Gretch-a-sketch (old)

(Ha! See what I did there with music and notes? My friends say I'm “pretty clever.”)

1. Dear Bandwagon,
Hi. It’s me, Gretchen. I know, it’s been a while. Mind if I jump back on for a while? I’m writing to thank you for introducing Yael Naim, via Apple’s always catchy advertisements. (This time, for the sleek and super-thin Macbook Air. It’s like the Heidi Klum of laptops!) I’ll admit, I did hear about Yael a few months ago, via the Awesome girls and meant to get around to listening to her, but it never happened. (Fun fact: the Awesome girls also introduced me to Feist before her “1-2-3-4” fame. You should pay attention to those girls more often.) Anyhow, Yael is pretty dang fantastic, with her French-Hebrew background and those lovely cheekbones. I doubt she’ll stay mainstream for the long haul, but I’m glad to have found her.
Hugs and kisses,
Gretchen
P.S. You might want to become familiar with Courtney Jaye (see #3), because if I had any say in these matters, she would be your next target.
P.P.S. Please do something about Uggs for next winter, like banishing all those who wear them to Northern Siberia. (But at least their feet will be warm, right?)

2. Okay, peeps. Listen up. You know how I like a good deal, right? Joshua Radin’s new EP, Unclear Sky, was released last Tuesday on iTunes for $2.99. It’s four songs of pure talent for only three dollars! His album comes out this summer, but this is enough to tide me over until then. Seriously, I must have listened to it over fifteen times since Tuesday. Music review time! Yay!
Track 1: Sky (Feat. Ingrid Michaelson)—Okay, first off, it has Ingrid Michaelson, so you know it’s a winner. It’s the catchiest song of the four and makes me happy every time I hear it. I’m dying for someone to get the tab online, since I can’t really transpose music yet.
Track 2: Lovely Tonight—This is what Radin does best. It’s slower, but not boring. The guitar is impeccable and the female vocals are by Catherine Feeny (he runs with some seriously amazing chicas) with electric guitar by Ryan Adams (!).
Track 3: The Fear You Won’t Fall—Easily my least favorite of the four, but that isn’t saying very much. It’s still very much beautiful and it includes the return of Priscilla Ahn (love her), who’s his back-up on “We Were Here.”
Track 4: You’ve Got Growin’ Up To Do—Radin evokes a perfect sense of raw desperation on this demo version. His myspace blog mentions a “very special female vocal” on the album version. Oh, the suspense! The best part is that he also says he’s saving his best stuff for the actual cd release. Can’t wait!
(Note to Joshua: If you ever get over that on-again/off-again thing with Schulyer Fisk, I think I deserve at least one date.)

3. I fell in love with Courtney Jaye about four years ago during the all-too brief radio run of her song “Can’t Behave.” (The link is to a hilarious fanvid of Hawkeye featuring that song.) She spent some time in Hawaii and she describes her sound as “tropicountry.” Her new album, “Queen of Sabotage” is expected to be out this year, but I can’t for the life of me find an actual release date. Anyhow, you can listen to five of her new songs on her myspace page. Her lyrics are honest and she’s got this great voice that’s also easy to sing along to. Perfect music for a luau or driving along the coast.