We first heard this Joni Mitchell cover on Parenthood and couldn’t stop listening to it for days. Blake’s album got a lot of interest this year and made many other best of lists, but it’s this one haunting song from his EP to which we keep coming back again and again.
Buy Enough Thunder by James Blake
Bootstraps describe themselves as a band from Los Angeles. This video for their song, “Fortyfive” is low budget, but it’s not low on quality or emotion. Have a listen.
Bootstraps Music on Tumblr
Buy Bootstraps’ self-titled debut
This is not the best show on television, by a long shot. However, it’s the only current show, other than Entourage, of which I’ve seen every episode. Most likely, I’m attracted to it by my own almost complete lack of family—this show is full of families. It also takes place in the city where I went to school and often uses tight, close-up shots in a manner similar to that of Friday Night Lights. It’s no surprise, given that it uses the same writers. The lighting for some of the evening, outdoor scenes is gorgeous, and the musical selections are often nuanced and thoughtful. What other television show has used Azure Ray’s “Don’t Leave My Mind”? That’s right: no other show.