The vocals that Ryan starts out "From A Late Night High-Rise" are painful. "Follow The Leader" sounds as if Ryan has smoke twenty packs of cigarettes a day for fifty years. I might be exaggerating, but the contrast that eir vocals show against the slightly electronic instrumentation on the track is a little irking. The [...]
The first time I heard Matthew Ryan was just before Christmas 1997. I found his debut disc, May Day , and was instantly smitten. Ryan's gravelly voice was reminiscent of Tom Waits, his guitar suggested Bruce Springsteen, but his words and music were wholly his own, and they floored me in a way that few acts ever had before or have since. It was the quietly devastating songs that moved me most, the way he seemed consigned to his fate on songs like "Certainly, never." But Matthew Ryan could light up a guitar too, and his rocking [...]
A labor of love from an artist unsure of how to navigate modern life. All hail the age of the bedroom musician, the indie artist with an appreciation for the songwriter's craft, and the perseverance to throw their own hat into the ring. Matthew Ryan is one such artist who has been glued to his sampler and mixing console for a few years now. A resident stable of the Nashville music scene, his new creation exemplifies the dangers and rewards of the age of the bedroom musician. Listening to...
So this all started innocently enough. Most every day I post a "song of the day" on Blip.fm, and broadcast it to Twitter and Facebook. A couple of weeks ago, I posted a great live version of Matthew Ryan's "Guilty," the lead track on his first album. I wrote this: "SOTD: ...
Matthew Ryan - Prolific and praised under-the-radar singer/songwriter manages no mean feat in keeping not only his sound but his perspective fresh and vibrant on the thirteen tracks making up his thirteenth album...Unlike last year's more personal, relationship-focused gem Dear Lover , this affecting new project is an open-heart surgery on the everyday, sometimes cosmic struggles we all face every day // Release : I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall (August 23 CD/Out not digitally) // Sounds like : if Tom Waits had met up with The Blue Nile it [...]
Whenever I get in a conversation about songwriters with friends, inevitably I bring up the fact that I think Bruce Springsteen is one of the best ever. I don't say it to be cute, funny or different. I say it cause it's the damn truth. Beneath the schmaltz, tight jeans and dancing Courtney Cox is a man who possesses an ability with the pen that isn't matched by many. The problem, of course, is that we hear these songs with all that 80s excess and don't really think about how depressingly real the words are that Springsteen uses. For instance, [...]
Veteran rock crooner (13 albums qualifies for veteran status right?) Matthew Ryan is returning with a new studio record. The album, out August 23rd, has the mouthful-of-a-title I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall. I have no idea what that means, but it sounds cool. The Philly-native has a handful of tour dates booked in support, but nothing north of the border as of yet. Matthew
One of my favorite indie artists Matthew Ryan will officially release his next album entitled I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall on July 26th. However, for 24 hours (June 22, 3pm to June 23, 3pm, central time, I think) Ryan is allowing people to purchase the album digitally for just $5 from his bandcamp site . How cool is that? You can also stream it on the bandcamp site (or below) so you can preview what you are buying (everyone, that is, [...]
A collection of Alt Country stalwarts come together for a laid-back tribute to the Rolling Stones with 'Paint It Black.'
It's shaping up to be Tributes and Cover Compilations week here at Cover Lay Down, thanks to a wave of strong cover albums coming over the dam in the next few weeks. Today, we kick off our take on this delightful collection of new and impending coverage early with a look at the newest in Rolling Stones tributes - including two exclusive tracks never before heard outside the studio. Tribute producer Jim Sampas, whose stellar indie covers collection Subterranean Homesick [...]
That is, as they say, the question and I've been pondering it this afternoon as I've been cleaning out my cupboards and madly searching my kitchen for minute holes in the walls because my state has been beset by mice in plague proportions this last month or so, and the little buggers are STILL finding ways to get in. So as I threw out and rearranged and wiped and scrubbed and cursed, I wondered whether or not this post was going to be my last. I've hardly listened to any new music in the last couple of months, [...]
Songs of loss leads to acceptance and moving on...
Our friend and fellow music fan, Matt from Addicted to Vinyl brought a great charity project to our attention last week, and we wanted to help spread the word by bringing it to your attention as well. Joey's Song: Volume One and Joey's Song for Kids: Volume One are two compilations that father/activist and founder of the Joseph Gomoll Foundation, Michael Gomoll, released last week to raise awareness and money for the Epilepsy Foundation. Michael lost his son, Joey, last year, just shy of his 5th birthday. Joey's Story: In [...]
My main man Matthew Ryan collaborates with Hammock on an ambient/electro/rock New Years EP. This will cure your hangover, or something. Buy (Amazon mp3): Like New Year's Day (2011) http://myaimzistrue.blogspot.c om/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
My normal year-end favorite albums list usually tends to favor the bands/artists who I saw live in that year. This is only somewhat true for 2010. While The Hold Steady , The National, Drive-by Truckers , and Justin Townes Earle all had killer live gigs in Toronto this year, I just couldn't get into their 2010 releases (I didn't write a review of The National at Massey Hall on June 8 because every other blogger in Toronto did). Turns out that I tended to like some of the opening acts better than some [...]
On the 29th day of Rocktober Matthew Ryan gave to me....a rockin' little number about being pissed off at your father. Matthew Ryan - Fd29yrblues.mp3 From : Dissent from the Living Room (2002, out of print) Dissent from the Living room was self-recorded on a four-track in Ryan's home, and sold exclusively over his website. If you do a little Googling you can find the album in digital format. Or you can ask me nicely! Also, Rocktober 29th is my [...]
You may not recognize the name Jim Sampas, but true-blue coverfans know his work: as the guiding light behind two of the decade's strongest album-centered tribute albums - turn-of-the-century alt-country-to-popfolk Springsteen tribute Badlands and 2005 indie Beatles tribute This Bird Has Flown - the producer has made an unparalleled mark on the evolving world of coverage. In the past year, Sampas has started new label ReImagine Music as a vehicle for his ongoing pursuit of all things coverage, and his first solo project, Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute to Bob Dylan's 'Bringing It All [...]
What Do You Want From Me tell me what you want tell me what you want i could be your super hero i could be your biggest disappointment don't be sad don't be sad is it really that bad? is it really that bad? most of us start out just thinking it's easy when the hardest thing you do is remember how to smile, girl tell me what you want tell me what you want i'll give it [...]
" What came first – the music or the misery? Did I listen to music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to music? " - Nick Hornby, High Fidelity (1995) Back in January Forbes came out with a list of the 20 most "miserable" cities in the US (minimum population of 245,000), and came up with a "misery index" based on violent crime rates, unemployment, inflation, local sales tax, weather, local political corruption, and sucky sports teams. Some of the [...]
This is what your Monday needs my friends. The Matthew Ryan "Franken-Live" mix! This mix is essentially just a mish mash of some live tracks merged together from his online forum. But people, I have hand picked and selectively chosen a few that are especially great and have put them in one neatly organized post for your listening pleasure. For those that are intrigued, there is MUCH, MUCH, MORE over on the Matthew Ryan Forums - so until you max your download bandwidth on live and rare recordings from Mr. Ryan (provided by the good [...]
NeuFutur Magazine
Nine Bullets
PopMatters
Things I'd Rather Be Doing
Direct Current
The Ruckus
Snob's Music
Rockstar Aimz
Cover Me
Cover Lay Down
It All Started With Carbon Monoxide
Music @ Blogcritics.org
TheFrontloader.com
Mainstream Isnt So Bad...Is It
Slowcoustic
St. Vincent - 'Cheerleader'
Jay-Z & Kanye West - Ni**as In Paris (Explicit)
CHROMATICS "INTO THE BLACK"![Niki & The Dove - The Fox [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/youtube/l2f6UbMnlq4_130.jpg)
Niki & The Dove - The Fox [OFFICIAL VIDEO]
Childish Gambino - Heartbeat
Skrillex Uses Satanic and Homosexual Influence to Win Grammys
Listen: Jessie Ware x Julio Bashmore – Running
Video: Lana Del Rey Performs “Video Games” On Jimmy Kimmel Live
Hudson Mohawke - Valentines Slowjams Chapter V [DJ Mix]
