Chris Pureka

Chris Pureka is a folk/sorta-country-ish musician who plays guitar and sings beautifully with a soothing, slightly warble-y alto. They also happen to be genderqueer. Now, for all those not in the know, genderqueer people are people who feel as if they are
a) Not a man or a woman
or
b) a mix of both.
Think of them as both mentally and physically androgynous. Genderqueers also tend to go by gender-neutral pronouns such as they/their/them, which is why I have been using those terms for Chris. :)
Anyway, they usually don't talk about their gender identity or sexuality in their music, so they're definitely accessible to all you non-queer people out there. ;p

Go To FileFactory.com

(Unfortunately, these tracks are all from one album, as I got the rest of their music from iTunes, who format their music in a funky way.)

Artist focus.... Justin Vernon!

^
That manly mofo is none other than Justin Vernon, the main man behind Bon Iver, Volcano Choir, DeYarmond Edison, etc. He is mostly known for his work with Bon Iver and other folk-ish sounding stuff, but he can also rock out when he wants to... and he has a GREAT voice. Seriously. It's not great in a technically-proficient way, but great in an emotional, comforting way. Therefore, I shall now post some examples of his lesser-known music, along with some more well-known stuff for those of you living under rocks. Heeere we go!

DeYarmond Edison- Leave Me Wishing More

Reminds me of Bruce Springsteen, minus the saxaphone... great, catchy opening song from their self-titled album. It's a lot more rock-oriented than his later work. ...Weird band name though, eh?

DeYarmond Edison- Heroin(e)

A bit more laid-back and acoustic... from the album Silent Signs.

Justin Vernon- Hazelton

From the album Hazeltons. Far more folky than the last two songs, and very beautiful.

Justin Vernon- Whippgrass

Very laid-back and haunting. Another one where his vocals remind me of Bruce Springsteen (Hopefully that's a good thing for the rest of you). From Self-Record.

Bon Iver- Skinny Love

He uses a lot more falsetto on the Bon Iver stuff than in the rest of his work, but it works well. This is probably my favorite song on the For Emma, Forever Ago album.

Volcano Choir- Still

A re-work of "Woods" from Bon Iver's Blood Bank EP. Uses auto-tune tastefully. The whole entire "Unmap" album is far more experimental and ambient than the rest of his stuff.

Yay, new headphones!

Not as good as the former ones; they don't fit my left ear that great; but the sound is still very good. AND GODDAMNIT THEY WORK.

Rejoice and be glad~~~ (Now you can tell I was forcibly raised as a Christian)

Bomb The Music Industry!- Brian Wilson Says "SMILE" a.k.a. Beard of Defiance

(You can get their music *FOR FREE* at their website)

I have found the new saddest song.

It's "Legendary", by Lou Barlow. God. DAMN. (About suicide; may or may not be about Elliott Smith in particular)


Lou makes some great music in general, though.

Royalty


AANNND.... FUCK, my headphones just kicked the bucket. Like, just now.
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

IT'S A MADHOUSE.

So you know that Anthrax song, "madhouse"? Somebody covered it. In a Karaoke bar. Horribly. And it's HILARIOUS. And it needs WAY MORE VIEWS THAN IT HAS.

Blah.

I just got back to my mother's house and I just realized how much I HATE living there. I have such a love-hate relationship with the people there, including her. They can never leave me alone, they have to jump on me for everything as soon as i walk in the door. I never feel comfortable; I never feel calm or completely happy. They never let me be myself-- or, if I AM myself, they make sure to make me feel uncomfortable about being myself. UGGHHHH ANGST. The sooner I move outta there, the better.

Anyway, because I'm here, I'm sort of depressed. Therefore, the music I'm listening to is of the depressing/melancholy variety (And it doesn't necessarily have to relate to my situation, and it usually doesn't *shrug*). And since this is a music-related blog, I should, you know. Post it. yeah. Alright, time to get all sad and melancholy with me HURRAY.

Anthrax- Black Lodge


Pink Floyd- Wearing the Inside Out


Red House Painters- Grace Cathedral Park


Tom Waits- Who Are You


Amy Ray- Measure of Me

GAWD-DAYYYUM SUNNUVA BEEEEYITCH

(Or, Artist Feature #2: Kyuss)

I have recently got back into an old favorite of mine-- Kyuss, a "stoner-rock" band from California. Also, for all the kiddies here: Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age is the guitarist here. Think of Kyuss as Queens of the Stone Age's (better) big brother. While the genre name might imply that their stuff is slow and psychedelic, Kyuss actually usually plays (er... PLAYED; they broke up quite awhile ago unfortunately) groovy, riffy hard rock with the occasional weedy twist. Another name for the genre they play is "desert rock", which I think is far more fitting-- it definitely is music you should blast while speeding through, say, Route 66. Anyway, I shall now post a few of their songs for y'all.

Son of a Bitch from Wretch


Thumb from Blues for the Red Sun


Space Cadet from Welcome to Sky Valley (the most "stoner" sounding song here)