Music has always been and always will be a passion, hobby, crutch, voice when I can't find one, and vehicle for my quite obvious tone deafness. T Mack had a great post concerning music the other day & I thoroughly agreed with her findings--no surprise!--and felt the need to add to her findings. So here are my favorites throughout the last year:
Mumford & Sons "Sigh No More": this album took me a few listens to get the 'hype' but it happened and I'm obsessed. Why it took me so long, considering I love bluegrass, a celtic sound, & all things London is beyond me, but it did & I hate that I missed out on that time of listening.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros "Up From Below": Thanks to WXPN 88.5 in Philly for turning me onto these guys! They played an amazing set at Xponential Fest in July and provided for a great summer soundtrack and Facebook exchanges between friends.
Dawes "North Hills": Again, thanks to XPN for introducing the sweet California sound and lyrics to me. They also had an amazing set in July and a great show in York 2 weeks following, where I swear DMS had wings. I like the Middle Brother side project, but I like the fit of the Wranglers better:)
Natalie Merchant "Selections From the Album Leave Your Sleep": Natalie has been inconsistent since leaving those 10,000 Maniacs (who are still in constant rotation on my iTunes) but did a fantastic job with this Wilco/Guthrie style concept album. Her amazing voice, emotion, and humor shine through once again. And for the record, a friend and I agree that if we could have any singing voice in the world, it would be Natalie's.
Ray LaMontagne "God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise": a fuller sound with the Pariah Dogs backing him and an almost perfect album. Saw an AMAZING show with David Gray at Merriweather with Cleve in August and it's an album that offered inspiration during the summer.
Alexander "Alexander": Though just released on Tuesday (thanks, Cleve!), the solo project from Edward Sharpe frontman is noteworthy. Fun & filled with multiple similarities to Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Bob Marley, and himself.
Derek Evry "Don't Think": Just saw him open up for THE PUBLIC GOOD (check them out, too!) at local venue, Iota, and he's similar to Matthew Sweet, with a dash of Green Day & Freedy Johnston. Great local talent and a favorite during my commute.
This is not an all encompassing list by any means, and oh yeah, those YouTube videos are not owned by me.
Great playlist! Also, I feel like at some point our blogs are going to morph into one giant super blog that will overtake all other blogs. I feel great about that eventuality. Keep up the fun content, JHC!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I can so see that happening too and I also feel pretty great about that, though I'm not sure if the world is ready!
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know, I've added you to my Blog Roll. Maybe we can get you a bit of traction, not that you're gaining a huge audience off my back. lol. Best of luck to ya!
ReplyDeleteNice! Thanks man!!!!
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