This amazing illustration (above) is the work of a stunning Tucson artist simply named Milk. Her gallery of semi-avante garde artwork intricately blends elements of classic art styles with symbols of modernism that often reflect the darker and more disturbing side of love, loneliness and apparently substance abuse. Milk's art is simply memorizing, and it is no surprise that she is a favorite among indie bloggers, 'underground' artists and digital art enthusiasts. Milk rises above the sea of wanna-be artists and stakes her claim - even if it's with a pitchfork or a needle - as an accomplished, brilliant artist at a caliber worthy of being presented at trendy art galleries in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, Paris, Tokyo and London.

Now on to the playlist of Valentine's tracks. For a number of years, I have been building numerous playlists categorized from alt country to world music, and every other possible category/theme in between - punk/hardrock; feel good; interstate; bad girls; acoustic; live; dark; pop, etc.

Most of the playlists published on IRC feature indie and alternative rock artists and bands. In December, IRC ran an extremely popular series of alternative Christmas song playlists, so it makes sense to do the same for Valentine's Day weekend 2008.

The following tracks recall 'first times', relationships, break-ups, broken hearts, jealousy, longing and everything else that falls under the umbrella of love - or, if you will, "lovabyes".

Lovabyes is a play on words of course - well more like a made-up word - meant to represent the highs and lows of love without being too cynical. You may have not heard many of the songs on this playlist, and if you have, you really know your indie, alternative, rock and pop music.

Watch out for many more upcoming playlists, including the upcoming "They Stood Up" - a collection of indie and alt songs to pay tribute to Black History Month, Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama and countless others who have fought for what is right, just and moral.

Now, for the love of music and the music of love, IRC presents:

Indie Love Songs 2008, Playlist I

Bright Eyes - I Will Be Grateful For This Day

Lucky Souls (website) - Add Your Light To Mine, Baby

Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken

Broken Social Scene - Lover's Spit

Bill Richinni - Angela

Architecture in Helsinki - Heart It Races

The Clientele - I Hope I Know You

Jens Lekman - And I Remember Every Kiss
(photo, bottom left)

Josh Rouse - It Looks Like Love

Beirut - Postcards From Italy


Add the Feed Me Indie feed to get Indie Love Songs II and many more playlists throughout 2008.

Other recent posts:
- Cat Power's new release Jukebox, MP3s and concert tour
- Bonnaroo music festival, line-up and tickets
- The low-down on Coachella: Tickets, line-up, maps, camping

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe for the Feed Me Indie feed via RSS, Atom, iTunes or your favorite reader and podcaster.

Labels: Beirut, Bill Richinni, Bright Eyes, Camera Obscura, Indie Rock Playlists, Indie Valentines, Jens Lekman, Josh Rouse, Love Songs, Lucky Souls, Valentine's Day Songs, Valentine's Playlists

The super-talented emo-rock indie band Bright Eyes, flying on the success of the release of the Four Winds EP and a string of hot shows in New York City two weeks ago, are teasing fans with the upcoming full-length release of their long anticipated album Cassadaga scheduled for official release by the band's own indie label, Saddle Creek Records.

Cassadaga is Bright Eyes' first full-length album in two years. The album is titled after the name of a town knof psychics in Florida.

If you can't wait until April 10, you can stream the entire Cassadaga album from the band's record label website.

Just in the past few years, the band has achieved enormous success worldwide. In fact, their stardom rivals that of "Big Five" label artists who have worked decades to reach the same level of popularity and record sales.

In 2004, the band hit the Billboard Hot Top 100 twice within two weeks of release with their singles "Lua" and "Take It Easy (Love Nothing)." While they have not released a new album since 2005, rumors say it's in the works.

The new EP, Four Winds, currently No. 5 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums charts, is a pre-ample for the upcoming release of Cassadaga, which critics call the band's best work to date. The album is as American as anything Oberst has ever created with intricate observations of American history - good and bad - as he travels across the country.

In the single "Four Winds", Oberst writes "off to old Dakota where genocide sleeps, in the Black Hills, the Badlands, the calloused East, I buried my ballast, I made my peace." Other notable songs include the ironic "Soul Singer in a Session Band," the energetic "hot Knives" and a show favorite "I Must Belong Somewhere".

On the Saddle Creek Records website, the fun song "Make A Plan To Plan To Love Me" is described as "Bright Eyes at their most playful; a straight-up love song, replete with girl group vocals and Burt Bacharach strings.

From the website: "Oberst, the fumbling guitarist whose impassioned prose tumbles out under stark stage spotlights, is still recognizable in every track, but the songs are rich with elaborate production, cinema-sized orchestration and, at times, sprawling, almost psychedelic, atmospherics. "

Here is the official track listing for Cassadaga:

1. Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)
2. Four Winds [mp3 link above]
3. If The Brakeman Turns My Way
4. Hot Knives
5. Make A Plan To Love Me
6. Soul Singer In A Session Band
7. Classic Cars
8. Middleman
9. Cleanse Song
10. No One Would Riot For Less
11. Coat Check Dream Song
12. I Must Belong Somewhere
13. Lime Tree

Bright Eyes is the creation of guitarist, singer and songwriter Conor Oberst and producer and instrumentalist Mike Mogie and Nate Walcott.

The band is also frequently joined by many indie artists from the Omaha scene and beyond, including Andy LeMaster (Now It's Overhead), Ben Kweller, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Maria Taylor, Rachel Yamagata, M. Ward, Janet Weiss (ex-Sleater Kinney), Jason Boesel (Rilo Kiley) and John McEntire (Tortoise).

Bright Eyes is somewhat like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene - they have rejected Big Five contracts and make wonderful, creative and experimental music that involves artists from other bands or disciplines in a rotating-type fashion.

Fame and experience in the business world is nothing new to these guys, especially for Oberst who caught the attention of the indie rock world in 1994 at the age of 14! as the founder, singer and songwriter of the indie outfit Commander Venus.

Realted Links:

Bright Eyes Spring 2007 Tour and Show Dates

Bright Eyes MySpace

Labels: 2007 Concert Dates, Best New Indie CDs, Bright Eyes, Bright Eyes Tour Dates, Bright Eyes' Shows, New Releases, Popular Alternative Rock, Popular Indie Bands