A shoutout: Left As Rain
Left As Rain is a music blog I discovered many years ago. Anytime I've recommended a song that has made me seem solidly cooler than I actually am? Well, odds are I heard about it here. The blog is simple. Songs are posted and you can listen to them. Shuffling songs is an option, too. That's it. I love it.
Even though some songs were posted years ago, you'd probably never know it. They sound as fresh as ever. I've discovered things here that I find myself listening to over and over. My current obsession? Derek Simpson's Baby Come Home. Before that? Big Data's Dangerous and Car Seat Headrest's Drunk Drivers Killer Whales, two really strong singles that are now in heavy rotation on the indie/college stations.
They have a great ear for timeless music. They pointed me to Chvrches way before they blew up. Foster the People. Metric. Phoenix. Zero 7. All this indie cool stuff. And if you don't like something? Skip it. On to the next song.
It's just nice to have a place to find music that isn't bogged down in its own BS reviewing music telling you if something is good or not. They offer it freely. Hell, your ears will review it shortly. They have two small ads on the side, sure, but the site is elegant so you barely notice them. I usually buy singles/albums of anything I'm obsessed with by just googling the artist. The guys aren't getting some huge kickback. To quote their bio page, they're, "simply dudes trying to share some good music while letting the listener know what's on our mind".
Oh - and they have a solid appreciation of covers, which are one of my favorite things ever, so bonus points.
So yeah. Check out a thing I like. As a side note, over the last couple weeks they have been the reason for my peace of mind at work. Some primo music to be the soundtrack of my flurry of activity has been so helpful. So yes. Is good. Go listen.