here they are:
"Dragging You Around" by Greg Laswell: This is the third time Greg Laswell has done a duet with a female singer/songwriter. However, the previous two songs, "Take Everything" (with Ingrid Michaelson) and "Come Back Down" (with Sara Bareilles) were both sincere love songs. "Dragging You Around", which features Sia from the chill electro-pop group Zero 7 on backing vocals, is NOT a love song. Well not a sincere one, anyway. It's more tongue-in-cheek than that. Greg points out in the first verse of the song that his current relationship is a "grand waste of time", but, once the chorus comes around, he says that he's sticking around with his significant other because he LIKES "dragging (her) around" and "dragging (her) down". The contrast between how biting the lyrics are and how mellow the song itself is only prove to me what a clever musician Greg Laswell really is! Who knew such a moody sounding guy had such a sharp sense of humor?! I didn't, but I'm glad he does!
"If I Wanted Someone" by Dawes: From the Wallflowers-ish sound of "Time Spent In Los Angeles", the Jackson Browne-ish vibe of "A Little Bit of Everything", and now a Neil Young/Tom Petty soundalike with their latest song, "If I Wanted Someone", it's becoming increasingly clear to me that Dawes are like a 21st century Black Crowes! They're classic rock junkies in a modern rock world, particularly when it comes to the more roots-y side of classic rock (could a Bruce Springsteen soundalike from Dawes be far behind?!) The guitar solo in this song practically apes Neil Young, yet somehow, the artists in question that Dawes lift from like them! Jackson Browne has played with them, and apparently Benmont Tench from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers has, too. Mostly, "If I Wanted Someone" is more worth talking about for its music than its lyrics, but the chorus is notable for its somewhat humorous lyrics ("If I wanted someone to clean my life, I'd find myself a maid").
"Old Mythologies" by The Barr Brothers: Simon and Garfunkel have been a major influence on quite a bit of the indie music scene for the past 5 or so years, but, with the possible exception of Norwegian indie-folk duo Kings of Convenience, none of them sound more like S & G to me than The Barr Brothers. This is not a bad thing, though. "Old Mythologies" has a bittersweetly nostalgic vibe about it, with its rippling acoustic guitar sound and hushed vocals. Poetry of a somewhat abstract nature flows throughout the lyrics of "Old Mythologies", be it haunting ("when I'm one half child and the other ghost"), spiritual ("Solomon's song sang Sheba's grace and he kissed her soft and sulking face"), or just plain enigmatic ("100 Degrees Fahrenheit and he's cool as an ermine", which could be compared to "I wish I was a Kellogg's Cornflake" from Simon and Garfunkel's "Punky's Dilemma"). This is my fave song of the week and I highly recommend it!!
"The Way We Move" by Langhorne Slim: Langhorne Slim's only other "hit" so far, "Say Yes", was a bittersweet but hopeful sounding love song. Not exactly what you might expect from someone with a blues/country-ish moniker like "Langhorne Slim", is it?! Langhorne's latest song, "The Way We Move" has a more roots-y, country-rock type sound that is closer to what the sound of his (stage)name might evoke. The saxophones and old-time-y sounding piano almost make this a honky-tonk song, but there is something about "The Way We Move" that gives it a rock 'n' roll flavor as well, probably the beat of it. The title of the song can be taken in one of two ways, either in a poetic vein (in which "move" would mean something closer to "flow" or "come together"), or a literal one. Langhorne Slim opts for the latter here, though, as the jaunty rhythm of "The Way We Move" is central to its delivery.
