I care deeply for each and every one of these CD’s. If you haven’t heard them yet; go check them out. Jack’s new CD is different; but it still has the same ability to make you believe you don’t have a care in the world, and just “be.” I have a feeling that of the above three albums, Jack’s will get a lot of playing time on the beach…he’s just the perfect beach music.
This album is complex. Expect it to last. It’s going to take multiple listens to appreciate how good it really is. It think it could be in the running for best disc of 2008 (big statement…I know).
Tracks range from the classic “Photo Album” feel (No Sunlight, Bixby Canyon Bridge) to a sound similar to the Beatles (You Can Do Better Than Me) to the Transantlanticism “Passenger Seat” sound (Grapevine Fires) to an even slightly southern sound (Your New Twin Size Bed).
It’s just really good. The tracks tell a story. The disc starts dark and maybe even a bit angry. Towards the middle, things seem to relax…as if the disc has gotten over a stressful event. Around track 9, it picks back up–but I feel like it’s a bit more pessimistic and dark lyrically…it reminds me a bit of “A Movie Script Ending” off “Photo Album.”
Lyrically, it’s Gibbard’s same honest, raw style. “Pity and Fear” starts with the line
I have such an envy, of this stranger lying next to me
If you hated Plans, you’ll love this. If you loved Plans, you should still love this. If you loved Photo Album, I think you’ll like this. If you loved Transatlanticism, you’ll definitely love this.
I’m having a hard time figuring out what song to post here…but I’ve chosen the intro because I think that says so much about an album, “Bixby Canyon” and I’ve chosen “Pity and Fear” because it’s dark, and intricate, and awesome.
And I love how long most of these songs are, that’s one thing they do so well. They have an incredible ability to make long songs that continue to be interesting.
My lady wife, my friend Cole and I went to see these guys at 9:30 awhile ago. That made the second time I’ve seen them live, and they were still amazing. While it wasn’t the “best” show I’ve ever seen in my life, they are certainly one of the most talented bands I’ve ever seen.
They’re from England, and have that piano driven flare to them. Their lead singer/writer/producer, Matt Hales, wrote a symphony when he was 16 years old…I wonder if it’s as good as the one I wrote when I was 14. His brother Ben rocks out on the guitar.
When I first saw Aqualung, Matt grabbed a guitar and said he wanted to play live so he could feel like a rockstar. He then proceeded to slide across the stage on his knees–and he was just playing chords and laughing, making fun of himself. He may be the funniest guy I’ve ever seen live. You should check out his blog, which is also clever and funny.
Also, another cool little tidbit is that he’s also producing other people’s music. All in all, he’s a pretty rad musician. The newest Aqualung disc “Memory Man” is a pretty solid album.
Here’s a track entitled “Something to Believe In” for your listening pleasure. I particularly like this song because of how rad the ending was live. They just rocked out.
I’ve been using Last.FM for awhile now, and I’m really enjoying it. I never could really enjoy Pandora as it would consistently play music that just straight up sucked, and it’s shareability was always low. Well, along came Last.FM and so far, so good.
When you play music through iTunes, Last.FM automatically recognizes that and uploads it to your profile. So, that little widget you see on the right side of my blog is what I’ve been listening to.
Also, you can connect with friends and see what they’ve been listening to as well as check out their playlists and music they’ve marked as “love it.” It’s a sweet way to catch new music. And because of the iTunes/iPod integration, your friends don’t have to do any additional work. You can just see what they’ve been listening to, and then listen.
It has small desktop application so you can just open that like a radio player and play through it as opposed to opening your browser.
Above all, for the most part I’ve been really happy with the music it’s played for me. You basically just type in an artist, and it starts playing similar music.
Join me on Last.FM and link in with me and my profile. Hope you like it.
Since Todd liked Madeleine Peyroux, I thought I’d put up another “jazz” artist–The Bad Plus. I put jazz in parentheses because Wikipedia assures me that “…they defy any genre.” Mostly because they cover anything from Nirvana to Neil Young (not to be confused with Neil Diamond).
I saw these guys awhile ago on TV and didn’t know who they were, and then my friend Chris passed along their info. Destiny.
So, I will say that these guys are probably way too far above my head for me to really enjoy. Their talent is just bleeding out of their music, but as a not-hardcore jazz buff, it’s a bit inaccessible. For me, if I said I loved these guys, it would be more for lame indie-cred than it would be the truth. I like them, but they wouldn’t be on repeat. But, I guess that’s jazz in general for me. There’s a time and a place for it.
Check it out. And let me know of any good jazz artists below, or just email me.
I’m not saying the video is great (I do like it); but I am saying this song is rad. And, if it’s any sign of what the new disc will be like, I’m going to makeout with it.
Check out The Filter. It’s supposedly a way to “filter” your music, movies, videos etc. It’s in beta right now, so some things are broken. But it could be a cool idea. So far, the media player won’t work–which makes it useless, and I haven’t figured out how to “Filter” my stuff for me.
So, I just wanted to pass it along. It looks like it has potential, but as of now it’s not so hot.
I have no idea how I heard of these guys. Honestly, they just ended up on my computer somehow. I’m thinking a friend put it on here, or it was a free download, or God put it here. Anyhow, I like it. I really like it.
Hailing from Nashville, TN (which automatically creates suspicion in my mind), they just put out a six track disc in 2006, and I can’t find anything newer.
To me, all six tracks are just a refreshing take on the Indie genre. They’re not not super weird & they don’t try and incorporate a banjo into every other track for the sake of authenticity. They’re perhaps a bit more poppy than your average Indie band; but they frequently surprise me with their melodies. They’ll start off with what I think will be a predictive chord progression, and then they’ll end up somewhere completely different.
They’re relaxing–but not necessarily chill. They’re smooth.
This track is probably my favorite of theirs. The song is best played loud with your bass turned up, and no interruptions. The end of the song is classic, ’song within a song,’ which I’m not sure if I like. I think I do.
Check out, “I Like You I Do” off “Come Back to Aria” by Brenn:
So, awhile ago I blogged about the upcoming Coldplay disc, which I am excited about. They’ve just given us a sneak peak into their new album with the single, Violet Hill.
It starts out with some calm intro space keyboard & and then just starts driving. The beat and the driving base reminds me a bit of “Politik.” Martin’s voice sounds a bit different, and the whole song is a bit more ‘raw’ than a lot of their other stuff. If ‘raw’ isn’t the right word, it’s certainly dirtier.
I’m always intrigued when bands release a single pre-album. It says so much about what they think of the album. “This is what we want you to think” is what they’re saying. This is their statement. When we think of the new disc, this song will influence what we expect. In my opinion, they’re hoping we’ll think “less pretty, dirtier, edgier, less produced, a bit more careless, louder” etc.
All in all, I like the song. I’m actually pretty excited if this is the tone of the whole album–which arrives June 18.
Jimmy is coming out with a new disc. It’s a deluxe edition of their previous release, “Bleed American.”
It’s a pretty cool story that brought forth Bleed American. Their previous disc, “Clarity” — which is my favorite album ever — had gotten them dropped from their record label, Capital Records. Rather than hanging it up, they bought up their remaining CD’s from their old label and then went on a five week, self-promoted/financed tour of Europe promoting Clarity. That tour actually ended up stretching over a year and eventually they went back to the studio to produce Bleed American.
Bleed American was produced on their own dime, and it became a Platinum Plus disc. It was most definitely their breakthrough album, and while I find it a bit unfortunate that most people think of songs like “The Middle” when they think of Jimmy, it is pretty incredible that a self-financed album went as big as it did.
Their Deluxe edition returns the album to it’s original name of “Bleed American.” Following 9/11, the name was changed out of respect from “Bleed American” to “Salt, Sweat, Sugar.” The 2-disc deluxe edition will contain tracks such as “No Sensitivity,” “Softer,” “(Splash) Turn Twist,” “Last Christmas”/”Firestarter,” “Game of Pricks,” “Your House 2007″ as well as an acoustic version of the song Bleed American .
You can pre-order an autographed CD from Newbury Comics for about $26.00 including shipping–which is cheaper than Amazon’s current price. I think I’ll pick up a copy–although I’m always hesitant of Deluxe editions or re-releases. That’s usually code for suckage. We’ll see.
And listen to one of my favorite tracks off Bleed American entitled Cautioners. I think this track is a bit more indicative of who this band really is vs. who the radio paints them to be:
Cautioners:
UPDATE: I added “Get it Faster” in response to Todd’s comment. Check it out, and check out the sweet little solo in the middle.
