New KT Tunstall Video - Hold On

I just got a press release for KT Tunstall's upcoming album, Drastic Fantastic, and it had a link to the new video for the lead single, Hold On. A quick look at YouTube showed that there's already a copy up:

This upcoming album is one that I really can't wait to hear. Eye to the Telescope was a fantastic first album from a really exceptional artist, and from all sounds of this upcoming one, this one will be just as good.

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Best of the Month: August

Over the past month, I've been collecting, listening and buying songs as they catch my interest, and here are my picks for the best of August:

Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen
The boss is back with the first single in a couple of years now, and this one's pretty damn good. Solid guitar work and drive behind this one, with a solid track once again.

Don't Stop Now - Crowded House
Even A Child - Crowded House
Crowded House is back after, inadvertently. Starting out as a solo album with the older members of the band added on, they're back with a bit of a better sound than before, with two fantastic songs, Don't Stop Now and Even A Child.

Ashes and Wine - A Fine Frenzy
Rangers - A Fine Frenzy
A Fine Frenzy, whom I've talked about before, is off to a fantastic start with her first album, with a sweet voice and beautiful piano accompaniment, all the while displaying some fantastic lyrics. Ashes & Wine and Rangers are two of the best songs off the album, although the entire thing is pretty damn good.

The Pretender - Foo Fighters
The Foo Fighters are back with their latest single, The Pretender, which starts off slow before exploding into a really good song. I'm not sure if it's as good as Best Of You, but it's still a pretty good track.

Mr. Columbus - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Falling or Flying - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals exploded with their first major studio release, This Is Somewhere, refining their sound and sharpening their already fantastic songwriting skills. Mr. Columbus and Falling Or Flying are two of the best tracks from the album, although you'd be hard pressed to find a bad song on that album.

Boy With A Coin - Iron & Wine
Iron & Wine's latest single shows a little experimentation, adding in a bit of a faster rhythm and a richer sound than some of his older songs, but it's an a really catchy track that's just amazing.

1973 - James Blunt
I wasn't a fan of Blunt's first single, You're Beautiful, but 1973 really won me over, I'm not sure if I'll check out the rest of the album, but this one's a much stronger track that's good in it's own right.

Killing for Love - José González
Down The Line - José González
José González is following up the amazing Veneer with In Our Nature, with more original works, but a couple of covers as well (Teardrop). Killing for Love and Down The Line are two really good tracks that highlight his acoustic guitar work and lyrics.

Close Call - Rilo Kiley
Dreamworld - Rilo Kiley
Rilo Kiley's been the talk of the blogging and media community for the last couple weeks with her new album, Under the Blacklight with some of the best pop music out there. Blending some really cool guitar work and vocal talent, this album's certainly a really good listen. Close Call and Dreamworld are my two favorites from the album.

Hold On (iTunes)– KT Tunstall
K.T. Tunstall’s back with a new single, for her upcoming album Drastic Fantastic, which is fast, hyper and sounds like a fantastic followup to her last release, Eye to the Telescope.

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa – Vampire Weekend
This is a fun offbeat song who’s just released their first self-titled EP. It’s light, poppy, indie music at its best. These are some guys to keep an eye on.

Hype – Buy

Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection

This is cool - LFL and BMG are releasing a 30th anniversary soundtrack edition for Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Cover art looks amazing, and I'm tempted to pick it up, even though I already have the special edition collection. It's going to be released this November, and will contain 8 discs of music. You can pre-order the collection here

Star Wars Main Theme - John Williams.

C&O

One cool song that's been covered pretty well is the Postal Service's Such Great Heights. It's a really great song, and with the release of the fantastic Garden State Soundtrack, Iron & Wine did their own version, which is spectacular. Ben Folds has also given the song a go, which is worth listening to. Iron & Wine brings in the fantastic acoustic guitarwork, Ben Folds brings his frantic piano and The Postal Service started the whole thing.

Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
Such Great Heights - Iron & Wine
Such Great Heights - Ben Folds

New Music: Under The Blacklight

Rilo Kiley's newest album Under The Blacklight has been getting quite a bit of attention from the music blog and media world. As I was driving home last night, NPR's All Things Considered ran a feature on the new album, along with a couple of the songs.

I'm not all that familiar with Kiley's music outside of a song or two - Several of her songs were featured on the show Veronica Mars, where I heard them, and I've enjoyed listening to the ones that I do have.

This album is a cool one to listen to. It's got influences from the indie, pop and alternative world, and to me, it seems a little standoffish and independant from other pop albums out there. As the commentator for NPR noted, any song that has mention of a mother athiest who doesn't care if her daughter is out all night is bound to clash with some audiences, which, in my opinion, is a good thing. Music should challenge people.
Jenny Lewis, lead vocals, really does a great job on this album, really bridging genres at times with this album. I'm hooked.


Dreamworld - Rilo Kiley

Close Call - Rilo Kiley

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New Cary Brothers Video - Who You Are

Cary Brothers released his debut album a couple months ago, but the video has just been released for the title track, Who You Are. It's an interesting one to watch, and it's a fantastic song to boot, and it's actually where I got the title for this blog. You can get the video through iTunes as well if you want a better quality version - Here.

Cary is also going on tour this fall with Matt Nathanson, and will be hitting a number of cities. If he comes near you, I'd highly recommend checking the two of them out. I'll be catching them in Burlington:

Sep 28 2007 7:30P The Basement w/ Matt Nathanson Columbus, Ohio
Sep 30 2007 5:30P The Canopy Club w/ Matt Nathanson Urbana, Illinois
Oct 1 2007 12:30A The Late Late Show CBS
Oct 1 2007 7:00P The Blue Note w/ Matt Nathanson Columbia, Missouri
Oct 2 2007 7:00P The Bottleneck w/ Matt Nathanson Lawrence, Kansas
Oct 4 2007 7:00P The Majestic Theatre w/ Matt Nathanson Madison, Wisconsin
Oct 5 2007 7:00P Fine Line Music Cafe w/ Matt Nathanson Minneapolis, Minnesota
Oct 6 2007 7:30P House of Blues w/ Matt Nathanson Chicago, Illinois
Oct 7 2007 8:30P Blind Pig w/ Matt Nathanson Ann Arbor, Michigan
Oct 8 2007 7:00P El Mocambo w/ Matt Nathanson Toronto, Ontario
Oct 10 2007 7:30P The Rex Theatre w/ Matt Nathanson Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Oct 11 2007 7:00P Theater of Living Arts w/ Matt Nathanson Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 12 2007 7:30P The Fillmore NY @ Irving Plaza w/ Matt Nathanson New York, New York
Oct 13 2007 8:00P Roxy w/ Matt Nathanson Boston, Massachusetts
Oct 14 2007 8:00P Higher Ground w/ Matt Nathanson S. Burlington, Vermont

Who You Are - Cary Brothers

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Artist Highlight: Sara Wheeler

Finally, after four years of searching around, I finally got my hands on a copy of Sara Wheeler's 2002 release, Summer. She played at my college when I was a freshman, and I fell in love with her music from the start, and picked up her earlier release, Moonlight Dancers at the concert, thinking that if I liked it, I'd be able to get the rest of her music, no problem. Except that I couldn't find the music on Amazon.com, and not having a credit card, I wasn't able to really buy things online easily. So when I found that the fantastic CD Baby carried her music, I ordered a copy and it was delivered yesterday.

Wheeler's out of the Boston area and has a fantastic voice with the acoustic guitar. Moonlight Dancers is a fantastic album, and Summer, while not quite as good, is still a joy to listen to. I had a couple of songs, Dreaming and Naked, before, but now, those really good songs are joined by Heaven and Freedom. Her sound's a little different, with some songs exhibiting a new sound, but the basis is the same fantastic songs.
What's also fansastic, as I just found a couple moments ago, iTunes has finally started carrying her music, with both Moonlight Dancers and Summer listed. Unfortunently, they don't carry her latest album, Soleil, and I don't know where to get it, although you can download one of the songs here.

Through The Cracks - Sara Wheeler

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Download Problems

I'm having problems with SaveFile, the site that I usually upload files with. I'm not sure if it's my own network here, but it's not working. Does anyone have any suggestions for an alternative site to use?

iTunes Free Music of the Week

Some good pickings from iTunes this morning, with some big artists here.
Nod Your Head - Paul McCartney
Nod Your Head Video - Paul McCartney
Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen (Highly Recommended)
Alright - Ledisi
Nuevo Mundo - Crisantes

New Music: Good and Wreckless and True

This album actually was released earlier this year, but I wanted to highlight it, as I've recently seen these guys and want to pass their music on. The Alternate Routes is a band out of Connecticut, who've come out with their first album, Good and Reckless and True.

These guys are pretty good, and will hopefully get a bit better. While this is a good release, it's far from perfect, but they've got the right sound and writing skills. The best songs here are Time Is A Runaway, Are You Lonely, Please Don't let It Be and Ordinary, while the rest of the songs are fairly forgettable. They've got some good musical skills, using a bunch of insturments that aren't typically used, such as a mandolin and a pair of tool boxes filled with something metal and a microphone (at the concert that I went to), so they've got some good, out of the box ideas. Let's hope that we'll see some new, really good stuff from them in the future.
The band recently announced their fall tour, with two different bands, and they'll be well worth checking out live:


THE ALTERNATE ROUTES

Fall Tour Dates with Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers

Sep 25 - Tasty World, Athens, GA

Sep 27 - 8 x 10 Club, Baltimore, MD

Sep 28 - The Iron Horse, Northampton, MA

Sep 29 - Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY

Oct 2 - Hard Rock Café, Pittsburgh, PA

Oct 4 - The Magic Bag, Ferndale, MI

Oct 5 - Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH

Oct 6 - Joe’s Bar, Chicago, IL

Oct 7 - The Annex, Madison, WI

Oct 10 - Fine Line Music Café, Minneapolis, MN

Oct 11- Knuckleheads Saloon, Kansas City, MO

Oct 12 - The Black Sheep, Colorado Springs, CO

Oct 13 - Boulder Theater, Boulder, CO


With Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers

Nov 7- The Bottleneck, Lawrence, KS

Nov 8 - Blueberry Hill, St. Louis, MO

Nov 9 - The Music Mill, Indianapolis, IN

Nov 10 - The Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI

Nov 11 - Cambridge Room/House of Blues, Cleveland, OH

Songs forthcoming - Savefile is down for some reason...

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Day Off

So, my office has an office holiday tomorrow. Thus, three day weekend for me, work for everyone else. I can live with that. I won't be able to update tomorrow, because internet where I live sucks, so here's something for the next couple days.

Hot Fun in the Summer Time - Zero 7

Hot Fun in the Summer Time - Sly Stone

We Used to Vacation - Cold War Kids

Saturday In The Park - Chicago

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Evolution of ... Amos Lee

I first got hooked on Amos Lee with his first single, Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight, on 104.7 The Point. The minute I heard it, I was driving to school, and did a bit of a mad search in my car for a piece of paper and pencil to write down the artist.
Lee was a school teacher in Philadelphia, and was able to get an EP together, Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight, which was enough to impress singer Norah Jones, who was in the area at the time. She invited him along on her tour, which has gotten Lee started. Right off the bat, his laid back blues-y style is really something, coupled with his lyrics.

In 2005, he went on to release his first, self titled album, which included Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight, which remains one of the best songs that he's got out. He continued with other excellent ones, keeping the blues and folk sound.
In 2006, Lee released a second album, Supply and Demand. Already, he's been getting some media and drama attention, as several of his songs were used in major TV programs. Shout Out Loud was released in the pilot for one program, Six Degrees, while a song from his prior album, Colors, was used in House, MD. Supply and Demand takes him more to a folk / acoustic guitar sound, while leaving behind some of the blues (not all of them), while even getting a little into politics. It was right after this second album that I was able to see him live, which was a fantastic show, although he seemed to be a bit tired from the tour.

There's a good article on Lee here, at the New York Times (Registration Required)

Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight - Amos Lee

Colors - Amos Lee
Night Train - Amos Lee

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Vampire Weekend

NPR's All Songs Considered mentioned these guys on their last podcast, and the first image that springs to mind is some sort of gothic-y type music. Much to my surprise, that's pretty far from the truth, as these guys have a very unique sound. It's light, airy and very lyrical, with what sounds very carribean or something similar. It's a cool sound, and I'm guessing that these guys will have some cool things coming to us.


Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend (Link Fixed)

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C&O

This week's Cover and Original is of another Beatles song, with a couple of pretty good covers to go along with it. I was going to do something different this time around, but this song fits with my mood for the time being. (The getting better all the time part anyway)

Getting Better was first written in 1967 and was on the landmark album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band. Here's two covers by Gomez and the Kaiser Chiefs.

Getting Better - The Beatles

Getting Better - Gomez

Getting Better - The Kaiser Chiefs

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Everybody Lies

Today, the third season of one of the best shows on television is being released - House, MD. I've been a huge fan of the show since I started watching a year ago in England, and have gotten the DVDs as they've been released.

I caught most of Season 3 when it aired, but I'll finally be able to actually watch good quality versions. This season was quite fun to watch, with some really good House moments that rival some of those in Seasons 1 and 2. So, to celebrate, here's Massive Attack's Teardrop, which was used really effectively for the theme of the show. Do yourself a favor and go check it out.


There's also some very cool news about the upcoming release of the House MD Soundtrack, which will be released September 18th, 2007. Looks like a good album to pick up, because it's got some previously unreleased material. Here's the track listing:

1. Massive Attack - Teardrop *
2. Gomez - See The World
3. Jon Clearly & The Absolute Monster Gentleman - Got To Be More Careful
4. Ben Harper - Waiting On An Angel
5. Michael Penn - Walter Reed
6. Elvis Costello - Beautiful **
7. Joe Cocker - Feelin’ Alright
8. Sarah McLachlan - Dear God
9. Josh Rouse - God, Please Let Me Go Back (Zip - Official Track from Fox)
10. Lucinda Williams Are You Alright?
11. Josh Ritter - Good Man
12. Band From TV - You Can’t Always Get What You Want **
*North American release only
**Previously unreleased

Teardrop - Massive Attack

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iTunes Free Song of the Week

This week's freebies from iTunes. They've actually got a decent pick this week. Song for the Fields is the best of the lot, but Wrecking Ball and Esta Soledad aren't bad listens either.

Song for the Fields - Fields
Wrecking Ball - King Winkie

Esta Soledad - Kany Garcia

R.I.P. Rusy Jacobs

I just got an e-mail from my mother - Rusty Jacobs, the founder of a folk band The Wood's Tea Co. has died. This is the second death in the band recently, another long time member died in a motorcycle accident last year, and wasn't replaced for their touring.
Wood's Tea Co. has been a staple of my childhood for as long as I can remember. They came up to Vermont constantly (they were from here) and toured the country extensively in smaller venues, such as town halls, greens and schools.

I really gained an appreciation for their music over the last couple years, and really got into the folk-Irish sound and traditional songs that they always played. Given their recent losses, I'm not sure that I'll ever get to see them live again, which is a very sad thing, because they brought a rich blend of humor and music to the stage and over the past twenty or so years, they've kept it up nicely. Rusy will be greatly missed. Here's the obituary from the Burlington Free Press.

Technorati Profile- Buy - Look

New Music: The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter

Along with Grace Potter & The Nocturnals last night, I also got to see Josh Ritter, a singer from Idaho who opened for her. I'd never heard of the singer before, and was happy to find that he wasn't a bad singer, and that his music is somewhat in line with what I tend to listen to, although nothing really jumped out at me at the time.
I did a bit of digging and listened to a couple tracks from his latest album, and, now having heard some of the tracks live, really enjoyed the studio cuts this time around.

Ritter's band depends on the piano and guitar for much of the drive behind the music, while Josh himself fronts everything with his voice, which really fits with his own catagory. I don't think that I've really heard anyone with a voice quite like his, somewhat raspy with a good sound. Together, the band holds itself well with all the elements, and there's some good tracks off of the album. They looked like they were having a really fun time on stage before the Nocturnals, and Josh himself looked like he had fun with his duet with Grace during her set.

Their latest album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, comes out tomorrow, and it's a decent album to pick up, especially in the indie/alternative rock scene. There's a couple of weak songs there - the album is far from perfect, but there are a bunch that are a lot of fun to listen to, such as the three below.

Rumors - Josh Ritter
Mind's Eye - Josh Ritter
Right Moves - Josh Ritter

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Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Concert 2

Grace Potter kicked off her tour after the release of her latest album, This Is Somewhere, with a concert at the Waterfront Park in Burlington Vermont to a nearly packed venue. Their opening band, Josh Ritter, wasn't bad, but he was somewhat forgettable after last night's performance, athough he is worth looking into for a decent band.

This was my second time seeing the Nocturnals, and this performance topped their one a couple weeks ago at Club Metronome. For starters, they were in the open air, which helped Grace's sound by a tenfold. She no longer sounded as high and poppish as she did last time, this time, they had proper speakers, so there was no problems there. They launched into a fantastic set that included several songs from their prior album, Nothing But The Water, as well as a couple of ones that they've performed live before, such as Belledonna and Watching You. They also included a six or seven minute drum solo, with the entire band playing around the drumset before the end.

Like before, they had an incredible amount of energy and used it well. This set seemed to include a couple more faster songs than last time, and didn't seem to drag on as long, and with a much larger crowd, they seemed to feed off of the energy a bit more than they did last time.

Set List:

Ah Mary
Treat Me Right
Stop the Bus
Here's To The Meantime
Belledonna
Apoligies (MP3)
Lose Some Time
(John-Something Cover w/ Josh Ritter)
Falling Or Flying
Mastermind
I've Been Watching You
(Unknown - Girls)
Joey
If I Was From Paris
Nothing But The Water (1)
Drum Solo - 4-Way

Nothing But The Water (2)
Cortez, The Killer

Come Together (Beatles Cover)
Big White Gate

More pictures from the event: Here

New Music Release: Live At Radio City

This slipped by me earlier this week - Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds released a second live album together, this time from the Radio City in Manhatten, the performance of which was a culmination of a three city tour. Tickets went for up to an amazing $15,000 (According to Amazon.com) and features an amazing playlist of 26 songs.

Playlist:

Disc one
"Bartender"
"When the World Ends"
"Stay or Leave"
"Save Me"
"Crush"
"So Damn Lucky"
"Gravedigger"
"The Maker"
"Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back)"
"Eh Hee"
"Betrayal"
"Out of My Hands"
"Still Water"
"Don't Drink the Water"

Disc two
"Oh"
"Cornbread"
"Crash into Me"
"Down by the River"
"You Are My Sanity"
"Sister"
"Lie in Our Graves" (with improvisational jam)
"Some Devil"
"Grace Is Gone"
"Dancing Nancies"
"#41"
"Two Step"

Should you buy this from iTunes, there's two additional songs included. This is an amazing live album on Matthew's part, playing a number of favorites and some new songs, with some classic Matthew's guitar work along with Reynolds. This is highly recommended - I don't really go for a lot of Matthew's live albums, but this one's exceptional.

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A Moment in History

Yesterday marked the 30th Anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley at his home, of a drug overdose, and represented a huge loss for the music community. To some, he was the first real rock star. To date, he's recieved over one hundred and thirty certifications from the RIAA for his records with a hundred and forty-nine singles that cracked the top forty.
Presley was the only survivor of a pair of twins, (born in 1935), growing up as an only child. He learned to sing at an early age, through his church, and recorded his first song in 1953, and would later return to make his debut release in 1954, to a huge response from the local radio station. By 1956, he was well known, with a number one single and an unprecedented $35,000 dollar contract from RCA. Over the next couple of years, he was on fire, scoring numberous chart topping hits.

Such fame wasn't without controversy, as he was viewed as vulgar with his movements on stage, and for some televised performances, was filmed from the waist up. In 1958, he entered the US Army, where he served in Germany and was later discharged in 1960. By the mid-1960s, he was making over a million dollars per film he worked in and would marry in '67, although the marriage would dissolve by 1972. It was also during this time that he began to take drugs and became increasingly reclusive from the public. Presley's last performance was June 25th, 1977 in Indianapolis, and he would die just months later. Thousands of devoted fans attended the burial, and Elvis's estate would later (after some court drama), pass to his only daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. Graceland was opened to the public in 1982, where hundreds of thousands of people visit every year.
Elvis is undoubtably one of the cornerstones of American Rock & Roll, having influenced huge numbers of musicians, such as Buddy Holly and the Beatles, as well as set many of the trends for Rock & Roll in a time of change that has had lasting influences to even today.

Hound Dog - Elvis Presley

A Little Less Conversation - Elvis Presley

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Lies of Locke Lamora

I just picked up a fantastic book by a new fantasy author named Scott Lynch titled The Lies of Locke Lamora. I'm a geek, I read, watch and breath science fiction and fantasy stories. While I like fantasy, I'm a lot more picky about what I read, which authors I pick up, etc. Most of the stuff out there's pretty craptacular - most of the stuff's pretty cliched and not all that interesting to me.

Lies of Locke Lamora is Lynch's first novel, and it's the first in a series called The Gentleman Bastard Sequence, and it's scheduled to run for seven books. The second, Red Seas Under Red Skies, was released last month in hardcover, which I'm really excited to start reading that soon after I finish the first one.
It's different, grown up, not your Lord of the Rings type fantasy novel. This is fantasy with a bite, down in the underworld with a perfectly realized society and city, with a plot with heists and crime lords, someting more reminicent of the novel and book Layer Cake than Ocean's 11 (as stated on the back cover). This is highly original fantasy at it's best, and Lynch is an author that's going to go far in the field. Just take a look on the inside cover - George R.R. Martin, Kate Elliot, Richard Morgan, Matthew Stover, and several other highly prominent authors in the field have tesimonials to this first novel.

The Perfect Crime - The Decemberists

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Killing For Love - New José González Video

The video for one of José González's latest songs is now up online, entitled Killing For Love. It's a fantastic song, but I'm not really impressed by the video, like I was for the one for Heartbeats.


Kill For Love

The video for Heartbeats is absolutely amazing:

Heartbeats

Here's another one for Crosses, which I hadn't found before:

Artist Comparison

Acoustic-Folk has become fairly popular in recent years, with the popularity of the genre getting more noticed as certain singers are picked as the hip thing to listen to, often times, as radio stations pick up on certain tracks or more often, as popular television shows or movies finding some real gems and dumping them on an unsuspecting public. The following two artists have both really surfaced recently due to the media attention. While this is a good thing, as more people listen to them, it's a bit of a shame that they haven't really come through on their own. However, they're out there, so that's a plus.

Both Alexi Murdoch and Nick Drake have come to my attention through soundtracks. Murdock's song Orange Sky was featured on an episode of House, MD (A show with fine music tastes) while Drake's song One of These Things First came to me via the fantastic Garden State soundtrack. (Incidently, Orange Sky was also in that movie, but not on the soundtrack.)
There's a number of similarities between these two. The first is that they're both from the United Kingdom. Drake was raised in England, while Murdoch hails from Scotland. Indeed, this similarity has been mentioned in various articles about the two. Alexi Murdoch is undoubtably influenced to some degree by Nick Drake.

Their sound is amazingly similar to one another. Solo guitarists, with the use of picking on the guitars is their matching style, and their vocal work is also fairly similar - on the mid-high level. A number of their songs tend to be fairly laid back, calm and soothing, the perfect thing to listen to after a long day. I have a fixed mental image of riding home on the train from Oxford set to Three Hours. Similarly, I have the song Orange Sky rooted in my memories that are associated with my time in England.
There are some smaller differences between the artists - they're not clones of one another. Alexi tends to experiment a little more with some songs, such as 12 and Shine. Nick Drake tends to incorporate more insturments into some of his songs. But for all practical means, they're very similar, which is a good thing, as they have a fantastic sound between the two of them. I'm hoping that someday, I'll come across a Nick Drake cover by Alexi Murdoch. That'd be really cool.

Place To Be - Nick Drake

Song For You - Alexi Murdoch

Three Hours - Nick Drake

Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch

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Priscilla Ahn

I had the pleasure to come across Priscilla Ahn when I went to see Cary Brothers earlier this month. Hailing from LA, I was a little skeptical when she first came on stage and started, but her voice quickly won me over with her really light and beautiful songs that she went with, and later on, as she sang along with Cary with a couple songs.

While she has yet to put out a full length album (it's currently in the works), she does have a self-titled EP that's currently for sale, avaliable on iTunes for $4.95. It's a fantastic bargin, and I suspect that we'll hear a lot more good music from her in the near future.

Video for Dream:

Are We Different? - Priscilla Ahn

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iTunes Free Music of the Week

Every Tuesday, iTunes has a couple of songs up for free download. Sometimes, it's crap, sometimes, it's really good. This week:

Road to Recovery - Midnight Juggernauts

You Picked Me - A Fine Frenzy *Really Good*

Promesa de Amor - Jeremias

Also, they've got the pilot to the new SciFi remake, Flash Gordon, up for free.

C&O

One thing that I like to sort of collect is covers of songs. It's always cool to see two different takes on any given song, especially if the singers are from different backgrounds. Take the various covers of Crazy, by Gnarls Barkley.

The original Crazy is a fast, hip-hop type of song with a heavy bass line, but it's got a very easy going quality towards it. I'm not a hip-hop fan at all, but this one's not only tolerable, but highly listenable. It's a well put together song, with good vocal work and backgrounds, and it's not overly complicated by wanting to be a dance number or with too much going on.

Ray LaMontagne has also done a variation on the song, to his own style. He follows the more acoustic guitar tradition (Which I'm a sucker for) and he brings that, but his own lower vocal work to it. In addition, he changes up his time and pacing for the song, not trying to really follow the original too much, which is a plus for this song. There's only so many times that you can listen to a song cover, but what's the point if it's exactly like the original?

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

Crazy - Ray Lamontagne

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Carbon Leaf Covers!

Carbon Leaf, one of my favorite bands, has released a second EP through iTunes, entitled Covers 1.4. The four songs included are Led Zepplin's Bron'-Y-Aur-Stomp, The Beatle's Dear Prudence, Bruce Springsteen's I'm On Fire and Uncle Tupelo's Screendoor, all studio versions of the songs. You can download the EP here.

It's worth downloading, because these are some great covers from a great band. They're all staples of their live shows, and it's nice to here them in the studio.

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The Dejeeling Limited

Anyone a fan of Wes Anderson's movies? (The Life Aquatic, Royal Tennanbaums). He's got a new movie coming out later on this year, called The Dejeeling Express, about three brothers on a sort of spiritual journey. I was a huge fan of The Life Aquatic, which has a fantastic soundtrack, and I'm looking forwards to seeing what this one will bring. Below, there's the poster (with link to the trailer) and the song attached to the trailer.

This Time Tomorrow - The Kinks

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In the Shadow of the Moon

On September 7th, there's going to be a documentary released to theaters that looks absolutely fantastic. It's called In the Shadow of the Moon, and it's about the space program that would eventually bring the human race out to the moon. It's gotten quite a few awards from the Sundance Film Festival, and from the trailer, it looks fantastic, and seems to have a number of interviews from original astronauts.

Space history is something that I've really gotten into. I graduated from a military college with a degree in history. Not surprisingly, there's a good degree of military history involved there, and frankly, I've wanted to avoid military history to some degree, although it's something that I'm really interested in. Space is just cool, and I've been looking for good books on the subject. With this documentary, I started poking around for more books, and found that there's a book by the same title (In the Shadow of the Moon: A Challenging Journey to Tranquility, 1965-1969), by Francis French and Colin Burgess, which is an absolutely amazing read so far. It's comprehensive and detailed, and apparently, the two authors wrote another book, called Into That Silent Sea: Trail Blazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965, which is something that I'll be getting soon.

I'm a huge fan of science fiction, but there's something about reading about the actual events that've occurred that makes me thrilled inside. Science fact sometimes trumps Science Fiction.
Fly Me To The Moon - Frank Sinatra
Man on the Moon - R.E.M.

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Back in 1973

I never thought that I'd recommend a James Blunt song after "You're Beautiful", but with his latest single off of his sophtomore album, I'd have to say that I'll recommend it, along with a BBC Television drama.

1973 is a nostalgic piece from Blunt, and is a much, much better song than his prior song. The video's quite good as well, really fitting with the nostalgia theme. There's something really appealing about that, at least to me. I sometimes think back to earlier and reminice, especially now, being newly out of college. The song does just that, and has a good, fairly quiet sound to it, one that reminds me a bit of Fleetwood Mac for some reason (Although you can't compare the two at all). This song really feels like the 1970s, and the video does as well, with the proper filters, giving it a great look and feel between the 1970s parts of the video and the modern parts. I'll be interested to hear the rest of the album, because this new song isn't bad at all.

Listen to the song here, on Blunt's Webpage

Along the same lines, the BBC launched a show two years ago, called Life on Mars, named for the David Bowie song. In it, Manchester DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) Sam Tyler gets into an accident and wakes up in the year 1973 (Ah ha, see the connection?). Life on Mars is not only playing on his iPod when he gets hurt, but on the other side on an 8-Track tape in his car. Later, you learn that part of his life then is code named M.A.R.S, and he comments in the pilot that being in the 1970s feels like being on another planet. It's a top notch show, a high quality police drama, and if you can get a place to see it, I'd highly, highly recommend it.

Life on Mars - David Bowie

Life on Mars Theme - Edmund Butt

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This Is Somewhere

Grace Potter's newest album, This is Somewhere hit stores on Tuesday, and I've finally gotten a chance to really listen to it, and man, what a fantastic album - This one's a must to pick up, it's a great addition to her works, and in some cases, a bit of an improvement over some of her older stuff. It's got some changes from Original Soul and Nothing But the Water, but it retains her older songwriting skills, even if they go for a bit of a different, slightly more mainstream sound. Here it is:

Ah Mary
The album opens up with a jolt with Ah Mary, which has a great beat and energy to it, and compared to most of the Nocturnal's songs, it's a lot more mainstream than their usual stuff, no surprise, considering that they're now on a major record label. It's almost like their first foray into the rock world. In addition, it's got some political overtones to it, but it's somewhat subtle enough to not notice at first.

Stop The Bus
Stop the Bus starts out casually with the opening lyrics, before settling into a fantastic chorus that drives the song and keeps the beat going. It's a love song, first and foremost, but a realistic one. The whole thing has a carefree feel to it that makes it great for speeding down the road with.

Apologies
This slows the album down quite a bit from the first two tracks. Grace takes over the piano, and from a love song, it goes to a bit of a breakup song. The bass and drums kick in with the chorus, which take up a good beat, but overall, it's a really somber song. The song takes its time and really demonstrates the superior songwriting that these guys are really good at.

Ain't No Time
This one sounds like it's been influenced by folk/country music more than rock music. It's got a good beat throughout the entire song, and at this point, the album seems to settle in to a good place here, although it's not the best song off of the album.

Mr. Columbus
This starts off nicely with a good piano and guitar beat before the drums cut in with Grace with a beat that just goes and goes. It has energy that really builds, and it suits the song, about the explorer Columbus with the lyrics "We've found the edge of the world", and is a fun, slightly pop-ish song, a large departure from some of their earlier works. This is one of the stronger cuts from the album, and really demonstrates Grace's vocal works, as well as the insturmental work on the part of the band.

You May See Me
The album quiets down again to this low, smokey, bluesy song. There's some great play with the words, repeating words, taking its time as if there's no rush. Its a nice change to listen to, and has some of the best lyrics on the album.

Lose Some Time
The album continues with a more mellow tone with Lose Some Time, and once again, demonstrates Grace's fantastic vocals. It's got a bit more drive than You May See Me, but retains the laidback feel for the duration, as well as some fantastic lyrics.

Mastermind
Mastermind starts off low, with a bit of a laid back beat, and starts to build up for the opening. This is another one of the really strong songs for the album. Once the song hits the chorus, the energy ramps up and goes into high gear and then backs off a bit once again.

Here's To The Meantime
This song goes up and down with energy, gaining and backing off. It's a little uneven, and this one seems to be influenced by country as well. It's a fun listen, but it's one of the weaker songs of the album. (Although the weak songs here are better than some on other albums. Don't get me wrong, all of these songs are really good.)

Falling Or Flying
Really fantastic lyrics are demonstrated here in Falling or Flying. It's a slower song, bluesy, and highly descriptive. There's some really good imagery here, and the delicate guitar and vocal work here makes this one of the stronger songs of the album. It picks up over the duration of the song and really settles in nicely. It's no wonder that this song was used on Grey's Anatomy. If anything, that show's got a good soundtrack and taste in music.

Big White Gate
The last track on the album is also one of the strongest. This one's lyrical and a story of a dying woman finding faith at her last breathe. This one's also really the most in line with the Nocturnal's older music, and it's such a rich song that really makes this one stand out.

If I Was From Paris (Bonus Track)

This song's only on iTunes for the moment, but when the record is released in vinyl, it'll be included. According to Grace, this one's one of her favorites, and explodes from the beginning with the guitar and forward lyrics. This one just screams energy and is a really fun one to listen to, and really seems to be the band cutting loose and having fun.

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Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Concert 1

Wow, what a fantastic concert. That's about all I can say. It was the first time that I'd seen Grace Potter & The Nocturnals in person, and man, they didn't let me down at all.

They opened up with a bang with Ah Mary and Stop the Bus, then went through a bunch of the other songs from their latest album, with the fantastic Apologies, Lose Some Time and ended up with Big White Gate. They left the stage, and came on again for a second set, this time of favorites, with Farmer John, the Beatles's Come Together, If I Was From Paris, Eyes on You and Neil Young's Cortez the Killer, all pretty much one long jam session that just blew the audience away. She mentioned that If I Was From Paris didn't make it onto the album, and that it's one of her favorite songs - It'll be available when the record comes out, although it is on iTunes as a bonus track. She also mentioned that the song Falling or Flying was featured on Grey's Anatomy, and that they've caught some flack for that. It's interesting to see how far a local Vermonter has really gone.

The band was also loud. I have some doubts that my hearing will return at all this week.

Grace sounds amazing in person. Her voice is a bit higher than I would have thought from the record, and the speakers just couldn't keep up with their sound, but man, they've got as much energy as a rocket and they really sustained it throughout, all the way to the end. Welcome home, Nocturnals. We know you're home, you've awakened the neighbors, and what a fantastic way to ring in the new album. Can't wait to see her again on the 19th.

Set List
Ah Mary

Stop the Bus

Apologies

Ain't No Time

Mr. Columbus

You May See Me

Lose Some Time

Mastermind

Here's to the Meantime

Falling or Flying

Big White Gate

Unknown - "Girls Say Yeah"

Farmer John

Come Together (The Beatles)

If I Was From Paris

Eye On You

Cortez The Killer (Neil Young)

Full Album Review coming tomorrow

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This is Somewhere

One of my most anticipated albums of the year is being released today, This Is Somewhere, by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. I'll be seeing them later on tonight when they perform at Club Metronome in Burlington.

Grace is an amazing performer. Do yourself a favor and pick up this album.

Somebody Fix Me - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

New Artist: A Fine Frenzy

I first learned of A Fine Frenzy earlier this year, when one of her tracks, Hope for the Hopeless, was used on the FOX show House, MD. Like most of the other music selections in the show (almost all of which are exceptional), the song really stood out.

A Fine Frenzy is the stage name for Alison Sodul, who hails out of Seattle, and who taught herself the piano. Now, her debut album has just been released, One Cell in the Sea, and like Hope for the Hopeless, the album is full of outstanding and quite beautiful songwriting and sound. Some of the songs, such as the ones below, really strike me:

Ashes and Wine - A Fine Frenzy
Almost Lover - A Fine Frenzy

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Grace Potter on Leno Tonight!

I'm going to start talking about Grace Potter and the Nocturnals a lot over the next couple of days - their next album, This Is Somewhere, is being released next Tuesday.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals came out of St. Lawerence University a couple of years ago, and they've been gaining attention ever since. Their first two records were popular here in their home state of Vermont, and now, they're on a major record label, after touring with acts such as Dave Matthews.

So, tonight, Grace Potter will be on Jay Leno, and I'd highly recommend tuning in to watch, she's a fantastic act.

Grace also made the news today with NPR, as she and her band recorded the theme song for the new program, Vermont Edition, which will be starting August 13th. It's based off of a track from their last album, Nothing But The Water.

Vermont Edition Theme - Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Buddy Holly

I grew up listening to oldies on 105.1 WKOL here in Vermont, as my mother would listen to the station any time the car was moving. As I remember it, it was a 50s/60s station, and has since slid up history through to the early 80s at this point. Unfortunently, it really hasn't been until this past year or so that I've really begun to appreciate the music that 'Kool 105' played.

Through the music that they played, from the Beatles to Chicago and the Eagles, I heard the music of Buddy Holly. The name wouldn't have meant much to me until recently, when I was flipping through a book that I recently purchased and came across a smiling young man - Buddy Holly. Reading through the entry, I learned that he was killed in a plane crash at the age of 22, but not before really making a splash in the Rock & Roll scene. I picked up a double album by the late singer, and really got hooked on his sound, and one of the things that I've really been happy to pick out was the roots of much of the music that we listen to today. Further discussion with my mother revealed that Don McLean's classic song American Pie deals directly with the death of Buddy Holly, which surprised me, although I seem to think that I had heard about that before, it just never made any sort of impact in my mind before now.

Holly was born on September 7th, 1936 in Texas, and learned how to play the piano and guitar, as well as the fiddle, early on. In the 1950s, he formed a band with some friends from high school, and they recorded some songs and played on the local radio station. Holly later made a deal with a record label, although without his friend Montgomery, and released Blue Days, Black Nights and Love Me as Holly and the Two Tunes, which went almost unheard of. Holly, by this time, was writing much of his own material. They renamed themselves Buddy Holly and the Crickets, opened for Elvis Presley, then cut another demo in New Mexico, That'll Be The Day, one of his best known songs, and became a number 1 hit. In 1958, Holly left the Crickets, and went to New York City, where he continued writing music, and got married. In February, they got tired of taking the bus on tour, and chartered a private plane in Iowa. Upon takeoff, the plane crashed, and Buddy Holly's life came to an end. The Crickets continued through to the 1990s, and Holly was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Now, for your listening pleasure:

That'll Be The Day - Buddy Holly
Well Alright - Buddy Holly
American Pie - Don McLean