jamie on February 8th, 2006
I went out to CJ’s Landing in Buckhead last night to see a band form Austin, Texas called WideAwake. The high-energy band puts on a great live show, and it didn’t hurt that the show was a Rock Boat reunion of sorts (Rock Boat is an annual cruise and music phenomenon, which the band recently played on). Frontman Scott Leger is a dynamic and charismatic performer who really carries the show. Backing him are four very tight musicians. They remind me a lot of Vertical Horizon, Sister Hazel, and Dexter Freebish, blending modern rock with an acoustic pop sense. The title track Not So Far Away definitely has radio potential, and their mysapce blog boasts spins on Atlanta’s shuffle-radio station Dave FM, but beyond that, I just don’t hear them breaking out big time.
WideAwake Music:
Not So Far Away
Leave A Light On
Stay
Also mentioned in this post:
Dexter Freebish - Leaving Town
Vertical Horizon - Cry
Vertical Horizon - Echo
Sister Hazel - Sail Away
jamie on February 8th, 2006
Yeah, I know- I’ve been talking up KT Tunstall for ages- since I first heard her well over a year ago- but the disc has finally dropped stateside. This means that everyone here can rush right out and buy it, and also that her March 11 show at Vinyl is bound to be more crowded. The album is eclectic, moving from dark and bluesy to pure melodic pop and back.
KT Tunstall - Other Side Of The World (Radio1 Live Lounge)
Also out this week:
Jack Johnson - Sing-a-Longs & Lullabies For The Film Curious George
As an Adult Alternative album, this one fails to have the same spark or wit that Jack Johnson’s previous work has held, but then again: it’s not meant to be an album for adults. It’s a soundtrack album to a kid’s movie (albeit that movie happens to take a childhood favorite Curious George into the oft-misused world of digitally-rendered movie characters - when wil it stop?). As a kid’s album, this blows attempts to integrate modern music into kid-friendly formats (see Kids Bop Kids Get VD, below) straight out of the water. Johnson doens’t dumb things down for the children’s coundtrack at all. Instead, he uses his signature jaunty guitar playing and dolce singing to make the album’s songs accessible to kids. Hearing him do the sing-a-long tracks like The Sharing Song or 3 R’s (Reduce-Reuse-Recycle) even got me singing along for a bit- a short bit.
Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down EP
As in intoduction to the band that now holds the title of “fastest selling debut album in chart history”, the Arctic Monkeys have released an EP containing 3 tracks, including the UK chart-topper When The Sun Goes Down (Scummy). I love the Arctic Monkeys, and think this is a terrific track, but I don’t think America is ready to embrace this yet. On Rhapsody, this release has been replaced by the maxi-single version of I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (A.M. titles are rediculously long - their full-length album is titled Whatever people Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not…sheesh). I think this track is a much better introduction to the States, containing the full enregy of the band captured live, and minus the particularities of life in Northern England. Either way, I think it will be interesting to see how America recieves what has become the English sucess story of hte year (so far).
Kidz Bop Kids - A Kidz Bop Valentine
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I’ve realized that I’m 30 years old now, and am the only child of my parents NOT to have any kids. So that probably explains that I alwyas end up giving these Kidz Bop Kids discs a spin- the so-called ‘genetic timeclock’ ticking in my brain… or it’s for the laughs. Since first discovering the excistance of Kidz Bop Kids on an iTunes “Worst of iTunes” playlist, I look forward to the comedy of listening to modern classics redone by sound-alikes backed by a kids chorus. In this new VD compilation, they take on sappy love songs like Hoobastnak’s The Reason, Santana & Michelle Branch’s The Game Of Love (complete with an ever-so-slightly altered guitar part), and the classic 80’s hit form Berlin: Take My breath Away.
jamie on February 2nd, 2006
First off, Happy Birthday to Megan, who turned 25 last night. Hope you feel better this morning.
Re-Gift #1 - From New Leave In March:
My freind Melissa sent me this in an IM well over a week ago, and I put it on my last car-mix CD, where it’s not only made me spontaniously laugh out loud occasionally while driving- but also really grown on me. It’s so bad, it’s great. (Megan, this one’s for you!)
Jonathan Coulton - Baby Got Back
The guy’s site is pretty cool - his ‘Thing A Week’ is hit-or miss, but always makes for interesting reading. He’s on myspace as well, for those of you who want to be his friend.
Re-Gift #2 - From Jonathan Coulton:
Jonathan was gift from mel, and he posted this gift from waxy.org, which I now re-gift to you: FASTR the Flickr tag guessing game. It’s simple, join a round, and as the pictures appear, try to guess what the common tag (theme) is. It’s so addictive- a true time waster, if you had any to waste. Yes, I know it’s not music, but one shouldn’t look a re-gifted horse in the mouth.
Re-Gift #3 - From i Guess I’m Floating (iGIF):
Another of my regular reads, iGIF has tracks from the new Jack Johnson Curious George sountrack up. I love Jack, even if he’s way overplayed, and does things like soundtracks for bad movie versions of favorite childhood books. I’m not gonna steal his links to post here, so you’re gonna have to go over there to actually pick up the songs.
on his blog; Upside Down, We’re Going To Be Friends (White Stripes cover), and Broken
Re-Gift #4 - From I Am Fuel, You Are Friends:
This one popped up on Hype Machine today, and it had two things I really liked in one post: Better Than Ezra and the sappy sentimentality of childhood memories. Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks has been around forever, but I’ve not actually listened to it in, well, forever. Good memories. Released in 1996, it was a collection of the original Schoolhouse Rock! songs performed by bands of the time. BTE, Blind Melon, Pavement, Ween, Moby and Skee-Lo all take shots at the original Saturday morning edu-toon songs. Again, you’ll have to go there to get the songs, but it’s worth your time.
Re-Gift #5 - From BBC Radio 1 via Me
I was clearing out space on the computer, and came across these stream captures from winter 2004. Stuff from Jo Whiley’s Live Lounge segments that I had fogotten about. Teen ’star’ JoJo turns in a surprising acoustic rendition of the Foo Fighters‘ Times Like These. Keane did an unreleased track at the time (I think it eventually made it to disc) called A Heart To Hold You and a cover of U2’s classic With Or Without You. Snow Patrol did a live version of their song Run, and the Zutons covered Scissor Sisters‘ Take Your Mamma Out quite brilliantly.
jamie on February 1st, 2006
New Embrace
I’ve just heard it this morning: new work out from Embrace (if you remember, we heard they were in studio wrapping up the new album in July- only months after the release of Out Of Nothing). The first single, Nature’s Law, played on Radio1 this morning. Piano-heavy anthem rock with strings and lots of backup vocals on the chorus make up this first taste of the new album. The single is out March 20 in the UK, no word on a US release date (considering the lackluster US sales of Out Of Nothing, I won’t hold my breath). If I can get a clean version of the track, I’ll post it.
New Train
Train has a new CD out this week- For Me, It’s You is no departure from what the band has been doing since their first signing by Aware in the late 90’s. Anthem rock and hooky pop songs are abundant on the new release. The first single, Cab, was out a couple of months ago, but lacks the instant radio hit qualities that other train singles (Drops of Jupiter, Calling All Angels, Meet Virginia), but there are several other tracks on the disc that might find radio chart homes. The lead track, All I Ever Wanted, is just classic Train. Pat Monahan’s vocals are soaring and crisp, and the strings arrangement is simply brilliant.
This is the first studio album featuring bassist Johnny Colt (formerly of the Black Crowes) and Atlanta native Brandon Bush on keys. The album was recorded in Atlanta with uber-producer Brendan O’Brien last summer/fall.
Train - Live @ The Tabernacle - Whole Lotta Love / Ramble On
K.T. Tunstall Live EP
I logged in to Rhapsody today to check out yesterday’s releases (I know, I’m late- yesterday was a busy day), and saw that K.T. Tunstall had recorded an exclusive live set for Rolling Stone and Rhapsody! Now, anyone reading this drivel I regularly write will know that I am absolutely in LOVE with Miss Tunstall. Her album Eye To The Telescope is simply amazing, but it’s the live stuff that gets me. She’s known as a one-woman band- standing there with a guitar, surrounded by various effect and loop pedals and percusssion- which she plays sometimes simutaneously, sometimes through recorded loops, and often singing her own harmonies.
K.T. Tunstall - Live - Black Horse And The Cherry Tree
K.T. Tunstall - Live - My Doorbell
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