You gotta march!

Since this blog is going to revolve mostly around music (and my life), I've decided to do a weekly feature on a "you oughta know" artist. This week: Sleigh Bells.

The Sleigh Bells story is short and sweet. The two members of the band met in 2008 in a restaurant where one was a waiter and the other a patron with a nosy mom. After recording an EP, they were picked up by M.I.A.'s label. As they say, the rest is history.

Now when I first heard Sleigh Bells in FYE at the mall last year, I couldn't believe my ears. It was one of my favorite songs as a kid, "Mickey," but way cooler and with way more bass. Upon asking one of FYE's overly friendly employees, I found out the song was "Riot Rhythm," off of Sleigh Bells' 2010 release, Treats.

I had first decided to keep the band a secret. What better way to ensure that I would keep loving all 11 songs on the album than if I could guarantee they'd never be played on the radio? But I couldn't resist. I started playing the songs in dance class and telling anyone who would listen that Treats caused, as I put it best, an eargasm.

You'll have to listen for yourself, but if I had to compare them to anything, it would be cheerleaders at a rave messing around with a drum machine. From songs like "Riot Rhythm," "Tell 'Em" and "Kids" (which you may have heard on an MTV commercial), to softer songs like "Rill Rill," which reminds me of something from the 50's or 60's, Treats is surely only the beginning of a long music career for Sleigh Bells.

The best is yet to come.

Have you ever been left out of something? You felt sad, depressed, angry. Then new facts came to light, and you're thankful you weren't included? Yep. I reached that epiphany last night. I guess you could call it karma. "Hey, thanks for leaving me out of that. And by the way, sucks to be you!"

I'm listening to my Michael Buble Pandora station and loving life right now. Workload's pretty light today. I'm working on an article about the climate change's affect on our health, and the sun is shining. What could be better?

I've got to give a shout-out to my favorite blogging diva, Marissa. Her blog, New Dress A Day, is inspiring everyone who reads it (including me) to create new clothes out of old ones. Just check out her latest "copycat" project. I love it.

They give you life.

The sun is shining in Chattanooga! Weather forecast says it should be in the 50s and 60s next week, and I. Am. Stoked.

I've been wanting to take Ava and Sawyer back to the dog park for weeks, but it's just been too cold — and too wet. If the sun continues through the weekend, I'd like to take them out to Greenway. Other suggestions for dog-friendly getaways?

I pulled out an old mixed CD someone made for me in a past life. I'd forgotten how much I love this cover.

89.

I am subscribed to 89 Youtube channels. I didn't realize my addiction had gotten so out of hand until this morning when Youtube said, "Hey. Wanna watch any videos by the 89 channels you're subscribed to?"

Some of the channels are purely for their entertainment value - RayWilliamJohnson, MysteryGuitarMan, JulianSmith.

Some offer fashion advice - julieg713, TheCurrentCustom, MakeupByTiffanyD.

And some are inspirational - AnaheimBallet, KatieSchmatee, YourDanceChannel. The dance channels are my favorite. I love logging on to Youtube and watching dancers in Russia, Australia, Brazil - you name it. It's so cool that I can see what other choreographers around the world are doing. And a lot of times, I come away from the video with a song idea, a new lift to try or even a new formation. How cool is that?

Like fire around the brim.

What a nasty day in Chattanooga. Sleet, freezing cold, wet pants. On days like these, I want to listen to music about warm beds and cuddling.

"Sleepyhead," off the Passion Pit album Manners is one of those songs. I read somewhere (probably on Wikipedia), that the band actually started as a guy who wrote a couple songs for his girlfriend. The album he made for her managed to find its way into the hands of dozens and dozens of people who said, "Hey, man. This shit is good." And it is. And I'm in love. And I'm wishing my boyfriend wrote songs about me.

The best thing about rainy days are the umbrellas, of course. I can't get enough of cute umbrellas.

Bubble umbrella by Totes