One Pretty Thing: First Aid Kit

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I don't post a lot about music because, quite frankly, I feel out of the loop most of the time! I'm trying to figure out a better way to stay in touch with the great music out there. The obscure bands that I might not know about. How do you keep up with good music? I'm thinking of trying out Sirius XM.. do you use that? I've been at a few coffee shops lately that use it and I've really enjoyed being introduced to so many new sounds. Now I just need a better way of tracking down these musicians. I tend to listen to the same albums over and over mostly because I feel overwhelmed with what's out there, and where the heck I should start. I want to broaden my horizons.

One nice thing is word-of-mouth. That is often the best way to find new bands! I follow Ben Gibbard on Twitter (you know, because we're BFFs) and he mentioned First Aid Kit last week. Now don't laugh if I've been living under a rock, but. just. WOW. I'm in love. They just put a new album out this year, The Lion's Roar, and it's breathtaking. If you love 60's folk, you will LOVE them. Their harmonies are incredible. They're sisters from Sweden! And very young. Their Dad even plays in their band! How cool is that? The album is #1 in Sweden right now.

Listen to them.

Although I don't gravitate to hippy styles for myself, I'm quite smitten with their style. The photo at the bottom with the mod dresses seems a bit out of place, they definitely seem at home in their long prairie dresses and big floppy hats.

What new music are you listening to? Please share with me! I need new sounds.

Another band I've been obsessing over after watching Crazy, Stupid, Love (it really surprised me how GOOD that movie is... it is so not a Rom-Com thankfully). The song "Blood" by The Middle East plays at the end of the movie and it took my breath away. I immediately downloaded their albums. They are definitely a must listen.

Comments

[Rae Veda]

Beautiful photographs and a great band! xo, rv

http://aneclecticheap.blogspot.com/

[robbie]

i adore first aid kit, those girls are dreamcats! i always suggest jens lekman to people because he's such a hidden gem. if you like first aid kit, you'd probably like him, too,

[Lisa Gutierrez]

I was so happy to hear the Middle East at the end of Crazy, Stupid, Love! I agree about it being a surprisingly good movie. I enjoyed it! That fight scene? Love. haha

I generally feel out of the music loop, too. I find new music by listening to friends' mixes posted on blogs, Facebook, or even via Spotify. I hadn't heard of this band, so I'm going to give them a listen! Thanks!

[Jene']

I love music and I feel like when I was a bit younger I was so much more in tune with discovering and listening to new music. My boyfriend is my main source now. He finds tons of new bands every month, and I usually just ask the name of the band when I hear something I like. I also like to listen to local university radio stations because they always play cool stuff, and NPR surprisingly can help you find music. They have tons of music shows on their website. There's also a website called WinnieCooper.net is great for discovering music, and of course lastfm which plays similar music to what you scrobble from your computer.

[Thrifty Vintage Kitten]

I tend to discover new music through recommendations from the blogs I read.
Right now I can't get enough of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs (album: It's Blitz) and Florence + The Machine. Love them!

[amanda]

I usually get most of my new music through listening to pandora. If I hear a band I like...I wiki them and go looking for more. Then I instruct the Mister to download them!!

[Melissa]

Thanks for letting me know about this band! I am obsessed now;) I also loved Crazy Stupid Love...glad I watched it:)

[call me debbie]

I just love them, their songs touch your soul!!

(New blog needing some love and support: http://inwhirlofinspiration.blogspot.com)

[Pretty Posh Posies]

I love First Aid Kit too! I found out about them on a blog for a local store of all places.

[allison burt-tilden]

first aid kit is great! i know what you mean about how hard it is to keep up with music though. i worked at a record store way back when and got lots of music for free or at a discount. once that went away it was really hard to go back to playing retail and i stopped paying attention to music for a really long time. i got back into it about two years ago and even putting in lots of effort, it's so easy to miss things! my recs for you include beach house, bibio (his 'ambivilance avenue' album especially), toro y moi, and bachelorette.

[Tania Shaw]

Thanks for sharing, I always love finding new music. Right now I'm obsessed with The Black Keys. I love me some blues guitar and they are great at it. Those girls are adorable and I'm kinda lovin' the hippy vibe, that's much more my decade for retro and inspiration.

[Cindy]

My favorite radio station is KCRW, here in SoCal. It's a public radio station, but they have some really great music programs. You can check them out online at kcrw.com for streaming music, and if you have an iPad, they have a great free music app that lets you discover cool new stuff (they did have First Aid Kit on there recently, not sure if they're still up now).

[d.s.c]

Hi! I recomend you "Russian Red" (specially song cigarettes) She`s
From Spain! Similar style like First aid kit! Hope you enjoy it

[Becky]

Pandora is great for finding new music.
My husband & I are both huge music geeks, so we tend to read music reviews & blogs to find new stuff. He's also a huge fan of NPR's All Songs Considered and on family roadtrips, we will listen to a few podcasts at a time.

[April Joy]

I agree pandora.com is awesome because you can create your own station by putting in your favorite group and they will play similar music... you can thumbs up or thumbs down and they won't play the thumbs down again for you :o)