listen to lissie cover metallica's 'nothing else matters' and download 'live sessions'
Fri, Aug 6 2010 01:23 PM
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as i've said before, i devour a lot of music. because of that, it's rare for a new artist to really sneak up and surprise me with how great it is. over the last couple months, an artist has done just that: lissie.
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listen to new ray lamontagne tracks: 'for the summer' and 'the devil's in the jukebox'
Tue, Aug 3 2010 06:47 PM
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it was beautiful news a couple months ago when it was announced that ray lamontagne will be releasing the follow-up to 2008's gossip in the grain on august 17. the album, god willin' & the creek don't rise, will be released under the moniker, ray lamontagne & the pariah dogs. shortly after the announcement of the new album, ray did us all a beautiful favor with the youtube-embedded release of a new track, beg steal or borrow.
now, two more tracks have surfaced.
democracy wins: derek webb covers huey lewis' 'power of love'
Mon, Jul 26 2010 03:51 PM
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over the last half a year, i've blogged about derek webb's latest innovative project called democracy vol. 1. earlier this year, fans could cast votes for up to 12 songs that they wanted webb to cover. then, the 12 songs receiving the most votes would be covered by webb for the album. the album has been in the process of being recorded over the span of 2010, with 1 track being recorded and released each month. over the past 6 months, webb released the first six tracks, which was the beatles' while my guitar gently weeps, coldplay's fix you, bob dylan's the times they are a-changin', gnarls barkley's who's gonna save my soul, sufjan stevens' chicago and u2's where the streets have no name.
instead of releasing the the full list of tracks, webb is revealing each track month-by-month. and today, we found out the seventh one.
democracy wins: derek webb covers u2's 'where the streets have no name'
Tue, Jun 29 2010 01:47 PM
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over the last half a year, i've blogged about derek webb's latest innovative project called democracy vol. 1. earlier this year, fans could cast votes for up to 12 songs that they wanted webb to cover. then, the 12 songs receiving the most votes would be covered by webb for the album. the album has been in the process of being recorded over the span of 2010, with 1 track being recorded and released each month. over the past 5 months, webb released the first four tracks, which was the beatles' while my guitar gently weeps, a so-so version of coldplay's fix you, a pretty good version of bob dylan's the times they are a-changin', an incredible version of gnarls barkley's who's gonna save my soul and a pretty good version of sufjan stevens' magnum opus (yes?) chicago.
instead of releasing the the full list of tracks, webb is revealing each track month-by-month. and today, we found out the sixth one.
listen to new tracks from fiona apple and the forthcoming punch brothers' 'antifogmatic'
Wed, May 12 2010 08:03 AM
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several years ago, much to equal amounts surprise and delight of both artists' fans, fiona apple and nickel creek went on tour together. what seemed like a curious combination turned out to be a perfect match, with the artists sharing the stage with great regularity and, subsequently, great results. since that time, it seems apple's kept a relationship with the nickel creek triumvirate and she's hooked up with chris thile's latest incarnation, punch brothers, for a new track.
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democracy wins: derek webb covers gnarls barkley's 'who's gonna save my soul'
over the last few months, i've blogged about derek webb's latest innovative project called democracy vol. 1. several months ago, fans could cast votes for up to 12 songs that they wanted webb to cover. then, the 12 songs receiving the most votes would be covered by webb for the album. the album will then be recorded over the span of 2010, with 1 track being recorded and released each month. over the past 3 months, webb released the first three tracks, which was the beatles' while my guitar gently weeps, a so-so version of coldplay's fix you and a pretty good version of bob dylan's the times they are a-changin'.
instead of releasing the the full list of tracks, webb plans to reveal each track month-by-month. and yesterday, we found out the fourth one.
democracy wins: derek webb covers bob dylan's 'the times they are a-changin'
Fri, Apr 2 2010 08:34 AM
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over the last couple months, i've blogged about derek webb's latest innovative project called democracy vol. 1. a couple months ago, fans could cast votes for up to 12 songs that they wanted webb to cover. then, the 12 songs receiving the most votes would be covered by webb for the album. the album will then be recorded over the span of 2010, with 1 track being recorded and released each month. over the past 2 months, webb released the first two tracks, which was a beautiful version of the beatles' while my guitar gently weeps and a so-so version of coldplay's fix you.
instead of releasing the the full list of tracks, webb plans to reveal each track month-by-month. and today, we found out the third one.
25 in the 2000s: movies
Thu, Dec 17 2009 07:50 AM
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this is part of an ongoing series called 25 in the 2000s. if you want a bit of information about the series, you can find the introduction here.
often, the story of a culture, a people, a time period is shared through cinema. movies transcend moments and create timeless asides from normal life. so it was over the last 10 years. during that time, the theater has seen the best of times and the worst of times. yes, we've had to sit through quite a few michael bay movies, but at the same time, we've had the pleasure to enjoy some of the truly great cinematic works of all-time. with that said, here's my favorite movies of the aughts.
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music you should know: brandi carlile's give up the ghost
Tue, Oct 6 2009 05:11 PM
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it's been awhile since our last installment in an ongoing series of posts called music you should know (the last being the dirty projectors' bitte orca). this is a chance for me to talk about some of the music i've discovered that may not be that well known, but is definitely worth being made well known. now, i'm not claiming all this music will be obscure, as i'm sure many of you might possibly know this stuff, but it's stuff that isn't hyped all the time in the mainstream and known by the average music listener.
from the eikon blog: bazan breakup?
Fri, Sep 4 2009 10:10 AM
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i wrote this piece for the eikon blog yesterday and i thought it was worth sharing here. david bazan's new album, curse your branches, is a truly incredible album and asks a lot of hard, but necessary questions. so, enjoy.-----------------------------------------------You've heard the storyYou know how it goesOnce upon a gardenWe were lovers with no clothesFresh from the soilWe were beautiful and trueIn
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music you should know: umbrella tree's the letter c
Wed, Aug 12 2009 12:22 AM
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last year, thanks to our friends at noisetrade, i discovered this strange little band out of nashville called umbrella tree and their album the church and the hospital. that strange little band with that strange little album ended up landing on my best of 2008 list (and their song, tooth on the floor made my rest of the best songs list). a year later, that album still finds itself in frequent rotation—that
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beware the sound of one hand clapping: intelligent design
Fri, Jan 30 2009 10:43 PM
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this will be the first of a 3 part series of posts titled, beware the sound of one hand clapping. the title comes from a line in the 2007 documentary, expelled: no intelligence allowed. what i'd like to do is offer a very quick intro to the series, present a brief review of the movie and then get into the brunt of the topic.this series spawns from a quote by stephen c. meyer, director and senior fellow
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good copy bad copy and the great confession, pt.2
Sat, Jan 10 2009 05:49 PM
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just in case you didn't read my last post, you probably want to back up and give it a quick once-over. this is part 2, so it will assume that you've read the previous post.in my unfolding discovery of girl talk's feed the animals (along with the jaydiohead album), i came across a 2007 documentary called good copy bad copy. the film takes a look at the very issues that i prefaced in part 1 of this post:
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good copy bad copy and the great confession, pt.1
Sat, Jan 10 2009 12:10 AM
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(editorial note: i didn't intend for this to be multiple parts, but when my introduction to what i was going to actually blog about became 5 long paragraphs, i thought it might be a good idea to chop this thing up. this first post will set the stage for the second post, which will more adequately fulfill the promise of the post title, good copy bad copy and the great confession.)a couple weeks ago,
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in review: the curious case of benjamin button
amazing. incredible. beautiful. moving. fascinating. enrapturing.what other big and flowery words would you like for me to use?the list of words could continue, because—if you haven't figured it out yet—this is one of the best movies i've seen in years. my expectations were as high for this movie as any other in a very long time (probably on the same level as the dark knight), so my glowing review
2008 in review: best movies
alright, so, i've given you my top 10 lists for music and now, like every year, it's time to drop my top 10 movies of 2008.all in all, it was an 'eh' year in movies. with that said, though, there are quite a few movies i haven't been able to see yet that i assume would easily find their way onto my list (a few that would literally make it as high as #1 or in the top 5, unless they're colossal disappointments,
2008 in review: best albums/songs
as i mentioned last week, i love lists. i love to make them. i love to read them. i love to talk about them. so, as promised, i've made my list of top albums and songs of 2008 (as i do every year). and, as i've done the last couple years, i've thrown up a quick, super simple website where you can view my list of best albums of 2008.on the website, you'll find my best crap of 2008 and then, because
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grammy nominations: the definitive being ryan byrd picks
Fri, Dec 12 2008 10:58 PM
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there's several reasons to love december: christmas, time off work, football bowl season begins...and, of course, year-end music reviews. i'm a list freak (in fact, on a funny blog note, when i started this blog, i decided i would do at least 1 list a week...i think i've done 2 or 3 ever...oh well...). i love making lists, reading lists, everything to do with lists. so, at this time of the year, everyone
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kevin max live at the rev room: a night in review
for those of you who may have been following me yesterday on twitter, you are well aware of the fact that christen and i were in attendance at the kevin max show last night at the rev room. for those who didn't...now you know. i thought, tonight, i would share a few of the highlights (and lowlights).this is probably the 6th or 7th time we've seen kmax and while it wasn't necessarily in the top 1 or
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current music obsessions
as usual, i have a few music obsessions right now. there's basically been three albums that have been in habitual rotation in my house, car and office for the last week or so.every so often, i get beyond the point of obsessed with a specific song or album. here's some that have carried that distinction in the recent past: brandi carlile's downpour (still obsessed after well over a year), jenny lewis'
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changeling by clint eastwood
yesterday, christen and finally had a chance to see clint eastwood's new movie, changeling, starring angelina jolie and john malkovich. from the first time i saw this trailer and knew that eastwood was directing, i was looking forward to seeing it. in the past several years, a clint eastwood directed movie probably meant that i would enjoy. particularly in the case of 2003's mystic river and 2004's
new mute math track
for a while now, mute math has been making a serious play for becoming my favorite band...we'll see how that race shapes up. one of the telling signs will be their highly anticipated follow-up to their self-titled debut. i've been really excited about it for a long time and has made its way to the very top of my personal most anticipated list. originally, it was slated to come out in september '08
stranger danger!
Thu, Oct 23 2008 11:58 PM
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ATTENTION FAITHFUL BLOG READERS: if you come to my house in the middle of the night and bang on my door, i will not answer it. if i owned a weapon, i would be shooting first and asking questions second.that's because i just got done watching the strangers.i wanted to see this movie in the theater (where it would have been incredible), but my frightened wife refused, so i've been eagerly awaiting its
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you be the judge
let me just be plain about this: saturday night live sucks.yeah, that's right: sucks.snl is at its lowest point ever. it's terrible. look, when you have a cast that includes the fat kid from good burger, you have a problem. literally no one on the cast is funny. amy poehler is slightly funny (sometimes), but even she's wised up and is leaving next month. darrel hammond used to be funny (in '93 or whatever
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another new kevin max track
Thu, Oct 2 2008 08:32 PM
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a while back, i posted a couple new tracks that kevin max released from his upcoming ep, crashing gates. today he released another one called out of the wild.like the others, it's a really rough demo, but you can get more of a sense of where his new album is headed. this is really good stuff. it has this sort of futuristic story-telling vibe going to it, with the usually cryptic and poetic feel. it
ray lamontagne: lover, not a fighter
Thu, Sep 25 2008 08:04 PM
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as i've previously stated, i've been looking forward to ray lamontagne's forthcoming album, gossip in the grain for quite a while. the buzz on this record is that it's a bit of a new direction for ray, mostly in terms of lyrical direction and the use of his full band. lyrically, i've been looking forward to hearing a particular track, just out of pure curiousity. ray isn't one to gush about love and
the perfect song?
in a recent conversation with a friend, i boldly declared that brandi carlile's downpour is the perfect song. it really is. it features an incredibly soaring, yet restrained female voice, sweeping, emotionally stirring strings and intelligent lyrics. if i'm in just the right mood, it can bring me to tears, no matter how many times i've heard it now.just as boldly, after picking up jenny lewis' new
new kanye west track
Wed, Sep 10 2008 06:03 PM
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look, i'm as surprised as you that i'm blogging about kanye west... the fact is, while kanye west is probably the world's biggest "word that rhymes with smouche blag"...he does make good music. the other night, the one single, non-slutty highlight from the mtv vma's was kanye closing out the night with his new single, love lockdown. like other rappers of late (snoop dogg, lil' wayne, etc.), kanye basically
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i [heart] music
there's a word for me and my incessant new music discovery process: obsessive. it's true. for me, music isn't just a background pleasantry or something to play in the car. music is a powerful medium that i find deeply connective and stirring.with that said, i've noticed here in the last several months that i've had an unusually ferocious appetite for new music (even for me). my quick count for the
summer comedy throwdown
it goes without saying that i love to go to the movie theater. there's something about the experience of the giant screen (loyal rave patron), the incredible surround sound, the smell of popcorn and the fade of the lights just prior to the movie. it's almost other-worldly. this summer, christen and i have had no shortage of trips to the theater. among many other movies, we've seen 4 comedies,
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|||lt;i|||gt;the dark knight|||lt;/i|||gt; by christopher nolan
so, i saw it. i've gotta say, i was kind of a nerd about this movie. from the time i first heard the buzz about the production of this movie, i was excited to see it. now, i'm not one of these crazies who stands in long lines or goes to the midnight showing or takes off work to go see it. i'm just a nerd, having been eager to see it for quite awhile. the potential danger of this, of course, is the
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gavin rossdale: wanderlust
in 1994, a little english band named bush went from playing small pubs to playing arenas practically overnight with the release of sixteen stone. in many ways, that was one of the seminal albums of the 90's, featuring songs such as the anthemic comedown, the charging machinehead and the cryptically lulling glycerine. like many seminal debut releases, bush, by and large, could never live
coldplay: |||lt;i|||gt;viva la vida or death and all his friends|||lt;/i|||gt;
there are certain bands that mark various times in my life and certain events that are memorable and defining. coldplay has been one of these bands, so, therefore, i have been eagerly anticipating the release of their new record, viva la vida or death and all his friends for quite some time. i have been eager to see how this record speaks to my life and my current journey.needless to say, this album
|||lt;i|||gt;the happening|||lt;/i|||gt; by m. night shyamalan
i really want to like m. night shyamalan...i really do.admittedly, there are several m. night shyamalan movies that i didn't like. the sixth sense, the alien part of signs (sorry if you haven't seen it, but it is 2008 now...), and lady in the water: all incredibly bad. on the other hand, though, i really like the village and i like all of signs except for the aforementioned part. i don't know why,
never-aging 90's albums
one of the most dangerous things to do is to quantify a promise. here's an example: i will run 2 miles every tuesday for the next 3 months. i've a.) made a promise to run, and b.)i've quantified the amount of said promised running. the issue here is that it's difficult to ever live up to the promise. it's basically the same reason you can't ever get a straight answer out of a politician. they know
colin meloy: |||lt;i|||gt;colin meloy sings live!|||lt;/i|||gt;
i'm a big fan of live acoustic albums (a la derek webb's the house show) that are set in small intimate locations and colin meloy delivers on his latest album, colin meloy sings live! (although i have to admit that this album, somehow, flew under my radar and it actually released in april...). i love these live stripped down albums from singer-songwriters types because of the intimacy and the truthfulness
