Are you tired of the same old Christmas songs year after year after year?
Do you want to mix up the Christmas playlist a little bit?
Do you like Indie music?
Do you want me to come over and make a turkey sandwich?
If you answered “yes” to at least 3 of those questions, then you need to read on.

Because I pay attention to what is happening over at the Yellow Bird Project, I was made aware of this musical effort.  The album, For Folk’s Sake it’s Christmas, is a melodious endeavour to raise money for the Integrated Cancer Centre at King’s College London.  All profits from album sales will help fund cancer research and help provide quality cancer services to patients.
The amazing thing about this whole effort is the following — you pay what you want for the album.
That’s right.
You can pay the minimal amount which is ₤1 — which equals about $1.56 (but, come on).
Or, you can pay $1,000 or more.
Either way, whatever you choose to spend, you get this amazing and unique album.
The artists on the album donated their time and skills to make it possible.  You may have heard of some of them or none of them, but I can guarantee that this music will make you stop, listen and enjoy the holidays in a whole new way.
There are so many great tunes, both old and new, but few bits if ear candy that I truly savoured are the following: “I Saw Three Ships” by Wise Children, “I Am Christmas” by Laura Hocking, “In the Bleak Midwinter/Lonely This Christmas” by Sam Airey, and the very Leonard Cohen-esque “Another Messy Christmas” by Dan Michaelson.
So — listen and give.
Merry Christmas from me — enjoy For Folk’s Sake it’s Christmas and support a great cause and maybe change a life or two in the process.

It is hard to find a lot of info regarding the artist AM.  It is also possible, according to his site, that spammers from Turkey have taken over his web page.
I cannot confirm or deny that.
What I do know is that AM plays with a certain “melodic swagger” that is easy to fall into.

My swagger is usually not that melodic.  As soon as I put some AM in my Walkman, my swagger took on a whole new groove.
I have one piece of ear candy to offer you this Mi4M edition: it is the song “I’ll Be Your Mirror (Acoustic Version” by AM and Julianna Raye from the album Side By Side – Duets, Vol. 1.  This is one of those songs best fit for when you are sitting on a dark stage with just a spotlight on you and your gal.  I know that happens every now and again, so the next time you two are front and center, cue this song and woo the audience.
I don’t say this often, but you must get this one.
Seriously.
Stop reading and go get it.
And while you are doing that, I’ll be over here going through your stuff.

Little Joy is a Brazilian/American rock band that has a blog written in a language I can’t understand.  They have a website that doesn’t offer much but a photo of the band looking very happy to be next to lots of water.  Little Joy also has a Twitter account that is as helpful as their blog and their website.  While I don’t get their online presence, I do get their music.

Their music is just so… it’s just so… listenable.
Really.
It is the perfect background music that doesn’t distract but is excellent mood music for small gatherings.  While you can have it filling the air you breathe with a marvelous and melodious sound, you can also really get into it.  I mean, really let it make you smile.
Have you ever wanted theme music for those times you feel like you should be in a commercial for some hip and/or trendy product?  This is the music that would be playing as you are looking awesome in your casual yet fashionable attire. You pull into a Middle Eastern restaurant with your gal/guy, and as you exit your shiny black vehicle, you throw your head back in laughter as you close the car door and exit the frame in slow-motion …
A few bits of ear candy you should have are from their self-titled album, Little Joy.  The songs are “The Next Time Around,” “Unattainable” and “Brand New Start.”  In that order.
I have included a video of “Unattainable,” a song sung by Binki Shapiro.  When she opens her mouth, her marvelous voice almost startles me it is so perfectly matched to the music.
Plus, this video is weird because it is exactly how I chill with my two Brazilian friends that live in a penthouse.

Unattainable

LITTLE JOY | Myspace Music Videos

There must be something in the water in Seattle, Washington.  Maybe there is something in the coffee.  Either way, the city has produced yet another band that never intended to fall into a resurgence of a Folk Movement.  The Cave Singers released their album Invitation Songs in 2007.This is a place where I needed to add space so I used white text.

This album is most certainly an invitation into a world of music that is earthy with lingering tones that are born out of those deep places we long to know.
Places where our fondest memories are stored.
Places where the scars of our past adorn the walls of our being.
My go-to song by The Cave Singers is Cold Eye. It is simple and profound.  It is also a great song to have play in the quiet morning as you are getting your head together, as you are making your coffee and as you are slowly waking up to new thoughts of the day.
Some other great tracks are Seeds of Night, Royal Lawns and Elephant Clouds.
I could not think of a better album to kick off No Shave November.  You better believe there will be some beard entries this month.

Next charity: water update will be Wednesday with Keiglet Experiment results

Maybe you discovered Iron & Wine by hearing their incredible and simplistic cover of The Postal Service’s song, Such Great Heights.  Maybe you heard the amazing ballad, Flightless Bird, American Mouth, in the painfully unfortunate film Twilight.  Maybe you discovered their CD that was left in the bathroom stall of a rest area just outside Springfield, Ohio — it’s possible.
No matter how you first laid ears on Iron & Wine, there is no mistaking the cathartic vocals of Sam Beam.  Once he gets in your head, he carves his name on the interior of your psyche — unforgettable.
Iron & Wine is not your pre-game pump-up band that will cause you to shoot the ball through the hoop with success.  Nor will it allow you to pass the ball to the man as he runs into the zone for a touch score.  Nor will it enable you to smack the ball any harder so you can get to the bases to win the match.
Beam’s voice and his evocative lyrics have made Iron & Wine a must-have for when I am feeling a bit blue, feeling a little lonely and sometime maybe even feeling a little sleepy.  Don’t pass on this ear candy.

Home.
Man, that is a word that can be packed with meaning.
For some, it is the literal and physical and geographical place in which they reside.
To me, it is more than that.  In fact, I have found that home has been many places…

It has been in the desert of Israel.
It has been in front of a camera working with people in my community (I worked at a television station for almost 10 years).
It has been in the woods with my children as we explored and I could literally watch them become smarter.
It has been in a warm embrace where I could hear a heart beating in my ear…

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros have captured something in their song “Home” that goes beyond music and lyrics.  Sure they sound a little trippy, and yeah — they might even look a little trippy, but there is something raw and tender that pours out of their voices.  I don’t use this word to describe many things — but this song is… sweet.

There.
I said it.
Now get outta here.

(Thanks to Lauren for exposing me to this song.  Also, after you have downloaded and listened to the song over and over again, watch the video below and witness one of their live performances — just try not to smile.)

The mornings when I rise early and go for a stout run allow me a quiet freedom when I return to my home.  I am able to stand in my kitchen and watch the sun rise unhurriedly behind the trees.  I prepare my coffee just the way I like it.  I prepare my usual breakfast of whole wheat toast, peanut butter and banana, topped off with some local honey.  In that quiet and solitude (before my little Ones arise), I want just the right music — just the right song.  As I squint my eyes and take that first sip of the morning, I love to wake up to my coffee and a bit of ear candy called “Skinny Love” by Bon Iver from the album For Emma, Forever Ago.

The haunting voice behind Bon Iver (which is loose French for “Good Winter”) comes from the mouth of Justin Vernon.  This organic folk album has many little jewels on it — “Flume” and “For Emma” are a couple of other standouts to me.  Apparently, Vernon composed and recorded this album while confining himself to his home in Wisconsin during one of their harsh winters.  While I have read that the story has been a bit romanticized, you can still feel the warmth of a soul and the chill of a frozen landscape.

Have you heard of Bon Iver?  If you have, do you like this album or Blood Bank better?  Personally, I am more of a For Emma guy.

Also, thank you all for your ear candy recommendations — I have fallen in love with “At the Beach” by the Avett Brothers.  I believe I have Lauren and Jason to thank for that.

For more Music is for Mondays, click here.
The next big giveaway will be on July 5th, 2010.  Stay tuned until then.

I have always been a fan of animation, especially of the stop-motion variety.
This short animated film was made for the Yellow Bird Project by a man named Jonathan Lindley.
The film features the YBP theme song, “A Field Full of Birds,” by Swedish folk singer/songwriter Kristian Matsson.

The Tallest Man On Earth – A Field Of Birds from Yellow Bird Project on Vimeo.

I am a lover of good music, good art and good t-shirts.  I also am a fan of good people doing good things to help or assist others.
With that being said, I came across an organization that blends all of those things together.  It is called the Yellow Bird Project — cool name, even cooler group of artists and philanthropists.

They describe themselves as:
“… a tree of creativity, with branches joining together indie musicians, charitable organizations, and t-shirts with a fashionable punch.  We’re a non-profit Montreal based organization dedicated to bringing our customers the finest of quality, originality, and philanthropy. We seek out only the coolest of cool artists, collaborate with them to design awesomely awesome tee-shirts, and give all the prettiest of pretty profits to charities of the artists’ choice.”

I think by their own description you can tell that they are pretty cool organization.  Check them out — my Devendra Banhart shirt (which will help fund the Teenage Cancer Trust) is on its way right now.

I have also added their banner to my blog (on the right sidebar) for quick and easy linkage.
…