New Music

Here are a few albums I've been pretty excited about lately.

José González- In Our Nature

I came across José González via a random Youtube video. He's an Argentine-born Swedish artist who I would describe as a 21st Century Nick Drake. In Our Nature is the 2007 follow-up to his 2003 debut, Veneer (which I have not yet listened to), and is composed almost exclusively of him singing and playing classical guitar. It is a bit somber in mood (as description I typically prefer rather than avoid), but it is brightened up by a slight Latin flair. Check out one of his songs from the album, "In Our Nature," below.



Alabama Shakes- Boys & Girls

The Alabama Shakes have been getting a lot of press lately. They've been making the late night talk show rounds and were even featured in the latest issue of Garden & Gun. They have been all over Twitter and almost all of the shows on their current tour are sold out. It's all for good reason, however. The band is from Athens, Alabama, which isn't typically considered to be a hotbed of music. However, their music has a throwback sound, and is a combination of blues, gospel, and Southern rock. It's great music for the spring and upcoming summer, and is great for driving down the road with the windows down. Right now you can get the MP3 album for only $5 on Amazon.com. Check out an in-studio version of the first song on the album, "Hold On," below. If you can't get into this song, well, I have no other advice for you.



M. Ward- A Wasteland Companion

I'll admit, I haven't listened to this album yet, though I am downloading it (legally) as I type. However, M. Ward is one of my favorite artists and I've been excited about this album for a while. It's Ward's first album since 2009's Hold Time, which I loved. If you're not familiar with M. Ward, just know that he his the "Him" part of Zooey Deschanel's She & Him albums. M. Ward's music has an interesting quality in that while it has evolved over the past thirteen years, it all has a similar, and fairly timeless, sound. From what I heard of the album so far, A Wasteland Companion is no exception. Ward is an excellent songwriter and even better guitar player. If you like good music, chances are you like this album. And like the Alabama Shakes' album, it's only $5 on Amazon.com right now. Check out the video for "The First Time I Ran Away," from the new album, below.

The Milk Carton Kids

Back in June I went to see a Joe Purdy play a concert here in Atlanta. Opening for him was some band named The Milk Carton Kids. They were an opener band, I'd never heard of them, and their name was kind of weird, so I wasn't really that interested. However, I ended up watching them and really enjoyed it.

The band is made up of just two guys, Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan, who I would describe as a West coast Simon & Garfunkle. They both play acoustic guitar and both sing. And while their music is very good, their shows involve more than a bit of banter which is quite entertaining. Last week they played at Eddie's Attic in Decatur and I went with a friend to see them play. The show was really good and was a steal for only $10 a ticket. If they make a stop in your town at some point in the future, I would highly recommend going to check them out.

They have two albums right now and, awesomely, both are available to download for free on their website. Below is a video for their song "Permanent," which may be my favorite song on either album.

New Music

I'm not sure if it's the warm weather or what, but I have apparently been in a very country music type of mood lately, as can be discerned from my latest music purchases.

I should preface all of this by saying that I've typically had an aversion for country music, for about as long as I can remember (save for that year in high school when I played football and thought about buying a pickup truck). However, over the past six or seven years, I've been doing some dabbling, mostly as a result of some of Ryan Adams' albums, Gillian Welch, and the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, but could never put my finger on exactly what it was that I liked. Thank to Wikipedia I've finally come to realize that I actually like "outlaw country," and it is the poppy, over-produced Nashville stuff that I can't stand. Anyways, here are some thoughts on what I bought.

A few weeks ago, I finally got around to buying the first Whiskeytown album, Faithless Street. Seeing as how I own almost every other album that Ryan Adams has made, I somehow managed to save the best for last. If you're unfamiliar with Whiskeytown, they were Ryan Adams' band prior to going solo with his album Heartbreaker. They managed to release three albums before the band fell apart (mostly because Adams was out of control at the time), but they are great. This, however, is the best of them.

The version currently available on iTunes and Amazon.com (Amazon is where I buy basically all of my MP3s now), has several additional songs than were originally released, but that's hardly ever a bad thing. This album is basically Ryan Adams at his best, making country music, making heartbreaking songs, and making songs about drinking (in fact, 12 of the 21 tracks on the album making a reference to alcohol or drinking, really putting the "whiskey" in "Whiskeytown"). "Hard Luck Story" is really one of my favorite tracks on here, but the slower songs like "Faithless Street" and "Factory Girl" don't disappoint either. There really isn't much more to say about this album other than "go buy it."

I finally got around to seeing the movie Crazy Heart about a month ago, and while I enjoyed it and thought that Jeff Bridges did a great job, it didn't occur to me until about two weeks ago to listen to the soundtrack. I checked it out on Grooveshark (amazing website; you can basically stream any album for free) and knew I had to buy it. There are two versions available, the regular one, which has 16 tracks, and the "Deluxe Edition," which has 23 tracks. I opted for the latter and am glad I did. The best tracks on here are Jeff Bridges singing, though, believe it or not, I really dig Colin Farrell's songs. There are some other tracks, including one by Waylon Jennings and another by Lucinda Williams, which I guess were in the background of the movie, but do a good job of carrying the theme of the movie and album. I'd say the low points are Robert Duvall's a capella song from the movie, and some song by Lydia Mendoza (who?) that's in Spanish, but even those begin to grow on you after a few listens. All in all, this album is great, and if you liked the movie, I'm pretty sure you'd like the album just as much.

The Crazy Heart soundtrack is what lead me to Ryan Bingham. Seeing as how I've typically had an aversion to country music, I was unfamiliar with Ryan Bingham. However, he was not only in the movie as Bad's back-up band at the bar where he got too drunk to play, but he has two songs on the soundtrack. After hearing those two songs, I was sold, and quickly found the first of his three albums, Mescalito. This was one that I didn't even waver over purchasing; I listen to maybe two or three samples and downloaded the whole thing. It's awesome and definitely worth checking out.

More New Music

I haven't bought any new music in a while, and going on a retreat this weekend, last night I thought that it might be time. I went on iTunes and this is what I got:

A.A. Bondy- When the Devil's Loose

I got A.A. Bondy's first album, American Hearts, last May (I did a post on it then) and loved it. When the Devil's Loose, his second album, has been out for a little while, but just I finally got around to buying it. I purchased it with little hesitation, and upon the first couple of listenings, it has not let me down. It should be noted that Bondy is originally from Birmingham, so obviously it's good, since nothing bad has ever come out of Birmingham (except for Larry Langford).

Robert Plant & Allison Krauss- Raising Sand

I based my decision to buy this album mostly on hearing the songs "Killing Blues" and "Please Read the Letter," which I had heard on internet radio stations before. I figured that it might be similar to All the Roadrunning, the album that was put out in 2006 by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris (an album which I hate at first, but eventually became one of my favorites). The actual duet on Raising Sand are easily some of the highlights of the album, and I feel like Krauss' solo songs are a lot weaker. It could have something to do with all of the pedal steel that's present in the duets... Perhaps the other songs will grow on me as I listen more.

Zac Brown Band- The Foundation

Part of me still can't believe I bought this album. One of the main reasons I don't like popular country music is because of the trite and cliche lyrics. Perhaps no song embodies trend this more than the Zac Brown Band song "Chicken Fried," but for whatever reason, I absolutely love it. There are a couple of Jimmy Buffetesque songs on here too which I would love to listen to while sitting on the beach by the Gulf (assuming there aren't tar balls everywhere). It comes across as a pretty unsophisticated album at first, but I think that there is some better instrumentation and some more lyrical depth than there initially appears, and the guys are from Georgia, so how could I not like them? Plus, Ben the Bunnyman, of the Regular Guys fame, is featured on the last track. I guess I can consider this my "guilty pleasure" purchase.

The State of Georgia--Music Capital of the World

In case you weren't aware, the two biggest songs to come out in the past two weeks have both come from Georgia. Please enjoy.

New year, new music

Having nearly filled up the hard drive on my computer, I haven't been able to download any new music for a couple of months. However, last week I bought an external hard drive and was able to transfer all of my music to that, allowing to to finally cash in the $45 of Itunes credit that I had. Here is what I got:

Kings of Convenience- Declaration of Dependence

I have been a big fan of Kings of Convenience for several years now. Don't be fooled into thinking that the LL Bean sweater was the only good thing out of Norway because these two guys are fantastic. So far I've really enjoyed this album. I think that it is better than their 2004 release Riot on an Empty Street, but don't think that it can top their 2001 debut Quiet is the New Loud (which is also one of the best album names of all-time).

Harper Simon- self-titled

In case you didn't know, Harper Simon is Paul Simon's son. It would be nearly impossible to write about this album without noting the similarities in their styles (not that it's bad thing, by any stretch). In fact, on a number of songs, you would be easily forgiven for mistaking Harper's voice that of his dad's back when he played with Art Garfunkel. However, on the whole, this album has a bit more of a country feel than Paul's ever did, and it's really quite good.

Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard- One Fast Move or I'm Gone (Music from Kerouac's Big Sur)

I had no idea about this side-project until I heard the song "These Roads Don't Move" on Dave Roots (which I wrote about recently). Being a sucker for both Ben Gibbard's voice and the pedal steel, this was love at first listen. The album is basically the result of Gibbard (the front-man for Death Cab for Cutie) and Farrar (of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt fame) collaborating to do the music for a Jack Kerouac documentary entitled One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur. You can read more about it in this Pitchfork article.

Works Progress Administration- self-titled

Another album that I found out about thanks to Dave Roots, WPA is a collaboration which includes Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek, Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket, and Luke Bella. It also features performances by Sara Watkins and dummer Pete Thomas. While some of you may find this line-up strikingly similar to the Mutual Admiration Society, think of it as MAS with a good bit of twang to it. The album also features two vocal performances by Sara Watkins, which are almost worth the price of the album by themselves.

Internet radio recommendation: Dave Roots

I've been listening to the radio station Dave FM since they took over 92.9 here in Atlanta back in 2004. It used to be a fantastic radio station, a phrase that I typically consider to be an oxymoron, but over the past couple of years it has gotten worse. However, they recently introduced an HD and streaming internet radio station called Dave Roots. I've got to say it is really good, and definitely something to consider if you want something to listen to while sitting at your desk. Some of their featured artists include the Avett Brothers, Neko Case, A.A. Bondy, Monsters of Folk, and Son Volt. Hard to go wrong with that. If you want to check it out, click on the link above.

Top Five Albums of the Decade

Inspired by a conversation with some friends last night, these are my picks for top five albums of the decade, in no particular order:

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals- Cold Roses

Sun Kil Moon- Ghosts of the Great Highway

M. Ward- Post War

Postal Service- Give Up

Gillian Welch- Time (The Revelator)


Runner-up (because I can):

Kings of Convenience- Quiet is the New Loud

Over the Rhine- "Snow Angels"

Over the Rhine is really a fantastic band, and their most recent Christmas album, Snow Angels, is a great one to pull out this time of the year. It came out in 2007, but hasn't lost any of its charm (nor has Karin Bergquist's voice). "All I Get for Christmas is Blue" and "Darlin' (Christmas is Coming)" are two of my personal favorites, but Linford Detweiler's piece "Goodbye Charles" is definitely a stand-out. It's a tribute to Charles Schultz that is played in the style of the Vince Guaraldi Trio and sounds like it could have been on the original A Charlie Brown Christmas album. I was even fortunate enough to hear them perform a few songs from this album at their concert that I went to in Athens last year.

One of the major points of this post is to let you know that you can currently stream this album for free on Over the Rhine's website. You can go there and look for the Over the Rhine Record Player image on the right side of the page, or you can click here and open the player directly. Merry Christmas.

Avett Brothers- "I and Love and You"

I really enjoy the music of the Avett Brothers, and the fact they hail from North Carolina certainly doesn't hurt. While I don't have their latest album, I and Love and You (yet), their single of the same name (that came out this summer) is pretty great.

John Mayer- "Who Says"

I feel like John Mayer gets an unnecessarily bad rap. The guy is a talented songwriter and guitar-player, and when his original EP Inside Wants Out came out in 1999, I would say that it was something that was pretty original and refreshing. I still remember getting a burned copy of this CD back in 2000 from my friend, Greg (who is an occasional A Trip Down South reader and commenter), and falling in love with it.

OK, granted, he does have a bit of a reputation for being a womanizer, celebrity-dater, and all-around douche, and I seriously doubt there is anyone who still enjoys the song "Your Body is a Wonderland" after it has been played to death. And I will be the first to admit that he definitely hit the "sophomore slump" with the release of Heavier Things (wow that was a bad album). And while it is doubtful that he will ever achieve the respect shown to artists like Radiohead or Ryan Adams, I think that his marginalization as nothing more "frat boy music" is a bit much.

He showed some promise with the release of the John Mayer Trio album, and with his last album Continuum. "Who Says" is the first release from his upcoming album Battles Studies, and I think that it sounds pretty good. At the very least, his vocals sound really solid and I think this song shares some of the same simplicity that made Inside Wants Out such a great album. Give it a listen as I don't think you will be disappointed.

Miles Fisher cover of "This Must Be the Place"

Man, this is awesome. Not only is "This Must Be the Place" probably my favorite Talking Heads song, but Miles Fisher's cover of it is fantastic (as a side note, Miles played Kinsey's preppy drug-dealer friend, Jeffrey Graves, on the third episode of season 3 of Mad Men). However, combined with reenactments from American Psycho (which are only enhanced by Fisher's uncanny resemblance to Christian Bale), this has to be one of the greatest music videos of all time. Parts of it border on NSFW, though, but be sure to watch it when you get home. You won't be disappointed.

Breaking News: Kings of Leon to compete for "Worst Band of 2009"

NASHVILLE- The band Kings of Leon announced this morning that they are officially entering into the contest for "Worst Artist of 2009." While this does not come as much of a surprise to music insiders who suspected that the band might enter after their heinous 2008 singles "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody," it does represent significant competition for those hoping to claim the title this year. The band, consisting of the Followill brothers from Nashville, TN, have released two singles in 2009, which combined with their 2008 releases, mean that their music is providing a constant aural assault on radio stations across the country.

Leader singer, Anthony "Caleb" Followill, explained "We think 2009 could really be our year. With no major 2009 releases from artists like Kid Rock or Nickelback, we believe that we, quite possibly, have the worst music playing on the radio right now. Whether we win or not, that's really something to be proud of."

Unlike artists Kid Rock or Nickelback who specialize in aggressive, "in-your-face" douchebaggery, Kings of Leon's reputation for terrible music comes from sheer mediocrity. According to Jennifer Hernandez, writer for Rolling Stone, "We haven't seen music this unoriginal and lame since Three Doors Down. What Kings of Leon are doing right now represents a significant achievement in uninspired rock music that will be hard to top."

Despite what appears to be a strong position in this year's contest for Worst Artist, there does remain stiff competition. After releasing their latest album, No Line On The Horizon in December of 2008, U2 has released three singles in 2009, including the atrocious "Magnificent" and the lyrical masterpiece "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight." When asked about this opposition for the title, guitarist Cameron "Matthew" Followill replied "Of course we're aware of U2. They've been sucking for a long time now, at least since Pop back in '97. And the garbage that they've put out this year has been really bad. But we're not going to let that get us down. I mean, have you heard "Sex on Fire"? It's abominable. We've just got to get out there, play the most boring music we possibly can, and know that we've got this thing in the bag. We're rockstars after all."

Kings of Leon's latest suckfest, Only by the Night, can be purchased on Itunes, or heard every 15 minutes on at least four of your local radio stations.

Iphone app: I Am T-Pain

A couple of months ago we renewed our contract with AT&T and I had the option to get an Iphone. However, I had been using a Blackberry for the previous two years and ended up getting one again (the 8900). I absolutely love it. Job hunting would be infinitely more difficult without it. I have never once regretted getting the Blackberry over the Iphone. Until today.



This morning I came across a new app called I Am T-Pain which is basically an Auto-Tune app for your Iphone. Just download it (only $3!), plug your Iphone into some headphones or speakers, put on your favorite T-Pain song (including one of the six or seven free songs that come with the app), and sing into the phone's microphone. Your voice comes out sounding like T-Pain's! It is even customizable where you can alter which key it adjusts your voice to.

I downloaded it onto my brother's Iphone and can attest that it is indeed pretty awesome and a lot of fun. I'm hoping that more songs will be released for it, like "Blame It" by Jaime Foxx and T-Pain, or maybe even "I'm On A Boat" (though that song is a bit past its prime).

M. Ward for President!

Photo credit here. Unfortunately, photos were strictly prohibited last night, so I have none of my own.

Last night I headed up to the 40 Watt Club in Athens with both "R's" from the R&R Review to see M. Ward perform. While I have been a fan of his music for a while (OK, probably only a year and a half, but long enough), I had not seen him perform. As it turned out, the three of us, all the hipsters in the 40 Watt, were in for a treat.

Doors opened at 9:00 and after a delicious pizza dinner at Little Italy Pizzeria in downtown Athens ($1 for 12-oz. Terrapin Rye draught?? What??) we headed over to the 40 Watt. As we were walking, a small guy escorted by three girls started walking in front of us, and ever the astute observer, Chris Robinson pointed out to BA Roof and myself that the guy about 10 feet in front of us was, in fact, M. Ward himself. This seemed to be a good omen.

We got to the 40 Watt around 9:30, went in, and Chris Robinson armed all of us with 24 oz. cans of PBR and we waited for the opening band, the Moaners to go on. They finally started playing around 9:45 and was made up of just two girls in what might be considered an all-female White Stripes set up with just a guitar and drum kit. They were really pretty terrible, and were hopefully picked to serve as a foil for M. Ward and to make his performance seem even more incredible (not that he needed it).

M. Ward took the stage around 10:45 and opened with a solo performance of "Never Had Nobody Like You." I was immediately impressed by how fantastic his vocals were. They smooth and spot on, and sounded just like on the albums. Considering his stature, it was fairly impressive that that voice came from him. After the first song, his band joined him with nary a word and they got to work. They played a back-to-back-to-back set and only paused long enough between songs to switch/tune instruments before they started the next song. They only played until midnight (about an hour and 15 minutes), but managed to perform an impressive 19 songs. The setlist, obtained from this blog was as follows:

–Never Had Nobody Like You

–Fuel for Fire

–Post War

–Hold Time

–Poor Boy, Minor Key

–Poison Cup

–Stars of Leo

–To Save me

–One Hundred Million Years

–Fool Says

–Big Boat

–Guitar intro/Fisher of Men

–To Go Home

–Requiem

–Chinese Translation

–Rave On

–Roll Over Beethoven

–Magic Trick (encore)

–Vincent O’Brien (encore)

Aside from M. Ward's impressive vocals, I think I was even more surprised by just how talented of a guitar player he is. It was really awesome watching him play, and his bandmates were quite good as well. Overall, it was a really fun concert. After the few quiet songs towards the beginning of the set, the rest was just rock 'n' roll, and the audience loved it. I have to say that it may be the most fun concert that I have been to, and "fun" is not usually a word that I use to describe concerts, no matter how much I like them.

On one critical note, while discussing the concert on the way back to Atlanta, the R's and I concluded that the two encores were really a bit over the top and bordered on pretentious. Plus, in all of the time that was wasted with pretending to take a bow (twice) and going backstage and whatnot, they could have played at least one more song, which I think the audience would have appreciated even more. However, it was a pretty fantastic show and definitely worth the late night last night.

**Note: I would like to thank Christopher Robinson for generously giving me the extra ticket he had. I owe him one after that show. Also, speaking of R&R, I would like to promote the beef that they are attempting to start with Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman. Mr. Gleiberman asserts that anyone who found the movie Bruno to be disgusting or offensive is nothing more than a homophobe, and the R's (and myself, for that matter), believe this to be false. Check it out here.

Saving Youtube videos as MP4 files

Have you ever been watching a video on Youtube on thought "Man, I would love to have an actual copy of this"? Well, it is much easier than you might think. Just check out the directions on this page and within seconds you can be saving your favorite videos onto your computer as MP4 files which you can watch on Itunes, and, presumably, watch or listen to on your Ipod.t

I love this album cover

I love the cover of Hem's album No Word From Tom. It's just such a great image (be sure to click on the image to see a much larger version). It's great because it really seems to make you want to ask questions like "Is that a photo or a painting?"; "Who is that girl?" (though it does look a bit like Sally Ellyson, the band's lead singer); "What is she doing on the bed?"; "What is her mood?" I don't know, I just think it's great and would love to get a large size version to hang on the wall.

Oh, and while I still haven't gotten around to buying the album, I'm sure the music is great too.

"Funny the Way" that Dave Matthews could make a song this terrible

Listening to the radio lately, Dave Matthews Band's new song "Funny the Way It Is" has been on pretty heavy rotation. This is the first single off of their upcoming record Big Whiskey & the Groogrux King. Frankly, it is terrible. There is practically no rhyming, the lyrics seem kind of "preachy," and the music itself is just weird. This song is pretty much worse than the entire Everyday album. I thought that Dave's solo album Some Devil was really good, and even thought that Stand Up wasn't too bad. To me, this definitely represents a step in the wrong direction. I thought about linking a video of this song from Youtube, but decided that I don't want it on my blog.

New Music

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Thanks to receiving Itunes gift cards for graduation from my parents and college roommate, I have been like a kid in a candy store on Itunes. Here are four albums that I have recently picked up:


American Hearts by A.A. Bondy


Sara Watkins' new self-titled album


Songs We Sing by Matt Costa


M. Ward's latest, Hold Time

I still have $35 worth of Itunes credit left at this point. It's going to be tough, but I'm going to do my best to save it.

Ryan Adams- Fox Theatre, Atlanta 3/20/2009

Photo taken by Ryan Adams Archive forum member nextolastsong

Last night I attended the Ryan Adams concert at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. You may recall that this was somewhat of a make-up show for the show that he played in Alpharetta back in October in which he walked off the stage after an hour. After that experience, and after the so-so reviews I’d heard about the shows in Birmingham and Charleston, I really set my standards pretty low for this show, just in case. Luckily, it turns out these fears were unfounded, and Ryan and the Cardinals put on one of the best concerts I have ever been to. In fact, the first 45 minutes or so of the show were so good, they could have just played that, and I really would have been pretty satisfied.

They played for right around two and a half hours, with a 10 minute break about an hour and a half into the show. This was much better than the hour and 45 minute show that I was hoping for. The setlist was pretty incredible; lots of songs from Cold Roses, which is never a bad thing. The highlights for me were “Let it Ride,” a version of “Dear Chicago” that sounded like it belonged on Cold Roses and “Oh My Sweet Carolina.” Everyone went nuts during “Oh My Sweet Carolina,” especially after the line “all the sweetest winds they blow across the South,” and rightfully so. God Bless the South… There were plenty of songs from Cardinology, including the opener, “Magick,” and I’m now pretty tempted to go out and buy it.

Video taken by Ryan Adams Archive forum member LightBulb_Sunset

Overall the crowd was really good and really into and the Fox seemed pretty packed. Ryan was in a good mood and joked around a number of times, including his dedication of “Beautiful Sorta” to Method Man and Red Man. Anyways, this concert really restored my confidence in Ryan. I’ll admit that after the last show, I was really pretty turned off to him and didn’t listen to his music very much in the mean time. After last night’s show, however, I remembered again why I liked him so much in the first place. Great job, Ryan.

Here’s the setlist, obtained from a poster on Ryan Adams Archive:

1. “Magick”
2. “Let it Ride”
3. “Two”
4. “Everybody Knows”
5. “Beautiful Sorta”
6. “Mockingbird”>
7. “Dear Chicago”>
8. “Blue Hotel”
9. “Cold Roses “
10. “Natural Ghost”
11. “Easy Plateau”>
12. “Bartering Lines”
13. Band Intros
14. “Fix It”
15. “Magnolia Mountain”
16. “Please Do Not Let Me Go”
17. “Peaceful Valley”
18. “Freeway to the Canyon”

Break

19. “When the Stars Go Blue”
20. “Sink Ships”
21. “Oh My Sweet Carolina”
22. “Grand Island”
23. “Evening Joke”
24. “I See Monsters”
25. “Come Pick Me Up”
26. “Rescue Blues”
27. “Wonderwall”
28. “Goodnight Rose”