Go Team Sweet! » Music

Cover Me Up

team sweet — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:53:11 +0000

Here’s me singing and playing a cover of Built to Spill’s “The Weather.” It is one of my favorite songs and the last time I played it was awhile ago. Also, I only played spot chords on the guitar when I played it a couple years back. So, here’s me attempting it again. Remember, this is my way of documenting the process of learning to play guitar/sing at the same time, since I am mainly trained as a singer, so this will be rife with flaws… but that’s oookay. Right?! Right.

Thanks in advance for watching!

Carrboro Music Festival

team sweet — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 13:07:37 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to play guitar and sing (for the first time!) in front of a crowd of strangers at the Carrboro Music Festival. The hours leading up to this were spent with me constantly checking the time and feeling a bit queasy. My friend Louise, who is an excellent musician, sang along with me to this cover of Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind.” Haha, yeah, I actually covered that song. And then I actually decided to sing that cover in public. After the show, I did have one woman tell me she started to cry… not because it was bad… not because it was good… but because all of her children live in NYC and she misses them. So, yeah, there’s that.

Sorry for the poor quality. I only had my Macbook to record this on.

Cover Up

team sweet — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:51:34 +0000

Here’s me doing another cover. Like I said in the previous post, these are all guaranteed to be rough around the edges. It was super late here when I recorded this, so I hope you find the imperfections endearing. Without further ado, here is me covering Liam Finn’s “Fire in your Belly”.

There’s also another take of me playing this here. I look equally tired in both videos! Enjoy!

Morning Music

team sweet — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:09:05 +0000

I am going to try and record a cover of a song every week and post it up on here. I’ve been singing since I was a teenager and within the last 4-6 months have been trying to play the guitar much more frequently than I have in the past. No doubt about it, these covers will be flawed, but they’ll be a way to document the learning process as I go. For the first cover, I chose “The Pact” by Villagers. I don’t get quite as jangly on the guitar as Conor does, but please forgive me; I am a newb. Also, don’t turn this up too loud. I recorded it on my macbook without a proper microphone, so it peaks in the red a bit.

Really? Really.

team sweet — Fri, 28 May 2010 22:21:12 +0000

My apologies for being so slack in writing the last week. On top of having a quite severe sore throat, I was working incredibly long hours and running on minimal sleep. BUT! Enough about being lame. Today, to get back into the swing of things, I will present you with a lot of music. Ready? Ready.

First up is Yelle with the song ‘Ce Jeu.’

This music video combines fashion, french fries, plastic dinosaurs and electro pop beats. Hello, heaven? Yeah, go ahead and take me now. I’m ready. Swoon.

Next up is Tokyo Police Club with ‘Your English is Good.’ On tour now!

And noooow here is Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros with ’40 Day Dream.’ I would like to go to their parties. They’re on tour now too!

And here is Bear Hands with ‘What a Drag.’ It took me a few times of listening to this to really enjoy it but now I’m hooked.

The cherry on your music cake – A lovely image from the UK artist Gemma Correll. Check out her etsy!

Me as a Horse

team sweet — Fri, 21 May 2010 23:03:37 +0000

Yeah, there are no surprises here, folks.

I just watched the video for Neon Trees’ ‘Animal.’ You watch it now too:

I first heard this song about 3 months ago and its poppy, ear-catching tune had me staying in the car to listen even when I had reached my destination. I am not too thrilled by the video – the whole thing feels pretty hollow but let’s take a moment to relish in the lead singer’s Danzig hair! Whether or not he even knows who Danzig is, I just don’t care. I do feel like he would get on my nerves the same way that Pete Wentz would at a party. Thank goodness I am not cool enough to ever be invited to a party where either of these men will be in attendance. And they even have people in animal masks – I have seen that horse head so many bloody times now – it seems to be an indie favorite – but it all started here for me:

Born Ruff

team sweet — Sun, 16 May 2010 19:08:06 +0000

Born Ruffians – “This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life”

“I need to know who I am
and what I’m going to do while I’m on earth
I need to understand
everything and everybody’s lives

I need to get up tomorrow
I have to mail that letter and pay that bill
deadlines, deadlines, deadlines
write that essay, and pray on the windowsill

lines, lines jump from line to line
just one, do one at a time
this one’s all about mine mine mine
solve one try then keep on trying
i’m sculpting my philosophy
in patterns going 1,2,3
I’m trying your monogamy
in increments of 1 through 3

I need to eat I’m hungry
I’ll grab a bight of a BLT
That’s all I want right now…
With some juice, no… coffee.

I need a girlfriend, I’m lonely
Someone to love me and fuck me
I need to get laid immediately
But also someone to fulfill my needs

I need success to be wealthy
I’m hanging on to my simplicity
I need a nice car and nice clothes
Fatter lips and a smaller nose
I need to learn I need to grow
I want to know. No no no no no no no no
I need nice hair… no women
Nice hair, then women. Until then…

lines, lines jump from line to line
just one, do one at a time
this one’s all about mine mine mine
solve one try then keep on trying
I’m sculpting my philosophy
in patterns going 1,2,3
I’m trying post modernity
in increments of 1 through 3″

They will be playing at Great Scott in Boston, MA on June 20th. Check out their myspace for more tour dates! This song says it all for me today. x

Hey – Charlyne Yi is in a Hockey Video!

team sweet — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:02:45 +0000

Charlyne Yi, actress (Paper Heart), comedienne, musician, etc, etc. is in the video for Portland-based band Hockey’s song “Song Away.”

Youtube won’t let me embed the video. So click HERE to watch it. Be ready for some awkward dancing!

And if you haven’t seen Charlyne and Channing Tatum in this Cinemash Dirty Dancing video well you are in for a treat:

Local Natives at Local 506

team sweet — Sat, 08 May 2010 17:31:22 +0000

I went along to the Local Natives show this week at Local 506, my new favorite spot for shows in Chapel Hill/Carrboro. I’d heard their song “Sun Hands” on Sirius XMU and after a few listens, I now belt it out every time I hear it in the car. I am a car singer through and through and this song gets me making a lot of noise. If my friends can’t make it along to a gig at the 506, I now feel comfortable going along alone, which is quite nice. I made friends with the owner, Glenn, who knows Chris Knox, a famous NZ muso, so we bonded a bit over NZ one night and now he knows me by name.

I missed the first act, Brookyln-based Suckers, but didn’t miss the frontman after the show who was downing Jägerbombs as eyeliner was streaming down his sweaty face. He ended up ripping down some garland that was hung behind the stage and throwing it around his head to act like a headdress. So, what I am trying to say is, I wish I had seen this band play live.

I was at the back for Local Natives, mostly because I injured my foot last week and was concerned some peppy dancer might further the damage. They were very tight and pretty enthusiastic, swapping mics and having fun onstage. Everyone had a good sing-a-long to “Sun Hands” and I was very happy when they played my other favorite tune, “Wide Eyes.” If it hadn’t been for the numerous college kids tweeting and texting about the show (instead of actually watching it) and yelling at each other “I AM HAVING A GREAT TIME! AREN’T YOU?” it may have been close to a perfect time. I even bought a shirt. Now for some music…

They’re on tour now and a lot of the shows are selling out, so if you like what you hear and they are coming to your town, grab a ticket!

Boston, land of the awesome

team sweet — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:01:03 +0000

My heart belongs to the city of Boston; there is no doubt. No other city makes it flutter the way Boston does. The extreme ups and downs of city life are what have plunged me into my manic relationship with Boston – The frigid weather, the mind-melting heat of summer, the rats poking around old apartment buildings, the smelly garbage piles on Allston’s streets, the cool, stale air in subway trains… the docks down by the Charles River in the afternoon in spring, the big, bright, retro bulbs of liquor stores that cast red light through brownstone bay windows, the endless supply of well-crafted beer, the smell of laundry creeping up out of apartment buildings during winter…

It’s a dreamy nightmare that I am madly in love with. After NYC, I hopped on a bus and made the five hour drive to Boston. I was greeted by my good friend, Ernie who I stayed with during my time there. If it wasn’t enough to just see him, he also supplied me with a fresh stack of comics and graphic novels every night and his amazing girlfriend cooked heavenly tasting meals for me. My first morning in Boston, I woke up and drank iced coffee and ate fruit salad and banana bread while reading Vol. 2 of The Fart Party (LOVE IT.) on their balcony. Beauty.

Over the course of five days, I saw my hilarious friend Mike play in his band Born of Thunder (BOT) upstairs at Charlie’s Kitchen. He is the man who introduced me to the world of Manowar, just so you can understand a bit about him and BOT (AWESOME). I hung out with my always-inspiring friend Betsy, who laid down some tempting offers for me to move back there – I think everybody I saw there was trying to do this in some way. I visited with other friends who my heart had been aching for, which led to us drinking three pitchers of Spring Training IPA from Cambridge Brewing Company (CBC) and then holding hands while telling each other we love one another multiple times. And it wasn’t just the beer talking – I LOVE THOSE LADIES. I also 100% endorse any beer from CBC. The head brewer Will is one of the only people in Boston who urged me to go back to NZ four years ago. Thanks, Will!

So, it was a beautiful time.

When I got back to Carrboro, NC (where I now reside), I was greeted with so much love it nearly choked me up. I hadn’t realized how much I had already made an impact on people and vice versa. To think I had just moved here in Nov. 2009 was crazy. It also made me realize that there will always be hard times when you first move somewhere without knowing anyone, but those can melt away pretty easily. Lovely.