Kate McCabe Warehouse

Where the hell have I been? We’re about halfway through the month of November and all I’ve got up here is ONE stinking blog entry. In my defense, I’ve been away to the blustery Scottish Highlands over the last four days. What of the other 9 days in the month? All I can say is that watching the on-line clips of Rachel Maddow’s show has taken up far too much of my time. Damn that lesbian! Why does she have to make political commentary so engaging?!!

OK. A little focus here. Let’s just get straight to today’s great thing before I distract myself further:

55. The Bird and The Bee

The Bird and The Bee are a musical duo out of Los Angeles. Apparently, there IS more to the music scene than American Idol in Hollywood. They are Greg Kurstin and Inara George to be more specific. The reason I like them is that they have a style of pop music that is both marketable and legitimately quirky. Though their tunes have been used on several shows and films like Grey’s Anatomy and Sex and The City, they seem more suited to something like Pushing Daisies or Six Feet Under. They have both whimsy and edge somehow.

I’d heard their single “Again and Again”–they were a band with a bit of alt-scene buzz and I’d bought the track on-line to give them a taste test. I really liked it. I got super excited every time it came up on my Mp3 shuffle, made my girlfriend listen to it, put it on a mix CD for a friend… and then kind of forgot about them.

Here’s that tuneful tune:

I’m embarrassed to admit that I only re-discovered them through the vehicle of an ITunes celebrity playlist. To compound my shame, it was Sarah Jessica Parker’s playlist. And I had always vowed to never support the musical tastes of someone who had marketed their own fragrance. I’ve compromised my principles!

Man…I’m coming off like I hate SJP and Sex and the City. I totally don’t. I am a girl after all.

A bit about the two people that make the band

–‘The Bird’ is Inara George. She’s the daughter of Lowell George (of Little Feat) and is married to director Jake Kasdan (son of Lawrence Kasdan). Besides performing alongside ‘The Bee’, she’s a member of two other groups, Merrick and the trio The Living Sisters. She’s also cut a solo record. Active! She’s got a nice voice.

–“The Bee” is Greg Kurstin. He’s a music producer and he plays the keyboards. Interesting fact, at the age of 12 he performed in Dweezil Zappa’s band and wrote song I’ve never heard of ‘Crunchy Water’. I like the potential of that song solely because it reminds me of the movie within the movie Bowfinger–“Chubby Rain” . He’s well schooled in jazz and has played on the NYC jazz scene as well as on the NYC Brazilian music scene. Kurstin has also written and produced for loads of artists in the ‘top 40’ set, including Pink, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and Natasha Bedingfield.

The Bird and the Bee also do some killer covers. You can find their live version of “Psycho Killer” on-line and it was their fantastic cover of “How Deep Is Your Love” that made the Sex and the City soundtrack as well as SJP’s playlist. That track, incidentally, features backing vocals by Sia–the Aussie songstress. Recently The Bird and The Bee released a cover of the old Billy Rose and Lee David track “Tonight You Belong To Me”. My pal Stu loves the version that Steve Martin does with Bernadette Peters in The Jerk. So Stu, if you’re reading this, I hope that endears them to you. Here’s their website: The Bird and the Bee

Their track “Fucking Boyfriend”, actually made it to the top of the dance charts. To be fair, it was a dance remix version of the song. And, as we know, hopped up club-goers will listen to anything.

If I hadn’t already bought into their pop-lounge stylings, their choice of Christmas cover would’ve pinned me down. I flippin’ love “The Carol of the Bells”. I mean, come on! All the Christmas tunes in the world and they pick one that–if it’s not my fave, it’s definitely top five. That’s a sign. Excellent.