Late Summer Music

Today the Annapolis Sound features my favorite late summer songs.

Spring Cleaning Music

I'm cleaning out my to-do list right now, but this also works well for cleaning house.

Music: The Viking Moses

I was tempted to just let the previously mentioned review fade into internet obscurity without a mention, because it is BAD. Not bad as in the band is bad (though I have some words about that), but bad as in when I read it over I think a fifteen year old wrote it (no offense Anna, you're sixteen anyway), and then I remember it was me. But that wouldn't be very honest of me here, to not mention it, so I'm pointing you to it, if you care, in all its embarrassing glory. I got fed up, and time was up, and even though I was still reading sentences going 'What are you even talking about?' I went ahead and pushed go. The thing is, I didn't mind the music so much, I actually like the guy's voice, but other elements of the album overshadowed the musical strengths and left me with the overal...oh geez. I'm summing up just as poorly here as I did in the actual review. Enough of that.

I'm done doing music reviews though. I love music but I'm tired of trying to vary this theme; 'The lyrics delicately walk a tightrope, balancing between cliche and obscure...' I write that sentence for just about every review and have to stop and say 'Seriously? That's all you can come up with?' It's HARD. I've used every synonym for 'vocals' and 'lyrics' that thesaurus.com provides. I'd rather do something easy. So I'm solely book reviews from now on. And there are some really good ones coming up.

New Music: The Bird and The Bee

Out today is a new album from one of my recent favorites - The Bird and The Bee. I've danced my way through Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future approximately 43 times now in preparation for the review. Zeb got sick of it about two months ago around the twentieth run, but I still love it! This song, off an older album captures their style well.

P.S.

For those of you lucky enough to still live in the promised land (no irreverence, thus no caps, intended) The Whispertown 2000 is playing in Portland FOR FREE!
November 13, 18:00 at Music Millennium, Portland, Oregon. Go, even if it's only for me, stuck in the desert land where they have no tour dates planned as yet.

The Whispertown 2000

Gillian Welch has been releasing her own albums on her own label, Acony Records, for some time now. Today Acony introduces a new band, The Whispertown 2000. It's a great listen, though there is a layer of static over the whole record that's a little hard to get used to. The band is talented and I'll look forward to hearing more from them, but I'm most excited about hearing more from Acony Records. With Gillian Welch and her good taste at work I'm sure Acony will discover many interesting new artists. My review of The Whispertown 2000's album, Swim, is here. (Yes, I did mean littoral, not literal. I got a little dictionary.com word of the day crazy there.)

Quite a Show

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of seeing Dana Fuchs in concert. Did you see the Beatles' musical 'Across the Universe?' It was OK, as a movie, the connections were a bit of a stretch. However, the interpretation of the Beatles' songs? Brilliant. Bono singing 'I am the walrus...' and Eddie Izzard as Mr. Kite. Then there was Dana Fuchs. She was by far the strongest character, though she was a supporting character, in the movie. She was a strong, voluptuous, outspoken women who simultaneously defined, mothered and challenged the other characters. When I saw that this presence was coming to our sleepy little sailing town I signed up immediately. I didn't know anything about her, aside from the movie, but I figured unless they completely fabricated her voice in the movie, she'd be worth hearing. And she was. Her songwriting was a mixture of cliche and incredibly original folk/rock, but her voice was gripping. In a mesmorizing way. This girl is intense. She sings most songs at a 90 degree angle to the stage, bent over backwards screaming out throaty yet high notes with her long curly copper hair swinging and flying through the spotlight. Watch for thirty seconds and you'll get the picture. And see her if you ever get a chance.

New Emiliana Torrini

Emiliana Torrini's new album, Me and Armini, is one of the best I've heard in a long time. Zeb even voluntarily puts it on and he hasn't liked a new album since 1989. The girl is good. Me trying to sound like Sasha Frere-Jones about it here.