L’Eau de Jatamansi.
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FN1. I happen to like all three of these songs, for the record. (Sorry, Jill.) But even I will be the first to admit that they are all severely overplayed.

Monthly Spin: Fitz & the Tantrums - Self-Titled

The Monthly Spin is a recurring feature on Feminine Things wherein I talked about an album I'm loving and the perfumes I think go with it.

This 2010 full length album debut is absolutely fantastic. I know that "Money Grabber" has been playing here in Rose City for a while, and other tracks are now trickling in as well. If you ever wanted to buy an album that encompasses every emotion that comes with a love gone wrong -- bitterness, sadness, anger, regret, desperation, jealousy, rejection, loneliness -- this is the albums. songs about being deceived, about leaving, about wishing you'd done better, about hating the person you used to love has now become, the list goes on and on. And while I am not now and hope to never be again in the throes of a break-up, I can still relate to this immensely emotionally charged, soulful album.

Recommended if you like:The Black Keys, Muddy Waters, The Heavy

While spinning, wear: Scents soaked in anger, resentment, and regret of what the heart has lost, and both loathes and yearns for. For me? Ava Luxe Film Noir, slumberhouse Kote, By Kilian Love and Tears, Etat Libre d'Orange Jasmin et Cigarettes.

The Monthly Spin: The xx - The xx

The Monthly Spin is a newly recurring feature on Feminine Things wherein I talked about an album I'm loving and the perfumes I think go with it.

If you have not yet discovered this amazing duo, your life is about to get way better. I found them when they did a random interview on a local radio station here in Portlandia. This album was released in August 2009, but I don't run into it alot here in the states, despite it making it to 9th on Rolling Stone's list of Best Albums of 2009. Where I do hear this album, though, is all over young adult-oriented TV and movies -- tracks have been featured on Vampire Diaries and 90210, as well as in the film I Am Number Four, so for those of you YA-oriented types here in the states, you may feel like you recognize them.

The album has been described as having a "sleek, whispery" quality due to being recorded in a small garage that was part of the XL studios, often at night, and I'd say that is accurate. It's great bare bones, slow groove romantic material, the kind of music you can imagine dancing close in dim lighting to. The fact that there are male and female vocals telling what feel like two sides of the same story makes it a particularly romantic album.

Him: Please don't say we're done. I'm not finished. I could give you so more. Make you feel like never before. Welcome, they said, welcome to the floor.
Her: It's been a while and you've found someone better but I've been waiting too long to give this up. The more I see, I understand. But sometimes, I still need you.
Her: Sometimes I still need you.
Him: Somtimes I still need you.
Her: Sometimes I still need you.
Him: Somtimes I still need you.
~ "Heart Skips A Beat"

I have some friends who used to date, both cool applied-art types who live the kind of purpose-driven/wandering lives that make the rest of jealous, and sadly don't anymore. FN1. If I were going to pick an album that sounded to me like the quality of their story, sweet and a little sad and not yet finished, this would be it.

The new album has been such a hit tracks have been covered by everyone from the Gorillaz to The Antlers. So don't take my word for it; it's great stuff, so go get it.

Recommended if you like: Lykke Li, Portishead, CoCoRosie, The Cure, The Smiths

While spinning, wear: S-Perfumes 100% Love, Bond no. 9 West Side, DSH Perfumes Tea Rose



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FN1. Though I still hold out hope they'll get a rom-com ending together instead of an awful, indie-style "of course they're not together, this is the real world" ending that seems so depressingly true-to-life.

The Monthly Spin: Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

The Monthly Spin is a newly recurring feature on Feminine Things wherein I talked about an album I'm loving and the perfumes I think go with it.

Okay, so this album is from 2009, but I only got it about four months ago. Sue me. Middle Cyclone took years to make, but was well worth the effort; it was nominated for two Grammys: Contemporary Folk Album and Best Recording Package, and is most famous for Case's creation of a piano orchestra in her Vermont barn, where she obtained as many free pianos as she could off Craig's list, eight of which were playable and are used on Middle Cyclone.

Everyone on the planet should go out and purchase it immediately. It is one of the best albums I have heard in a long time. It's soulful. It's rich. It's beautiful written. I've seen it described as "elemental" and I totally agree with that assessment.

The lyrics are moving and the music is that rolling rockabilly-esque that makes older rock music still so enjoyable. I don't want to suggest it is rockabilly and country fried rock. It's not. If you are thinking you're getting Social Distortion, The The's tribute to Hank Williams Hanky Panky, or the Old 97s, that's too much country for this. At the same time, I want to put it on the shelf next to those along side The Traveling Wilburys, Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins, the new Wanda Jackson album produced by Jack White The Party Ain't Over, Lucinda Williams, and Kristen Hersh. FN1

My favorite tracks are"People Got a Lot of Nerve," a cover of Sparks' "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth," and "This Tornado Loves You." also, you may recognize "I'm an Animal"  from the second season of True Blood.

Recommended if you like: Any of the aforementioned bands, but also Patti Griffith, The Jayhawks, Wilco, the more rockabilly tunes from the White Stripes, Dar Williams' The Honesty Room, Joan Beaz.

While spinning, wear: Earthy or elemental scents, scents you can imagine ripping the roof off one house and leaving the next unscathed, pulling the very earth from the ground and wreaking utter havoc before leaving as though it was only your imagination. In other words, scents that speak to you of exquisite destruction. In my world, that would be things like Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol Silver Factory, CB I Hate Perfume Revelation, Jean Desprez Bala Versailles, Juliette Has a Gun Midnight Oud.

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FN1 More on the Jackson/White album next month.

The Monthly Spin: Broken Bells - Broken Bells

The Monthly Spin is a newly recurring feature on Feminine Things wherein I talked about an album I'm loving and the perfumes I think go with it.

This eponoymous album,a first effort from James Mercer (The Shins) and Brian Burton (Danger Mouse), was released in 2010.  It's been getting a little bit of radio play here in Portlandia, and I am loving it.  It manages to combine angsty dude with guitar and pulsing dreamy dance beats.  While the singles ("The High Road," "The Ghost Inside") are worthy of a spin, the great thing about this album is that it flows as an album.

So frequently these days albums are just a collection of singles, each produced and even written by someone different.  They don't even attempt to tell any kind of unified story, to capture an idea or feeling, instead focusing on cramming the highest number of radio playable sound bites onto an 'album' as possible. It's one of the reasons I tend toward indie bands.  So many of them are small enough that I can see them in an intimate venue for less than $20 where they play amazing songs that are about something more than playability, charting, and making money.

Broken Bells tells a story.  Okay, it's an emo story, sure, but still, at least there's a thematic feel to the effort.  And hey, sad bastard music you can dance a little to?  That's solid gold here in Puddletown.

Recommended if you like: The Shins, Zero 7, Sneaker Pimps

While spinning, wear: Ava Luxe Wild Blackberry Musk (available again!); Tauer Perfumes Orange Star;  Jo Malone Sweet Lime and Cedar