New songs for January 29th, 2020

here they are:


"Dance of the Clairvoyants" by Pearl Jam: You may find yourself...listening to a song by Pearl Jam. And you may ask yourself, "Why doesn't this sound like Pearl Jam?" And you may tell yourself, "This is not my beautiful Pearl Jam!" This seems to be the reaction many have had to Pearl Jam's latest effort, the surprisingly quirky, "Dance of the Clairvoyants". After nearly 30 years of existence, perhaps Eddie and the boys thought it was time to expand their horizons a bit...and did they ever! The cosmic, almost psychedelic lyrics seem a bit out of place for Pearl Jam as well, and to top that off, it's the first Pearl Jam song I've ever heard with synthesizers! "Dance of the Clairvoyants" clearly dances to the beat of a different drummer!


"Everything Has Changed" by Best Coast: Do you know who loves rock and roll? Bethany Cosentino, that's who! I would not have expected Best Coast to adapt an early '80s hard rock sound a la Joan Jett, but that's exactly what she does here in Best Coast's latest song, "Everything Has Changed". I guess everything HAS changed, although the song is in the key of G major, like most Best Coast songs tend to be. In the song, Bethany recalls what a mess she used to be, and how glad she is that things have taken a turn for the better. I liked Best Coast better when they had a sweeter sound and a more lo-fi approach to their music, so hopefully musical direction is not what Bethany means by "change"!


"I Want More" by Kaleo: Kaleo were truly one of the most eclectic groups of the 2010's. They had taken on folk-rock ("All the Pretty Girls"), Hozier-ish indie-pop with some soul ("Way Down We Go", their biggest hit so far), and even Led Zeppelin-esque hard rock ("No Good"). "I Want More" marks Kaleo's return to folk-rock. It is a sweet, pleasant song. The whistling in the beginning and middle of the song only adds to the cutesy vibe the song has. "I Want More" describes exactly what I want from Kaleo. I want more songs like this one!


"Unreal City" by M. Ward: M. Ward has a lot of the spirit of the '60s in his music, typically either folk-rock or a light form of blues-rock. "Unreal City" touches on that aspect that everyone associates with the '60s that Ward hasn't touched upon yet: psychedelic rock, albeit with more synthesizers than guitars, in this case. This is probably the first M. Ward song I've heard in which he doesn't use guitar as the central instrument. I must say, it's a little disappointing to hear more and more musicians turning away from the guitar, since that's the instrument I like best, but on the plus side, this song does have an adventurous, meandering sound that M. Ward's other songs don't have, so it adds a bit more dimension to his catalog. Oh, and thankfully, a guitar solo does come in the middle of the song, but it's only on during that part.

New songs for May 6th, 2015

here they are:


"Beatnik Walking" by Richard Thompson: A veteran folk-rocker who has been active since the '60s, Richard Thompson's last few albums have focused on "plugging in" a bit more than he usually does. His latest song, "Beatnik Walking", goes back to his folk roots. The song has an almost Celtic influenced feel to it, and a similar rhythm to Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" as well. Jeff Tweedy from Wilco, who was probably influenced in some way by Richard Thompson, is the one who produced "Beatnik Walking". The song is so mellow sounding that it resembles folk more than it does folk-rock. Not a bad thing by any means, though. We could all use a breather once in a while!


"Electric Love" by Borns: The sublime alt-pop stylings of Lorde and the chunky garage rock style of The Black Keys have both become popular styles for the 2010's. I never thought I'd see the day when they converged into one sound, though, until I heard "Electric Love" by Borns (How do you pronounce their name, anyway? The "o" has a slash through it, so I would guess maybe it's "burns", or perhaps "byairns"). Apparently, the fact that the song combines two popular alt-pop subgenres is not the only reason that "Electric Love" has been getting so much attention lately. It has also been used on a commercial for video streaming service, Hulu. What can I say? Music is always a good way to get people to use your products!


"Feeling OK" by Best Coast: Sometimes, the third time really is the charm! Bethany Cosentino and the rest of her gang of L.A. indie-pop beach bums actually released two other songs from their latest album as singles ("California Nights" and "Heaven Sent") before they released "Feeling OK" as a single as well. The indie community itself seems to be eating Best Coast's latest album right up, but so far, only "Feeling OK" has had a significant impact on the radio airwaves. This song doesn't sound like the "Florence and the Machine goes surf music" sorta thing they have had with their previous material, and opts for a more 2010's radio-friendly alt-pop sound instead. The radio-friendly sound of "Feeling OK" is probably a large part of the reason why it's become more successful than the other two songs from Best Coast's album "California Nights", the title track of which sounds like one of the more psychedelia influenced Oasis songs. The other song, "Heaven Sent", seems influenced by '90s alt-rock goddess Liz Phair, and probably could have fared well on adult alt and alternative radio stations. Maybe that song will have another go later on this year. In the meantime, though, "Feeling OK" should make you...well...feel OK!


"Lonesome Street" by Blur: Anyone remember that faux-grunge song from the '90s by a bunch of British guys, where the chorus of the song is basically a loud "WOO-HOO!!"? Well, apparently, they're still doing stuff today! However, it's nothing like the "woo-hoo" song (which is actually called "Song 2"). Their latest song, "Lonesome Street", has a power pop flavor, but more of a catchy, melodic one than a noisy one. For a song with the word "lonesome" in the title, "Lonesome Street" is actually quite an upbeat, catchy tune!! The song hearkens back to early, pre-"Song 2" Blur songs, like the soulful "There's No Other Way".


"She's Not Me" by Jenny Lewis: The opening guitar of this song sure doesn't SOUND like Jenny Lewis. That's because it's actually Ryan Adams' guitar playing, which I kinda suspected from its '80s-era Stones type sound, which Ryan seems to have been quite fond of lately. The riff of the song actually bears quite a bit of similarity to The Rolling Stones' "Almost Hear You Sigh", which I could see happening in a Ryan Adams song, but not a Jenny Lewis one. The lyrics, on the other hand, are pure Jenny Lewis. Innocent sounding singing combined with scathing, finger-pointing lyrics like, "She's not me, she's easy". "Easy", huh?! Jenny, you got some 'splainin' to do!!


"Tell Me What You Want From Me" by Good Old War: When Good Old War released their debut album, folk-rock really was more of an "indie" thing. 8 years later, and folk-rock has suddenly become a more popular subgenre to emulate. Folks like Walk Off the Earth have become YouTube sensations because of it. In fact, this song kinda SOUNDS like something from Walk Off the Earth more than it does Good Old War, in that it combines acoustic guitar playing with artificial percussion, the way a lot of WOTE's material tends to. "Tell Me What You Want From Me" also uses other synthesized instruments during some parts, which isn't something that GOW do very often. It'd be nice if Good Old War were able to sound more "organic" like they used to, but this isn't too bad of an effort.

New songs for November 6th, 2013

here they are:


"Holding On For Life" by Broken Bells: For the first time since the start of the 2010's, The Shins' James Mercer and Gnarls Barkley's Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton are back together again for a new album called "After the Disco"! An appropriate title, considering the disco influence that Danger Mouse brings into their latest song, "Holding On For Life". The folk-y acoustic strums in the background of the song make it very much of a James Mercer tune as well. Songs like this one are proof that sometimes, two heads are better than one! As Danger Mouse pumps disco/techno beats into "Holding On For Life", James adds in enigmatically soul searching lyrics, lush, mellow harmonies, and folk-rock influence, and together, the elements of the song melt into a nice, tasty, out of this world stew!


"She Lit A Fire" by Lord Huron: Lord Huron first hit the adult alt airwaves last November with their dreamily psychedelic song, "Time to Run". Now, exactly one November later, the dreaminess of Lord Huron has come around a second time with "She Lit A Fire". Between this song and "Time to Run", I'm starting to notice a lyrical theme in Lord Huron's music. They seem to write love songs, but they do so using really abstract lyrics and evocative imagery. The chorus of the song states that the girl of the lead singer's affections "lit a fire, and now she's in (his) every thought", so the love theme here is pretty obvious, but what makes the song so special to me is the ultra-mellow, acoustic guitar based sound the song uses, as well as the imagery of deserts, mountains, seas, and (of course) fire. This is the song all the hippies merely wish they had written!


"Swimming In the Sea" by Bob Schneider: And now, more indie-pop love poetry featuring lyrics that evoke nature (specifically fish and the sea, this time around)!! This is certainly not a bad thing, though. After all, Bob Schneider is one of those people who has a way of making love songs sound dreamy in a good way, rather than a cheesy one. It seems like he was quite influenced by Snow Patrol when he did "Swimming In the Sea", at least musically. The lyrics here seem to concern love at first sight, rather than a more general love theme, but the sentiments of falling in love certainly abound in this song!


"This Lonely Morning" by Best Coast: The Los Angelean duo of the fun but sassy Bethany Cosentino and her bandmate Bobb Bruno are doing what they do best on their latest tune, "This Lonely Morning". That is to say, they are making fun, summery music that mixes the sunny pop of early Beach Boys music with the sneaky indie-pop snark of Rilo Kiley. "This Lonely Morning" is anything BUT lonely!! Well, musically, at least. The lyrics are a bit darker than the song itself, as Bethany is "running from (her)self this time", and stating (negatively) how her "feelings never change". Perhaps this is the reason they released the song in fall instead of summer?! Because otherwise, it totally sounds like a summer song, like pretty much all of their material tends to!


"Workin' Woman Blues" by Valerie June: Valerie June first sizzled her way onto the adult alt airwaves in the summer of this year, with her Black Keys-esque (and Dan Auerbach produced) blues-rocker, "You Can't Be Told". Despite the use of the word "blues" in the title of Valerie's "Workin' Woman Blues", its sound more suggests a blend of folk, soul, and jazz that people like Joan Armatrading were known for using in the mid 1970's. It's the lyrics of the song that bring the "blues" part into the title. Valerie is clearly worn out from all the demands people put on women of being mothers, wives, etc. in the song, and addresses the issue of poverty in it as well. Definitely worth listening to, especially for those who identify with oppression, whether the roots of it are sexual or political (or both).

My 100th post...could it be?!?

According to what I read on my dashboard for this site, it is!! :D What better way to celebrate than with nine new songs?!? Here goes!!!



“Eyes Wide Open” by Gotye: It’s gotta be tough to follow up a song that’s both as unique and popular as “Somebody That I Used to Know”, but Gotye has finally done so after almost half a year since that song first the airwaves! Gotye continues in a Peter Gabriel-esque, world music meets alternative pop/rock type direction here for the sound of “Eyes Wide Open”, with enough exotic sounding but thrilling orchestration in the background to make it sound like something from “The Lion King”! The music video for “Eyes Wide Open” is, perhaps, even more impressive than the song, in which Tim Burton-ish robot monsters run rampant in a post-apocalyptic landscape across the ocean! The video for “Eyes Wide Open” can be viewed here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyVJsg0XIIk Here’s hoping more songs (and videos) from Gotye’s catalog will make it into this blog, and onto playlists, sometime in the near future!


“Full Circle” by Ben Kweller: And here is yet another musician getting a second song noticed from his latest CD! Ben seems like the ‘60s would have suited him well, I must say! In January of this year, I reviewed his “Jealous Girl”, which sounded like a “missing” song from the British Invasion. And now, Ben’s latest song, “Full Circle” shows another side to him, a more subdued, gentle side that recalls the sunny country-rock vibe of The Byrds circa ’68. Ben’s chipper disposition in “Full Circle” is matched by both the sage advice (“There’s so much that you don’t see/Don’t judge anyone, because everybody comes full circle”) and surreal imagery (“Sand-shark tooth girl won’t cry for you”) in the lyrics of the song. I don’t think Ben’s QUITE come “full circle” YET, though. There should be plenty more songs of his coming up around the corner for people to hear!


“Hey Jane” by Spiritualized: Perhaps not the most immediately likable song on this week’s list, but certainly one of the most interesting! The first three minutes of “Hey Jane” recall the tougher, more rock-and-roll oriented songs Lou Reed did for The Velvet Underground, with its defiant, New York influenced attitude (even though Spiritualized are actually British!) Coincidentally, both the title of the song (“Hey Jane”) and the title of the album it appears on (“Sweet Heart, Sweet Light”) recall The Velvets’ material (“Sweet Jane” and “White Light, White Heat”, respectively). After the three-minute mark, “Hey Jane” lifts more from the trippy, just plain weird part of The Velvets’ catalog, to the point of where it almost becomes unlistenable, unless maybe you like progressive rock, free jazz, or some other form of complex, lengthy, surreal music. If you prefer your music to be more casual, though, spare yourself by only listening to three out of the eight minutes (and eleven seconds) of “Hey Jane”. It’s one of the only two songs in which I prefer the edited version (the other being Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Possess Your Heart”, which was also around 8 minutes in its unedited form).


“Lucky That Way” by Joe Walsh: Joe Walsh was usually the man who turned rock legends, The Eagles, from a country-rock band to more of a hard rock band! His solo songs were typically in a hard rock vein as well. Not this time, though! “Lucky That Way” sounds a bit more like a song from the country-rock side of Tom Petty’s musical repertoire (think “Into the Great Wide Open”). The lyrics are simple, but honest, just Joe reflecting on how good his life is. Perhaps the mellowness of this song, as opposed to most of Joe’s other material, is just indicative of him getting older, or maybe wanting to surprise his listeners with another style of music. Whatever the case, though, Joe is doing what he does best on “Lucky That Way”, and I don’t mean playing guitar. I mean having fun!


“Somebody” by Jukebox the Ghost: You can’t tell me you don’t feel happy when listening to this song! Well, I guess you CAN tell me that, since everyone has his/her own opinion about songs, but this is the type of song that just sounds so upbeat (and different) that it would appeal to just about anybody! It has a stick-in-your-head chorus reminiscent of Annie Lennox’s “Walking On Broken Glass” (only a bit catchier), a danceable beat (with hand clapping in the background), and a theme that everyone can relate to (wanting a relationship). “Somebody” has just as much potential of hitting the Top 40 charts as it does indie and alternative charts, and it would probably hold equal appeal to both audiences! The verses are mostly piano-based, but they build up to a more guitar-oriented chorus. There are just too many things I like about this song and I hope it reaches a larger audience someday soon! Highly recommended!!


“Spread Too Thin” by The Dirty Heads: I was reluctant to explore the music of The Dirty Heads at first, but I soon found their blend of folk, rock, and reggae to be quite appealing! They had three songs that became popular from their debut album and now I feel kinda bad I didn’t blog any of them! Well, it’s never too late to catch up, though, right? So now that their sophomore album has come out, I feel like I should discuss how I feel about their latest song, “Spread Too Thin”. The lyrics to the song are actually a lot more angst-ridden than the song itself is. Where The Dirty Heads’ most popular song so far, “Lay Me Down” was a song that reflected their sound, about just having a good time out on the beach, “Spread Too Thin” is more about trying to deal with pent up emotions (most obvious on the line, “I’ve bottled up all these emotions, babe/A monster ‘bout to rage”). I guess The Dirty Heads know that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, and “Spread Too Thin” is some of the best musical “lemonade” I have ever tasted!


“The Only Place” by Best Coast: Just the name of this band reminds you of California, doesn’t it? Well, no surprise there! Best Coast are from LA, and this song is about California, perhaps the best one since Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.”, as lyrics to “The Only Place”, like “We’ve got the babes, we’ve got the sun, we’ve got the waves”, illustrate oh so well (lead singer Bethany Cosentino IS a “babe” coincidentally). California dreamin’, on such a summer’s day! It seems like that’s the vibe “The Only Place” sends out with its bright energetic chords and rhythm contrasted by its more wistful sound. Best Coast started out with a more surf guitar influenced sound a little over a year ago, but “The Only Place” sends them in a new direction, with more influence from the bittersweet but fun, folk-y flavor of bands like The Byrds, R.E.M., Big Star, and The Lemonheads! Being a Californian myself who was born and raised the same city Bethany was, I can’t help but love this song!


“We Almost Lost Detroit” by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.: Between the sunny indie-folk-pop of “Simple Girl” and the more organ-driven, Zombies-meets-Foster-the-People sound of this song, I’d say Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. are a band whose choice in sound is as quirky and unpredictable as their name!! Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. are from Detroit, as the song title indicates, but the way this song sounds, they sound more like some British band, or perhaps even a band that came from outer space! “We Almost Lost Detroit” was originally a protest song from the late jazz musician Gil Scott-Heron, but DEJJ put a whole new spin on it! Their version is more upbeat, and their video for it (which seems to be becoming somewhat of an underground “hit”) depicts Detroit as a city that is still surviving, rather than the bleak vision Scott-Heron offered of it back when a nuclear meltdown outside of one of Detroit’s power plants inspired him to write and perform the song. The video can be viewed here (http://allthingsgomusic.com/dale-earnhardt-jr-jr-we-almost-lost-detroit)



“You Don’t Have to Love Me” by Blues Traveler: Blues Traveler were a nostalgic but catchy (and sometimes clever) band back in the ‘90s. Once the next decade rolled around, though, it seemed as though the harmonica-loving jam band was left in the dark with songs that just didn’t have the spark of their old material! After twelve long years, though, Blues Traveler are back on their feet again with “You Don’t Have to Love Me”!! With John Popper covering Sublime and providing harmonica solo on reggae band Rebelution’s most recent track earlier this year, though, I kinda knew BT were bound for the “cool radar” once again. I had no idea how good they still were though! For the first time since “But Anyway”, John Popper and co now have a song with just as many harmonica solos as there are guitar solos! BT haven’t been this gritty in quite a long time! The contrast between the apocalyptic opening lyrics concerning global warming and the more generic lyrics of the chorus (“You don’t have to love me, tonight I’ll be your man”) show that they still have their sense of humor as well! Welcome back, guys, I’ve missed you for ever so long!!