COUCH SESSION: JONQUIL

Couch Session #43: Jonquil

There's something we do at Big Ugly that goes quite undiscussed,
it comes up, it's featured, but often with a hush.
For whoever comes by and plays tunes for us two,
we provide a whole spread, their favorites to chew.
We've had cookies and cakes, chips and dips galore,
but with these boys, it was our falafel they very (very) much adored.
For their second-to-last day in the states before traveling overseas,
we got to play host with hometown comforts to put them at ease.
It's an interesting twist, to do our best to make them relaxed,
when their songs bring to mind many free times that have passed
The bouncy melody on "Mexico", with those punchy keyboards
Two trumpets blaring on "Too Cold" and the reverberating chords,
These guys just sound to us like vacation in a bottle,
a summary of warmer times we wanna obtain full-throttle,
While the band's back at home, living their lives,
and we're here in the city, with a new home in which to thrive,
listening to these songs takes us back with ease,
to a time where palm trees swayed in the summer breeze.
It's rainy today, so if the tropics can't come soon enough,
have Jonquil whisk you there. We promise, it won't be tough:

MP3

Jonquil - "Mexico (live on Big Ugly Yellow Couch)"

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Jonquil - "Real Cold (live on Big Ugly Yellow Couch)"

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Download the entire session
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NEW HOME, SAME BIG UGLY YELLOW COUCH

Yerp, you heard that right. The walls are freshly painted in our favorite shade of Nickelodeon orange, the stuffed animals are snuggling like nothing's changed, and the couch is still as soggy, faded and stunning as always. We might be the only New Yorkers who have moved this many times and lived to tell about it, but if life's an adventure, we're glad to be it's magic carpet. Or something like that.

The Big Ugly HQ have bounced from Williamsburg to Bushwick to our new loft in Greenpoint, where we are just painfully close to Peter Pan doughnuts and awaiting your delivery of them to us as a housewarming gift. Any time of day! Any day. Any hour! (Sorry, Donald. Save me a half.)

If your little Brooklyn biking legs can't get you to the undisclosed location where music magic and internet recordings happen, then don't fret your head for a second. The best part of our big news is that you'll be able to get a peek at our new place so soon. Crazy-kooky-soon. Like, tomorrow soon. Check back in 24 for a glimpse at our newer (better) space, and a band we're terribly excited to share with you.

Over and out,

c+d

Couch Session: Yellow Ostrich

Couch Session #42: Yellow Ostrich

Our love for this band is nothing new,
which is why this isn't their first trip to Big Ugly — it's #2.
We had them back on the couch in our old place,
but with so much new music, needed a second taste.
And ladies and gents: it's as good as before,
possibly better, potentially classic, well-worth an encore.
I sat through this session, having not yet heard Strange Land,
a beautiful pile of writing and music of which i became an instant fan,
and these songs, unknown and new, simply blew me away,
leaving me joyous, cheerful, and in awe for two days.
Because these three gents, unlike a lot of bands shilling their craft,
are a curious few who keep their main identity intact.
These songs are more grown up, more varied than before,
back when Alex and Michael first walked through our door,
but even with another member, a new album and a fresh set list,
it's still Yellow Ostrich, their objective never lost in the midst.
These new tunes are more moving — truth, one almost brought me to tears,
but considering I listen to it three times a day, I've got a few good years.
Which song? Well, I'll never tell,
but you'll know when the goosebumps on your arm start to swell.
So, take a listen to these three stunners, and see how you feel,
as Yellow Ostrich's brilliance is yet again revealed:

MP3

Yellow Ostrich - "Marathon Runner (live on Big Ugly Yellow Couch)"

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Yellow Ostrich - "The Shakedown (live on Big Ugly Yellow Couch)"

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Yellow Ostrich - "When All Is Dead (live on Big Ugly Yellow Couch)"

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Download the entire session
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website

Couch Session: You Won't

Couch Session #41: You Won't

It's weird, you almost wouldn't expect a kind sir named Josh to have that voice,
like it was assigned to him without reason or choice.
It could have been given to a weathered country lad, hands blackened from the soil,
Or a crooner long since passed, his talents a spoil.
You Won't, save for that high-flying apostrophe,
is in total, wholly and completely their own entity.
We keep hearing "The Shins," "The Shins!" The Shins on repeat,
but the comparison is lazy with a shade of self-defeat.
These comparative thoughts are just algebra to the listener's mind,
a broken-down equation to give feelings attachable signs.
In that case, at moments we see a newfound Dylan shining through each song,
with some of the most realistic, relatable lyrics we've heard in just as long.
We could say his songwriting's simplistic and brilliant, the melodies catchy as hell,
but there's just one word, one, simple word that resurfaces each time, and that is special.
At the end of the day, at the end of these tracks,
All we have left are the songs and the empty faces in the videos looking back.
But with each of these, and for some reason, this one like a hunch
we can reach into it, swim inside, and feel it so much.
I've done nearly nothing over 40 times, except for routines
(you know, pouring a glass of water, showering, calling a rude guy mean.)
But in the realm of thing I love, there are but few
that I think about, act on, and completely follow through.
We've shot so many sessions that they're their own new routine,
jamming them in on the days weekdays lie between,
but after this one, with its childhood infusions and shouts to Marty McFly,
well, shit like this just gets us high.
So take a listen to three songs you'll be enjoying like a seamless flow,
and let You Wont give you a spectacular, stunning show:

MP3s You Won't - "Televsion (live on Big Ugly Yellow Couch)"

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You Won't - "Who Knew (live on Big Ugly Yellow Couch)"

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You Won't - "Three Car Garage (live on Big Ugly Yellow Couch)"

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Download the entire session
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website

Live at Mercury Lounge: Matthew Hemerlein

Even if you haven't heard Matthew's music, there's something to grasp onto from just looking at him. No shoes necessary, perfectly on-point blue jeans, a sleep-ready henley, a haircut that's more Men's Vogue than musician and a handle on an instrument most typically used in folksy-throwback bands on Mercury Lounge's stage. Multidimensional in the finest of senses, it's tough to figure out what this guy's all about on the surface. And, as one of the kindest people we've ever met and deepest artists we've ever worked with, his music has a particular uncommonness that keeps us coming back for more.

Which, if your extend of knowledge about him still brims at the photos above, should change now. Now-now. Now-now-now-now-now. There are few people in this world who can master a spot-on Ginuwine cover or write a song called "Luminescent Braid" that's actually a chunk of musical poetry, and I'm confident in saying that Matthew might be the only name in that sliver between circles in the venn diagram of aforementioned skills. We're told he'll be bringing his weekly Washington D.C.-based Family Hemerlein showcases our way this year, and you can bet your butts we'll be urging the lot of you to come along with us. He may be far away for now, but soon, he'll be ours once again.