A goodbye kiss from Grace Potter (Fuel/Friends exclusive!)

After a weekend of listening to Grace Potter & The Nocturnals’ newest studio album (out today!) on long stretches of Midwestern highway, feeling my way through the melodies and harmonies so I could sing along, I am extremely pleased to have Fuel/Friends exclusively debut the final debut in her series of acoustic videos of songs from the album. Recorded a few months ago outside San Diego, these videos give you such a sense of the rootsy eclecticism of the album. No one is making music exactly like this right now.

When Grace talks about the new album, she says, “Everything we had was sitting right in front of us, and it just poured out of us.” Don’t you see that here? I see the intuitive interplay of band members who know each other well, and hear it on this album. I also love the subtle counter-weight in these videos in the vocal harmonies of bassist Catherine Popper (formerly of Ryan Adams & The Cardinals).

Grace is nothing short of magnetic when she performs. She throws back her head and wails, she looks like she’s remembering the person the song was written for, she’s okay with being transparent and vulnerable, and asking for the one goodbye kiss. When I interviewed her in 2008 under the San Francisco cypress trees, she said, “What I’m most fascinated by is a woman artist who can speak realistically, from her soul, and not be bullshitting.” Grace does that; I do believe her.

One other video from earlier in the series that has grabbed me tenaciously is this simple rendition of “Things I Never Needed,” the final song on the new album. I made an mp3 because I can’t stop watching the video; the power in her voice here gives me chills, and somehow the song sounds like I’ve already known it for a very long time before.

“…I’m the only one who’s bleeding from things I never needed”

Things I Never Needed (acoustic) – Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals is out today on Hollywood Records, and Amazon has it for $7. And – I just noticed she’s playing the superfun Film On The Rocks series at Red Rocks on July 6th, as well as Aspen the night before! That would be a marvelous capper to a Fourth of July weekend. I’ve not yet seen her on that giant rosy rock stage, but I just know she can hold her own. Shall we?

Awww. Rooney made you a mixtape to brighten your Monday.

Back home after ten thousand hours of driving with malfunctioning air conditioning in my car, I am still working on getting all my pep and perk back. But during the long hours of work today, this mix definitely helped.

Rooney sits snugly in a triumvirate in my mind along with Redwalls & Phantom Planet – that vibe of retro-influenced, chunky, fun pop that you can dance to. The drummer from Rooney compiled a nice little playlist in this same vein of music for you and me because he loves us, and because their band has a new album out tomorrow.

audio player

Read what Ned says about his selections here.

Love Me Chase Me – Carney
Memories – The Redwalls
Fair Game – The Like
Appaloosa – Hymns
The Strawberry Blonde – Mike Viola
When My Time Comes – Dawes
Runaway – Samantha Shelton
I Won’t Fuck You Over (This Time) – Bleu
Unresponsive Ears – Army Navy
Angel of Mine – Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons

This is a fun June mix. I was impressed with folks like Dawes (who I know I should really be listening to, maybe whilst driving through Laurel Canyon with flowers in my hair and a sundress) and old Fuel/Friends favorite Hymns, who have gone all marvelously retro R&B brass brigade here. I was also enticed to listen to more of Army Navy and Bleu (the latter was recommended to me by none other than my seatmate Creed Bratton on the flight home from Austin).

Oh — and Mike Viola is still a genius.

Rooney’s newest album EUREKA is out tomorrow, and they are streaming the whole thing on their MySpace.

if a song could get me you

I am poaching some free wireless at a gas station truckstop somewhere off Highway 70 cutting across the center of this great, flat land. I’ve been on the road for over a week for work, getting real familiar-like with all that Missouri (and Kansas) have to offer. I’ve had a tremendous time doing things like watching a Royals ballgame Wednesday (with fountains and waterfalls!) and a Cardinals game tonight in St. Louis, drinking a whole heck of a lot of Boulevard Brewery‘s limited edition beers while brushing up on my Saved By The Bell trivia with some genius cohort friends, going for night runs and unsuccessfully trying to outrace the mosquitoes, and melting –nay, dissolving– into a sticky pile in this humidity. My hair votes for never moving to the Midwest in summer. Oh! And I also ate Jack Stack’s BBQ for lunch today, and saw armadillo roadkill (not related).

Roadtrips also mean vast and fabulous swaths of uninterrupted time to catch up on all that music I want to listen to with each breathing moment, but which instead somehow shuffles itself into corners and under car seats and in stacks (and stacks) of promo CDs by my bed. About two hours ago I unearthed and popped in the newest album from Norway’s Marit Larsen and I have been happily stuck on it since. It’s actually from her 2008 album The Chase but was just released as a single in the States in January. I woke up in a ridiculously good mood today, and this song couldn’t sound more perfect.

I first heard Marit four years ago on Fluxblog, and her irresistible harmonica and handclap-laden ode to a breakup “Only A Fool” was one of my favorite 20 songs that whole first year of Fuel/Friends. I believe I put that on a running mix too (the music is all plucky, even though the lyrics are biting) and cuing it up even today it still sounds as unspoiled. What I have always loved about Marit is something undefinable in her voice which just radiates a sterling, approachable honesty. Her Scandinavian take on Americana music evokes hints of Nina Persson or even Lisa Loeb (with a banjo), and it’s sweet but never saccharine.

I’ll never grow tired of a really good pop song to soundtrack the yellow lines flickering past, the hot sunshine, and the miles and miles of open expanse. This song may or may not have gotten her the man, but it’s completely snagged me.

Put this one on your summer mix.

If A Song Could Get Me You – Marit Larsen

…and why not — for excellent measure:

Only A Fool – Marit Larsen