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

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One

A year ago today, after some contemplation, I started off on this little experiment of a music blog. One year later, 425 posts and a total of 121,433 and 143,160 page visits (somewhat less unique visitors - this number is low, because I added on tracking a couple months after I started.) I'd say this is a success. The site has really grown over the past couple of months, and I've tried a number of features, such as the Cover and Original, Acoustic and Original, Live and Original, Artist Evolution, 80 Bands Around the World, Artist Comparison and a couple others. Some of those I haven't kept up with, but it's been a fun ride thus far.

The name Carry You Away came from a couple of songs, most notably Cary Brother's song Who You Are and Rilo Kiley's The Angels Hung Around. The idea was that music carries one away while listening. I liked the idea when I heard Who You Are, and it stuck.

From The Angels Hung Around:

"...'Till the angels hung around
as they carried me away."

From Who You Are:

"...You try to, but you can't move
As the windows crash around you
No one there to carry you away"

My main mission here is to highlight music that I like. Over the past year or so, my tastes have grown considerably, and I've found that there's a lot of stuff out there that I like. I've become a more competent reviewer and writer, partially because of the amount of writing that I've had to do for this site, and my tastes in music is more refined. I've met artists, taken tons of pictures, and found hundreds of new artists and songs that I never would have come across otherwise.

So, thank you to everyone for making the site a success, and for hearing what I've got to say about things.

Beginnings - Chicago
Thirty One Today - Aimee Man
One Week - Barenaked Ladies
One (Blake's Got a New Face) - Vampire Weekend
One Good Year - Slaid Cleaves

Who You Are - Cary Brothers
The Angels Hung Around - Rilo Kiley

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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.

Acoustic & Original

This week's Acoustic & Original is from Rilo Kiley, with their recent album Under the Blacklight. This was a fantastic album, and one of the better songs off of the album was Moneymaker.
The acoustic version here is interesting, as there's a heavy bass and guitar section in the original. The acoustic version is stripped down, and the guitar part here is pretty cool
Here's the two versions.

The Moneymaker (Acoustic) - Rilo Kiley
The Moneymaker - Rilo Kiley

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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

Acoustic & Original

I've always thought that this song could be a Fleetwood Mac song for some reason - it's tone and feel really reminds me of some of their songs that I have from them. The acoustic and studio versions of this paticular song aren't all that different stylistically, but the acoustic version does have a very different feel to it. Both versions are pretty interesting to listen to. It's one of my favorite songs of 2007.

Dreamworld (Acoustic) - Rilo Kiley

Dreamworld - Rilo Kiley

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Women Who Rock - CYA's Top Ten

I've been looking up information on Regina Spektor, as she's got a concert here next week, and I'm contemplating on going over to see that at some point. While looking around, I came across a reference that she was #5 on Spinner.com's Women Who Rock list. I took a look and decided to come up with my own list.



10 - Brandi Carlile
It took me a little while to get into Brandi Carlile. It wasn't until she released The Story that I started getting into her unique sound, and really started listening. She's got one helluva vocal range, and a fantastic voice to go along with it. She'll be up here in October and I'm planning on seeing that.

The Story - Brandi Carlile

9 - Regina Spektor
I've started to get into Regina Spektor. She's got a very cool sound that borders on a bunch of things. Originally from Russia, she's come to New York and is doing quite well for herself with her first album, Begin to Hope. She's coming to Middlebury next week. Should I see her?

On the Radio - Regina Spektor


8 - Tristan Prettyman
My first exposure to Tristan Prettyman was through the show Six Degrees with Love, Love, Love, and since then, I've loved, loved, loved her music. Acoustic guitar and great vocals is what she's all about.

Evaporated - Tristan Prettyman


7 - A Fine Frenzy
A Fine Frenzy is another one that I've picked up from the television world, this time when they used Hope for the Hopeless in House. Her fantastic voice couples well with her piano work, along with some absolutely stellar lyrics. I'll be seeing her in October with Brandi.

Rangers - A Fine Frenzy

6 - Feist
I got into Feist with her first single, Let It Die, and I've really enjoyed her upbeat, pop sound, as well as her work with Broken Social Scene. I just missed her show up here in Vermont with Rogue Wave, and I'm kicking myself about that...

1 2 3 4 - Feist


5 - Sara Wheeler
I came across Sara Wheeler at my school five years ago, and just got one of her newer albums. Like Prettyman, she's got the whole acoustic guitar and fantastic vocals going for her, with some great songs. I hope that she'll be back out and about soon.

Freedom - Sara Wheeler


4 - Rilo Kiley
Rilo Kiley is a new band for me - I got Under the Blacklight and loved it. They've got a great feel and variety to all their music, and are quite standoffish in a way that's not overdone.

Dreamworld - Rilo Kiley


3 - KT Tunstall
Where to start with KT Tunstall? I loved her first album, Eye to the Telescope, as well as her second album, Drastic Fantastic (review coming next week) and just love this woman's sound and style. She did some time here in Vermont, and hopefully, will be returning.

Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall


2 - Sara Bareilles
I just got into Sara Bareilles a couple weeks ago when I came across her fantastic first album Little Voice. She's got great lyrics and sound here with this first album, and I'm hoping that we'll see more from her in the near future.

Love Song - Sara Bareilles


1 - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
No contest for me - Grace Potter is the best female vocalist out there at the moment. She rocks hard, her live concerts are just out of this world, and she's got some deep influences with Rock & Roll. Plus, her songs, sound and voice are all just amazing. Go out and buy This is Somewhere, you won't regret it. Or, get her other two albums, Nothing But The Water or Original Voice.

Mr. Columbus - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

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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.

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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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