New songs for March 10th 2021

 here they are:

"Down in the Country" by Israel Nash: It's not the first time that folk-rock and funk have melded into one, but it is certainly a rare occasion that the two genres come together. Israel Nash is bringing the two together as one in his latest song, "Down to the Country," a song that's as slinky as it is mellow. The idea of this song has now been around for about a year, and the issues discussed within are still as relevant today as they were then. The world was just starting to fall into the grip of coronavirus at the time, and much of "Down in the Country" seems to pertain to that topic. The bigger issue in the song, though, is the economy, and more specifically, how a certain someone who led the country until recently (referred to in the song as the "Yankee man") caused its downfall, all of which are reflective of the "hard times" Israel references in the second verse of the song. 

"El Invento" by Jose Gonzalez: Do you speak-o El Spanish-o? Apparently, neo-folk-rock musician Jose Gonzalez does, judging by the title of this song. Actually, this is Jose's first song entirely in Spanish (actual Spanish, not mock-Spanish). Interestingly, though his name suggests Spanish ancestry, Jose was actually born in Sweden (albeit to Argentinian parents). So what, then, do the lyrics of this song mean when you translate them into English?! It is actually a deep meditation Jose has on the world around him when you really stop and contemplate the meaning of the lyrics. A song in which a dreamer asks about the universe and marvels its beauty. This song is really, to use a Spanish phrase that I know, una canción fantastica (a fantastic song)! ¡Gracias, Jose!

"Greatest Enemy" by The Strumbellas: No matter what song they do, The Strumbellas always seem to make quite a splash on alt and adult alt radio stations! Their latest song, "Greatest Enemy" is no exception to the rule. Their previous big hit, "Salvation", already seemed to be an attempt to emulate the sound of groups like Imagine Dragons. "Greatest Enemy" goes a step further and tries both to sound like Imagine Dragons and imitate their "life's a struggle, but I'm gonna make it" lyrical style. One can't help but wonder if the lead singer of The Strumbellas really feels like he is his greatest enemy, or if this is just a way to cash in on the emotional trials and tribulations typically faced by millennials. If the latter, then "Greatest Enemy" is its own greatest enemy! Catchy song, though, nonetheless.


"Hey Lou" by Liz Phair: Perhaps I'm not the only one who has thought to himself, "What if Lou Reed was a guest star on Sesame Street?" Apparently, '90s alt-pop diva, Liz Phair, had similar thoughts in the video for her latest song, "Hey Lou," which features the legendary Velvet Underground singer, musician Laurie Anderson (to whom he was married during the last few years of his life), and even Andy Warhol as puppets! Who'da thunk?! The charmingly quirky video, almost as avant-garde as (but much more goofy than) The Velvet Underground itself, can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4LcFHMjH9k Liz's own music can typically be described as Lou Reed meets Joni Mitchell, so she obviously has had huge admiration for the man who was perhaps the world's first known alt-rocker for a very long time. The song seems to be Laurie Anderson (from Liz's point of view) trying to speak to Lou Reed, sympathize with him, and talk sense into him. And here I thought the appearance of Jefferson Airplane's lead singer on animations featured on actual episodes of Sesame Street during its early days were weird! Ha!! This, if it actually were to happen on there, would be TWICE as unexpected. Leave it to Liz to mix a TV fave from childhood with a musical fave from my teens and onward! 

"How Low Can You Go?" by LP: She was optimistic and freewheeling on her debut single, "Into the Wild." A few years later, she got more bittersweet and pensive on "Lost on You." As we enter the 2020's, a cynical decade so far, LP has become cynical along with it in "How Low Can You Go?" though without losing the indie-folk flair that made her a hit among her loyal listeners. The keyword in the title of this song is the word "low." A vital line in the song appears towards the end of it: "The days catch fire like gasoline. Tell me, what's the worst that you've seen?" The song appears to be on the surface about a relationship LP regretted, and is also notable for being the first song in her catalog I've heard where she swears (not once, but twice). Perhaps underneath it all, though, LP is venting her rage and frustration at the world, which has gotten pretty "low" itself lately. A scathing song disguised by a folk-y melody? Seems like that's becoming more and more typical as time goes on, for some reason.

"Pay Your Way in Pain" by St. Vincent: Last, but certainly not least, the remarkably talented St. Vincent gives us what is perhaps this week's most anticipated new song with "Pay Your Way in Pain." Musically, the song pays homage to two of rock's somewhat recently fallen heroes, David Bowie and Prince. It has a funky, progressive vibe that wouldn't sound out of character at all for either artist, and St. Vincent's repeated refrain of "pain" sounds an awful lot like Bowie's refrain of "fame" from the song "Fame." The song opens on a piano riff, but that sound is quickly left behind as soon as the rest of the song unfolds. This song almost seems like the left-of-center answer to Lady Gaga in some ways, an image which St. Vincent has cultivated somewhat already, but never as she has on this tune!  

New songs for September 6th 2017

here they are:


"Bones of Saints" by Robert Plant: In contrast to the folk-y "The May Queen" from just last week, "Bones of Saints" has a bit more of a sound that suggests what it might sound like if Led Zeppelin had stayed together into the new millennium. The foreboding "bones" part of the title suggests that it's more of a rock song, but fear not, it's not a spooky one. It's a fun little blues-y romp tinged with mythological motifs that were common in Plant's music during the Led Zeppelin days. It doesn't hit quite as hard as the typical Zeppelin tune, but for those who want Robert Plant to show off some of his rock and roll past, you got your wish!


"Day I Die" by The National: Joy Division styled electro-gloom fused with U2 styled guitars might not seem like a good match at first, but The National manage to make it work on their latest song, "Day I Die". Strained family relationships and drug/alcohol abuse make up the core of this song, which has Matt Berninger wondering, "The day I die, where will I be?" Judging by the lyrical content and the somewhat dismal musical landscape, he probably thinks he won't be in a good place when he dies. Fate is a fickle friend, isn't it?!


"No Witness" by LP: A departure from the folk-y vibes of "Into the Wild" and "Lost On You", LP's latest song, "No Witness", has more of a post-millennial alt-pop flavor to it, full of synths and handclap sounds. It comes off sounding like Queen's "We Will Rock You" as if it was covered by Lorde. Where "Lost On You" was more of a mournful pining on a love gone lost, "No Witness" is a song in which LP accepts her fate as the rejected lover, admitting, "No one can save me, love me or hate me". She seems to use the aforementioned line as a bit of a mantra before jumping into the chorus, as if she doesn't like what has happened to her, but has still chosen to accept it that it's just how things are.


"Over Everything" by Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett: Move over, Cobain and Love! There's a new Kurt and Courtney in town! Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett, to be exact, both of whom are eclectic indie-folk-rockers of the 2010's. Their first song together, "Over Everything", epitomizes the "slacker" aesthetic of the indie scene. It is a very lazy, hazy song, with lyrics that don't exactly add up to a cohesive narrative (at least not that I can tell). However, it also has an equal amount of sensitivity in terms of how it sounds, both instrumentally and vocally. At 6 and a half minutes, the song also has a bit of a "jam band" vibe. I wonder if that was influenced by both Kurt and Courtney contributing to an all-indie tribute to The Grateful Dead that came out about a year ago.


"Revolution" by Van William (featuring First Aid Kit): No, this is not a Beatles cover song, for those who might be wondering. Far from it, in this case. Unlike the rollicking, roaring Lennon-McCartney tune of the same name, this "Revolution" is soft and folk-y and has nothing to do with politics whatsoever. This song is simply about a strained relationship that both members of the couple want to patch up. Nothing too remarkable about this song, but it is pleasant to listen to, and the horns that come in midway through the song make it sound a bit more unique than it would otherwise.


"The Sky Is A Neighborhood" by Foo Fighters: Last, but certainly not least, the mighty Foo Fighters are still roarin' and rockin' to this very day! Their latest song is essentially arena rock in the vein of The Who or Queen, but meant more for the current generation. What's particularly remarkable about this song, though, is the lyrics. Dave Grohl supposedly was reading Neil DeGrasse Tyson books when he came up with the lyrics to this song. Its talk of heaven, the stars, and the sky is not merely poetic metaphor in this song, but rather a literal musing on the cosmos. Rock never sounded so out of this world!

Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye! R.I.P. Leonard Cohen (and 3 other songs)

Just received the news last week that Leonard Cohen is no longer alive. Since he also released a new song recently, I will do the honors of reviewing his latest (and last) song. What a major loss for this year! Before that, though, here are 3 more songs:


"Follow the Leader" by Foxygen: You never know what to expect with Foxygen, and perhaps that's what's made them so big among indie fans. They debuted back in early 2013, and highlights from their debut album included the avant-funk-rock song "Shuggie" and the Velvet Underground-esque "No Destruction". "Follow the Leader" marks the third time I've heard a Foxygen song and the first time I'm reviewing one. The results end up sounding like a cross between an Electric Light Orchestra song circa 1976 and a Beck song circa 1996. Also, who is "the leader" that we are supposed to be following here? Well, according to the lyrics of this song, "the leader is you". That's great advice for the modern era!


"Human" by Rag N Bone Man: Between the hip-hop beats of this song and Rory "Rag N Bone Man" Graham's deep, soulful voice, it's not surprising to see that many of the YouTube comments for this song were "I can't believe this guy isn't black". Well, he isn't. He isn't even American, actually. He's a large, white British dude. But so what?! Black, white, large, short, British, American, when it all comes down to it, he's only human, as he states so powerfully and emotionally in his debut song! In addition to transcending racial barriers, "Human" also transcends genre barriers, with its hip-hop and R & B influenced sound currently racing up the predominantly rock dominated alternative charts. Music, after all, is colorblind, and it doesn't judge people in any other ways either.


"Lost On You" by LP: It's been 4 years since LP last had a hit song. She broke through in the summer of 2012 with a free-spirited folk-rock tune called "Into the Wild", which, in addition to its iconic sound, contained equally iconic lyrics, like, "Somebody left the gate open", "Come save us a runaway train goin' insane", and "How do we not fade away into the wild?" Its use in a Citibank commercial throughout that summer solidified the song's popularity during that time. She didn't have any other hits that year or the next, so I thought "Into the Wild" pretty much sealed the deal for LP and that there was no way she could top it. It appears I may be wrong with the release of her latest song, "Lost On You". Like "Into the Wild", "Lost On You" is a sprightly, earnest folk-rock song, though its sound and lyrics are both a bit more melancholy than that one was. True to its title, "Lost On You" has been lost on American audiences so far, at least in comparison to the massive airplay its gotten in European countries like Greece. Let's hope that American audiences will catch onto it just as quickly!


"You Want It Darker" by Leonard Cohen: And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. You should know that with a title like "You Want It Darker", dark is exactly what you're gonna get. This song is a gothic tinged folk-rock tune of sorts, a bit like the songs Cohen typically did in the 1980's. As ominous as it may sound instrumentally, though, it's a very sad song lyrically. Like David Bowie's "Lazarus" from late last year, Leonard Cohen's "You Want It Darker" is a song that deals with a person who knows that they are going to die soon (This is most certainly where the "I'm ready, my Lord" parts of the song come from). Like Bowie, Cohen inspired generation after generation of alt and indie rock musicians. People that Cohen has influenced include R.E.M., The Smiths, Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, and Bon Iver, all of whom mix a folk-rock sound with lyrics about isolation and loneliness. R.I.P. Leonard Cohen. You will truly be missed!

New songs for June 6th, 2012

here they are:


"Anyone Else" by The Fixx: Whoa, hold up a second!! You mean the same guys who did "One Thing Leads to Another"?! Yep, that's right! A new wave band that hasn't had a hit in over 20 years is coming back to the spotlight with a song that sounds uncannily like one of their vintage '80s tunes! One aspect of The Fixx that made them so appealing in the '80s was their ability to mix catchy hooks with dark, post-apocalyptic lyrical themes (as evidenced on "Saved By Zero", "Red Skies", and "Stand Or Fall"), and the cynical lyrical themes continue to surface in "Anyone Else" (i.e. "The jealous cursed, crashed and burned, the unaccountable way to die"). The one thing missing from "Anyone Else" that I was hoping to hear, though, was Cy Curnin's rather underrated, but still incredibly talented guitar solo techniques. At the heart of some of The Fixx's older songs were funky, driving guitar riffs ("Saved By Zero"), and sometimes, more complex solos driven by hammer-ons and pull-offs ("Red Skies"). "Anyone Else" has no defining guitar hook or solo, sadly, though guitar playing is still present on the song. Other than that, though, this is quite a stunning comeback from a band that I never thought I'd hear recording music in the 21st century!!


"Born To" by Jesca Hoop: Born to...what?! Run?! Be wild?! Nope, just "Born To". And yeah, "Jesca" is not a typo, that's the way she spells her name. Jesca Hoop's music is, perhaps, as unique as the unusual spelling of her first name, with her seemingly effortless combination of Celtic, folk, and indie-pop. The title of the song, "Born To", is somewhat of a cliffhanger title, as she never actually answers what it is she's "born to" do, but it seems as though much of the song is lyrically enigmatic (take, for instance, the refrain, "Now you've got to get in with what you've got, what you've been given, or not". Huh?!) But Jesca manages to combine her quirky sound (and quirkier lyrics) with a catchy, danceable beat, and an oddly endearing sense of energetic satisfaction in her vocal delivery. So sit back, relax, enjoy the music, and know that we were born to...ummm....something, I'll get to that part later.


"I'm Shakin'" by Jack White: The sweet folk-rock of Jack's "Love Interruption" from earlier this year could be contrasted by "I'm Shakin'", a smoky, blues-y rocker that's actually a cover of a song from bluesman Little Willie John. The opening guitar hook of this song initially reminded me a bit of the "Mr. Heatmiser" song from one of the Rankin-Bass claymation holiday specials (of all things!!), but now that I know this is a cover song, I'm thinking that the same type of hook was probably used on the original version and has nothing to do with imaginary singing Christmas characters. Until Jack gets to using his trademark guitar sound during the solo of "I'm Shakin'", it's a song that sounds like it could have very well been from the late '60s/early '70s, which is not surprising given how much into that era of music he seems to be. The best thing of all about this song, though, is how he pronounces the word "nervous" as "noivus", seemingly on poipose...ummm...I mean on "purpose"!! There's such an "I-meant-to-do-that" factor behind his pronunciation of that word that it just cracks me up!!


"Into the Wild" by LP: "Into the Wild" sounds like it might as well belong on the soundtrack to "Into the Wild" (that is, if Florence Welch sang all the songs on the soundtrack instead of Eddie Vedder). Its attention isn't getting garnered by trailers for movies, though, but instead by advertisements for Citibank. Lyrically, "Into the Wild" (the song) is a lot closer to, well, "Into the Wild" (the movie). Both the movie and the song deal with escaping from the pressures of society, so it's ironic that a major corporation like Citibank is using the song in its commercials. With "Into the Wild"'s yearning, urgent questions of "How do we not fade?" and "How do we live?" in regards to the human condition, as well as its sweeping, largely acoustic guitar based sound, I really do think "Into the Wild" would have been a perfect fit for the "Into the Wild" soundtrack if it included musicians other than Eddie Vedder!


"It's Only Life" by The Shins: It figures that the first single off The Shins's latest CD would be a dynamic, rocking one, and it took until the SECOND single for The Shins to get back to their trademark laid-back, folk-rock-y sound. If there's something catchy from a musician or band that normally isn't, it seems to be a surefire radio hit, and such was the case with "Simple Song". "It's Only Life" is more of a typical Shins song, musically. Lyrically, this song provides an interesting contrast to The Shins' typically weird lyrics. The lyrics to "It's Only Life" are still wrapped up in metaphor, but they're easier to understand than, say, "New Slang" or "Phantom Limb". For instance, one phrase from "It's Only Life", "we all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole", refers to how everyone has his/her "down days", and "you used to be such a lion, before you got into all this cryin'", points out how we might not be as "tough" as we would like to think we are. But in the chorus, James Mercer assures us that "It doesn't have to be so dark and lonesome", and that "It takes a while but we can figure this thing out and turn it back around", shining a light through the darkness of the rest of the song. In a world of weird and weary indie rock, this song manages to be wistful and wonderful!


"New Wild Everywhere" by Great Lake Swimmers: With their combination of folk, rock, country, and the hippie spirit in both their sound and their words, Great Lake Swimmers are likely musical descendants of groups like The Band and The Flying Burrito Brothers. The phrase "new wild everywhere" itself is rather hippie-ish, taken from the chorus of the song ("there's a new wild feeling dancing in the air/there's a new wild everywhere"). If a "new wild feeling dancing in the air" wasn't enough for you, there are plenty of samples of phrases from the first verse of the song ("Colors burning brighter, hunger for the spark"), to the last ("Fly up to the heavens, anchored in the clouds/Fly beyond the night, love the blooming sounds"), that just burst with the spirit of the '60s! Whether you've just come back from a nature walk, or you're looking for something to meditate to in a flower garden, or you just want the spirit of song to soothe and satisfy your soul, "New Wild Everywhere" is the perfect "peace and love" song for the 2010's!