I love harmony. Harmony can give such a richness and fullness to a song. This weeks artist of the week, Lady Danville — formed in UCLA but originally from Danville, executes on singing harmonies very beautifully.

What does Lady Danville sound like?
Lady Danville is quirky, acoustic, folk pop with multi-layered harmonies and simple, but deep lyrics.

Why I high five Lady Danville.
Who knew a group from Danville would excite me? Being born and raised in the Bay Area I am more than familiar with where Danville is located. Like the city, Lady Danville is simple both musically and lyrically. This isn’t an insult. Most of Lady Danville’s live arrangements consist of just a piano, an acoustic guitar and a cajon box drum. Arranging these instruments with well executed three-part harmonies give each song richness and fullness you wouldn’t have expected.

Lady Danville is not only impressive musically, but also lyrically. There is a lot of simple lyrics that pack a punch of meaning. Here are some of my favorite excerpts:

all aboard all alone on deck
i took her out to the sea
with just an oar over blackened swell
waiting out there for me
she’s waiting out there for me

From “Ship Song”

I’m puttin it all down
You gotta believe me this time
Im a tired a magician
Keeping my hands in resign
I see that you’re doin’ fine
Please nothing else for my mind
So grateful
So grateful

From “Tired Magician”

I can’t wait to see Lady Danville live, hopefully they come to the Bay Area again soon!

It’s Tuesday again! And, I have quite the quirky artist for you. His name is Gotye, or very oddly pronounced “Gore-Tee-Yeah” (Yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed that either). He is an international artist from Australia, but he is slowly making his impact in other countries with his song “Heart’s A Mess”.

What does Gotye sound like?
A quirky and fun melting pot of genres including, but not limited to, raggae, jazz, lounge, blues, and motown.

Why I recommend Gotye.
Many artists have tried to break the boundries of genres and experiment in blurring the lines that define them. Gotye is one of the few that do it amazingly well. His album “Like Drawing Blood” has an array of different genres on the album and each of the songs all have a mesh of several. Part of his success in building such great sounds is his ability to sample. He doesn’t do it in an offensive way like many of today’s popular chart-topping hits, but in a respectful way. Simply put, the results of Gotyes sounds are intoxicating. They pull you in, like it’s completely new, yet also familiar. I highly recommend his album — there is also a remix album out of his single “Heart’s A Mess” (I have mixed feelings on that album).

Gotye – Heart’s A Mess

Every Tuesday I will begin high fiving indie artists that deserve way more attention than they are currently getting.  Awesome music warrants an awesome high five.  This weeks awesome artist is Van Risseghem (and has pre-written bio tells me it’s pronounced – “Riss-Egg-Hem”).

What does Van Risseghem sound like?
An acousti-chill and folk-pop rock sound intertwined with God-inspired romance.

Why I recommend Van Risseghem.

Van Risseghem is not inventing a new sound, but what does work in his favor is his voice. The tone of his voice combined with his mellow strums and plucks make for a relaxing and soothing sound.

More exciting than his musical talent is his ability to write profound lyrics. Van Risseghem has a knack for writing lyrics that have strong ties to heaven.

From “Home”:

God has made a home for me in your heart,
Cause he knows my home in heaven seems so very far
From here.
…
I don’t know what the future holds,
But I know one thing for sure,
That God has made a home for me and you.

From “We Could Be Friends”:

Soon I’ll die and I’ll be with the Lord,
In my home in heaven I’ve been waiting for.
And I’ll walk down the streets of gold with pride,
Cause from the early moments of my life I realized;
That we could be friends,
from the beginning to the very end,
and it doesn’t matter what they say,
because I will love you til’ the very last day of our lives.

The effect is powerful. He is able to inject his faith into his song in ways that are not intrusive or out of place. See for yourself in his album: “The Motions”. He also has a christmas hymn album that I highly recommend called: “He Is No Stranger”.

I look forward to hearing more work from Van Ressighem.