Something Beautiful

1. James Vincent McMorrow – We Don’t Eat

Just gorgeous. This guy’s voice is reminiscent of Ray LaMontagne (who I’m going to assume everyone knows because obviously, you should). And he’s Irish, and who doesn’t have a thing for accents?

2. Ed Sheeran – Cold Coffee

I’ve taken to listening to my iPod on shuffle at work to tune out the super annoying Muzak that plays above my head. (Let’s just say “Muskrat Love” is not my idea of quality listening material.) And this was a song that I just added to my library and hadn’t purposefully listened to yet. It came up and I immediately loved it. In fact, I think my coworker was annoyed at how much I loved it.

3. The Oh Hello’s – Hello My Old Heart

Thanks to my friend Robin for introducing this band to me. I am now obsessed. Such a hard choice to pick only one of their songs, but this one just makes you feel things. 

4. The Cinematic Orchestra – To Build A Home

I came across this song while trawling my Tumblr dashboard and fell in love. I have never heard of this band, or any other songs from them, but this one is epic. I’m a sucker for piano and this song just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

5. Florence + The Machine – Only If For A Night

I think I’m a little late to the Florence bandwagon, but this new album is seriously fantastic. It took me awhile to understand her deal, and I’m still not sure I like her live music, but this song just makes me feel like a warrior.

6. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors – Live Forever

Drew and Ellie are seriously the cutest ever. Who wouldn’t want to tour the country with your spouse and make fantastic music? I think secretly (or not so secretly), I envy them.

7. The Civil Wars – Disarm (Live)

I’ll be honest. I had never heard the original version (by Smashing Pumpkins) of this song until recently…as you can tell from every song on this list, I am not a giant heavy metal/hard rock fan. But it does not sound one teeny tiny bit like the original, and therefore, I love it. This band’s dissonant harmonies are so unique, and I just love everything they do. 

8. Joe Firstman – Pretty Things

Co-written with my very fave Tony Lucca (The Voice anyone?), every time I hear it I can’t help but tap my feet and sing along. Ok, let’s be honest, I sing along to every song, but still…

9. NEEDTOBREATHE – Keep Your Eyes Open - Acoustic Version

Ah, NEEDTOBREATHE. I can’t quite put in to words my love for this band, so I will just say they are the best live band out there right now. And please please please listen to this song.

10. Foy Vance - Like an Animal

http://youtu.be/zMuqej_kXyk

A brand new song from Foy, and it’s so good I can hardly wait to hear the rest of the album (hopefully out this summer). Foy is really great at using alternative guitar tuning and it totally changes the whole sound of the song. I promise you have never heard a song that sounds quite like this one, plus Foy’s voice is so raw and real that I just get goosebumps every time I listen to it. And I love that you can hear his (very) Northern Irish accent when he’s singing. Told you, I’m a sucker for accents.

I feel like I have been waiting for this movie my whole life. Ok, maybe just since high school when I read the book, but seriously. Leo is Jay Gatsby. And yeah yeah yeah, there was an old version with Robert Redford, blah blah. I actually never saw it…(which is a shock, even to me.) But I don’t know one person who doesn’t love Leo. Our romance started with Growing Pains and Romeo & Juliet clinched it. 

So tonight’s the night. Roaring 20’s, here I come. There will be tears.

Seriously, this adorable human. If you don’t follow him on twitter (@GUBLERNATION) or Tumblr, then you have really missed out on a ton of little gems… This guy is who he is and doesn’t even care what anyone else thinks about it. For instance… THIS!! Just try not to laugh.