Alone Again…

I think I messed that up. I only hope that things can be fixed, given time. I really, really do.

Blues Run the Game (Jackson C. Frank) – Colin Meloy
Come Around - Rhett Miller
Crying. Waiting. Hoping- Buddy Holly
Fall Apart Again - Brandi Carlile
Hand On Your Heart (Kiley Minogue) - José González
Happiness - Alison Kruass & Union Station
Hello - Schuyler Fisk
I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You - Colin Hay
In The Sun - Joseph Arthur
Last of Days - A Fine Frenzy
Life Less Ordinary - Carbon Leaf
The Long Goodbye - A Girl Called Eddy
Low Millions - Low Millions
Photographs of You - Jon Regen
Please Forgive Me - David Gray
Re: Stacks - Bon Iver
So Sorry - Feist
Stay or Leave - Dave Matthews

Hype – Buy

Duet – Calling All Angels

This week’s duet is one that I was able to watch, during one incredible concert last year – Brandi Carlile and her sister Tiffney, together on the song Calling All Angels, a Jane Siberry song. The two of them together were just incredible. Brandi has a wonderful voice in concert, and her sister complements her really well here.

Calling All Angels (Jane Siberry) – Brandi and Tiffney Carlile

Hype – Buy – Look

The Top Ten Albums of 2007

The following list was at times very, very hard to come up with, while at other times was very easy. Early on, I knew what my top album of the year was from when I heard the first song on it, as was the second and third picks. The rest required quite a bit of deliberation.
There was a lot of good music this year. I added 2257 new songs to my music library this year, 6.3 days and 12.63 gigabites. That’s a lot of music. I found a lot of new albums that I’d never heard, rediscovered some old music and generally immersed myself in everything. Along the way, I came across a lot of good music, and some bad music.

Here’s ten albums that I really liked, but they just didn’t crack the top ten:

20 – Say No To Being Cool, Yes To Being Happy, The Softlightes
- I loved these guys sound all the way through, great first album.

19 – The Flying Cup Club, Beirut
- They’ve followed up their first with more Balkan-flavored sounds.

18 – The Reminder, Feist
-1,2,3,4 was stuck in my head for much of the summer and fall. There are plenty of worse songs out there, so I’m fortunate for that.

17 – In Our Nature, Jose Gonzalez
-Jose Gonzales followed up his fantastic first album with a fantastic second album – another cool cover and more acoustic rock goodness.

16 – Good and Reckless and True, The Alternate Routes
- Ryan Adams fans might like this one. It’s an all around solid rock album.

15 – Kismet,Jesca Hoop
- Hoop brought a fanastic, unique sound that really was pretty cool.

14 – Dylan, Bob Dylan
- This compilation of Dylan’s music pulled together a fantastic set of his entire career. A must.

13 – Neon Bible, Arcade Fire
- These guys had some really good cuts off of this album – it’s tight, together and really well done all around. Canadians were on fire this year.

12 – Little Voice, Sara Bareilles
- This first album really impressed me from her first song Love Song, but overall, the entire thing did really well, and was really solid.

11 – Who You Are, Cary Brothers
- Cary Brother’s first album was a long anticipated one from me – I don’t think that there was a track on here that I didn’t like. From the fantastic Who You Are to Blue Eyes, this is another guy who’s going to have a good career ahead of him.

Here are the albums that I loved:

This was an earlier album in the year that’s come up and down on my list before settling here at number ten. I’ve been a fan of The Shins for a while now (Yes, I found them when the rest of the world did with Garden State), but I loved both of their earlier albums. This one didn’t disappoint, with the fantastic Phantom Limb, Sea Legs, Australia and Girl Sailor. They brought along their fantastic sound and even better songwriting skills for a third fantastic time.

This album showed me that not all country is bad, and more importantly, reinforced that country songs are really storytelling songs, and that they can be really good at it. Here is a fantastic concept album of the use of horses in warfare throughout history. The title track blew me away, and as a historian, really impressed me with some of the songs.

Spoon was a band that took a bit of time to grow on me, but I was incredibly impressed with Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, their latest independent album, which is at best described as minimalist, with some fantastic new songs from them, such as Underdog, Don’t Make Me A Target, and Rhythm and Soul. It’s a great addition to their already really good repertoire.

Brandi Carlile’s follow up to her first album really surprised me this time around – my first impressions of her was lukewarm, but right from the start, this album really impressed me, and after seeing her live in concert, her energy and sound completely blew me away.

One In the Sea impressed me from the start A Fine Frenzy’s voice. It’s delicate and powerful at the same time, and coupled with her songwriting, was an incredible first effort. Her songs are both light and somber, especially with Ashes & Wine, Rangers, Hope For The Hopeless and most of the others on there. Seeing her perform with Brandi Carlile this year was a big highlight here.

This was apparently one of the most anticipated albums of the year, and for good reason. Rilo Kiley pulled out a fantastic effort here, bringing a sound that reminded me a bit of Fleetwood Mac, but with an angry indie-rock singer edge to it.

Dreamworld – Rilo Kiley

I caught Josh Ritter opening for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals earlier this summer, and really had a fun time – their latest album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter is a marvel of storytelling and a nice bridge of country-folk and rock music. There’s some really cool stuff here musically, and their song writing skills are certainly sharp from some of the songs here.

Rumors – Josh Ritter

I first was introduced to Ferraby Lionheart with Vermont Avenue, which sort of lurked at the back of my head for a couple of months while I heard more and more from him over the summer. Quickly, his unique sound won me over with some really great songs from this album. Like A Fine Frenzy, this is a fantastic debut album from a newcomer that I’ll be looking forward to hearing more about.

Before We’re Dead – Ferraby Lionheart

This was almost #1. It’s really, really close, because I love Sam Beam’s sound, and to hear this album compared to his other ones is a huge jump. The sound became rich, with lots of peripheral instruments, while not loosing one bit of the fantastic sound and style that he employed for his first two albums. He’s no longer a guy playing acoustic guitar in a closet, he’s out there and brought a wonderful album with him. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Innocent Bones – Iron & Wine

This is Somewhere was easily my most anticipated album of 2007, from the beginning of the year when I first learned that the Nocturnals were putting out their first studio album. I loved it from the beginning, and not because they’re from Vermont. It’s because they’ve got an incredible sound, and have moved to a somewhat more mainstream rock sounds that really works with Grace’s vocals and the band’s talents. Their first two albums were fantastic, don’t get me wrong, but this album just plain rocked. And in person, these guys were like nothing else I’ve really seen, with an incredible amount of energy. Easily my favorite album of the year.

Mastermind - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Tomorrow, the best songs of 2007.

Weekend Mix: Goodbye.

So I got a call last night from my girlfriend: “We need to talk…” I’m betting that you can guess how that went.

Almost Lover – A Fine Frenzy
Apologies – Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Brand New Day – Sting
Breakin’ Up – Rilo Kiley
Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac
Gone Away From Me – Ray LaMontagne
Gone - Matt Nathanson
Happiness - Alison Krauss
Honestly - Cary Brothers
In The Sun – Michael Stipe & Coldplay
Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well - Mike Doughty
Low Millions – Low Millions
Oh No - Colin Meloy
Other Side of the World - KT Tunstall
Out To Sea - Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers
The Long Goodbye – A Girl Called Eddy
Turpentine - Brandi Carlile
What You Want - John Butler Trio

Duet – Monahan and Carlile

Here’s a duet that really works well – Pat Monahan (lead singer of Train) and Brandi Carlile. The song was on Pat Monahan’s solo album, Last of Seven, which was released this past September.
I’ve never really been that big into Train, just listening to a couple of songs, but Monahan’s voice is really good here, although my favorite of the two is by far Carlile. Their voices match extremely well for this matchup.
This song really works well as a duet – it’s a love song, and these tend to work well, especially as a duet. Here, it works especially well with both a male and female singer.


Pirate on the Run – Pat Monahan and Brandi Carlile

Hype – Buy – Look

Thank You!

I just want to throw a thanks out there to the members of the Again Today forums, a Brandi Carlile fansite. One of the members was able to get me a copy of the Burlington Vermont recording, a hard copy, which is absolutely fantastic to listen to. If you’re a fan, go check them out, as they’ve got a good community, with a bunch of people out there with some recordings of a number of concerts, either through direct download or bit torrent.

The image above is from the Burlington Concert that I took and made into an album cover for my iTunes library.

http://www.againtoday.com

Weekend Mix

I didn’t have anything planned to throw up here today, so here’s a random smattering of songs that I really enjoy. So, some good stuff for listening this weekend:

Apologies – Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Fa Fa – Guster
Fall Apart Again – Brandi Carlile
Freedom – Sara Wheeler
Lovesong of the Buzzard – Iron & Wine
On The Radio – Regina Spektor
Sister Jack – Spoon
Small Planet – Ferraby Lionheart
Torn To Tattered – Carbon Leaf
Who You Are – Cary Brothers

Hype – Buy

More Images

For more images from the past weekend – Brett Dennen, Guster, A Fine Frenzy and Brandi Carlile, I’ve got them all here.

Concert 3 – A Fine Frenzy and Brandi Carlile

A Fine Frenzy

1 – Come On, Come Out
2 – You Picked Me
3 – Last of Days
4 – Minnow and the Trout
5 – Ashes & Wine
6 – Borrowed Time
7 – Almost Lover
8 – Rangers

A Fine Frenzy started off the evening at the Higher Ground to a sold out venue with people asking for extra tickets on the way in. I’d been looking forwards to this show, because I really like AFF’s music. A lot of her songs have really been relatable for me, especially Ashes & Wine. Combined with her musical talents, I’ve really liked her.
Right off the bat, I knew that this was going to be a fantastic concert. From the first song, she started off strong, with a fantastic sound and voice. With only a couple pianos and drum set, they set up a fantastic beat that really worked without the guitar and bass parts that most bands typically have.
The set that she played was a little short, but still with all of the songs that I really liked. What was also nice was that it wasn’t a complete copy of her album, as she varied a little with her sound.
I was also impressed with Alison Sudol’s stage presence. She seemed genuinely nice and appreciative of the audience before her, and really seemed to have a good time on stage, and was the perfect setup for Brandi Carlile.

Brandi Carlile
1 – My Song
2 – Wasted
3 – Late Morning Lullaby
4 – Fall Apart Again
5 – Follow
6 – Until I Die
7 – Have You Ever
8 – Happy
9 – Cannonball
10 – Again Today
11 – What Can I Say?
12 – Turpentine
13 – Madman Across the Water (Elton John Cover)
14 – Bohemian Rhapsody (First Half)
15 – Lovesong (New Song)
16 – The Story
Encore
17 – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (With A Fine Frenzy)
18 – Folsom Prison Blues
19 – Pride & Joy
20 – Calling All Angels (With Sister Tiffany)
21 – That Year (New Song)
22 – Hallelujah

Brandi Carlile is one of those artists that has taken me a little while to really enjoy. Her performance last night pushed me over the edge to complete fandom for her music, and I’m eagerly awaiting her return to Vermont. Like A Fine Frenzy, they launched right into their set with a fast guitar riff before getting into their music.
I was really impressed with her music – she sounded amazing on stage, comparible to the Grace Potter concert that I saw earlier this year, as far as presentation went, and I think that the two of them together would be a fanastic lineup. Brandi’s voice is unique and just amazing to listen to recorded, but it’s something else when it comes to the stage. Like A Fine Frenzy, she seemed genuinely pleased with the crowd (who absolutely loved her) and she looked like she was having a lot of fun (she actually cracked up at the end of one song when she realised that the rest of her band members had grown out moustaches). She also interacted with the crowd quite a bit.

Her set of music just rocked, with a nice blend of new and old music, fast and slow and even threw in a couple of covers of Elton John and Johnny Cash (Which I really want to get my hands on.) Carlile has a fanastic voice for her music, with a nice blend of rock and country influences in her music. To top of the night, she and A Fine Frenzy shared a duet, which was just incredible to watch (something else I want to get my hands on.)She also got her sister up on stage for a duet as well.
All in all, the best concert of the weekend.

Hype – Buy