Cityscapes

In recent years I have come to really love big cities. It's funny, I love nature as well. I guess that growing up in middle-ground suburbia, both of these places offer adventure to me. Here are some of my favorite bands playing with some of my favorite cities as back drops. I love the mix of the music and the settings. Enjoy.

The Kooks - Ooh La


Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof


Jason Mraz - It's A Lovely Day - Improvised

Down to the Pueblo huts of New Mexico

Another day, another dolla'. To start your week off right it's time for another Music Video Monday. I don't care who you are, this one rocks. It's also an attempt to step away from the acoustic indie lullabies that have been dominating this site thus far. Enjoy.

Piece O' Cake.

Do these guys not just kill you? I know you all know Cake, but let's just take a minute and reminisce. It's not often you find a rock band with such a great sense of humor. Listen to the first two, no... three songs and tell me you're not just smiling to yourself. "Is it you or your parents in this income tax bracket?" - Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle.

Someday at Christmas.

I was really excited when I discovered this album. As I have mentioned before, I'm a big fan of Brushfire Records. Pretty much anyone who signs with them is bound to be good. So, when I learned that they had come out with a Christmas album with songs from some (or maybe all) of their artists, I couldn't wait to hear it. It's now available everywhere, and I definitely recommend it. Being a fan of the classics, my favorites on the album were Jack Johnson's, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", (which has been a really popular on the radio around Christmas time for a few years now, but notoriusly hard to find a copy of), Zach Gill's, "Silent Night" (a new favorite artist - I'll post more about him later), and Mason Jennings', "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Jack Johnson, the song-writer that can do no wrong, brought a great oringinal to the table with his track "Someday at Christmas". G-Love of course figured out a way to turn Christmas into another occasion to sing about a woman (he's got a lot of talent, but he's also really got a one-track mind - at least he managed to keep Christmas G-rated). I didn't really feel like this was the best stuff I've heard out of Matt Costa or Rogue Wave and some of the other artists that I'm less familiar with, but this is just a good, chill Christmas mix and would be great to thrown on at a Christmas party or as a soundtrack to a winter roadtrip. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. Leave me a note to let me know what you think of the album.

All the way from Nice today...

This is a recent discovery, and I'm really liking it. The guy's name is Joshua Radin. It's kind of between music you know you'll still love ten years down the road and those really cheesy songs you fall in love with for a week, all the while knowing it's going to be a short term thing. Tell me what you think. Start with 'Today', and if you want to hear a much less poppy version of it, click here. Everything I've posted so far has been really mellow. Blame it on Fall. More upbeat stuff will make its way onto the scene later. Promise.

Music Video Monday

Well, it's this blog's first Monday, and what better way to bring in the new week than with a new music video? There is a website called blogotheque.net that has a ton of really cool music videos of more indie-like groups doing what they call 'Take away concerts' (I would call them 'Concerts to go' since the French version is 'Concerts à emporter', but they didn't hire me to translate their site, so...). The idea is that the band is just walking down the street, sitting in a restaurant, or chillin' in a parking lot in a big city like Paris, San Francisco, etc., and they just start playing their music. They have some really creative stuff. Anyway, here's one I've found recently of a group called Cocoon. They're actually a French duo, but they sing in English. Here's their cover of Outkast's 'Hey Ya'. Enjoy.

The day the music rocked.

First of all, WELCOME! Music is my biggest hobby. A hobby is different than a talent. A talent is something you're good at (naturally or through practice), and a hobby is just something you do because you like it, even though you might not be particularly gifted in that area or have any desire in becoming so. When I say music is my hobby, I mean that when I have a few minutes to kill, there is nothing I would rather do that pull out my ipod and listen to my favorite artists, or get online and try to find some new stuff to add to my repertoire.

So, even though I have kind of off the wall taste and by no means claim to know all that there is to know in the music realm, this blog will give me the chance to talk about the artists I come across (believe me, I need this outlet, I'm so into music that when I get going I just can stop and I usually see people's eyes glaze over after about 5 minutes), and it will give to those of you who may share my taste in music a chance to see the new things I've dug up and to hear me out as to why I think they're great. It's a win-win situation, right? If you like the site, follow it by clicking the link on the upper right-hand side of the page.

Anyway, here comes the first post. Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 was a day I'd been looking forward to for awhile. The new Ray Lamontagne album, "Gossip in the Grain" came out that day. I've been following Ray Lamontagne for about a year now, and he has become probably the one artist that I listen to more than any other. He is a true artist. He has his own sound, and is a gifted singer/songwriter. As one itunes reviewer wrote, "This is a soul test. If you cannot resonate with this, chances are you have no soul". With a lively Otis Redding type vibe to it, the opening track on his new album "You are the best thing" quite literally trumpets in the rest of this outstanding record. Everything else after that reverts back to his more mellow, folksy signature style. I'm still feeling my way around it, but I'm not sure it has the same beginning to end listenability as his 2004 "Trouble" album did, but all in all, it's fantastic.

Though most people I come across have never heard of him, his fan base is such that his album was the best selling album on itunes and amazon the few days following it's release. He is currently on tour and sold out about half of his North America concerts. In SLC they even moved his concert to a larger arena after it quickly sold out, so if anyone is looking for a fun night out next Tuesday, buy a ticket and come tag along.

I later found out the Ingrid Michaelson's new album also came out that same day. I like her. Her stuff is catchy. She's no Ray Lamontagne, but for the last year or so, no one has really measured up, so no points off for that one. She has a great voice that she mixes with really fun, off-beat kinds of melodies that will put a smile on your face. You'll probably recognize her title track "Be okay". Some (or maybe most) of you will probably like it better than the Ray Lamontagne stuff, and that's cool. It will just make me question whether or not you have a soul.

Free streaming is not readily available for new CDs, but here are a few tracks I found that you can test out. This site will hopefully get more and more organized and more and more interesting. For now, start by exploring the artists on the right. All of their photos will link you to their sites. I want this to be a really interactive blog, so leave your "shout outs" below. Hold on tight, more is on the way.

And here's the title track from Ingrid Michaelson's album. It's great.