Artist Comparison: Seven Nations and Great Big Sea

This week’s comparison is between two Amercan Artists whom I have really enjoyed for their Irish flavor. While neither are from the country, they have a good sound, mixed with a good dose of rock. The two groups are Great Big Sea and Seven Nations. In both instances, both bands cover numerous traditional songs in their albums. Great Big Sea covers Mary Mac, Rant and Roar and The Night that Patty Murphy Died, while Seven Nations covers Blarney Pilgrim and The Surprise Ceilidh Band Set (which has some elements that I recognize). In addition, both bands use insturments such as bagpipes and and accordians to get a proper ‘Irish’ sound. They supliment this with regular guitars and bass, which gives their music a rich, very cool sound.
What really caught my ears was two songs that were similar thematically between the two – Chemical Worker’s Song and the Factory Song, both of which essentially talk about labor – a theme that I’ve heard much in the little Irish music that I’ve listened to, as well as the American-Irish folk that I’ve been partial to.

The Chemical Worker’s Song (Process Man) – Great Big Sea

The Factory Song – Seven Nations

Hype – Buy

Weird Al & The 501st

If you haven’t figured out that I’m a big science fiction geek yet, I think that this’ll prove it to you – I’ve got a suit of the armor from the movie Star Wars (Storm Trooper), and I’ve trooped around in it before at a convention and hopefully a couple of events later this fall. I was hoping to go to this, but it filled up quickly. My legion, the New England Garrison, just helped out with a recent Weird Al concert down in Mass.

That looked like a lot of fun.

The Saga Begins – Weird Al

Hype – Buy – Look

When Women are Outfitted with Hightech Prosthetics

Last night, the pilot for the show Bionic Woman aired on NBC. I’ve been paticularly excited to watch this one because it’s another remake by the same people who did the fantastic Battlestar Galactica (Which is my all time favorite SciFi show at the moment.)



I just finished the episode, and I thought it was quite good. The pilot seems a little directionless, unlike Battlestar, where there was a very clear storyline from the start. This one will hopefully get a good storyline started quickly, and not just be a bunch of standalone episodes for a while.
Fairly good acting, action, camera work’s average – good story though. I’ll be keeping my eyes on it. There were even a couple of other Battlestar Galactica alums in there. It’s interesting to see another take on a 1970s TV show and how they have modernized it to be much more realistic and in step with today’s world. Battlestar worked fantastically, making it one of the best SciFi shows out there. Let’s hope this’ll be similar.

During the episode, I was happy to hear a song that I recognized, Breathe Me, by Sia, which has also been used in Six Feet Under and Veronica Mars. I wonder if we’ll get some good songs out of this one….

Breathe Me – Sia

Hype – Buy – Look

Five Bands that I’ve Seen

Ray Charles

- Ray Charles was probably one of the first artists that I saw in person who was a really big star. I don’t remember a whole lot of the show, because I was very young at the time, but I do remember that he played a number of his classics and that in general, it was a fantastic night.

Georgia on my Mind – Ray Charles

Carbon Leaf

- I’ve seen these guys five times already, and they’re certainly one of my favorite bands. I’ve enjoyed all of their concerts immencely, although some have been better than others. I can’t wait to see them again at some point in the future.

Love Loss Hope Repeat – Carbon Leaf

Gordon Lightfoot

- Gordon Lightfoot has been a staple of my listening habits for a very long time, but it’s only been within the past couple of years that I’ve really gotten to like his music. The concert that I was at really surprised me a little, but like the Ray Charles one, I was thrilled to hear a number of songs that I knew and enjoyed.

Canadian Railroad Trilogy – Gordon Lightfoot

Cary Brothers

- Cary Brothers just got his main album out, and I was able to see him at the Higher Ground earlier this year, which was a very fun concert. He played a number of songs from his album, and had a duet with Priscilla Ahn, who opened for him. I got a chance to talk with him a little after the show, and he was a pleasure to talk with. I’ll be seeing him later on this year.

Ride – Cary Brothers

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

- I’ve been out to see Grace Potter & The Nocturnals twice already this year and man, they’re fantastic. Grace has an incredible sound, and the amount of energy that they had was just stunning. Plus, their music just rocks, and they look like they’re having an absolutley fantastic time on in front of everyone.

Some Kind of Ride – Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Other bands that I’ve seen:

The Wood’s Tea Co. (Too many times to count)
The Alternate Routes
Priscilla Ahn
Stars of Track & Field
Steven Kellogg and the Sixers
Matt Nathanson
Paolo Nutini
Rane
Sara Wheeler

And ones that I’m planning on seeing:
B.J. Thomas
Billy Joe Royal
Brandi Carlile
A Fine Frenzy
Matt Nathanson
Cary Brothers
Dropkick Murphys (Maybe)

Duet – Shins / Iron & Wine

This week’s duet is of two Subpop artists who I paticularly like, covering a song from an album that really helped them break into the larger public consiousness, New Slang. It’s originally by the Shins, and Sam Beam (I&W), joined them for this concert, I believe in Australia. It’s a fantastic duet between the two of them, with their sounds really complementing one another’s.

New Slang – The Shins and Iron & Wine

Hype – Buy – Look

C&O

This week’s Cover and Original is one where the covering artist’s style really fits well with the original. John Mayer (indie-fans groan), is a favorite of mine, someone that I’ve enjoyed to varying degrees pretty consistantly over the years. In recent years, he’s trended towards blues-rock more and more, which is good with his music style.

Thus, I think that he fits well with a track from his live album, Try!, where he covers a Jimi Hendrix tune, Wait Until Tomorrow. Hendrix is known for his outstanding guitarwork, and Mayer’s certainly influenced by that, and it rubs off well…

Wait Until Tomorrow – Jimi Hendrix

Wait Until Tomorrow – John Mayer

Hype – Buy – Look

New Music: Foo Fighters, Jose Gonzalez & Iron and Wine

Three albums out today that I’m looking to pick up from three of my favorite artists. I’ve really been looking forwards to these for a while, and can’t wait to add them to my collection.

Foo Fighters- Echoes Silence Patience & Grace

This album sounds really good, and the lead single, the Pretender, is a really fun song, right up in line with Best of You, which is one of my favorites anyway.

The Pretender – Foo Fighters

Buy


Iron & Wine- The Shepherd’s Dog


This album sounds incredible – Iron & Wine (aka Sam Beam) has really come a long way with his sound from his first album, bringing us an incredibly rich and wonderful sounding set of music.

Pagen Angel and a Borrowed Car – Iron & Wine

Buy


José González- In Our Nature

Gonzalez is back this week with his followup to Veneer, his first really good album. This one’s got a fantastic cover of Massive Attack’s Teardrop, but also a great set of his own songs that just sounds incredible.



Killing for Love – José González

Buy

Hype Machine

Heroes

I mentioned that House, MD was one of my favorite shows. Another favorite show is Heroes, which is, in my opinion, one of the best Sci-Fi shows that I’ve ever seen. And it came back last night, and just amazing, once again. I can’t wait to see the entire season. Right now. Ahem.

Eyes – Rogue Wave

Hype – Buy – Look

iTunes Free Music of the Week

This week’s picks for iTunes free music of the week.

Car Crash – Matt Nathanson (Recommended)

(I actually already had this song – pretty good one, highly recommended)

Joya – Funky C

There’s also a Grey’s Anatomy music video for Mat Kerney’s Breathe In Breathe Out, here.

Is There A Doctor in the House?

Earlier last week, the soundtrack for the fantastic show, House, MD was released, featuring a good lineup of songs that were featured in the show, just in time for the arrival of Season 4, which starts this next Tuesday. House, for those who haven’t heard about it, is a brilliant show about Dr. Gregory House, a brilliant, bitter and sarcastic doctor who’s generally always right and tends to drive most people away from him from his attitude. He’s loosely based off of Sherlock Holmes.
The soundtrack, which I just picked up, features some music that’s commonly available, but some other songs that haven’t made it onto albums in the US, such as Elvis Costello’s cover of Beautiful.

Here’s a couple of songs that didn’t make the lineup:

Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch
In The Deep – Bird York
Some Devil – Dave Matthews
In The Waiting Line – Zero 7

Hype – Buy – Look