In today’s Mundo Musique, I take a look at 3 great bands, and a look back at one of my all-time favorite bands that may have played their last show ever last week.

WAXAHATCHEE

On Monday, Ben posted about a great band named Swearin’. Today, I am posting about Waxahatchee, the project of Katie Crutchfield, twin sister of Allison Crutchfield, lead singer of Swearin’. Waxahatchee released their incredible second album in 2013, called Cerulean Salt. Cerulean Salt is a bit more rounded than their first effort, American Weekend. Crutchfield’s music is a blend of emotional punk rock, indie rock, and folk rock. If you liked Swearin’ from Ben’s list on Monday, check out Waxahatchee.

Here’s “Peace and Quiet” off of Cerulean Salt:

SHEARWATER

Shearwater started out as a side project of former Okkervil River member Jonathan Meiburg. In 2008, Meiburg left Okkervil River to focus on Shearwater exclusively. After extensive tours and collaborations with many bands, Shearwater put together an album called Fellow Travelers where they cover songs by those whom they have shared the stage with. Fellow Travelers was released in November and is a lot of fun to listen to. Shearwater make their folky mark on songs like “Cheerleader” by St. Vincent, “Hurts Like Heaven” by Coldplay, and “Mary is Mary” by Wye Oak. The record also features a collaboration with Sharon Van Etten, who toured with them in 2012 called “A Wake for The Minotaur” . Their 2012 album, Animal Joy was one of my favorite records of that year as well.

Here is Shearwater’s cover of Xiu Xiu’s “I Luv The Valley OH!” from Fellow Travelers

and as a little bonus, this isn’t on Fellow Travelers, but this is a pretty neat cover of a classic Stevie Nicks/Tom Petty song, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” featuring Sharon Van Etten:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQrN8k7BVVY

BIRDIE BUSCH

Birdie Busch is the nickname of Philadelphia based singer-songwriter Emily Busch. Last week, I saw Birdie Busch and her excellent band play at a benefit for Philadelphia’s Rail Park, and the energy of the performance really stood out to me. Busch released her fourth full-length record, Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night in early 2013, Greatest Night It is a great album of indie folk and rock songs, that remind me a bit of fellow Philadelphian band Dr. Dog, or Tift Merritt. Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night features some incredible songwriting, gorgeous harmonies, and beautiful instrumentation.

Here is the fantastic track “Far From The Tree” off of Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night:

THE WALKMEN on HIATUS

Earlier this week, Kevin wrote about the band Two Hours Traffic breaking up. Last week, I caught one of my all time favorite bands, The Walkmen play their final show before an “extreme hiatus” in Philadelphia. I remember the first time I ever heard The Walkmen’s music, I heard “The Rat” years ago and thought “WOW! that drumming!” from then on I was hooked. Over the years, they released seven great albums, and countless excellent songs. They’ve been a band I feel like I’ve grown alongside with, first being exposed to their music in high school. Their final record, 2012’s Heaven is a much more mature album than their earlier albums, and Hamilton Leithauser’s voice is absolutely impressive throughout. If it truly is the end, I am sad, but also thankful for all the great music, and that they continued to perform great music until the end with Heaven, which in hindsight may be a perfect way to end a great run. Hamilton is currently working on his first solo LP, and other Walkmen members are working on other projects as well.

Here is “We’ve Been Had” off of their first record, Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone: