David Bowie

Vitamin String Quartet

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VSQ Performs Music from the Films of Wes Anderson

I recently spent an entire afternoon gorging myself on Vitamin String Quartet. Ever heard ’em? You might have without even realizing it. Their classical interpretations of rock and pop songs have been featured on TV shows like The Vampire Diaries, So You Think You Can Dance and Gossip Girl. Don’t watch any of those shows? Well, do you live in Concord, NH? If you did, you’d probably have heard them anyway, as a radio station there played Vitamin String Quartet 24 hours a day this past spring and summer. That’s right, 6 months of one group.

You may be asking yourself, “How is that even possible?”

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Underworld

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[Editor’s Note: The London games have officially been declared open, and I for one am excited as hell — so excited that I’m setting aside a whole blogweek to dive into the crazy stuff that’s happened so far. So without further ado (please read the following words in a British accent), it is my honor to officially declare open You Hear That’s “OMG! OLYMPICS!” week!]

OMG, YOU GUYS! OLYMPICS!

Can we talk about the opening ceremony for a quick second? About the Queen of England (kind of) jumping out of a helicopter? About the hilarious squadron of Industrial Revolution dudes dancing in tuxes and top hats? About the terrifying, 100-foot-tall Voldemort? About the above-pictured sparks-spewing rings that themselves looked like something lifted out of Harry Potter? I must admit to being a little underwhelmed by the first few minutes, with the cricket-playing and the maypole-winding and the over-the-top pastoral bliss, but things picked up significantly, and if you didn’t catch it, I highly recommend you set aside those 3 hours you have just lying around the house and indulge in the most schizophrenic display of national pride you’ll ever see.

Oh wait, I would make that recommendation if NBC wasn’t criminally out of touch with how people consume media these days. They’re militantly policing the interweb, taking down full streams of the opening ceremony wherever they pop up, offering instead chopped up highlights, each with an annoying commercial tacked on to the front. And don’t get me started on how they still think it’s OK to tape-delay events like this to get bigger ratings. Ugh. Dicks.

Wait a minute… this post was supposed to be a celebration! I’m not letting NBC throw an ice pack on my Olympic fever! Let’s look at the sunny side…

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He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister

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He's My Brother, She's My Sister EP

Tryptophantastic Week: Day 3 — He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister
(Click here for Day 1 — Yellow Ostrich and here for Day 2 — Moon Hooch)

Preconceptions are very fickle, so fickle that they may very well be public enemy #1 when it comes to finding and exploring new music. Plus, they don’t always make sense. Take He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister, for example. One of the most dedicated music fans (and most recently minted twitterers) I know told me about this L.A. based outfit last weekend, and I can’t help but laugh at the random association that popped to mind immediately after hearing their name. Remember when Jack and Meg White were passing themselves off as siblings for a while? And then people figured out that they were not siblings, and had in fact been married at one point? Remember that? Two things. 1. This is not normal behavior. 2. The indelible strangeness of this ruse (yes, I’m excited that I get to use the word “ruse,” though I do feel like I’m typing in the voice of a soap opera actor) has made it so the White Stripes are the first thing I think of when confronted with a brother-sister musical group. It’s ironic and stupid. Fortunately, it doesn’t matter how distracted I may be by two people pretending to be blood relatives, the He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister EP is fantastic and engrossing and preconception-proof. Rob and Rachel Kolar are the namesake bro and sis, and the group’s 7-track EP is so jam packed with surprises — unexpected instrumentation, subtle touches that add texture and personality, stylistic swings — that it’s as impervious to prejudgement as it is enjoyable and re-listenable. And a Kill-Bill-Vol.-2-trumpet-infused cover of “Moonage Daydream” doesn’t hurt, either. Did you know David Bowie’s real name is David Jones? Just sayin’. While “Tales That I Tell” and “How’m I Gonna Get Back Home” are both highly recommendable, upbeat tunes, I can’t resist sharing with you “The House That Isn’t Mine,” which embodies the EP’s sneaky, varied brilliance so perfectly. Listen below and buy the He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister EP on iTunes here.

He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister — “The House That Isn’t Mine“