The Best of August

Once again, it's the close of one month, and in with another one. This past month saw the return of a number of favorites of mine with new material, and all around, some fantastic material from a numbe of really good bands.

Shelly - The Alternate Routes

This is a song that I've been hearing live when I've seen the Alternate Routes over the past year. This is an appropriately bitter song, when one of the band members found that an ex was getting married. The song has a good drive to it, and is light enough that you don't catch the edge to it. It's a good sign of things to come with their upcoming album.

You Don't Know Me - Ben Folds & Regina Spektor

I've never been big on Ben Folds, but he does turn out some good pieces every now and then - I mainly just haven't had a chance to really listen to his repetoir. You Don't Know Me is a fun duet between Folds and Regina Spektor with a deep beat that sticks out with Fold's piano work. This song works paticularly well as a duet, given the subject matter.

Silver Lining (Rilo Kiley) - Ben Gibbard

Last year, one of my favorite albums was Rilo Kiley's Under the Black Light. Back in June, Ben Gibbard, of Death Cab for Cutie covered the song Silver Lining. This is a fun cover - it's very well done, and Gibbard, while he pretty much sticks to the same song, has a good voice to match the original.

Blood Bank (Live) - Bon Iver



Untitled - New Song - Bon Iver

I've raved about Bon Iver quite a bit. There's not a whole lot that I can add to what I've said, except that these two songs are new, live and will hopefully be on the next album. Bloodbank is a fantastic song, a little more structured than some of the songs on For Emma, Forever Ago, which is interesting. The new song is from earlier this year, and is also quite good and has a fanastic beat to it.

Indecision - Carbon Leaf

This song starts with a wonderful Rock & Roll feel to it with great guitar work from Carter, and some even better vocals and lyrics with Barry, before transitioning into a very familiar feel that is typical of Carbon Leaf. I'll be seeing these guys in September, and I can't wait to hear this one live.

Love Song - The Dandy Warhols

The Dandy Warhols have been on my radar after Veronica Mars and the earlier release of this album, and the funky folk-electric/a sound really catches one's ear here. This is a really neat song with a truely unique sound.

Strange Overtones - David Byrne and Brian Eno

NPR turned me to this song. Starting off with a wonderful, laid back beat, the vocals kick in about 30 seconds in for another really unique song. Very catchy.

Running Down A Dream (Tom Petty)- Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Paint It Black (The Rolling Stones) - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Grace Potter & Co did a fantastic concert in Burlington, again. Listen to the entire thing here, while you take in a couple new songs and a couple new covers that just plain rock.

Bird Of Prey - Jentri Colello

This is an up and coming indie singer who's got a promising voice and some fun lyrics. Bird of Prey has a great, laid back beat reminiscent of Rilo Kiley.

Let It Be Me - Ray Lamontagne

You Are The Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne

Ray LaMontagne is back with a new album, soon. These two albums take cues from his first two big releases, Trouble and Till the Sun Turns Black. These two tracks are tantalizingly hopeful and optimistic, and make this one of my most anticipated records left this year. If these two tracks are anything to go by, the next one is going to be absolutely fantastic.

Falling Stars - Sarah Siskind

Lone Tree - Sarah Siskind

Sarah Siskind is a country/folk/rock singer out of Memphis, and man, she has a wonderful voice and sound. She reminds me a lot of Nanci Griffith and Alison Krauss, with a great background beat and sound, and she has a fantastic, soothing way with words.

Every Drop - Sonya Kitchell

Sonya Kitchell is another fantastic singer/songwriter who's up and coming, and this track from her latest release has a great energy and feel to it, with a beat that makes you move, and builds and builds over the song. I'm wishing that I didn't miss her when she came up to the area.



That's all for this month. Let's see what next month brings to the table.

Cover and Original : Such Great Heights

It seems like the Postal Service are the people to cover. There's a lot out there, and a number of well known and excellent musicians have gone and covered what is arguably their best known song, Such Great Heights.

Iron & Wine's fantastic cover, which was featured on the Garden State Soundtrack, is, in my opinion, the best version, one that surpasses the original (but not by much.) Thus we fall into two camps - there's the acoustic-indie version of the song, and the pop-electronic versions, or ones that emulate either Iron & Wine or the Postal Service. Benjamin Costello falls within the first camp, as does the Dresden Dolls and Amanda Palmer, while The Wrong Trousers, Rilo Kiley, Matt Nathanson, MIT Logarhythms. Ben Folds sort of falls into his own category.

Why is this song covered so much, with such a limited number of versions? I chalk this up to the original, which is a very sweet and romantic song, which has gotten a lot of exposure through things like its use in Garden State and numerous television shows.

Such Great Heights (The Postal Service) - Amanda Palmer
Such Great Heights (The Postal Service) - Ben Folds
Such Great Heights (The Postal Service) - Benjamin Costello
Such Great Heights (The Postal Service) - The Dresden Dolls
Such Great Heights (The Postal Service) - Iron & Wine
Bent/Such Great Heights (The Postal Service) - Matt Nathanson
Such Great Heights (The Postal Service) - MIT Logarhythms
Such Great Heights (The Postal Service) - Rilo Kiley
Such Great Heights (The Postal Service) - Umass Dynamics
Such Great Heights (The Postal Service) - The Wrong Trousers
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service

Hype - Buy

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