Daphne Loves Derby: Cue the Sun!

"If I find my way through the darkest of days, Will I laugh about the things that kept me awake? But if my greatest fears paints itself so crystal clear, Will I run away or will I hide?  And if I don't come home tonight, Just know I tried my best to fight. Please don't think I plan to lose to the night. And curse the moon so dull and bright, My heavy soul can't stand the light. It burns me straight to the bones, my bones  In the desert sun I watched my nerves come undone. One by one my strings they tangled into knots. And ever since that day, deep in Santa Fe. I've learned to hate myself for giving everything away.  And if I don't come home tonight, Just know I tried my best to fight. Please don't think I plan to lose to the night. And curse the moon so dull and bright, My heavy soul can't stand the light. It burns me straight to the bones, my bones  And if I don't come home tonight, Just know I tried my best to fight. Please don't think I plan to lose to the night. And curse the moon so dull and bright, My heavy soul can't stand the light. It burns me straight to the bones, my bones"

City & Colour: Against the Grain

"You need not to climb mountaintops, You need not to cross the sea, You need not to find a cure for everything that makes you weak. You need not to reach for the stars when life becomes so dark, And when the wind does blow against the grain, You must follow your heart, You must follow your heart.  When all your friends have come and gone, And the sun no longer shines, And the happiness for which you long is washed away like an ocean's tide, When all the hard times outweigh the good, And all your words are misunderstood, When the day seems lost from the start You must follow your heart, You must follow your heart.  If you feel you've paid the price, And your wounds should cease to heal And everything you love in life spins like a winding wheel. If you should wake to find you're abandoned, And the road you've traveled leads to a dead-end When death creeps in to play it's part, You must follow your heart, You must follow your heart."

Jason Molina: Get Out Get Out Get Out

"Something must've happened to both of us
something must've happened
something always does
something must have told ya burn the bridges then the map
something always told ya to do it.

I lived low enough so the moon wouldn't waste its light on me
what's left in this life that would do the same for me?
Something must have only loved one of us
To say get out, get out, get out

get out, while there's still something left of us
get out, get out, get out
get out, get out, get out"

Catching Flies remix of Mt. Wolf: Life Size Ghosts

I'm not even going to look up anything about either of these bands; they're literally the only things standing between me and a funk that even black tea with honey can't fix. They're the sunshine on a shit day, where the weather is 18 degrees and the world is sheathed in snow; where the person you love doesn't even know you exist, where your parents forget your birthday, where your car's service engine light kicks on, where music isn't even real anymore....They're between that and me, and they're doing a damn good job of keeping the "Life-Sized Ghosts" at bay.

Kodak to Graph: Glaciaa

Kodak to Graph is the musical stylings of Michael Maleki, who specializes in chill electronics with lush layers of textures, emotions and sounds designed to please aural receptors.

Teen Daze remix of Nils Frahm: You

This track is a take on Nils Frahm's You. Frahm, being a student of Nahum Brodski (taught by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky), plays ridiculously well, and is versed well in both the classical and contemporary stylings. His melodic chords are gorgeous!

Wakey!Wakey!: Brooklyn

Wakey!Wakey! is (mostly) the heart-strings of Michael Grubbs being played on track. The band is more than that, as Grubbs incorporates new voices, sounds, instruments, and other souls to compliment his own. Grubbs hails from New York City, New York and actually stars in "One Tree Hill" as the character, Grubbs.

The lyrics of this song go on for days:

"I hope I see you soon,
Because you're fond of me and I am fond of you.
These days I guess that's all it takes,
That and just a few mistakes
...
So tonight I'll be your Brooklyn,
So cold and yet so far away!
Just tell me what you want for me to say,
And if it brings you home?

I guess its safe to say,
We both could use this fire escape,
Cause I've been breathing ashes in,
And I've been waiting for something to carry you away."

Sylvan Esso featuring Amelia Randall Meath: Coffee

Amelia is probably an angel or a goddess, I've yet to determine which. The single is pretty much perfect early morning cafe music: mellow keys and shimmering chimes against a shuffling, insistent beat, intertwining with Meath’s warm, melancholy voice, building to a subdued crescendo with her refrain “get up, get down”.

The song’s wistful tone is perfectly captured in the lines
“Wild winter, warm coffee, mom’s gone, do you love me?
blazing summer, cold coffee, baby’s gone, do you love me?”

Band of Horse: No one's Gonna Love You

Band of Horses is an old staple, but this song's been on my mind quite a bit recently.

"It's looking like a limb torn off
Or altogether just taken apart
We're reeling through an endless fall
We are the ever-living ghost of what once was

But no one is ever gonna love you more than I do
No one's gonna love you more than I do

And anything to make you smile
It is my better side of you to admire
But they should never take so long
Just to be over then back to another one

But no one is ever gonna love you more than I do
No one's gonna love you more than I do

But someone,
They could have warned you
When things start splitting at the seams and now
The whole thing's tumbling down
Things start splitting at the seams and now
If things start splitting at the seams and now,
It's tumbling down
Hard.

Anything to make you smile
You are the ever-living ghost of what once was
I never want to hear you say
That you'd be better off
Or you liked it that way

But no one is ever gonna love you more than I do
No one's gonna love you more than I do

But someone
They should have warned you
When things start splitting at the seams and now
The whole thing's tumbling down
Things start splitting at the seams and now
If things start splitting at the seams and now,
It's tumbling down
Hard"