1-31-12 - "Wait So Long" ~ Trampled By Turtles

Quickie post tonight; here's one I am digging lately thanks to my buddy Adam, who apparently discovered these guys on a recent road trip to Minnesota.  The band name is sweet, as is their musical talent.  I think the tempo of this song can only be described as "blistering"...

"And your heart rolls on, like a frozen freight train

you know that I'll  help you if I can

but I'm just a raindrop in a river

just a little itty bitty grain of sand..."

1-27-12 - "January Wedding" ~ The Avett Brothers

With a few performances on TV lately and word that their new album is fast approaching, I've been getting excited about The Avett Brothers again lately.  I've waxed eloquent on several previous occasions about the boys, and even posted a song with a month in the title before.  So I'll spare you the rehash of all that, and present you with this sweet, simple love song:


(live)

(album)

"And I was sick with heartache

And she was sick like Audrey Hepburn when I met her...

…no longer does it matter what circumstances we were born in

She knows which birds are singin' 

And the names of the trees where they're performin' in the mornin'…"

1-15-12 - "Ice Age" ~ Big Snow Big Thaw

So like I said late (really late) Friday night, both artists at the early show at Club Cafe were pretty okay.  Pittsburgh band Big Snow Big Thaw set the stage for troubadour Jeffrey Foucault (see how I used a French-type word to describe a guy with a French last name?!?!), and this was their closing tune.


I really enjoy the dissonance and resolution, maybe it's just me.  But the lyrics are pretty intriguing, and maybe you'll enjoy pondering them even if you're not quite as enthralled by the unusual chord structure as I.


Here's a concert video I filmed at Friday's show:

And here's another one that someone got at Thunderbird early last year - the track isn't part of their Winter/Spring dual EP, but hopefully it'll be on the new album (due for release quite soon, rumor has it...)

"how the hell'd I get here,

hangin' in the lurch?

can't reckon if I done myself

or you done done me worse..."

PS - check out another sweet song from Friday's show on my YouTube channel - new one "Homestead Grays".  Might make it a post of its own someday...

12-03-11 - "November Blue" ~ The Avett Brothers

So I intended to be all clever and post this song in November, but I plumb forgot.  Lucky for you, it also mentions December, so I can still use it and feel somewhat clever.  But even if it were May, the song is amazing.

It's from the early days of The Avett Brothers, so it's much more raw than the more polished recordings of the "Emotionalism" and "I and Love and You" albums.  The emotions are just as raw and powerful.  The intensity of the feelings expressed will pull you right into the moment.  Pretty much all of us can relate on some level - whether it be a fleeting crush who doesn't reciprocate, or an extended relationship derailed when one lover moves away.

Here's the Crackerfarm backstage recording of Scotty A. singing the tune, from Kent, OH in 2008 (my bro and some good buddies were at the show, but I missed it).  By the way, Crackerfarm has dozens of similar (and similarly awesome) videos of the Bros. Avett singing stripped down versions of their catalogue - check them all out!

And here's an intimate performance from a stage in a high school in Manhattan - being at a show where they bust out a song like this is just a transcendental experience:

"if I had money, would it all look good

and if I had a job now, like a good man should

if I came to you tomorrow, and said let's run away

Would you roll like the wind does, baby would you stay?"

11-24-11 - "Wagon Wheel" ~ Old Crow Medicine Show

Holiday Quickie.  Here's a track that was cobbled together from the strains of a chorus composed by Bob Dylan.  Nostalgic and regretful, but with a hopeful attitude toward the future, the protagonist seeks redemption and rebirth as his journey to his hometown acts as a metaphor for his turning from evil, self-sabotaging ways and returning to his roots...

"North country winters keep a'gettin me

lost my money playin' poker so I had to up and leave

but I ain't goin' back to livin' that old life no more..."

"...and if I die in Raleigh, at least I will die free..."

9-25-11 - "The Great Estates" ~ Freelance Whales

This track is a swell album closer.  It brings the themes of "Weathervanes" together, and just has the right feel for it.  My opinion of the debut album by Freelance Whales is that it's pretty neat, and I recommend you check it out; especially if you like this track or "Generator^First Floor" which kicks off the album and which I posted a while back.

"I used to shout to find my way

the water find my distant memory failed..."

9-1-11 - "Red Hollow Road" ~ Big Snow Big Thaw

Saw these folks down at Howler's tonight.  Turns out Dani, the drummer from one of my favorite local bands, Big Hurry, rocks the percussion for another Big Band also.  The styles are not quite opposite endes of the spectrum, but perhaps something like fuchsia vs. chartreuse.  A brisk walk dahn the Bloomfield Bridge was worth the effort, as the boys and girl of Big Snow Big Thaw brought a foot-stompin' bluegrassy party to Pittsburgh's Little Italy.  


Sorry to say I wimped out and didn't stick around for Hotel Lights and Sleepy V, but hey, I'm a corporate whore headed to work by 7:30 and as it is I'm up after midnight.  It's on my to-do list to make it up to those bands by checking them out.  Also to come into some money so I can just go to shows and not worry about being up for work in the morning...


Anyway, about the song.  I haven't quite had an epiphany about the precise meaning of the lyrics just yet, but there's clearly some intense stuff going on, what with the devil, desert sun, never meeting his love, and foreboding talk of graves.  


"Red Hollow Road" ~ Big Snow Big Thaw (bandcamp - 2 free tracks, although not this one, or you can just get the whole 8-song dual EP for $5)


"...boy, I got this demon beat..."

8-28-11 - "After The Storm" ~ Mumford & Sons

Just a gorgeous little tune for you tonight.  Through eloquent lyrics, the singer elucidates the human condition and the struggles we each face in life.  He resolves to persevere through whatever trials life throws at him, and looks to brighter times ahead with hopeful eyes.  The melody and instrumentation are simple, which fits the theme.  And despite the mellow nature of the song, the boys manage to build the intensity by adding harmonies and through sheer force of will, drawing you in and lifting you up along the way.

Live at Bonnaroo:

" 'Cause death is just so full, and man so small..."

8-1-11 - "Generator^First Floor" ~ Freelance Whales

It's a new month, so it seems a good time for a song that speaks of new beginnings.  Freelance Whales are more than just an epic band name.  They bring slightly unconventional instrumentation to indie pop and slather it in lush harmonies.  

The album "Weathervanes" is nonstop fun, start to finish.  Oh wait, there's a pretty sad song right in the middle... but other than that, nonstop fun.  And this track kicks it off with a bang... wait I mean a banjo:

Part of the reason I picked this song today was so I could also show you this video of the PS22 Chorus  collaborating with the Whales:

And just for good measure, an NPR Tiny Desk version which lets you watch them play their instruments (I'm not really sure what that is... a box-cordion? oh wait let me google it ~ a "harmonium".  cool.):

"We keep on churning and the lights inside the house turn on 
And in our native language we are chantin' ancient songs 
Then when we quiet down, the house chants on without us."


__________________________________________________________


In other news, I'm experimenting with a fun site called thesixtyone.com.  It's a little bit of a different take on discovering new music; I recommend checking it out.  Here's this track on the site: http://www.thesixtyone.com/s/Vx2GgH2oe9U/

7-16-11 - "Pretty Girl From Annapolis" ~ The Avett Brothers

So we have a good buddy back in town this weekend, and hung out on the deck all evening.  Eventually the ol' six string was busted out, and we went through everything from The Head And The Heart to Brand New to some classic Avett Brothers.  I haven't posted TAB in a while, and this one was just sweet to sing with some good friends, so here you go.


It's a pretty simple song, about a pretty girl, from a place near Baltimore.  Sometimes love hits you fast and hard, and sometimes it's gone just as quickly.  Sometimes a relationship doesn't work out, sometimes it's a mistake, and sometimes you have to move on and learn from it, but that doesn't mean you can't look back fondly upon the good times you had...


"Pretty Girl From Annapolis" (grooveshark)


"And if I don't make it to the spring
May you catch the joy that a melody brings
From my dear brother's ragged six string...

...singin' the songs we're embarrassed to sing
may you never be embarrassed to sing..."

6-12-11 - "Lover Of The Light" ~ Mumford & Sons

You know how a lot of times an athlete will have a great rookie season, but struggles the next year?  You know how sometimes an artist or band puts all their best material on their debut release, and then their second album is kinda 'meh'?  I promise you that Mumford & Sons will not be one of those who have a sophomore slump.  They've been playing a few new songs in concert lately, and they're just as powerful as the songs from "Sigh No More".  The melodies, harmonies, and instrumentation are a beautiful backdrop for heavy-hitting lyrics.


As I mentioned, I watched M&S and Arcade Fire's Bonnaroo performances last night.  I've yet to see either band in person, but I'm looking forward to an opportunity to do so - both bands bring it when they're on stage.  This is one of the new ones M&S are playing, and it's just swell:

"I know I tried, I was not stable
Flawed by pride, I miss my sanguine eyes
So hold my hands up...breathe in, breathe out..."

4-16-11 - "Roll Away Your Stone" ~ Mumford & Sons

Just watched live streaming of Mumford & Sons at Coachella music festival with my housemates, and it was an electrifying performance.  They'll be at Bonnaroo in June - keep your eye out for a live stream of their set from that festival as well, because it will blow you away.  I hope to be out on my deck, sitting around a fire and listening to the set...  These guys are just great musicians, and Marcus Mumford's lyrics blow me away.  I could go a couple months doing just M&S and Avett Brothers songs, and I wouldn't run out of awesome songs... but I'll try to keep diversifying.


This one combines Biblical and Shakespearean elements, and just blows me away with the weight of the lyrics and the hope that breaks through...

"It seems that all my bridges have been burned,
but you say that’s exactly how this grace thing works;
it’s not the long walk home that will change this heart,
but the welcome I receive with the restart...


Stars hide your fires,
these here are my desires,
and I won't give them up to you this time around..."

4-12-11 - "Dry" ~ William Elliott Whitmore

This is another one I found out about from my brother.  Whitmore has that classic bluesy/folksy tone in his voice, and the song just rambles over the banjo strumming in a pretty cool fashion.  The song has a traditional theme of persevering through hard times, and a hopeful eye toward better days ahead.

"And the Morning Glories and Queen Anne's Lace,
baptized by the wind,
these inspirations are my saving grace
in these times we're living in...



Whisper the truth into your childrens ears,
let them know, let them understand, let them hear..."

3-31-11 - "Laundry Room" ~ The Avett Brothers

This song epitomizes everything that is great about The Avett Brothers, and this particular live version even more so.  You get a feel for their softer side at the beginning, and it builds into a foot-stompin' ruckus by the end.  Scott throws in a witty aside between lines ("...disregard your father's word"..."...what does he know?"), and you get the mid-song instrument change after Scott breaks a string on his banjo.  They have a guy whose sole purpose during shows is to re-string guitars and banjos after they fail to withstand the frenetic strumming of the brothers.  The unbridled passion is evident in every show, in every song.


This one seems to be about young love...

3-29-11 - "Liar" ~ Mumford & Sons

My first post on this blog was Mumford & Sons, and I guess I've been holding off using them again, but it's high time to get another one on here.  This one actually isn't on their album, but it's pretty sweet, in a sour sort of way.  If you've ever had a relationship go wrong, a lover become distant and cold, this song is definitely for you.  If you've been fortunate enough not to have that happen, just think of the deepest emotional trauma you've ever experienced, and listen to the emotions in Marcus Mumford's voice, and just let it wash over you:

"They told me love was a fortress,
and I had never put it to the test;
and all the while I relied on this honesty,
well, in love, we are all amateurs at best;
but please don't cry, you liar..."

3-16-11 - "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing" ~ Sufjan Stevens

My good friends played this tonight at Cornerstone, and it's a great song, so here it is, for your listening pleasure.  Sufjan takes a classic hymn and puts a contemporary, folksy spin on it, while infusing it with his emotive vocals.  Stevens is probably an enigma in the eyes of many with faith, as some of his other songs aren't necessarily "Christian", and he even *gasp* swears in some of them!  I find his lyrics to be a journey of discovery, of questioning, and seeking truth.  I won't get too deep into that right now, but would love to discuss it further with anyone else who finds it intriguing.


Anyway, on to the song:

"Here I raise my Ebenezer
hither by Thy help I've come
and I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home..."

3-6-11 - "City Of New Orleans" ~ The Seldom Scene

Heard this one on the radio tonight, and it's pretty sweet.  I do love a witty band name, and being a railroader of sorts myself, a railroading song can be quite special.  A little bit of lyrical depth too, if you want to listen closely.

"Midnight on the City of New Orleans,
changin' cars in Memphis, Tennessee;
we're halfway home, we'll be there by mornin',
through the Mississippi darkness, rollin' to the sea..."