Lissie’s “Little Lovin” managed to win my heart on hype machine late last year, but it hasn’t been until more recently that bloggers and other media folk have really taken notice and made a point to write on her. Maybe it’s the mid-February blues I’m feeling, but her music is the perfect fix for one who is longing for summer and is just the thing that inspired this post. Tying nostalgia and hopefulness together with its classic chord progressions and laidback vocals, Lissie’s music will have you lazing in the sun spot of your apartment. Last year saw the release of a five song EP entitled “Why You Runnin’”. Sunday Times said it best by comparing her to “…Jesca Hoop or Neko Case and the commercially copper-bottomed country-rock lilt of Sheryl Crow and solo Stevie Nicks…”

Lissie recently opened for City and Colour with many fans coming to see her as opposed to Dallas Green, and she did not disappoint. Her sound obviously speaks to a wide audience – having already been picked up by TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Dollhouse, I wouldn’t be surprised to see her music crop up in a whole host of those indie-esque awkward adolescence films starring Michael Cera and Zooey Deschanel. On the other hand, her sound maintains a raw and genuine essence, captured by her ‘influences’ (as posted on her MySpace page) of pie, cigarettes, porches, corn hole and waiting in line.

“Little Lovin” is figuratively and literally a knee-slapping good time (listen to the last thirty seconds of this song and you’ll know what I mean). “Everywhere I Go” features vocals with contrasting sections of longer drawn out sections and then staccato bits on certain lyrics. “Wedding Bells” has a really pretty percussion achieved by echoing finger snapping and complemented by some Camera Obscura type oohs and ahs. Overall, her songs fit together with themes of acoustic guitar strumming, ethereal reverb, and a southern feel hailing from Mississippi. Look for the full album circa April this year.

Lissie – Little Lovin’

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Lissie – Everywhere I Go

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Lissie – Wedding Bells

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As I’ve previously alluded to, I usually try to avoid lifting news for soundUNheard directly from sites like Pitchfork, but that’s not to say I don’t check up on them frequently (ok, religiously). Also if you’ve been reading for a while, you might have guessed that a band like Pearl Jam (for the uninitiated, they’re those guys up top there) is not our usual cup of tea. But something that Pearl Jam and Pitchfork, albeit to a much lesser degree, have in common is the way people who read this and other blogs might roll their eyes if you try to inject either one into serious musical conversation. The former is either simply too old, or has too recently damaged their credibility. The latter evokes the same response, when mentioned, as discovering some one’s entire wardrobe is actually a combination of Urban Outfitters and American Apparel: they didn’t actually just trans-locate from the streets of Brooklyn.

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Exciting news everybody, theoretical physicists from Cambridge have recently discovered the formula for the perfect song and published it in the journal Science. The following is an excerpt from an interview with the papers author, “…it was simple really, we isolated the components and ran them through our supercomputer and it ended up with a beautiful correlation… really quite fascinating”. The equation was one part infectious beat, two parts jangley guitar and one part wailing vocals. Ok, so since this is my first post and I want to start off on a good foot I’m going to level with you, there was no paper from Cambridge, there was no interview, there are no theoretical physicists, I made the whole thing up. The important thing is that if there was a formula for a perfect song it would be that, and one song that would fit this formula perfectly is 1901 by Phoenix off their upcoming album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. I have to admit I am fairly new to Phoenix’s work, however, from what I’ve heard so far I like ‘em and so will you. This French four-piece started out in the mid 90’s on the mean streets of Versailles. The band itself has some very strong ties with other high profile artists having initially worked on a remix of French band Airs song “Kelly Watch the Stars” and Laurent Brancowitz having been in the band Darlin’ before joining Phoenix with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homen-Christo who later went on to form a little group by the name of Daft Punk. This isn’t Phoenix’s first rodeo either; WAP is their fourth studio album and has the potential to be excellent so keep your eyes peeled for this one, out May 25 if all goes to plan.

Phoenix – 1901

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Updates after the jump.

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UrbanDictionary.com:

Hyphie-West Coast/Bay Area’s way of being crunk

usage: “this party is hyphie.”

There are certain places where music just sounds different. It’s intangible, but there’s something in the air that sound and light travel through better. After spending a week in the highest of places (that would be California), you can’t help but think about the interaction between music and illicit substances, music and nature, and music and your brain. And whether you’re climbing Mushroom Trees in Santa Cruz or cruising down an East Bay freeway with a Golden State native throwing blunts and forties at you (occupational hazard), shouting about spreading the gospel of hyphie to colder climes, Northern California is a place where music sounds really, really good. And if there’s anything California’s taught me, it’s that life is about two things: getting stoned and going stupid.

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This video does not require an introduction, however, you may require a few moments afterwards to stare off into space contemplating what you just experienced.

Last Sunday marked the 22nd anniversary of the death of Andy Warhol, the iconic pop artist who, by bringing The Velvet Underground and Nico into his New York Factory scene, ensured you would never cry alone. The soundtrack to one thousand hearts splintering into ice, there are few bands who have directly influenced modern music as strongly, and some would say as surreptitiously, as The Velvet Underground and Nico.

In the spirit of the man who created a counterculture to the counterculture, inspired some of the most haunting, influential music of a generation, and guaranteed we would all spend at least one evening of our young lives stoned and staring at a picture of a giant banana with our own irrelevance sitting on our shoulder (but if feels so GOOD), a playlist tribute, starting with some wisdom from die-hard Velvet Underground enthusiast and all-around mad poetic genius Lester Bangs, who called Andy Warhol “the prophet of our doom”:”…the Velvet Underground were for me part of the beginning of a real revolution in the whole scheme between men and women, men and men, women and women, humans and humans. And I don’t mean clones. I mean a diversity that extends to the stars.”
-From Untitled Notes on Lou Reed, 1980 (Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung)

Calexico w/ Iron and Wine-All Tomorrow’s Parties (Velvet Underground Cover)

Belle and Sebastian-I’m Waiting For The Man (Velvet Underground Cover)

Cat Power-I Found A Reason (Velvet Underground Cover)

The Velvet Underground-Heroin

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You are reading the inaugaral post here at soundunheard, a website that if successful will be a whole lot like a million other websites out there. We will strive to write in a witty, sassy, and most importantly holier-than-thou style. We will attempt to post the hottest tracks that another blog has already posted but since been forced to remove after receiving a DMCA takedown notice. We will subsequently remove these after receiving our own takedown notices. Life will continue as it has for many years in the tubes.