Noelle Scaggs and Fleet Foxes
Noelle Scaggs’s recommendation: “Lately it seems like I can’t have my day completed without throwing on something by the Fleet Foxes. A friend of mine put two of their albums on a travel mix for me a couple tours back, and since then I have been either sleeping with Robin Pecknold’s voice or rising with it. It is as though they were born in a castle placed in an enchanted forest that you would find in a story like, Narnia. I really enjoy artists that can manage to build imagery within their music inviting the listener to a new experience. The vocal harmonies matched with their whimsical melody reminds me of the first time I’d ever heard Neil Young, Joni Mitchell & Bird And The Bee, who all spoke to my spirit upon first listen. Their songs have a very calming effect on me which is needed with this non-stop schedule me and the gang currently have. I highly recommend their song Meadowlark to any new mothers whom are trying to calm their child for a nap. I played that beautiful lullaby for my nephew and I think he was as entranced in the lyrics as I was when I first heard it:
Meadowlark fly your way down, I hold a cornucopia and a golden crown for you to wear upon your fleeced gown. My meadowlark sing to me.”
New to Fleet Foxes? Noelle suggests you start here: “If you have never heard Fleet Foxes before, I think the best album to grab would be their self titled LP, Fleet Foxes. It’s a great album from beginning to end and it’s their first full length LP as a band. Check out White Hymnal, Quiet Houses & Your Protector. One should also grab their first EP called Sun Giant and check out a song called Mykonos. This song is a great example of their creativity as composers and lyricists.”
About our guest author, Noelle Scaggs: If you are keyed into all that is hip on the West Coast, then you most definitely have heard of Noelle Scaggs. She started singing at the age of eleven and since has collaborated with The Black Eyed Peas, Dilated Peoples and Mayer Hawthorne. But her cool factor does not end there. She’s also modeled in an art piece for Kanye West and co-hosted TV programming with T-Pain. Her “moment,” however, appears to be NOW as she rocks, shimmies and belts out powerful harmonies in Fitz and the Tantrums. Spy any of the Fitz videos (like the knockout performance on Conan below), witness the energy she brings and just try to take your eyes off of her. Impossible, right? She’s the clearly the co-star here and Fitz himself perhaps puts it best in saying of Noelle, “…we have repartee. Onstage, we’re Ike and Tina.†Fitz and the Tantrums’ new album, Pickin’ Up the Pieces is a hunk of pure joy, an experience that could perhaps only be topped by their ass-shaking, earth-quaking live show (check the tour dates here). More goodness comes with the news Noelle is working on a solo record. Remember her name, folks, and get your iTunes set for download.