New England Rock

I'd like to take a moment and examine a couple of bands from my neck of the woods - New England. For those of you who can't remember US geography from school, or never learned of it, New England is in the far North East section of the US, comprised of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. We've got a long and very proud history within the states, and some fantastic musicians have come from here. Here's a couple that I could come up with. Sorry Rhode Island...


Vermont - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals / Phish

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals originated in New York, where Potter went to school at St. Lawrence, but she's from Vermont, and the band is currently still based in Waitsfield Vermont, a town over from where I grew up - I actually went to high school with Grace, even though I really didn't know her personally. The Nocturnals got their name from their all night rehearsals at the school, and they released their first album in 2004, then their second in 2005, with their latest this year.

Crazy Parade - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals








Phish, well known for its live concerts rather than their studio works, formed at the University of Vermont when John Fishman, Trey Anastasio and Jeff Holdsworth got together to play in Fishman's dorm room in 1983. They were later joined by Mike Gordon and Page McConnel. The band released their first album in 1988 and they got really popular shortly after, filling a void that the Grateful Dead left when they disbanded. The band broke up in 2001 after a long tour, but most of the members are still active in the music world.

Heavy Things - Phish



Massachusetts - The Dropkick Murphys / Guster

The Dropkick Murphys originated out of Quincy, Massachusetts, and have become huge favorites in the region with their punk/Irish sound. Annually, they play in Boston on St. Patrick's Day. The group formed in 1996, releasing a couple of EPs before their 1998 record Do or Die. They're recently released their latest, entitled The Meanest of Times.

State of Massachutetts - The Dropkick Murphys

Guster

Guster is based out of Boston, Mass, and was founded at Tufts University there when Adam, Ryan and Brian met while in attendance. They released two albums prior to 1999 that were sleeper hits, but gained traction with the 1999 album Lost and Gone Forever and have recently released their latest album, Ganging Up On The Sun.

Hang On - Guster

Connecticut - The Alternate Routes / Rane

The Alternate Routes formed a couple of years ago, out of Bridgeport, Connecticut and released their first album, Good and Reckless and True in 2005, which was later re-released earlier this year. The band started when two of the members, Eric and Tim met at Fairfield University in the state. They relocated to Boston and New York for a little while, and now they're back in Connecticut. Hopefully recording new music...


Time Is A Runaway - The Alternate Routes

Rane

Rane is a band that's still pretty small, based out of Hartford Connecticut with a sound that they describe as 'progressive pop', that's quite good. I got hooked on them right away, and their first couple albums are very fun to listen to. They started their own record label, Tides Records, and have released 8 albums in the last couple of years. Haven't heard much from them lately, hopefully we'll hear from them soon...

From The Vine - Rane


Maine (And New Hampshire)- Ray LaMontagne

Ray Lamontagne is the big artist out of Maine at the moment, and is one of my favorite folk/rock singers out there. He's got a deep and gravelly voice, not too unlike that of Sam Beam, (Iron & Wine). LaMontagne was born in New Hampshire, and moved around a lot as a child before settling in Maine. Now based there, he's been singing since 1999. His latest release is the fantastic 'Till The Sun Turns Black.

Trouble - Ray Lamontagne

Rhode Island - I couldn't find anyone from there. Anyone know of any?

Hype - Buy

The Best of September

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

You Can't Always Get What You Want - Band from TV

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

Eh Hee - Dave Matthews

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

State of Massachusetts - Dropkick Murphys

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

Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder

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

Beautiful - Elvis Costello

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

Let It Die - Foo Fighters

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

Home - Foo Fighters

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

Pagen Angel and a Borrowed Car - Iron & Wine

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

Carousel - Iron & Wine

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

In Our Nature - José González

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

Teardrop - José González

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

White Bird - KT Tunstall

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

Hopeless - KT Tunstall

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

Love Song - Sara Bareilles

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

Many The Miles - Sara Bareilles

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

Buttons - Sia

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

Hype - Buy