Cary Brothers - New Alum Cover & Date Announced!

I'm a big fan of Cary Brothers' music, from his first EP, All The Rage to his first album, Who You Are. On the singer/songwriter market, he's among the best out there, with a fantastic sound and presentation, one that has attracted quite a lot of attention. With his last album released back in early 2007, he's long overdue for a follow-up record, which will be released on April 6th 2010, titled Under Control.

At the risk of getting over excited for an upcoming album, it would be an understatement to say that this is a highly anticipated album here at Carry You Away. Who You Are was a fantastic mix of indie rock and pop music that went between the driving beats of Who You Are and Ride, to the softer, thoughtful songs on The Glass Parade and All The Rage. Even the album cover was an extremely well done touch, in a minimalistic fashion that still ranks high for quality. Brothers has created a good image for himself through all aspects of his music, from the cover to the sounds, and one can hope that this long haitus is a result of creative perfection and hard work.

Thus far, I'm happy with the cover, and hopefully, I'll be just as happy with the music that it contains.

Ride - Cary Brothers

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John Mayer - Battle Studies

John Mayer is an artist whom I have quite a bit of respect and a bit of disdain for over the past couple of years. With the recently released Battle Studies, I've been listening over and thinking back on some of his older works while listening to review this album. The end conclusion that I've come up with is Battle Studies is an highly mixed album: one with a strong musical component, but one that is at the same time severely lacking when it comes to substance and variety.

My main complaint with the album, as a whole, is that while Mayer has had an impressive talent curve when it comes to instrumentation, this album dwells far too much on just a couple of themes - loneliness, abandonment; far too much on a 'Woe is me' theme that makes me want to throw the something at the guy. While a themed album that deals with these sorts of things is generally a good thing, I found the tone and feel of this album to be far too depressing. It felt self-pitying and at times, a bit pathetic, which might have been part of the point, but those were never traits that I've found admirable.

To be fair, several of Mayer's songs on this album rank amongst some of his best ones: Heartbreak Warfare, Half of My Heart and a cover of Robert Johnson's Crossroads, while there are couple additional mediocre songs, such as Who Says and Assassin. As the title suggests, a number of songs liken the quest for love as something akin to warfare. As someone who's studied the history of war and gone through heartbreak, it's a pretty unbalanced perspective. I can see this comparison sitting well with the twenty-something crowd, bobbing their heads while listening in their apartment, a nicely sanitized anthem for our generation.

But that is part of the problem: Mayer's sound, while greatly improved over the past couple of years, is too soft and easygoing to meet up with anything close to his album title or some of the thematic material therein. Where Mayer is likening heartbreak to Clouds of sulfur in the air/ Bombs are falling everywhere/ It's heartbreak warfare, there's a disconnect between the sound and what he's talking about. Regardless of whether heartbreak is as devestating as warfare (a debatable topic, depending on one's relationship status), a soft mellow song just doesn't connect the lyrics to the emotions in the song. Here, it just feels like a dud. In 'War Of My Life', Mayer doesn't sound like he's fighting for his life or conveying that sort of song; it feels more like he's strumming along like the rest of the twenty-somethings who think that they know the devestation of war by what they see on the television screen. In the end, it just feels like this album is called in, not like an air strike, but by the $10 pledge for any number of causes that pledge to end the violence, where it really doesn't mean that you're helping the issue beyond missing a little extra cash at the end of the month.

Heartbreak Warfare - John Mayer

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July Flame - Laura Veirs

Late last year, I wrote about the Decemberists and noted that I wasn't terribly impressed with their opening act, Laura Veirs and the Hall of Flames. I'm prepared to eat my words, especially after doing a little more research on the group as I've listened to Vier's latest album: July Flame.

Here I said she sounded like a newer musician, I couldn't have been more wrong - July Flame is her seventh album, with a music career beginning back in 1999, and also has worked closely with the Decemberists, contributing to their fantastic album The Crane Wife, on the track Yankee Bayonett (I Will Be Home Soon). It comes as no surprise then, that Colin Meloy has come out to announce that this is the best album of 2010.

July Flame is an interesting, but solid album all around. It took a couple of listens to get adjusted to Viers, but this album soars with excellent lyrics and some very rich background work by the instruments supporting her. What we get is a whispy, elegant effort from a singer/songwriter. Some songs, such as the opening song I Can See Your Tracks, are essentially just a girl and her guitar, along with some Bon Iveresque background lyrics. The title track, July Flame, brings a deeper sound - rather than the girl and her guitar, it feels like Veirs is surrounded by the bass, drunks and electric guitar here, with her lyrics just punching out through the sound.

The rest of the album shifts between these two mentalities somewhat, giving the album a sound that is not necessarily predictable, but shifting. It's far from boring, and provides for quite a few listens to fully take in all the small facets of her sound. In particular, I I've grown to absolutely love Life Is Good Blues, particularly because the sound is so mixed, from singer/songwriter guitar to some chilling background vocals. There are points, such as in the song Make Something Good, where Viers lets the instruments take over, for a really beautiful piece.

While the album is overall very strong, there's a number of points where I felt that Veirs just needs to be supported by something stronger - her voice is fairly high, elegant, but there are a couple songs, such as When You Give Your Heart, where the addition of bass and background vocals could have been used. For the most part, Veirs is able to avoid any larger trouble by putting these sorts of things in, but in a larger sense, it's hard to think of this album as a solo album, simply because the background work is so essential here. With that in mind, however, July Flame is a superior album - it's well organized, with an incredible sound and feel.


July Flame - Laura Viers
Life Is Good Blues - Laura Viers

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The Lovedrunks: Light Bulbs Explode

The song Books really caught me with one of its opening lyrics:

so in the cellar down below
you can find me reading books

The song is a lighthearted, innocent sounding song that really grows in intensity over its 4:39 minute run. Being a geek, the title immediately grabbed me, and I really got into the song that deals with a fairly simple topic: escapism. While the rest of the album doesn't necessarily deal with all the same issues, I was brought into the rest of the album by this German group.

The Lovedrunks are a youngish band that really seems to capture some of the spirit of the internet generation, what with songs like 16bit Analog Love and Central Station exuding a sort of youthful optimism throughout most of the songs. It's a welcome reprieve after going through several albums that are much darker, broodier and edgier. While listening, it sounds very much like these guys assembled and had quite a bit of fun doing so.

The band has a good, solid sound to it. They're not perfect, and I think that their lead singer needs to work a bit on the vocals (he sounds quite a lot like Weird Al, weirdly, with a higher, nasal-type of sound), but he is well supported by the piano and guitar throughout most of the songs. This keeps the group from being really good right off the bat, but with the way music comes together, that's hardly out of the ordinary - the difference here is that they are already off to a decent start, with some interesting songs from their first album, and good musical talent behind the scenes. Indeed, vocally, they also hit their high points with Books and Dear Me. What they do is the most important, and that's that they aren't boring - quite the contrary. The album is mixed up enough sound wise that it doesn't become overwhelmingly repetitive, nor do they linger too much on any particular subject to slant the album that way. It's fun, light indie-pop music.

Books - The Love Drunks

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Dragonflies

Everybody's Talking is a Canadian based group that has recently released their first EP, the independently released Dragonflies. Blending guitar and piano rock, this two man group has an interesting sound that is both catchy and full of movement.

Dragonflies is a 7 song EP that blends not only rock, but a bit of electronica. This speaks a bit to the group, as they are able to navigate several genres and retain their sound. In particular, one of the things that I liked the most was hearing someone behind the piano - it's an underused instrument in this capacity, and I think that the duo is on the right track with getting their sound in check and towards new things in the future.

You can take a look at their album here, and purchase it through their website, utilizing a pay what you want system.

Dragonflies - Everybody's Talking

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Satellite Crush

Hailing out of L.A., Satellite Crush takes its name from a long distance romance on the part of lead singer Elliot, from part of his own history. The group has recently released their debut E.P., entitled Arrows of Eros, which further ties in to their namesake. (Eros, according to a quick check on Wikipedia, was the god of sexual love and beauty.)

The sound of Satellite Crush is one that is a breezy sort of Indie/Pop, despite the rather downtrodden nature of their lyrics. The EP starts off with a very good sound and feel - the band plays together, with a good amount of skill behind the guitar and vocals. The best track off the album is Paris To London, the second track ouf of the five. Elliot's vocals are the central part of the song, and I'm reminded of other artists, such as Cary Brothers, Chris Stills and Chris Blake for the rang and sheer free flowing feel to the movement here.

But the rest of the songs on the album feel much the same way - the EP invokes imagry of a late night drive with nowhere to go on a summer night. Over all five songs is a good continuity of sound - laidback, driven and pleasant. To some extent, this conflicts with the somewhat brooding nature of the songs, especially with titles such as Lovesick Soul, Strictly Platonic, and Jealousy. Despite that, this release feels honest, heartfelt. While I like the sound and subject matter, I hope that things will look up emotionally for these guys when it comes time to work on a full length album - something that I hope they will be doing. There's an incredible amount of potential based on Arrows of Eros, and I hope to hear more from them soon.

If you're in the LA area in the next month, you can catch the group at the following dates and locations:

1/29 Club Underground @ The Echo
2/8 The Dragonfly

Paris to London - Satellite Crush

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Folsom Prison Blues

This day in history, Johnny Cash played the first of two concerts at the Folsom State Prison in Folsom California, which would later become the recording At Folsom Prison. Cash would later note that the audience was one of the most enthusiastic that he'd ever had. I've always liked this song, which was first recorded in 1956, and it's one that has the best traits of country music within it: story.

Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash

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White Rabbit

A lot of people are looking forwards to Tim Burton's upcoming adaptation of Alice In Wonderland. I'm rather indifferent to the film, not being a huge fan of Burton's films, but I did like this little bit of news that came across my desk earlier today: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals will be appearing on the official soundtrack, with a cover of Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit. Movie soundtracks are usually pretty hit or miss for me, and this one doesn't look like anything special, with the usual mix of popular and hip artists. Still, it'll be fun to hear a studio version of their cover. I

1. "Alice (Underground)" performed by Avril Lavigne

2. "The Poison" performed by The All-American Rejects

3. "The Technicolor Phase" performed by Owl City

4. "Her Name Is Alice" performed by Shinedown

5. "Painting Flowers" performed by All Time Low

6. "Where's My Angel" performed by Metro Station

7. "Strange" performed by Tokio Hotel and Kerli

8. "Follow Me Down" performed by 3OH!3 featuring Neon Hitch

9. "Very Good Advice" performed by Robert Smith

10. "In Transit" performed by Mark Hoppus with Pete Wentz

11. "Welcome to Mystery" performed by Plain White T's

12. "Tea Party" performed by Kerli

13. "The Lobster Quadrille" performed by Franz Ferdinand

14. "Running Out of Time" performed by Motion City Soundtrack

15. "Fell Down a Hole" performed by Wolfmother

16. "White Rabbit" performed by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane) - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

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Moon

A quick note today about a film that is very near and dear to my heart: Moon. This film opened quietly last year, and it's garnered quite a few good reviews, as well as a number of awards. Currently, there's a bit of a campaign to get Sam Rockwell an Oscar award, despite Sony providing few resources, such as screeners, for that to happen. Still, even if Rockwell doesn't get the award, it's a shining star in the Science Fiction genre, as an original SF film with a low budget and physical sets, with a kickass story that is just plain excellent. The film is out on DVD today, so if you haven't seen it yet, you should really go and pick it up.

Welcome to Lunar Industries - Clint Mansell

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Winter Sounds

Winter is upon us, and so far, it's been an interesting one here in Vermont. No snow, then lots of snow, then freezing temperatures. I'm thrilled that we have the white stuff here, and the fall to spring period of the year is easily trumps summer for me.

Winter Birds - Ray LaMontagne

Winter - Joshua Radin

Faded from the Winter - Iron & Wine

Men of Snow - Ingrid Michaelson

Snowfall Music - Carbon Leaf

Hazy Shade of Winter - Simon & Garfunkle

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Grace Potter & The Nocturnals + Alberta Cross, Higher Ground, December 27th

Where the rest of the world has New York City's epic ball drop in Times Square, Vermont has Grace Potter to ring in the new year. It's rapidly becoming an annual event, with several lead-up concerts at the Higher Ground to meet demand, and the overall event has become a highly anticipated run of concerts.

I wasn't able to attend the New Year's Eve show, but I was able to attend the second concert on the 27th, with Alberta Cross opening up for the Nocturnals. All in all, I came away from the show pretty disappointed. The Nocturnals sounded great, played a number of newer songs, several covers and re-arranged songs and a bunch of old classics.

The group has been a popular one here on Carry You Away, and I've followed their rather extraordinary rise from small, local group to major-record-label one, and it's been a fun ride to watch. Their last album, This Is Somewhere, was absolutely fantastic, blending modern and classic rock, fantastic songwriting and with an incredible energy throughout their album and their live shows.

This show wasn't bad, it just wasn't what I expected, and it wasn't as good as other shows that I've seen from them. Part of this, I think, is because it was the lead-up to the really good show: New Year's Eve. With additional concerts added on, I have to imagine that the show was a bit toned down (even then, the energy was high), and that some of the really good material was saved for later.

The show that I saw, while good, was scattered. With a new album coming out later this year (from what I know, it's called Medicine), and with a new lineup, changes are to be expected, and some of the results were here - the band is certainly straying into more directions musically, which is very good, but with this concert, the group felt all over the map, from Classic Rock to Jam Band Raegge to Soul and regular rock. I'm interested to hear where they go, but the overall concert felt incoherent, poorly planned out and overall, that affected the entire evening for me. Music such as this is far more than just the musicians - it's their presentation, the quality of their music, how they play it, and how well thought out each concert is.

This leads me to two of Grace's opening acts, Alberta Cross and Josh Ritter, whom I've seen both open for the Nocturnals, and a good example of presentation. Alberta Cross, opening for Grace became a band that I'd rather not see again. I have their latest album, The Thief and the Heartbreaker, and I've liked a couple of the songs, but live, in person, the band seemed lax, sloppy at points and just not all that exciting to watch. On the other hand, when I was Josh Ritter in 2007, and recently again in 2009, they presented a far different appearance - they coordinated dress (and actually didn't go for the grungy rock star look), played a great set of music and clearly looked like they enjoyed themselves and put a bit of thought into what they were doing. This wasn't something that I got a good sense of with Alberta Cross, I'm sorry to say.

Similarly, I have to wonder if this was sort of the same deal with the Nocturnals, coupled with their rapid rise to local and national fame, and leaves me a bit worried for the future of the group. In 2009, the band's bassist Bryan Dondero left the group over creativity issues, leading the band to add on a new bass player Catherine Popper, as well as rhythm guitarist Benny Yurco- with new directions in mind. This sparked some worries that the group is going to be departing far more from what they've done before as they've become a major label band. Fortunately, the concert on the 27th, despite some of the issues that I had with it, seem to show that the group is still churning out good music, abit with a much larger variety of sound.

To be very fair, after listening to the NYE show, there were some improvements over the Saturday show - they were still a bit scattered, but sounded better, with much more energy and with a lot of good material to play. Here's to hoping that they will continue that trend in 2010.

Listen to the concerts here: 12/26, 12/27, 12/28, 12/31.

Some Kind of Ride - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Oasis - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

One More Goodbye Kiss - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Medicine - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

You've Lost That Loving Feeling - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

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U-N-Me - The Watson Twins

As much as I really hate abbreviations for words, U for You, for example, but The Watson Twin's latest offering from their upcoming second album, Talking to You, Talking to Me, to be released February 9th, is pretty good. The twins, Leigh and Chandra Watson have never popped up on my radar beyond one of their tracks on the True Blood Soundtrack, and I have to consider my interest piqued for their upcoming album, to be released on the fantastic Vanguard records. (I'm not saying that to suck up to them - they just have an incredible number of really good artists there.)

Listening through what's to come with this album, I'm impressed with the easygoing country-folk-rock sound that they have, but more so with the twins' voices. It's not often that you see a double act such as this, and it works especially well with these two ladies. This album is certainly one of the first ones to look out for in 2010.

U-N-Me - The Watson Twins

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