It's hard evaluating albums like this, because even though it's "new", the material on it is close to 50 years old. Another reason it's hard to evaluate it is most of the music is really rough and not the best quality soundwise. But, when you're talking about an artist like Bob Dylan, it's always worthwhile to hear unreleased (officially at least) material, and very early material at that. While none of these songs are really amazing on their own, when put into context you can see where some of the brilliance started and why Dylan became as successful as he [...]
Hawk is another one of those albums by an artist(s) I had never heard of before this past year, and another one that I only discovered because I saw a free show of theirs. Well, technically it was only Isobel Campbell (w/ Willy Mason ) performing, but it was in promotion of this album. The first that that you noticed when listening to this album is the perfect blend of Mark Lanegan's gruff deep voice and Isobel Campbell's sweet as honey voice, combining to make almost a third voice on the album. " Come Undone [...]
Listening to Pieta Brown, it's hard to decide whether she is folk, country, or somewhere in between.The only sure thing it's really good music. One And All is the most recent album by singer/songwriter Pieta Brown. I'll be honest, I can't even really remember where or how I heard of her, but I'm thankful I did. Her voice is heart melting and sweet, but not sappy sweet (if that makes any sense), and her lyrics could just as well be used as poetry without the music behind it. A veteran in the music industry, this is Pieta's 7th [...]
Getting ready to head out to the Roma Di Luna concert tonight, thought I would throw this post up quick before I left. I got through quite a few albums this week, trying to finish up my best of 2010 list here before Christmas, look for my final album and songs lists to be posted during the last week of the year. American Nightmare-BK One (ft. Brother Ali & Scarface) Closer When She Goes- Ryan Adams [...]
This album represents the follow up to New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) , which was released in 2008, but the similarities between the two albums end at the name. Part One features more political lyrics, and Part 2 features more personal lyrics dealing with love and relationships. Part Two also features mainly live instruments, as opposed to Part One, which was featured all digital instruments, and the result is a more intimate, laid back feeling than it's predecessor. Apart from the amazing album art, couple of highlights on this album are the slow moving ballads " Window Seat " [...]
I've noticed a running theme with the albums I've reviewed recently, and that's that I hadn't heard of the artists before this past year. I've always been a music junkie, but in the last 12 months I've been to more concerts and listened to more albums than I have in any other year, and Astronautalis is one of the many I discovered. I first heard him at the Taste Of Minnesota festival when I saw him perform with P.O.S. and was completely intrigued by his passionate performance. I'll post a video of the performance at the end of this post [...]
Alright, I'll just come right out and admit it, the only reason I gave Jakob Dylan/ The Wallflowers a chance years ago was because of his last name. People who know me know how big of a Bob Dylan fan I am, and I figured anyone with his genes has to have some talent, right? Luckily, yes, Jakob does, lots of talent in fact. After his success with The Wallflowers, Jakob has released two solo albums, his most recent being Women And Country . The album has a more darker, fuller sound than his previous one [...]
I had just finished going through Joanna Newsom's back catalog when her most recent album, Have One On Me , was released this past year. At first it seemed really overwhelming, 18 tracks over 3 discs, clocking in at over 2 hours. It wasn't really surprising though, considering most of her songs are long and almost epic in nature. The songs on Have One On Me are a bit different than her past releases,adding more of the electric guitar and drums, but most still have that ever present harp that has become her trademark. Another difference between [...]
The way the discovery of this album happened has to be one of the strangest routes to an album I've made this year. At the local record store in town, The Electric Fetus , there is a box where artists can drop off their albums for people to grab for free. Well, I'm always on the lookout for new music and am always grabbing one of them, and one day grabbed a mix of about 10 songs by different artists. One of them was " All But Elegant " by Botzy (of Culture Cry Wolf ). It sounded [...]
A few months ago I bought an audio recorder for recording concerts. I wanted to try it out as soon as I could, and the first show I was able to see was a free set by Roma di Luna promoting their new album Then The Morning Came . I had never heard of them before, but it was free and it was a good chance to practice taping. It was one of the best musical decisions I've made in recent memory. The lead singer Channy Casselle's voice literally almost took my breath away the first time I heard [...]
No Diggity- Blackstreet (ft. Dr. Dre) Honest Microphone- Engineers In Your Ear (ft. Grieves) Take A Picture- Lucy Schwartz Mr. Bojangles- Nina Simone The Time They Are A-Changin'- Nina Simone Tell Me Baby (Have You Had Enough)- Phosphorescent [...]
Citizen Cope has always been an intriguing artist to me. His music borders on hip hop/folk. While this may sound like a strange combination, it actually works beautifully. Cope (aka Clarence Greenwood) also has one of the most unique voices in music today, sounding almost like a lazy southern drawl, but it never sounds careless. The RainWater LP is Citizen Cope's first release on his own label, RainWater Recordings, a label he started to give himself creative freedom and to do the music in the way he sees fit. That freedom really shines through, as every song on [...]
Before this year I had never heard of Grieves, and what brought him to my attention was his signing with Rhymesayers . Being a huge fan of pretty much the whole Rhymesayers roster, I gave him a shot and he has ended up being one of my favorite hip hop artists in recent memory. His lyrics are powerful, deep and smart, and his delivery is so smooth it's almost unbelievable. I started out listening to 88 Keys & Counting and eventually made my way up to The Confessions Of Mr. Modest , his most recent album/EP. [...]
Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Jennifer Knapp put her Christian rock career on "hiatus" in 2003, inciting a flurry of rumors and speculations, one of which, concerning her sexuality, turned out to be true. While coming out in the secular music world is hardly earth-shattering, the CCM community can be a bit less forgiving. Her spirited 2010 comeback album dutifully addresses both parties. The appropriately titled Letting Go comes out swinging with " Dive In ," a feisty, twangy rocker that cautions "Careful what you say/Careful who might hear/Someone else inside the universe could write it down and you'll be hearing [...]
Darkness- Ryan Adams It's Christmas- Coconut Records How The Grouch Stole Christmas- Brother Ali (ft. The Grouch & Eligh) Love Is Blue-Brad Roberts The Chanukah Song- Neil Diamond Hold On- Maino (ft. Mya) Danger (Acoustic Version)-Scott Orr Grey- Semi.Official Download As ZIP
I recently got a chance to see the Chapin Sisters live which was awesome, but one of the real surprises of the night was the opener. Her name is NEeMA, and her music is absolutely beautiful. She is from Canada, and her most recent album, Watching You Think , was produced in association with fellow Canadian Leonard Cohen. Hearing that really grabbed my attention as I am a huge Cohen fan. NEeMA's songs are mostly light hearted, and touch on subjects such as her dog ( Elsa's Lullaby ), looking for an escape from a broken relationship [...]
The last I heard anything new from Natalie Merchant was Motherland and the song "This House Is On Fire", and before that I was only familiar with her radio hits. So, when I heard she had a new album of lullabies and nursery rhymes, it had me intrigued. The album is actually 2 discs and runs a little over and hour and a half, and it is one of the most unique albums of the year. Natalie uses poems from authors ranging from E.E. Cummings to Robert Louis Stevenson . Most of them are very [...]
Wow, it's been a trying last few days in terms of the blog here. First off, on Sunday the WordPress site was taken down for violation of terms of service. I can only assume this is because of copyrighted stuff someone had a problem with. I decided to transfer my blog to a different host and debated whether to not to even continue blogging at all for fear of it happening again. In the end, I just decided to use GoDaddy.com and completely take charge of the blog myself and not have to worry about a third party such as [...]
Yesterday was Black Friday, and Record Store Day had some special releases in order just for the occasion. I was able to snag this Bob Dylan single , this Jimi Hendrix single , as well as a bunch of other albums at rock bottom pricing. Definitely a good day for me, and a great day for local record stores. This weekend will also be great for me as well, me and my wife are seeing Atmosphere tomorrow, which promises to be an amazing time. We've seen them once before together, and they put on a great [...]
On this day in 1974, musician Nick Drake was found dead, in his bed at his home in Tanworth-In-Arden . He left behind a music legacy that was never really appreciated during his lifetime, but has found a wide fan base since his death. I was made aware of Nick Drake through a friend about 6 or 7 years ago, and have been obsessed since. Most of his music was very simple in the musical sense, yet very complicated in it's hidden meanings lyrically. Only releasing 3 albums during his lifetime, most of the songs on them convey a [...]
Music For Humans
[LISTEN] Gotye (Passion Pit Remix)
Big Boi & Theophilus London (feat. TRE LUCE) - 'She Said OK'
