In the Room Where You Sleep - Dead Man's Bones

Actors Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields first met in 2005 when Ryan was dating his "The Notebook" co-star Rachel McAdams and Zach was dating her sister Kayleen. They bonded over creepy things and, together with a bunch of kids (yes, kids), they put together Dead Man's Bones.

The self-titled debut album will be released October 6, 2009. You can pre-order it now.

Please, take a moment to read the band's wonderful first interview with Pitchfork. (My favorite quote from the interview: "You know when you're a kid and you get crayons and papers and just draw whatever you want and it's just a bunch of messy lines, but to you it makes sense, and then they put it on the fridge? From that point on, you're always trying to get back on the fridge, you start drawing things that look like something, like, the more it looks like a horse, the more chance you have of getting it on the fridge. We wanted to get back to that place before we were trying to make the fridge. We wanted to work with people who hadn't been affected in that way yet." - Ryan Gosling)

In the Room Where You Sleep by Dead Man's Bones from the 2009 album "Dead Man's Bones"



Dead Man's Bones website

Dead Man's Bones MySpace page

Monday Morning - Pulp

Formed in Sheffield, England in 1978 as teenagers, Pulp struggled their entire career to find a definitive style. Challenged by personnel changes, label changes, and drug addiction, the band broke up in 2002.

Monday Morning by Pulp from the 1995 album "Different Class"



Pulp fansite

Red Rain - Peter Gabriel

Maybe it's "bill paying day." Maybe it's the reading I've been doing lately. Maybe it's events in the news these days. Whatever it is, the lyrics from the chorus of this song started dancing around my head today. I haven't even thought about this song in ages, yet here it is, spinning and swirling and looping through my brain. "Red rain is pouring down, Pouring down all over me."

Born February 13, 1950 in Chobham, Surrey, England, Peter Gabriel has had a long and successful career as both a musician and a humanitarian. He was a founding member, singer and flautist for the band Genesis from 1967-1975. He released his first album as a solo artist in 1977.

Red Rain by Peter Gabriel from the 1986 album "So"



Peter Gabriel website

Mabon - Omnia

Mabon. The autumnal equinox. The second harvest. The time of balance between light and dark. The witch's thanksgiving.

I absolutely love this song. In it I can hear the crisp air sing as leaves begin to change colors, showing off their vibrant reds and yellows and oranges before they fall. The energy of the harvest time vibrates with joy and celebration and accomplishment.

Dutch pagan-folk band Omnia is one of my favorites. They sing in English, German, Dutch, Gaelic, Finnish, Hindi and play hurdy-gurdy, harp, bodhrán, guitar, bouzouki, didgeridoo, flutes, bagpipes, and all sorts of drums and percussion instruments.

Mabon by Omnia from the 2004 album "The Crone of War" (also on "Live Religion" released in 2005)




Omnia's official webpage

Omnia's MySpace page

Ah, Sunflower - Unto Ashes

I like that this video has no ... ummm ... video. It gives you a chance to just listen to the music and the beautiful words of William Blake.

Ah! sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the travellers journey is done;

Where the youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves and aspire;
Where my sunflower wishes to go.

William Blake (1757-1827)

Formed in 1997, Unto Ashes is a Dark Wave band based in New York City that combines elements of New Age, folk and madrigal music and performs with instruments as varied as dulcimer, cello, piano, guitar, violin and hurdy-gurdy. Current members of the band are Michael Laird, Natalia Lincoln and Mariko.

Ah, Sunflower by Unto Ashes from the 2007 album "Empty into White"



Unto Ashes website

Unto Ashes MySpace page

So Quiet - Heartless Bastards

"Have you heard Heartless Bastards? Pure awesome stuff." This was a tweet (yes, on Twitter) I received bright and early this morning. "Not, yet," I responded, then ran (or whatever you'd call the online equivalent) off to see what I could find. Oh, my! What a great turn on this turned out to be! (If you're on Twitter, I highly recommend you follow @darthbender - he has excellent taste in music.)

The Heartless Bastards, an indie garage band from Cincinnati, Ohio fronted by vocalist Erika Wennerstrom, formed in 2003. Their third album, "The Mountain", was released in February 2009 on Fat Possum Records.

So Quiet by the Heartless Bastards from the 2009 album "The Mountain"



Heartless Bastards website

Heartless Bastards MySpace page

Wooden Pints - Korpiklaani

This song makes me laugh (as do most of the songs I've heard from this band). Lyrics aside, I love a metal band with fiddle and accordion. (Take that, Dad! If you play the accordian, you can so be in a rock-n-roll band no matter what that song in Ishtar says.)

Formerly known as Shaman, Korpiklaani is a folk metal band from Finland whose name means "Wilderness Clan" in Finnish. It began as a Sami folk music restaurant house band in 1993. Over the years, with changes in personnel, they added the heavy metal element to their already established folk sensibilities and frat boy drunken senses of humor (most of their songs are about drinking and partying). The result is a good, loud, raucous time.

Wooden Pints by Korpiklaani from the 2003 album "Spirit of the Forest"



Korpiklaani website

Korpiklaani MySpace page