Can you believe it?!? Tom Waits released a new set o' songs!! Reviewing the first big song off his latest album (plus two more songs) today!! Enjoy!
"Back In the Crowd" by Tom Waits: Truly one of the most eclectic musicians of all time, Tom Waits is like David Bowie's lesser known, more growl-y voiced, jazzier musical cousin for his ability to leap from melancholy lounge music ("The Heart of Saturday Night"), to some of the most earnest, non-commercial rock ballads ever ("Downtown Train"), to some of the spookiest re-workings of beloved Disney songs (check out his very warped version of "Snow White"'s "Heigh Ho" if you don't believe me), to lovelorn piano ballads ("Ol' 55" and "Grapefruit Moon"), to plaintive folk-rock ("Hold On"), and so on and so forth. So what is it this time, Mr. Waits?!? It appears as though Waits has gone for a unique style of breezy Hawaiian influenced music with his latest tune, "Back In the Crowd". His trademark raspy, "Cookie Monster" vocals are still there, but they are used here to express a feeling of yearning, as opposed to how menacingly he uses it on other tunes of his. Reviewing this song on a rainy day like today only makes this song seem more special to me! Truly a stunning song to add to the already riveting repertoire of Waits' material!!
"Born Alone" by Wilco: Jeff Tweedy and co continue to explore their inner Velvet Underground on "Born Alone", a song with equal parts skilled guitar playing and druggy, hazy musical atmosphere. Perhaps they are taking poetic cues as well as musical ones from Lou Reed (whose latest project is with heavy metal legends, Metallica, of all people), as the lyrics for "Born Alone" were supposedly based on bits and pieces of various Emily Dickinson poems. Both the music and lyrics (i.e. "born to die alone"), suggest a sense of urgency, almost as though the music starts at a high point, and descends progressively lower as the song goes on. What can I say, Wilco's music never ceases to amaze me!!
"Whatever's On Your Mind" by Gomez: Gomez seem to have set up a pattern from which songs have gotten released during which time of the year for their last two albums. On 2009's "A New Tide", the bouncy, somewhat rockin' "Airstream Driver" got airplay first, followed by the more introspective "Little Pieces". For 2011, the bright, optimistic sounding "Options" came first (and was quite successful on adult alt radio stations), and after that, we appear to have stumbled upon the slower, more sentimental, piano-and-strings dominated title track of "Whatever's On Your Mind". The slower songs of Gomez' catalog, like "Whatever's On Your Mind" make for great songs to listen to during a rainy day (like today), or after a bad day, but personally, I think Gomez sound best when they stick to catchy, sunny music like "Options", "Airstream Driver", and "See the World" (of which only the latter song has the same vocalist as the one I'm reviewing now).
Showing posts with label Gomez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gomez. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
new songs for Apr. 6th, 2011
here they are:
"Changing" by The Airborne Toxic Event: It's funny that this song has been around since February of this year, yet it's taken adult alt stations until now to add this into their playlists. Well, better late than never. Or is it? "Changing" is not a bad song, but somehow something feels lacking in it in comparison to songs from their debut from three years ago like the Springsteen-esque "Wishing Well" and the U2-ish alt-rock epic "Sometime Around Midnight". "Changing" just seems more...well...ordinary. Even the chorus seems to suggest an ordinariness about it ("You always want to talk about changing, changing/Well guess what I am the same man, same man", a bad choice in rhyming, but the catchiness of the song, and perhaps the rest of it, compensates for this). "Changing" is an apt title for this song, but perhaps not for the better. At least it has a memorable hook, and for some reason I like it (perhaps because it's an Airborne Toxic Event song), so I would think that would count for something.
"In Every Direction" by Junip: Swedish indie-folk sensation Jose Gonzalez (yes, he IS Swedish, despite how his name sounds) continues to have success with a full band in this song. Like their previous "hit", "Always", "In Every Direction" is written in D minor. Despite its similarity to "Always", "In Every Direction" is distinguishable from that song because it is slower, and also Jose's backing band seems to have more importance in this song than they did in "Always", particularly the rather forceful, dynamic organ section. As an aside, I have no idea what this "magic feather" Jose keeps referring to in the song is, but it's probably the lyric in "In Every Direction" that stands out the most to me!
"Just Fine" by G. Love: After G. Love's previous success in the acoustic-blues-y, fiery "Fixin' to Die", my faith in his musical ability and talent have been somewhat renewed. "Just Fine" only continues to prove this, perhaps even more so, with its mellow but somewhat spicy sound, suggesting something between the "softer" material of The Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Blues Traveler song "Hook". I especially like how "Just Fine" mixes acoustic and electric guitar sounds, only to come out with a gritty, sublime sound as a result. Despite the optimistic sounding title, "Just Fine" does seem to have somewhat angst-ridden lyrics, with the chorus hinting more at a "life sucks, but I'm doing just fine" kind of attitude than a "everything is just fine, and I like it" sort of vibe. For G. Love, who seemed to take a musical dive in 2008 with songs like the lightweight "Peace, Love, and Happiness" and his even MORE mellow-minus-the-substance song "Beautiful", which he did with folk-pop musician Tristan Prettyman, the angst of "Just Fine", combined with its juicy flavor, is a GOOD thing!
"Options" by Gomez: Is it just me, or have the members of Gomez suddenly taken such a liking to Spoon's "The Underdog" that they wanted to make their own version of it?! This is basically what "Options" sounds like, especially in the beginning of it. It is a song written in G major with a bouncy beat suggestive of Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young" - which is EXACTLY what "The Underdog" was! Gomez start to shake things up a bit as "Options" draws closer to the chorus, adding in chords that are sharp/flat chords instead of "regular" ones. As the chorus closes, they add a unique chord that even I had trouble figuring out. Aside from being a "copycat" song of "The Underdog", "Options" does have some things going for it. Like I mentioned before, the change in chord structure during the chorus is one thing, but for another, it shows just how eclectic Gomez truly are. How many other bands can simultaneously pull off having influences like Oasis ("Nothing Is Wrong"), your typical bluegrass song ("How We Operate"), folk-pop ("See the World"), a combination of blues and indie ("Hamoa Beach"), The Flaming Lips ("Airstream Driver"), and a folk-pop/indie combination ("Little Pieces")?! Not many that I can name off the top of my head, that's for sure!!
"Sorry" by The Smithereens: The SMITHEREENS?!? The SAME guys who had hits in the late '80s with catchy rock 'n' roll tunes like "A Girl Like You", "Only A Memory", and "Behind the Wall of Sleep"?!? Yep, that's right!! The SAME guys!! This is pretty unbelievable to me considering that its been about 20 years since these guys last had a hit, let alone released a record!! Perhaps their big comeback moment was worth the wait, though, as "Sorry" actually sounds even BETTER than the three songs I mentioned! It's a "Satisfaction"-esque rocker, with the tuning just a half-step down from that song, and, for a band who was already "retro" enough in the '80s, The Smithereens have somehow managed to sound even MORE "retro" on "Sorry"! The one question I have is this. "Sorry" for WHAT exactly?! That we didn't get to hear this song sooner?!? That's the only thing I can think of they should be "sorry" for, this song ROCKS!!
"You Are A Tourist" by Death Cab for Cutie: Wow!! It's pretty clear from how fast this song has been climbing the adult alt (and "regular" alt) charts that both sides of the alt-rock "spectrum" just can't get enough Death Cab!! And rightly so, considering how guitarist Chris Walla makes his transition from quiet indie/contemporary folk-rock guitarist to an almost The Edge (of U2 fame) -ish earnest but passionate and skilled rock guitarist! I've always suspected U2 were an influence on Death Cab, but never as much as they have been on "You Are A Tourist"! If this song does NOT end up being one of my Top 20 of 2011 come December 23rd, I'll be pretty shocked!!
"Changing" by The Airborne Toxic Event: It's funny that this song has been around since February of this year, yet it's taken adult alt stations until now to add this into their playlists. Well, better late than never. Or is it? "Changing" is not a bad song, but somehow something feels lacking in it in comparison to songs from their debut from three years ago like the Springsteen-esque "Wishing Well" and the U2-ish alt-rock epic "Sometime Around Midnight". "Changing" just seems more...well...ordinary. Even the chorus seems to suggest an ordinariness about it ("You always want to talk about changing, changing/Well guess what I am the same man, same man", a bad choice in rhyming, but the catchiness of the song, and perhaps the rest of it, compensates for this). "Changing" is an apt title for this song, but perhaps not for the better. At least it has a memorable hook, and for some reason I like it (perhaps because it's an Airborne Toxic Event song), so I would think that would count for something.
"In Every Direction" by Junip: Swedish indie-folk sensation Jose Gonzalez (yes, he IS Swedish, despite how his name sounds) continues to have success with a full band in this song. Like their previous "hit", "Always", "In Every Direction" is written in D minor. Despite its similarity to "Always", "In Every Direction" is distinguishable from that song because it is slower, and also Jose's backing band seems to have more importance in this song than they did in "Always", particularly the rather forceful, dynamic organ section. As an aside, I have no idea what this "magic feather" Jose keeps referring to in the song is, but it's probably the lyric in "In Every Direction" that stands out the most to me!
"Just Fine" by G. Love: After G. Love's previous success in the acoustic-blues-y, fiery "Fixin' to Die", my faith in his musical ability and talent have been somewhat renewed. "Just Fine" only continues to prove this, perhaps even more so, with its mellow but somewhat spicy sound, suggesting something between the "softer" material of The Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Blues Traveler song "Hook". I especially like how "Just Fine" mixes acoustic and electric guitar sounds, only to come out with a gritty, sublime sound as a result. Despite the optimistic sounding title, "Just Fine" does seem to have somewhat angst-ridden lyrics, with the chorus hinting more at a "life sucks, but I'm doing just fine" kind of attitude than a "everything is just fine, and I like it" sort of vibe. For G. Love, who seemed to take a musical dive in 2008 with songs like the lightweight "Peace, Love, and Happiness" and his even MORE mellow-minus-the-substance song "Beautiful", which he did with folk-pop musician Tristan Prettyman, the angst of "Just Fine", combined with its juicy flavor, is a GOOD thing!
"Options" by Gomez: Is it just me, or have the members of Gomez suddenly taken such a liking to Spoon's "The Underdog" that they wanted to make their own version of it?! This is basically what "Options" sounds like, especially in the beginning of it. It is a song written in G major with a bouncy beat suggestive of Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young" - which is EXACTLY what "The Underdog" was! Gomez start to shake things up a bit as "Options" draws closer to the chorus, adding in chords that are sharp/flat chords instead of "regular" ones. As the chorus closes, they add a unique chord that even I had trouble figuring out. Aside from being a "copycat" song of "The Underdog", "Options" does have some things going for it. Like I mentioned before, the change in chord structure during the chorus is one thing, but for another, it shows just how eclectic Gomez truly are. How many other bands can simultaneously pull off having influences like Oasis ("Nothing Is Wrong"), your typical bluegrass song ("How We Operate"), folk-pop ("See the World"), a combination of blues and indie ("Hamoa Beach"), The Flaming Lips ("Airstream Driver"), and a folk-pop/indie combination ("Little Pieces")?! Not many that I can name off the top of my head, that's for sure!!
"Sorry" by The Smithereens: The SMITHEREENS?!? The SAME guys who had hits in the late '80s with catchy rock 'n' roll tunes like "A Girl Like You", "Only A Memory", and "Behind the Wall of Sleep"?!? Yep, that's right!! The SAME guys!! This is pretty unbelievable to me considering that its been about 20 years since these guys last had a hit, let alone released a record!! Perhaps their big comeback moment was worth the wait, though, as "Sorry" actually sounds even BETTER than the three songs I mentioned! It's a "Satisfaction"-esque rocker, with the tuning just a half-step down from that song, and, for a band who was already "retro" enough in the '80s, The Smithereens have somehow managed to sound even MORE "retro" on "Sorry"! The one question I have is this. "Sorry" for WHAT exactly?! That we didn't get to hear this song sooner?!? That's the only thing I can think of they should be "sorry" for, this song ROCKS!!
"You Are A Tourist" by Death Cab for Cutie: Wow!! It's pretty clear from how fast this song has been climbing the adult alt (and "regular" alt) charts that both sides of the alt-rock "spectrum" just can't get enough Death Cab!! And rightly so, considering how guitarist Chris Walla makes his transition from quiet indie/contemporary folk-rock guitarist to an almost The Edge (of U2 fame) -ish earnest but passionate and skilled rock guitarist! I've always suspected U2 were an influence on Death Cab, but never as much as they have been on "You Are A Tourist"! If this song does NOT end up being one of my Top 20 of 2011 come December 23rd, I'll be pretty shocked!!
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