I like to think of myself as an avid music listener (there’s got to be a better term for this), so I think I’ll try to update the site with what I’ve been listening to from time to time. In general I think my tastes fall within the Alternative, Folk, Jazz, Rock & Pop genres, though I’ve been known to listen to country every once in a while. I try to listen to artists who sound as good live as they do on the cd–all of these studio-magically ‘good’ musicians make me a little mad. So, without further ado, here’s the first music update for June:
Amos Lee - Last Days at the Lodge
I downloaded this beauty yesterday as soon as it was available. I’ve been a fan of Amos for quite a while now and this album is a continuation of his great pop/folk/soul sound. I think my favorite song on the cd is What’s Been Going On, but there are some other gems like Jails & Bombs and Baby I Want You. Truthfully, every song is really really good…I’m sure this cd will be on repeat for a while. If you download it from Amazon like I did, note that the underlying mp3 files for Tracks 8 & 9 are swapped. I just changed the filenames and mp3 tags and it’s fine and dandy. The song called Kid should have “you know how hard it is to keep your head up, kid” as lyrics. Makes perfect sense, right?
I just checked his tour dates, and damn my luck, the day he’s in Atlanta is the day of my one and only final for this semester. I’m sure he’d be just as great live…I saw him on that Austin City Limits show that comes on public television once and it was really good. I dunno, I might be able to make it…my exam is at 4:15 central time, the show is at 8pm eastern, so if I can get done with the exam in 45 mins or less I’ll be golden.
Four more albums to check out below the fold…
Newton Faulkner - Hand Built By Robots
This is another really good cd from someone you might not have heard of. He does some really cool percussion stuff with the guitar and it’s really awesome. I think his songs have been on the charts in the UK, but I didn’t find out about him until a few weeks ago. Favorites from this one include I Need Something, People Should Smile More, Gone In the Morning, Feels Like Home, and Dream Catch Me (even though the beginning is really weird–trust me, it gets better). Considering I just listed about half of the songs on the album, I must like it.
Jason Mraz - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things
This cd has grown on me over the last week or so. I can’t listen to Make It Mine or Live High without attempting to dance and singing along in what I assure you is not a pleasant pitch. “Live MIGHTY MIGHTY MIGHTY!!!” A Beautiful Mess is a really great song–especially to end on. The two songs with featured artists, Lucky and Details in the Fabric, aren’t my favorite, but that’s weird because the two EPs that came out before this sound good in the previews and I’m pretty sure they feature a lot of other people. Overall this is certainly an album worth getting and learning the lyrics to.
Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband - Last Man Standing
Another great album from the Banjo Boy. Not as good as the Dream Big album, but it’s close. This is classified as Country–but it doesn’t seem nearly as twangy as a lot of the popular country stuff. I guess when both a fiddle and a banjo are featured instruments it’s impossible not to be classified as country. All I Need and 10,000 Lakes are a couple more great songs if you like ‘em slower. You should check the whole thing out, there isn’t a bad song on the album. And if you decide you like it, listen the Dream Big album because it’s even better.
Speechwriters LLC - The Bull Moose After Party
I had been looking at this album for a while on iTunes and when I saw it was just $7 at amazon I decided to pick it up. I have to admit the previews sounded better than the actual album. It’s pretty good, but it’s gotten pushed down the playlist by all of the other albums I’ve mentioned. I like the songs from Blood on the Frets to Chbb the best. Seriously, what is the deal with all of these songs about blood and tears on guitars? There’s that really popular song about teardrops on my guitar, then the Newton Faulkner album has a song called teardrop (I dunno if it lands on a music producing object or not), and now blood. I know you all have a lot of money, but take better care of your instruments people! Anyway, you might wanna get a couple of the songs off of this album too.
Let me know what you think about these and any suggestions you might have for July.
