I believe submarines...

It has been a long time since a band and their album have consumed my life the way The Lumineers and their self-titled album have, and not just because a cute boy recently kissed me in front of a submarine. Their melodies and lyrics, which are joyful, at times filled with melancholy and always thoughtful, swirl in my head whether I am actively listening to them or not. 

The Lumineers at SXSW  ©accidental-music.com

Their lyrics are heavily inspired by history, which certainly appeals to my nerdy nature. I once described them as the love child of The Avett Brothers and The Head and the Heart and I’ll stick with that description. 

They are paving their way in the music industry and into our ears and hearts. “Ho Hey” is quickly climbing charts with its delightful and catchy melody and because we all want to belong to someone and be his sweetheart. "Classy Girls" is the song I want to play to every boy that tries to kiss me in a bar and "Stubborn Love" reminds me to keep my head up when I get close to being swallowed up by indifference. 

I have become so entirely engrossed in this album that I have decorated my walls with the lyrics from my favorite song and even devoted an entire evening to being the girl with flowers in her hair. 

Their album is more than worth the download. May it stick with you and may you fall in love with this wonderful group as much as I have. 

Favorite Albums of 2012 (So Far)

I hope you are all as startled as I am to realize that we are already half way through 2012 and it's time to look at some of the great albums that have been released so far this year. This year's list was tricky to put together because there are two albums that have been so overwhelmingly good that they have entirely dominated my music listening. I'm looking at you, Lumineers and Of Monsters and Men. It's become an actual problem because every time I go to listen to a new album I think, well, I'll just listen to The Lumineers or Of Monsters and Men first...and then I end up listening to them on repeat for several hours. I asked Max to send me his list of favorite albums and these two amazing bands were two of his three picks as well, because they are just that good!

The Lumineers- "The Lumineers"



Of Monsters and Men- My Head is an Animal



Despite these two albums capturing my heart and holding it captive, this has been a stellar year for music and honorable mention for albums so far needs to be given to a few other deserving artists. Kimbra and Alabama Shakes make the rest of my list as well as Andrew Bird, who Max mentioned in his top 3. He also gave honorable mention to Delta Spirit and Dr Dog.

Kimbra- "Vows"



Technically her album came out in 2011 in her homeland of Australia, but it only came out last month here in the States so I'm totally counting it. She reminds me of Katy Perry but with a little more funk and way better. It's no surprise that she has already announced her own headlining tour.

Andrew Bird "Break It Yourself"



Alabama Shakes "Boys & Girls"




Delta Spirit "Delta Spirit"



Dr Dog "Be The Void"


As always, please tell me what amazing albums have captured your heart and ears so far this year and leave them in the comment section.

What we were obsessing over this time last year

When Rats Get In The Way of Music...Also My Sleep

I'd like to tell you the story of a girl who wanted to be the best music blogger she could be, except her wireless went out and then her home was aggressively invaded by rats, and somewhere in the midst of avenging her apartment, cleaning up vermin feces (which are EVERYWHERE) and trying to make the wireless work (which the rats didn't even bother to help with), she forgot to tell you about all the the outstanding music happening right now, the tenth Dave Matthews Band concert she went to, how she can't stop listening to The Lumineers new album, or how she already has a countdown on her wall to ACL because seriously, have ya'll SEEN that lineup??

This is outdated. I have killed 15. Also, this is actually on my cupboard.

I am that girl. I have killed 15 rats (on my own) and was recently offered a job by the exterminator, who has been out to my apartment three times now and we are like family. I didn't take the job, despite his pleading. I would never work with family. Many have asked why I don't just pack up and move. They make a very good case, but I love my apartment and do not believe in surrendering to such vile creatures. I also saw The Avengers recently and what would that movie have been if they were all, "Meh, we'll just go to a new city." NEVER SURRENDER!

It seems like the rats are under control and out of my apartment, I figured out how to make my wireless work, finally slept and I am back to tell you all about everything I am obsessing over in the music world.

For starters, tomorrow night I will be heading to the Foster the People/ The Kooks/ Kimbra show out at The Backyard. Will it probably be me and a bunch of annoying teenagers? No doubt. Do I care? Not in the slightest. My love for Foster the People is well known, Kimbra was absolutely stellar during SXSW and The Kooks are super fun. Maybe I'll even be lucky enough to accidentally stalk FTP like last time, which I swear, was a total accident.

Expect lots of posts this week, tumblr updates, and maybe I'll even throw in a fun playlist as a peace offering for my absence.


Sometimes I write for QRO Magazine. My latest review was for the Tune-Yards show last week at ACL Live.

Tune-Yards Review

I also write another blog that's entirely frivolous and without much purpose or point. I've even been known to write about what I eat for breakfast. Fair warning.

 Accidentaleuphoria.com

The Lumineers at SXSW

I remember in 2011 standing at the front of Antone's listening to a band I had never heard of from Seattle as they harmonized and swept up my soul in their beautiful, melancholic melodies. They were The Head and the Heart and their songs have not been far from my ears since. The Lumineers, who I recently referred to as "the love child of The Head and the Heart, The Avett Brothers and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros" were a transformative group in a lot of the same ways at this years SX. Their melodies had a way of getting to me and taking up residence. I don't think they will go anywhere for quite a while and though I don't often like to see bands more than once during SXSW if I can help it, I gladly changed plans to hear them as often as possible. 

Lumineers at SXSW 2012 Photo by Amanda

I heard them the first night at an unofficial event at Cedar Street Courtyard and later in the week when they filmed a few songs in a living room downtown. They are as infectious live as they are streamed through soundcloud (which is the only place I can seem to find them right now-album out April 3 though!) Their songs have a delightful range within the indie, folk, rock, spectrum, gracefully winding between upbeat, fun songs like "Classy Girls" and mellower, "Slow It Down". Their single "Ho Hey" had everyone singing along. They were easily one of my favorite groups at the festival this year and I am excited to follow their journey.

Lumineers at SXSW 2012 Photo by Amanda

The Lumineers at SXSW 2012 Photo by Amanda

The Lumineers at SXSW 2012 Photo by Amanda

The Lumineers with Accidental Music

SXSW 2012 Preview: The Lumineers

One of the bands I am most looking forward to seeing at SXSW is The Lumineers. I think they are perhaps the love child of The Head and the Heart, The Avett Brothers and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. They hails from Denver, where Wesley Schultz, Jeremiah Fraites and cellist, Neyla Pekarek have honed their beautiful Americana sound. Wesley and Jeremiah were childhood friends who found solace in music after the death of Jeremiah's brother. Their sound carries melancholic undertones and rich, emotive lyrics and melodies. They have a limited amount of music out to the world right now, but what there is, I am already addicted to. They have already caught the attention of David Dye of the World Cafe (my all time musical guru). Their official showcase for SXSW will be at St. Davids on Saturday night (Mar 17) and they are setting off on tour after that to promote their self-titled debut album.