Heard

Many of us have a deep fascination with rock climbers. Big wall climbers in particular captivate our wonder and attention as we marvel at their daring feats of courage. And in the movie Alone on the Wall… Read the rest from Sender Films, fans are introduced to a new breed of climber and

Here at Wend… Read the rest, we’re frequently inclined to bring you world music on our Monday feature of sounds. But today we’re celebrating our American roots by featuring a band that hails from Louisiana and plays a Cajun style of folk music more than worthy of a Monday listen.
The band

Carla Morrison‘s voice is soft, subtle and soothing. And the Mexican musician’s cooing sound carries lyrics in spanish that touch on the subjects of ‘Lagrimas’ (Tears), and ‘Este Soledad’ (This Solitude) with melancholic charm.
Morrison’s music almost sounds as if it could be echoing out of a small child’s music… Read the rest

Take a look at this three-and-a-half-minute music video and you may not realize it took, according to the artists, Mattson 2, “5 men, 2 cars, 13 airplanes, 32 beers, 12 eggs, a broken generator, sunblock, a 10-22mm wide angle lens, a giant caterpillar, 1/2 of a kitchen and an ocotillo… Read the rest

Taj Weekes and Adowa, though adored by their reggae fans, refuse to fit into a specific genre. Though their songs are heavily influenced by the classic country and calypso Weekes grew up listening to on the island of St. Lucia, their music incorporates sounds of roots rock, funk and West… Read the rest

Pistolera is a New York City-based band that’s rooted in traditional Mexican sounds. Their third album, however, El Desierto y La Ciudad, comes with an element of contemporary style that’s beautifully infused into the sound Pistolera has come to be known for.
According to the band’s Amazon biography, El Desierto … Read the rest

A couple months ago, we featured Musicwood the documentary on the Wend blog. If you need a reminder, here’s the lowdown on the film:
Musicwood is a documentary film that follows a group of the world’s finest guitar makers as they attempt to save the largest National Forest in the … Read the rest

His name, Vieux Farka Touré, may be hard to pronounce, but the music on his newly released album is smooth, subtle and powerfully easy to listen to. Each track on The Secret… Read the rest reaches my ear with a sense of familiarity, as if I’ve heard the song before… though I know

The Jackalope Saints are a Portland-based string band that plays folk-bluegrass music rooted in tradition with an updated style. The Saints’ bio explains the group as follows:
Adding a twist of soul and stirring the pot a new sound surfaces: Navy Bluegrass River Rock. It is the howling sound of … Read the rest

This Music Monday, we present you with Steve Martin–comedic legend and banjo bad-ass. If you’re a die-hard fan of the actor, you might already know that he’s pretty serious about playing the banjo. Martin was quoted in an NPR article as saying the following:
“The thing about the banjo,” says … Read the rest

The rhythmic movement that accompanies music–otherwise known as dance–is what inspired this album, Room of Wonders, pioneered by banjo player Jayme Stone. It’s conception came about one night while Stone cooked dinner; listening to French Suites … Read the restby Bach, Stone felt the inexorable need to dance. “It was an epiphany moment,”

It’s not often that you hear new old school R & B, which is part of why we chose, today, to feature the artist Raphael Saadiq, who makes music in 2011that sounds different than anything else out there. His new album, Stone Rollin’… Read the rest, embodies old school R & B

There are many ways to pronounce a word; there’s a bunch of wrong ways, and then there’s the American way. But in the outdoor world, there are so many foreign brands that proper phonetics could make you look well-traveled and maybe even highly educated and cultured. Other than winning some… Read the rest

Is this week’s Music Monday post more about the video or the music? You decide. Either way, we believe art, music and film go together beautifully to make a meaningful final product–the way vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream come together to make the perfect base for a banana split.… Read the rest

Yes, Music Monday has already been posted. But this–Bicycle Samba–deserves our attention all the same. This video is visually and audibly entertaining, so if you’re feeling the Monday Blues or simply love bikes, press play.
[Via: Sophie Clements and John Hendicott]… Read the rest