I hope you don't like this song very much. Or, better put: I'd advise you not to get too attached to this song, show up at a GROK show, and expect them to recreate this recording live. See, GROK's got a thing or two to prove, and that thing or two has plenty to do with improvisation. They have no songs (at least not in that written, structured, rehearsed, performed sense of "song"), the songs they do have are performed only once so that every GROK show is a one-of-a-kind, highly unique experience, and audience members act as collaborators by suggesting a theme for a song, playing an instrument, or spinning the Wheel of Chordal Destiny. Their music sounds just as fun and whimsical, as is the case in "Pink Shirt." Don't worry if you find yourself listening to "Pink Shirt" more than once. To disagree with GROK is ultimately GROK. Don't think about it, just listen...
www.dedearrecords.com
www.grokmusic.co.uk
In teaching high school history, especially the things I lived through, I've often used a simple rule when choosing primary sources: don't use things you love. In other words, avoid being hurt, intentionally or otherwise, when everyone else is unimpressed by that which changed your life. And so, it's hesitantly and humbly that I offer up John Prine today. A few years ago, the 3hive writers came up with a "dream post" list, and Prine was high up on mine. I don't know where I'd be without having internalized a degree of the optimistic outlook on life expressed in songs like "Please Don't Bury Me," or that remembrance of what matters in "Storm Windows," or the embrace of passion and self in "Angel from Montgomery." You know I could go on and on. John Prine is a legend, a treasure, a gift. I know I'm breaking my rule, but I also know I'm right.
I think it's pretty safe to say that you won't be hearing about Zooey from many other music sites. A few weeks ago the band sent out an email blast and they forgot to BCC their mailing list. Ouch! Poor Zooey got an earful about that faux pas. Instead of drinking the Haterade I thought I'd listen in on what Zooey had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised by their semi-easy-listening-electronica. Zooey recently remixed "Change of Destination" by Monade and, if you can imagine, they made it even bubblier than the original. "Little Thunder" is brand new music while "You Gave Your Love to Me Softly" and "Rendez-vous" are from their 2005 self-released LP Pique-nique et jeux dans l'eau, which you can download in its entirety. Zooey is sweet, playful, and with the exception of their little "accident," perfectly charming.
The summer may have just begun, officially, but it's that time of the year: the late June music funk. Funk not as in George Clinton funk, but funk as in I just can't find anything I want to listen to. 
Is Olga Bell a Bjork sound-a-like? Not exactly. She probably gets asked this a lot, so to combat the similarities between their grand and ethereal Scandinavian voices--she cleverly decided to answer this question by starting with tribute. covering a Bjork track! She's firmly not-Bjork. Nor is she Bjork-lite. When I first heard Bell, I was so-so on the whole thing. As when smelling a glass of wine, I was getting over-strong notes of the aforementioned Icelandic star and Radiohead. But my friend Seth kept telling me how much he loved her, so I kept listening. Where I ended up with was this: Bell is a singer whose personality comes through in her voice, a love for the staccato beat and someone I have come to really like listening to. I also love that she is Russian born, Alaska-reared and has somehow ended up in my own beloved Brooklyn. She also calls her laptop and instrument. And while I have been a detractor re: "laptops are music!" for ages, I'm kind of willing to buy that in her case.