Why hello!

There's a little trail of my breadcrumbs across the interwebs of my old blogs that you have somehow landed on.
Have a browse, and then hurry over to Sometimes Elna Blogs, which is where the real (current) party is at.

That's all. Carry on.

Oh, hello world. The new blog.

As promised, Here's the link to my new personal blog. I'm excited about it and really hope I'm able to keep it exciting and up and running.

If you're really only here for the music, go and listen to A Weather. I would give you a juicy review... but I only found them 5 minutes ago. So far so good.

Have a nice day:)

I know you want to be different, but you should probably move past that.

I'm sorry the blog's been dead lately, but I've been working hard on my new blog baby- a more personal space about traveling and other pretty things. I've loved writing the Sound Between, and I'll still keep the blog open, but blogs just aren't the main pipeline for the music world, so I've decided to rather focus on other things for now.

I'll post the link for the new blog here when it's done, so keep checking in please!

For now though, I'd like you to meet an awesome guy called Jacob Ulickij and his one-man band New Orleans Swim Team. 

I'm not very familiar with talk-music, but this feels like good stuff to me.
His honest lyrics are like raw, unvarnished wood, but captivating in the way whispers are in loud rooms. Expect intricate metaphors and a voice that is clearly laced with strong emotion.
We're talking here about a 18 year-old Canadian who nicked instruments from his school to record in his basement... don't you just love the underdog?

Jacob's sound direction was new to me, so it felt very experimental and fresh. Download the full album with lyrics for free on bandcamp and give it a decent chance. I hope it grows on you to.

Try.... You Were A Ground Level Limb

Listen to New Orleans Swim Team... for something to think about.

"I'm not as much a builder

as I am a man with gasoline

and a fire's flicker in my eyes,

set on you it would seem"

-What We're Not

We dance and grow on through our darkest days

There are so many great South African bands on the scene lately it's hard to line them all up and pick out the best like this is fourth grade gym class. So, instead I offer you just a random little smorgasbord (fancy word alert) of nice local tunes.
Enjoy and then go find more!

Checked Zebra - Koudinikaap
Here's a funky Cape Town band, which already makes them cool, of course. (I'm only half kidding;)
This song is just unbelievably catchy and will make you a little happier. And really, when last did you hear a song with the word 'shu-wap'?

Jakkals- Woah, Nelly!
In the same vein, here's another animal-named Cape Town act that's just as upbeat as those patterned zebras.What I really like about these guys that you know straight away you'd have a ball at their gigs. There's this South African energy in bands like this that make listening to them live just so much fun, and the Jakkals seem to fit the bill.

Die Tuin Dwergies- Kopskudkinders
I'm not even remotely Afrikaans, but there's something smooth and and vibey about this song that I quite like. Plus their name is awesome and they're from my hometown, Pretoria. Win!

I could go on and on, but that's enough for now. I leave you with this pretty little vid by Fulka, that makes me want a banjo even more.


image by Dylan

can I be close to you?

I was going to make this a part of longer post on music videos, but now it's a gorgeous, sunny Friday morning and this song just fits. *happiness*

I like how the Paper Kites have layered this songs, without it loosing any of it's quiet smoothness. The whistling with the different acoustic instruments makes it just a little quirky while being quite melodious and sweet.

The lyrics are a like a love poem- the good, sincere kind, no roses are red cheesiness. I really appreciate love songs like this, that you can hear are a reflection of something deep and special, that just happened to escape into the outer world. True love songs are not written to be heard by the others, and that's what makes them so great.

Hoping you're having a great Friday.

Oh, the whole world is sleeping, 

But my world is you. 

Can I be close to you?