Gossip Girl

I had to take a look. The cutie emerged from YouTube fame, and hails from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Rolling Stone calls her music “brunch friendly acoustic swing” which is pretty spot on if you listen to it and imagine yourself sitting outside on a sunny Sunday afternoon drinking bloody marys and having eggs florentine. I’m becoming somewhat addicted to her voice. Usually this is where I start to tell you cute little quirky things about the artist I’m writing about, but she was smart enough to do that herself so I figured there’s really no better way I could introduce her to you. Here she is:

Isn’t she super cute? Her self-titled debut album is being released on Brushfire Records, but unfortunately not until May 19th. HOWEVER, you can get more acquainted with her by checking out her YouTube channel here. OR you can listen become her friend and listen to the first single titled “Bitter Heart” here. If you like it enough you can even by it on iTunes here. Already a fan? Check her out on FaceBook here. Her official website is here.

I know you got a little taste of her sound in the above clip, but the following is one of the songs that originally got me sucked in. It’s taken of a live performance, but her voice still sounds great and the song is just well, fitting. Enjoy!

I have to admit that when the five of them took the stage I was a bit skeptical, but it could have been because I was practically blinded by the amount of neon clothing I saw them all wearing.  They hail from Seattle, and even though they claimed it was their first time ever in NYC, I could’ve sworn that they walked right off Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.  As soon as they started playing, the crowd went wild and it was nearly impossible for me to stand still.  I was overwhelmed with the need to dance my ass off, and jump up and down screaming for a band I’d heard about forty seconds of.  As I looked around me I noticed that I wasn’t the only one; everyone was into it.  I remember feeling relieved that there were a lot of other people making total fools of themselves.  It was FUN.  

Here’s one of my favorite songs of the night, “Sophisticated Side Ponytail.”  I feel the need to point out that the girl, Clare England, is not the lead singer of the group.  But her emergence from behind the synth bass was super refreshing and a healthy dose of comic relief:

I agree with the Village Voice that there really is only so much of these guys you can take, as I learned the hard way by listening to the entire album on repeat for three days after seeing them.  However, I think they’d be good to have in your pocket in case you ever need to liven up a boring party or you want to dance around your apartment should you be so inspired.  Of course, if you have the opportunity to see them perform live you will not be disappointed.  

Their debut full-length is titled “Glistening Pleasure“.  They say it’s “because it glistens and is very pleasurable,” but I like it because it reminds me of an old friend of mine who always pronounced words that started with “l” like “gl.”  It makes the play on words that much funnier to me.

To become friends with Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head you can go to Facebook or MySpace.  To read their blog, go here.  If you want a little background on them you can go here.  Unfortunately they don’t divulge how they came up with that awesome name, so if anyone has any theories or insight, please post them in the comments.