Summer!

Temperatures over the weekend here in Vermont peaked at 93 degrees, with a nice dose of humidity to boot. Summer has officially returned to Vermont. I’m not a huge fan of excessive, damp heat, but warmer temperatures are always nice after a Vermont winter. Here’s a handful of songs to help celebrate:

In The Summertime - Mungo Jerry
Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Summer - Goodtimes Goodtimes
Hot Fun in the Summertime - Sly & The Family Stone
Girls in their Summer Clothes - Bruce Springsteen
Summer - Sara Wheeler
Summer Breeze - Seals & Croft
Under the Warm Sun - A Girl Called Eddy
Hard Sun (Indio) - Eddie Vedder
Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra
Sunshine Sunshine - Goodtimes Goodtimes
Hot Sand - Shocking Blue

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Cover & Original – Hard Sun

This week’s cover is one that I’ve really been looking for for months. Last year, the movie Into the Wild was released to theaters, and is now out on DVD. I have yet to see it, but I did pick up the soundtrack, which doubles as a solo album for Eddie Vedder, and it’s quite a good one at that. The big song was Hard Sun, which I later learned was a cover by a guy named Gordon Peterson, also known as Indio.
Vedder’s version is very similar to the original one, although it have more power and energy behind it, and as a result, it a little more radio friendly. It was, and still is, one of my favorite songs from last year.
The original is softer, more folk-ish than Vedder’s version, and listening to both side by side, both cover and original are stellar songs.

Hard Sun (Indio) – Eddy Vedder
Hard Sun – Indio (Gordon Peterson)

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Taking A Break

I’m going to take a break for about a week, while work has gotten really busy. I just can’t get the time to really post up a whole lot at the moment while I have this backlog. So, stay tuned, we’ll be back soon.

Torn to Tattered – Carbon Leaf
Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder
Breathe In Breathe Out - Mat Kerney

Hype – Buy

Cover & Original – All Along The Watchtower

All Along The Watchtower is one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs, and it’s one of those songs that’s covered a lot. Off all the covers that I have, it’s got the most versions, good and bad.
There’s quite a bit of variety here. The definitive version, by Jimi Hendrix, seems to be the one that’s the most copied, although there are some other groups, such as the Dave Matthews Band (who features it regularly in their concerts), who’ll do their own take. My favorite version is probably Bear McCreary and BT4′s version, which was featured in the show Battlestar Galactica, which was really cool.
Some of the versions that I’m not a huge fan of is the Alexi Murdoch and Blues Traveler set and the one by the Grateful Dead. Just didn’t work for me really.

It’s an interesting song, with a number of different meanings through the lyrics. Dylan started writing the song after a motorcycle accident and when he began reading the bible, and there’s several biblical and end-of-the-world references in the lyrics.

All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) – Bear McCreary
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) – The Fratellis
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) – Dave Matthew’s Band
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) – The Grateful Dead
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) – Bryan Ferry
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) – Alexi Murdoch and Blues Traveler
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) – Eddie Vedder and the Million Dollar Bashers
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) - Jimi Hendrix
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) / Best of You (Foo Fighters) – Prince
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) – U2
All Along The Watchtower - Bob Dylan

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My Mix

I can’t think of a good title for this mix of songs. I was fooling around with play lists on iTunes – I swear, it’s a compulsion sometimes, when I came up with the first five songs, when I realized that I had something good here. When I got home from work, I pulled another dozen songs together to come up with this final list. I think that it’s the best play list that I’ve come up with in a while. Let me know what you think:

Everybody Knows - Ryan Adams
Hang Around - Gregory Douglass
When The Pain Dies Down – Chris Stills
Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car - Iron & Wine
Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder
Good Man - Josh Ritter
Who You Are - Cary Brothers
Pressure Suit - Aqualung
Time Is A Runaway – The Alternate Routes
Toy Soldiers - Carbon Leaf
See The World - Gomez
Trouble - Ray LaMontagne
Place To Be - Nick Drake

Have a good weekend! Next week, regular features & an announcement for a new feature.

Hype – Buy

Carry You Away’s Best Songs of 2007

It was difficult to narrow down just ten songs out of everything that I’ve heard this year. But, here are the songs that I feel are the best that I’ve heard or enjoyed.

10 – Rangers, A Fine Frenzy

From A Fine Fenzy’s debut album One Cell in the Sea, this song has a really good sound to it, with a pace and energy that really matches her tone. The chorus is a really good one, followed up with some fantastic lyrics. Everything really comes together nicely here for this tune. This song really turned me onto A Fine Frenzy, and will keep me listening for years to come.

9 – Heart Made of Sound, The Softlightes

The video for this song really got me hooked here, and brought me back time and time again for listen after listen. This song gives me the same feeling that I had on my best summers here in Vermont – sounds weird, but for some reason, I connect this song to walking around Burlington Vermont on a sunny summer afternoon. The sound here is bright, energetic and just fantastic. Even when I’m in a horrible mood, I’ll listen to this and it’ll bring me right back up.

8 – Seed of Wonder, Jesca Hoop

This song sounds really different, with some absolutely fantastic guitar work and vocals from Hoop. It’s unconventional, with influences from Hip-Hop and alternative rock. It’s got a lazy beat that’s incredibly catchy.

7 – Hard Sun, Eddie Vedder and Everybody Knows, Ryan Adams (Tie)

This is a tie for me, because both songs remind me of the other. Hard Sun is a good, solid rock song, one that reminds me of driving on a highway, while Everybody Knows brings out the same feeling – both have a good beat behind it backed by lyrics and a sound that just works, really well.

6 – Vermont Avenue, Ferraby Lionheart

I didn’t take to this song at first, but it grew on me quite a bit as time went on. Lionheart’s voice is like gold here, lazy and seductive, with lyrics that match that. The guitar and drum work is wonderful, and I like this song more and more as time goes on.

5 – In the Mausoleum, Beirut

Beruit’s back with more of a fantastic Balkan sound. This song starts off with a fantastic beat and sinks in with some fantastic vocals and lyrics. What’s really catchy is the use of other instruments, such as their distinctive use of a trumpet and stringed instruments. This song floats along wonderfully through the entire three minutes.

4 – Time Is A Runaway, The Alternate Routes and Who You Are, Cary Brothers (Tie)

This was another tie for me, between Time is a Runaway and Who You Are. Neither song really stands out on a technical level, but both songs really grabbed me for their sound and lyrics. Who You Are has a wonderful LA sound to it with a fantastic beat and energy, while Time is a Runaway has some fantastic lyrics coupled with their vocals and background instrumentation. Both are songs to relax to.

3 – Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!, Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans

Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albanians come forth with this fantastic ballad-like song that exhols the wonders of mounted cavelry, looking at their use through history. As a history person, this is just a wonderful song to pull apart line by line, and it’s got such a fantastic song to go along with it.

2 – Ah, Mary, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

I knew that my #2 song would be a Grace Potter song, but it took me a little while to figure out which one. I went with the first one that I heard, Ah Mary, a sort of protest song that pulls you in nicely with Grace’s fantastic voice before cranking it up a notch exactly a minute in as it turns to something you’d expect from some of their idols, like Neil Young. Their studio version seems to be a little subdued – go see this live for the full effect.

1 – Boy With A Coin, Iron & Wine

And my number one song of the year – Iron & Wine’s Boy With A Coin. Like Grace Potter’s album, there were a bunch here that could take the #1 spot, but there’s something here. Maybe because this song stands out so much from Sam Beam’s other songs and typical sound, or maybe because it falls into a fantastic beat and rhythm, this song just completely blew me away when I first heard it.

There you have it, the top 10… er… 12 songs of the year. Here are the ones that didn’t quite make it:

Dreamworld, Rilo Kiley
Sea Legs, The Shins
Down The Line, Jose Gonzalez
Rumors, Josh Ritter
The Pretender, Foo Fighters
Dashboard, Modest Mouse
Keep The Car Running, Arcade Fire
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
Love Song, Sara Bareilles
Pressure Suit, Aqualung
Sci-Fi Kid, Blitzen Trapper
Eh Hee, Dave Matthews

There were others, but overall, fantastic year for music. Let’s see what’s next.

Hype – Buy

Cover & Original – Soundtrack Edition

I’m doing a bonus Cover and Original this week, because two cover versions of Bob Dylan’s song All Along The Watchtower are being released in soundtracks, and both are somewhat different takes from the original version.

The first is Bear McCreary’s version, performed by BT4, on the Battlestar Galactica soundtrack, which is in stores today. This is a very different take on the song, with a science fiction/Galactica feel to it, which was really cool to here, and the screenwriters took the time to really incorperate the song into the finale of last season.

Two Riders Approaching

The second versions is from the soundtrack from the upcoming Dylan film, I’m Not There, performed by Eddie Vedder and The Million Dollar Bashers. This is a fun take on the song, although I really like the Galactica version better.

And of course, there’s the fantastic original version.

All Along The Watchtower – Bear McCreary

All Along The Watchtower – Eddie Vedder and the Million Dollar Bashers

All Along The Watchtower – Bob Dylan

Hype – Buy

The Best of September

This has been a really good month for music, with a ton of albums being released and with some good stuff floating around out there. Here’s the best of what I found this month –

You Can’t Always Get What You Want – Band from TV

The Band from TV is just as it sounds, a band from TV. It’s a collection of actors from various TV shows who’ve come together, including Hugh Laurie (House MD) and Greg Grunsberg (Heroes, Alias), among others. One of their first tracks released was for the House, MD Soundtrack, a cover of the Rolling Stones song, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, one of the trademark songs from House, MD. It’s a fun cover, with a bit of a different take than the original.

Eh Hee – Dave Matthews

This song is weird. Just plain weird, and really different from everything that Dave Matthews has done thus far. It’s got a weird beat, lyrics and video. And it’s pretty cool, once you get over how odd it is.

State of Massachusetts – Dropkick Murphys

This is the latest from the Dropkick Murphys, which sounds like one of their Irish rock songs, with a kickass beat and an interesting story with their lyrics.

Hard Sun – Eddie Vedder

One of the main tracks from the soundtrack Into the Wild, this is a cover of somebody’s (I can’t remember what the original artist was), and it’s one of those songs that just struck me while I was driving. Good lyrics, and when the chorus kicks in, I’m good.

Beautiful – Elvis Costello

I’ve been trying to find this for a while, ever since it was used in a House, MD episode, Elvis Costello’s cover of Christina Agulara’s Beautiful. It’s got a good beat and overall, a much better cover than the original.

Let It Die – Foo Fighters

Just off of Echoes, Silence and Grace, the Foo Fighters are back (review coming soon) and this is one of the cooler songs off the album, starting off really slowly, but building over the whole song.

Home – Foo Fighters

This is one of the softer Foo Fighters songs off the album, and it really goes to show that these guys can do more than just fast rock. Dave Gohl’s voice with the piano is just fantastic here.

Pagen Angel and a Borrowed Car – Iron & Wine

This is one of my favorite favorites of the month. It starts off stripped of sound before opening up about 20 seconds into the song, with amazing drum and guitar work, as well as Sam Beam’s fantastic voice. I love this song.

Carousel – Iron & Wine

I also love this one. It’s got some amazing guitar work and vocals and has a delicate and relaxed sound to it. One of the best off of the album The Shepherd’s Dog.

In Our Nature – José González

José González is back with In Our Nature, and the title track has a fantastic sound and off beat tone to his acoustic guitar and drum work.

Teardrop – José González

This is a cover of Massive Attack’s song, and like Heartbeats before in Veneer, González shows what he can do with an electronic song, although the result isn’t as dramatic as it was with Heartbeats. No matter, this song is just amazing as is.

White Bird – KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall is back with Drastic Fantastic. While not as good as her earlier album, White Bird is one of the stronger songs on the album, with a nice laid back sound and really good vocal work on her part.

Hopeless – KT Tunstall

This is another one of the stronger songs off of Drastic Fantastic, with a nice beat and good KT Tunstall sound. The vocals and drumwork are flawless here.

Love Song – Sara Bareilles

This is the lead single off of newcomer Sara Bareille’s album Little Voice. She’s got a good sound with the piano and a strong voice here, and some fantastic lyrics.

Many The Miles – Sara Bareilles

This is another fantastic song off of Little Voice, with fantastic piano and vocals, with a good opener that eases nicely into the chorus here, with a nice blend of soul, R&B and rock.

Buttons – Sia

Sia’s best known (at least to me) for her collaborations with Zero 7. I like her work with them just fine, but it wasn’t until this song that I really listened to her. This song’s quirky pop sound is really cool, and distinctive.

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Into the Wild – Eddy Vedder

I’ve never been a huge fan of Pearl Jam over the years, although there’s a couple of songs that I remember from my days in High School, but lead singer Eddie Vedder’s first solo album, based off of his work with the film soundtrack Into the Wild seems to be a pretty solid work.

I got a copy of Hard Sun, and really can’t stop listening to that – very good track.

Hard Sun – Eddie Vedder

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