reviews and musings of a music geek
This past month has been a fantastic one for new music. I’ve come across some fantastic new artists, as well as some older ones who’re back for more. Here’s what I liked:
Broken - Tift Mirritt
I heard this track on the radio (Point FM 104.7), and fell for Mirritt’s voice and lyrics. Her rhythm and sound mesh perfectly with one another with a great country-folk-rock feel.
Tu Es Ma Came - Carla Bruni
Another radio discovery, this time via NPR, Carla Bruni is probably also the most important person that I’ve reviewed thus far – she’s the first lady (or the equivalent) of France – she’s married to Nicolas Sarkozy, and has just released her second album, Comme Si De Rein N’etait, which has a great acoustic feel.
Freeze Ray - Neil Patrick Harris
The first song off of Joss Whedon’s brilliant internet geek musical, Freeze Ray is a fun little romance that bubbles with optimism and shyness.
Flame - Bell X1
Bell X1 is an interesting Irish group that has a lot in common with Snow Patrol. Flame is a really fun introduction to them.
Jacqueline - James Hunter
James Hunter is back with his fantastic 50s/60s retro sound with this track, Jacqueline.
Back in Black (AC/DC) > Indecision - Carbon Leaf
Carbon Leaf is one of my favorite bands of all time, and they’ve been working on new material. This is one of their latest songs, and a good cover to boot.
Crossroads (Robert Johnson) - John Mayer
I came across this track via Archive.org from one of Mayer’s latest concerts, which really fits with his blues style. It’s a fantastic cover of Robert Johnson’s song, with a good dose of Eric Clapton’s version thrown in for good measure.
Arms of a Thief - Iron & Wine
Serpent Charmer - Iron & Wine
Iron and Wine’s latest single, Love Song for a Buzzard, which has these two songs as B-Sides, are perfect additions to one of my favorite albums from last year, The Shepherd’s Dog. These two songs are two additions to an already perfect album.
Something Is Not Right With Me - Cold War Kids
The Cold War Kids are back with their second album, Loyalty to Loyalty. This track captures their sound once again nicely, with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.
Many Lessons - Bantu Feat Ayuba
Mighty Intelligence - Dread Skeezo feat Dream Maximum
These two songs are from an album who’s review is forthcoming – African/Islamic hiphop/rap, which is utterly fantastic. These two songs are two of the best tracks of a stellar album.
Slipping Away - Cory Woodward
I’m not entirely sure how I came across Cory Woodward, but I’m really enjoying his laid back and interesting sound with this song, Slipping Away. I particularly like the guitarwork here – it’s simple and elegant and flows nicely.
Evil is Alive and Well - Jakob Dylan
Something Good This Way Comes - Jakob Dylan
Bob Dylan’s son Jakob has become a musician in his own right, first with the band The Wallflowers, whom I fondly remember from my high school years with hits such as One Headlight and 6th Ave Heartbeak. These two songs are reminiscent of some of the elder Dylan’s music, but different. Both of these are fantastic. My review for this is also forthcoming.
Measure of a Man - We’ll Write
We’ll Write is one of my favorite ‘Geek Bands’. This one’s about the end of humanity by robotic enslavement. It doesn’t get better than that.
On My Way - Kara Grainger & Amos Lee
Amos Lee has had a good year this year, with the release of his latest album. I came across this girl, Kara Grainger, and was surprised to find that the two collaborated on this song. She’s got a fantastic new album out now, with a nice country-folk feel to it, and this song is a good representation of that.
Put On Your Sunday Clothes - Michael Crawford
This track was from the Wall-E soundtrack, one of my favorite movies of the year. It’s old school, quaint and perfect for the movie. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’d highly recommend it.
Amos Lee’s back with his third album, Last Days at the Lodge, which seems to firmly cement his existence as a fantastic musician with Blue Note Records. As his last album, Supply and Demand changed things up from his folk/acoustic self titled start, this one once again changes a bit, with a different sound. I like change, and this year seems to be the year for it, with the big bands, such as Death Cab for Cutie, Coldplay and a couple others releasing albums with a very different sound.
Last Days at the Lodge introduces some new sounds to Lee’s repertoire. Listen is energetic. Won’t Let Me Go sounds very R&B to me, with which he does wonders. Truth has a great country/folk feel to it, and Street Corner Preacher feels funky. Lee doesn’t abandon his roots, however. Baby, I Want You feels a lot like Arms of a Woman, a little more refined, while What’s Been Going On pulls the feel from Supply and Demand. There’s new territory here as well – Jails and Bombs, Kid, and Listen have a sort of new sound that blends everything together nicely.
With the various styles that Lee has here, Last Days at the Lodge is charting somewhat unfamiliar territory – it’s almost like he’s trying to figure out which way to do, and with this varied and rich album, there’s feelers out everywhere. This is the biggest strength of the album – we see an artist who is experimenting with his sound, who shows that he still has the same fantastic songwriting skills that we saw from him when he began, but also that he’s creating a new and ever richer sound as time goes on.
Quite simply, this is one of the best albums of the year.
Ease Back – Amos Lee
Life in Technicolor - Coldplay
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
Coldplay’s changing things up a little with a bit of a newer sound, and like Lee, I’m thinking that this will be one of their better albums. I can’t wait to hear the rest of it.
Cath… - Death Cab for Cutie
Grapevine Fires - Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie’s latest album also changed things up quite a bit, and on the whole, it’s stronger, edgier and it sounds fantastic.
Robots - Flight of the Conchords
I love these guys, they’re absolutely hilarious. Robots is just a geeky song to begin with, and they just make me want to burst out laughing.
Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat
This is a nice, cute duet from these two.
Killing for Love (Beatfanatic Remix) - José González
I love Gonzalez’s work, and while I’m not a huge fan of remixes, this is a really good one that I’ve been listening to a lot.
Magnetismo (Magnatism) – Landon Pigg
Landon Pigg’s off to a good start with his first EP, and I think this is the strongest song on the album.
Meet Me By The River - Matthew Ryan
This song is raspy, emotional and really, really good. I suspect that Ryan’s album will make it to the end of the year as one of the best.
Dream - Priscilla Ahn
I saw Ahn last year with Cary Brothers, and I really liked her sound, it’s sweet and calm. I picked up her EP, and have been waiting eagerly for more news about her next album, due to be released this June. I can’t wait.
The World, The People Together - The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols are back, and they’ve got energy. This reminds me a lot of Bohemian Like You, which is a fantastic song.
Orbiting - The Weepies
I really dug these guys 2nd album, and this is one of the best songs on there. Very sweet, easy on the ears.
1- “Listen”
2- “Won’t Let Me Go”
3- “Baby I Want You”
4- “Truth”
5- “What’s Been Going On”
6- “Street Corner Preacher”
7- “It Started To Rain”
8- “Kid”
9- “Jails & Bombs”
10- “Ease Back”
11- “Better Days”
Ease Back – Amos Lee
To adapt from last night’s Daily Show – today’s what could be the last major contest in voting for
who to vote for. Hm… If you’re in Ohio, Texas, my fair state of Vermont and Rhode Island, get out and vote!
Here’s a couple songs for the day:
Obama - Extra Golden
Woman King – Iron & Wine
Freedom - Sara Wheeler
Freedom - Amos Lee
I’m a huge fan of the TV show House, MD. It’s got good stories, even better characters and a fantastic taste in music for it. Last fall, FOX released a soundtrack of some of the songs that made it onto the show. It’s a very fun soundtrack, with some really good, and some rare songs onto it.
Beyond that album, there’s a bunch of other songs that have made it onto the show that didn’t make it onto that soundtrack (and a couple that did, but are still really good.)
The main point in looking at this cross section of music from the show is it’s tone and how that relates to the show itself, particularly when it comes to the character of house. All of the below songs are fairly moody ones – mostly dealing with loss or are otherwise not really ‘up’ songs. Overall, they form a really good feel for the show and House himself, who is a fairly depressed character all things considered. The comedy in the show aside, there’s usually a couple of moments where we really see House as himself – alone and depressed. These songs fit perfectly.
Are You Alright? – Lucinda Williams
Beautiful - Elvis Costello
Colors - Amos Lee
Good Man - Josh Ritter
Grey Room – Damien Rice
Hope for the Hopeless – A Fine Frenzy
Human - Civil Twilight
In The Deep - Bird York
Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch
See The World - Gomez
Some Devil - Dave Matthews
Walter Reed - Michael Penn
So it’s Valentine’s Day.
When it’s good:
Destiny – Zero 7
Heartbeats – Jose Gonzalez
Dreaming – Sara Wheeler
Hold You In My Arms – Ray LaMontagne
Such Great Heights – The Postal Service
This Is Us – Mark Knofler and Emmylou Harris
Love Love Love – Tristan Prettyman
Songbird - Willie Nelson
I’m A Believer – The Monkees
Come Fly With Me – Frank Sinatra
Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
When it’s not:
Out To Sea – Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers
Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well – Mike Doughty
Apologies - Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Let It Die – Foo Fighters
Ashes and Wine – A Fine Frenzy
When The Pain Dies Down – Chris Stills
Learn To Fly - Carbon Leaf
Turpentine - Brandi Carlile
Nothing really planned today, so here’s a random list of things to listen to for this weekend:
I Know the Reason – Carbon Leaf, Echo Echo
Is There A Ghost – Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
Manifest Destiny – Guster, Ganging Up On the Sun
Mean Mad Margaret – Spoon, Get Nice!
Ooh La La – Goldfrapp, His and Hers
Raindrops – Regina Spektor, Soviet Kitsch
Seen It All Before – Amos Lee, Amos Lee
Simple Twist of Fate (Bob Dylan Cover) – Jeff Tweedy, I’m Not There Soundtrack
Speed Dial No. 2 – Zero 7, When It Falls
We’re Going To Be Friends – The White Stripes, White Blood Cells
You Don’t Like Me Anyway – Joe Purdy, Sessions from Motor Ave.
Have a good weekend!
Norah Jones is one of my favorite singers out there, and I’ve found that she’s popped up in some interesting places musically, working with other artists and bands. Here’s a couple of places where I’ve found her collaborating:
Virginia Moon – Foo Fighters
One of the lighter tracks from the Foo Fighters album In Your Honor, Norah Jones is featured prominantly with lead singer David Gohl in the track Virginia Moon, which plays well with Jone’s songs, with a slight Jazz feel. It’s an interesting duet that plays to both singer’s strengths.
Tenessee Stud – The Little Willies (iTunes Link)
Before Norah Jones released her first album, Come Away With Me, she was part of another band, one that grew out of mutual interests from the other members of the band, the Little Willies. Based out of New York City, they emulated some of the country greats, such as Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. Jones strays from a Jazz/Blues track to a more bluegrass and country one, which is an interesting mix.
Colors – Amos Lee
One of the best songs off of Amos Lee’s self-titled debut album, Colors is one of two songs that features Norah Jones, the other being Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight, playing Piano for both songs. Amos Lee actually owes his success to Jones, who had heard his EP and promptly asked him to join her on tour. It’s not terribly surprising, as their music sounds very similar, with the same bluesy and Jazz feel.
