zee avi

zee avi

If there were ever a study to test the boundless possibilities of music via You Tube, I'm thinking Malaysia might be a good place to start. For there is probably no other way to explain how the beautiful, chirpy talents of singer song writer Zee Avi landed on the roster of Jack Johnson's Brush Fire Records other than the divine timing of an internet video she made the day before her 22nd birthday. After a whirlwind year of label buzz and continually falling into the hands of the right people (including White Stripes/The Shins manager Ian Montone and Matt Costa) who loved her music, Avi found herself on a plane. She flew from her hometown of Kuala Lumpur to L.A. on an inevitable quest to record her Monotone/Brushfire self-titled debut.

The album officially hits stores tomorrow and the 23-year old songstress is already hitting the ground running with a FREE in-store performance at Finger Prints record store in Long Beach at 7 p.m. The store has had it's hands full with great in-stores lately, including Black Lips and Iron and Wine (which we failed to warn you about last week, sorry). And Avi's toe-tapping blend of prohibition-era jazz and effervescent folk offers another great chapter to a recent history of memorable shows. It's a sound so brilliant and airy that it can make songs like "Poppy", her grim tale of a relationship marred by drug use, sound like something you'd hear at a garden wedding among actual Poppies (no, not the heroin kind). It also doesn't hurt when you share your touring band members with Matt Costa, some of whom you will recognize should you stop being a lazy ass and arrive at the show on time to get a good look.

And since you'll be voting in the special election tomorrow anyway (right?!) why not make a special selection (yeah, I took it there) and choose to support indie music at an indie music store. Really, does it get much better than that on a Tuesday? Follow me after the JUMP and check out one of Avi's many You Tube videos along with a link to her Myspace...yeah, they've got that in Malaysia too.