The Best of May

This past month has been really, really rich with music. There's been a lot of really good songs that've come through this way, and I'm really excited for what the rest of the summer will bring. Bring on the noise:

Ease Back - Amos Lee
Listen - Amos Lee
Amos Lee is one of my favorite musicians, and judging from the tracks that I've heard from his upcoming 3rd album (Due out June 24th), I'm betting that this one will be his best yet.

Life in Technicolor - Coldplay
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
Coldplay's changing things up a little with a bit of a newer sound, and like Lee, I'm thinking that this will be one of their better albums. I can't wait to hear the rest of it.

Cath... - Death Cab for Cutie
Grapevine Fires - Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie's latest album also changed things up quite a bit, and on the whole, it's stronger, edgier and it sounds fantastic.

Robots - Flight of the Conchords
I love these guys, they're absolutely hilarious. Robots is just a geeky song to begin with, and they just make me want to burst out laughing.

Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat
This is a nice, cute duet from these two.

Killing for Love (Beatfanatic Remix) - José González
I love Gonzalez's work, and while I'm not a huge fan of remixes, this is a really good one that I've been listening to a lot.

Magnetismo (Magnatism) - Landon Pigg
Landon Pigg's off to a good start with his first EP, and I think this is the strongest song on the album.

Meet Me By The River - Matthew Ryan
This song is raspy, emotional and really, really good. I suspect that Ryan's album will make it to the end of the year as one of the best.

Dream - Priscilla Ahn
I saw Ahn last year with Cary Brothers, and I really liked her sound, it's sweet and calm. I picked up her EP, and have been waiting eagerly for more news about her next album, due to be released this June. I can't wait.

The World, The People Together - The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols are back, and they've got energy. This reminds me a lot of Bohemian Like You, which is a fantastic song.

Orbiting - The Weepies
I really dug these guys 2nd album, and this is one of the best songs on there. Very sweet, easy on the ears.

Hype - Buy

New Artist: Landon Pigg

One new artist that really fits with my music tastes that I've just come across is Landon Pigg, who have recently released his recent EP, Coffee Shop, which contains five tracks of light, acoustic folk rock.
It's an interesting listen, with the first track Falling in Love At A Coffee Shop, which has gained quite a bit of popularity through its use in a couple commercials and in a recent TV show. It's also the weakest song on the EP, with the last song, Magnetismo (Magnetism) being the strongest.
Coffee Shop and Landon hit all the right marks for me - acoustic guitar, decent voice, but there's something that's a little off with this album. It feels too light, too airy, with little substance to really anchor it down. There's some good starts, in the stronger tracks, such as Magnetismo and Great Companion.
That being said, it's a pretty good start of a career for a young musician. He's got all the right sounds and motions, and undoubtedly will be releasing an album at some point in the near future, which will hopefully improve upon his sound and songwriting. His sound is such that he will be popular with the college demographic who's enamored of the Nick Drake sound and all things similar to the fantastic Garden State soundtrack. Landon doesn't seem to offer this particular genre anything new, but is treading over familiar ground, which is not a bad thing - it's a good sound to copy. Hopefully however, he'll go off and experiment a little and come up with something very good. There's seeds of that in this EP.

Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop (Video)- Landon Pigg

Hype - Buy - Look