Mumford & Sons – Babel

It’s been about two months since I’ve written a music review.  It isn’t that I haven’t been picking up new music, it’s just that I haven’t been inspired to write about any of the albums I’ve been listening to.  I may try to sneak in a general summary of the albums I’ve had on rotation lately next week, but I finally found some inspiration in the new Mumford album.

It’s no secret I enjoyed the last album.  I listened to it fairly regularly up until I got tired of hearing it consistently on the radio.  I even saw them live at one of the most frightening concert going experiences I’ve ever had.  This includes being punched in the head at a metal show in college.  Whatever the case may be, I have enjoyed their emotional brand of banjo laden folk rock.  Perhaps that is why I’m surprised at how conflicted I am over the new album and any subsequent albums moving forward.

Generally speaking the last album was met with praise.  It seemed like Mumford was filling a void in the music realm that many thought was lacking.  Sure there were other acts out there more deserving of the honor of being the pioneers of the folk genre, but they were the band that many locked onto.  So, when they went back to the studio to work on their next album, did they think of how they could push the limits and reinvent the genre?  No, they went out and produced an album that the masses would buy.  Not every band is looking be Radiohead or produce St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Some bands are just happy to have fans and keep playing the style of music that got them famous.  There has to be a reason Nickleback is one of the biggest bands on the planet right now.  Regardless, they stuck to their formula.

If you’ve never noticed the Mumford formula you need to put on one of their songs right now.  Most likely it started kind of slow, there are a few that get that banjo going right away, but most likely it started slow.  Some where along the way, most likely before the chorus, there was a big build up of the tempo of the music, the introduction of the banjo, and the song took off at a frantic pace. If the song started slow you thought, “Wow, that was a big emotional build-up.  I feel so alive!”  However, they aren’t done with the emotional roller coaster that is their music just yet.  Somewhere half way through the song, they get quiet again and reenact their previous build-up.  The song may end upbeat or quiet.  Either way, they have taken you through a range of emotions.  The problem there is if you notice the pattern.  Instead of enjoying the ride, you feel the monotony of the pattern.

Sorry I didn’t mean to get off on a rant here.  I did actually intend to review the new album.

The album starts off with the title track off the album: “Babel”.  Although it is certainly a prototypical Mumford song that follows the exact formula I just spoke of, I do like the ferocious beginning.  Perhaps it was taking a break from Mumford for a while, but I found it to be a really fun song.  I do laugh when I hear lead singer Marcus Mumford pronounce babel like table.  I’m not sure if that is a foreigner thing or not.  The next two songs certainly keep moving right on along with the typical Mumford formula. The banjo line in “Whispers in the Dark” makes me smile for sure.  I like the harmonizing and quick pace of the song, but the banjo makes me think the banjo player should be jumping around barefoot with his overalls on at a hoedown somewhere.  Of course, “I Will Wait” has a pretty similar effect with the banjo as well.

“Ghosts That We Knew” is probably the first song on the album that has me thinking Mumford can vary it up slightly.  The song starts off low-key and pretty much stays there most of the time.  It has a much more quiet and powerful feel to it.  I think “Lover of the Light” is probably my favorite song on the album.  The tone and tempo seem different from some of the other things Mumford has tried.  I actually listened to this album while running the other day and this song reminded me of some of the material on the “Into the Wild” Soundtrack.  It has that exploration and west ward expansion feel.  I do get a little disappointed by Mumford throwing their formula into it, but I still really like it.

I think “Hopeless Wanderer” may be the most frustrating song on the album for me.  I want to like it; however, it feels like they try to employ the formula over and over and over again in it.  I do like that is has three different tempos to it, but it seems somewhat disjointed in how they set them up.  It starts quiet, gets somewhat frantic and emotional, breaks into a steady strumming of melody, drops back into a harmonized quiet part, and then breaks into the real breakdown with the inclusion of the quick banjo line.  I can’t help but feel like this song was a cut and paste job.  They wanted to do their formula, but they liked two different emotional pick up parts, so they just used both.

I understand I sound like I’m somewhat bashing Mumford and their ways, and I probably am to some degrees.  I think they produced an album with a lot of good songs on it, I just wish it wasn’t so predictable.  If you think I’m making this up, put on the first three songs on the album.  Each one of them has a part in the middle where they get quiet just to bring it back up to the emotional breakdown.  If you’re like me, you may actual become frustrated when you come to realize that every song follows a similar pattern.

I’m sure I’ll continue listening to this album for a few weeks.  I may even listen to a few songs longer than that, but I just don’t think Mumford can go out there and assume their fans won’t notice this pattern in each of their songs.

Teacher Grade: C (because I’m still a sucker for the pattern at times)

October 12, 2012
Categories: Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: 1 Comment

The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten

It’s been a little while since I reviewed an album on here.  I’m not saying nothing good has come out, but I feel like I have to put a whole lot more effort into reviewing an album than a beer.  Not sitting in front of a computer or working in a place where I could really listen to an album for review makes it difficult for me to fully listen to and appreciate what I’ve picked up recently.  Then an album comes out that I have been looking forward to for months, and I can’t help but find time to listen to it.  Last week, while sitting on the beach, I listened to a few albums nearly every day.  So here comes the first music review in months.

Gaslight Anthem isn’t exactly a brand new band.  Hailing from my home state of New Jersey, this is their fourth album in a career that spans back to their inception in 2006.  Their initial album, Sink or Swim, helped them get their feet under them and develop a following.  The next two albums helped them build a huge following; however, all three albums were on small record labels.  This album has been released on Mercury Records which you will find is associated with Island Def Jam and the Universal Music Group.  Thus, this is somewhat their big album to “make it”.  I haven’t heard them on the radio yet in this area, but I heard them multiple times on some trips to PA this summer.  Of course, this gets the high school version of me mad that they would “sell out”, but I’m just glad they haven’t gone and broken up.

Gaslight Anthem continue in the great tradition of music the forefathers of NJ set out before them.  Bruce Springsteen sang about the life he grew up in and around.  He sang, and still continues to sing, about the life of the middle class factory worker and other people struggling to get by.  Bon Jovi even did this to some extent in some of their songs.  Listen to “Living on a Prayer”.  Anyway, Gaslight comes across with a similar message and sound to their music.  No they aren’t an 80′s glam rock band, but they have a gritty sound meant for hardworking Americans.  Their lyrics also comes across in much the same way.  They sing about people struggling with many facets of life.

The first song on the album, “45″, also happens to be the first single released for the album. It’s an upbeat song that hooks the listener and really gets you singing along right from the start.  It’s also an excellent middle of the road song to introduce someone new to the style Gaslight has been producing for years.  The melodic nature of the band really comes across on this and many other songs on this album.  Although singer Brian Fallon’s voice doesn’t exude the tone of a typical melodic singer, you can tell how the music is an entire package.  It allows for Fallon’s gritty voice to create great melodies that only compliment the music.

Gaslight tends to produce two different types of songs.  They make songs like “45″ that are upbeat and get you moving.  But, they also create some really surprisingly good slow songs.  ”Handwritten” is another great upbeat song on the record.  Although Fallon actually starts with a little more of his quieter approach on the singing, the upbeat drumming and guitars keep the song fast paced.  ”Handwritten” topically follows the same themes as another song on the album.  It talks about the emotion involved with something being handwritten.  ”Too Much Blood” is a much slower song, but you can tie the actual act of writing something emotional to “Handwritten”.  The lyrics, “What can I keep for myself if I tell you my hell? / What would be left to take to my grave? / And what’s left for you, my lover to save? / What’s left for only you to take? / If I put too much blood on the page”, help display the emotion of letting it all go through the written word.  Obviously Fallon understands the power of the written language.  ”Too Much Blood” does happen to be one of my favorite songs on the album.  The music is quite a bit slower than some of the other songs, which allows Fallon’s voice to really shine through.  He almost sounds like he is in pain about revealing too much of himself.

There are certainly a few other really good songs on this album as well. “Keepsake” is similar in sound to “Too Much Blood”.  The music tones down to allow Fallon’s voice to really take control.  The chorus picks up musically to match the passion in the vocals. I really like both “Mae” and “National Anthem” as well.   ”Mae” features some of my favorite lyrics because they have some of the prototypical lyrics for Gaslight.  He sings about both “Betty Davis eyes” and waiting for kingdom come “with the radio on”.  For those of you who aren’t Gaslight fans, they are lyrics that have shown up in previous songs.  While “Mae” is a slower song on the album, “National Anthem” is the slowest one.  The music is completely stripped down to just a guitar and some stringed instruments.  Fallon’s voice is slightly more melodic with only a little hint of grit.  However, it seems to just tell the story of struggling through life.  It’s something really different for them, but it is a great song.

There is really only one song I don’t like on the album.  Gaslight, however, is only slightly at fault for this.  They decided to cover “Sliver” by Nirvana.  Perhaps this speaks a little more to their influences; however, I personally don’t really like Nirvana at all.  I immediately thought it sounded like a Nirvana cover the second I heard it.  The only reason I don’t like it is because it doesn’t feature the same melodic style I’ve come to enjoy from Gaslight.

If you happen to pick up this CD, you should definitely check out their back catalog.  Although they have cleaned up their style a little, they are still sticking to the style that gained them followers in the first place.  Sure, They’ve joined a bigger record label, and I’ve heard them on the radio, but they aren’t looking to lose their original fans either.

Teacher Grade: A

August 16, 2012
Categories: Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: Leave a Comment

An Ode to Portable Music

I guess I can remember a time when people weren’t consistently walking around with headphones in their ears, but it really seems like something of the very distant past.  Being a school teacher it is certainly a bit of a different time in schools when it comes to distractions.  Kids come into school with their headphones on, they complain when you ask them to take them out or turn it off, they lie that it isn’t plugged in or turned on, and they want to wear the headphones around their neck as a fashion statement.  If that isn’t enough, I have to tell kids to put them away, and I have to watch out for sweatshirts that disguise the headphones in the actual hood drawstrings.  It’s a crazy time period.  Thinking of my other job, I watch kids come in with their parents totally ignoring family time to listen to their music.  I’ve had kids put on their pandora app at the table so they have music they want to hear, and I’ve watched families sit through entire meals without speaking to each other.  It’s a strange new world we’re moving into and, while I may sound really annoyed at the state of the world, I’m loving this new technology.

I am old enough to have owned and operated a Walkman back in the day.  It wasn’t all that long, but I did purchase a few different cassette tapes of my own before I stated in on the new fangled world of compact discs.  I specifically remember making mix tapes and buying a Green Day and Presidents of the United States of America tape as well.  It wasn’t long before I purchased my first Discman. This very quickly led into a world wind buying spree of different albums.  I loved the fact that I could listen to my own music privately and, with the invention of downloadable music and burning cds, I could quickly increase the amount of music I had in my library.  I remember even up through college being obsessed with downloading music.  I would burn CD’s that had two different bands on them or 4 different EPs.  It was an easier way to keep music even though I had to carry all the CDs in my big binder of music.

Then all of a sudden the big binder wasn’t necessary anymore.  I tried to keep myself from buying an Ipod for a little while, but I gave in my Junior year of college.  I have never been a big fan of trying to buy stuff new, so I purchased one off Ebay.  It was a crazy advance in the portable music industry.  I didn’t need the binder anymore, now I could carry hundreds of albums in this compact device.  Of course, with the advance in technology came a different type of responsibility.  Now I had to be much more careful with the device.  I managed to only purchase one Walkman and one discman in my life, but in the span of 8 years, I have gone through 4 different Ipods.

The first one, a bit clunkier version for sure, somehow had the screen smashed and black ink spread throughout the display.  The second one was left on the roof of my car after school one day.  Apparently finding an Ipod on top of a car outside an apartment building means you don’t have to turn it in to the management’s lost and found.  The third one I managed to get them to replace for a price.  I confiscated a powerful magnet from one of the students in my class.  I foolishly put it on the side of my desk.  Not too surprisingly it attached itself to my Ipod as I walked by and yanked a gear inside out of place.  The final Ipod was a shuffle I got from my parents for working out.  I have no idea what happened to that one, but it stopped working after one year.

I bring up all the loss because I may have one more Ipod to add to the list of the fallen.  This of course is the one that brought on this run down of mobile music technology throughout the years.  The final day of school this year I was listening to the Ipod on the way home from school.  I’m fairly sure I got it in the house, but I haven’t seen it since.  It may soon join the long list of Ipods that have come and gone, but I thankfully have a back up Nano that I now use for working out.  It really needs to be updated, but I’m glad I can still carry quite a few albums around with me.

I find it funny that I went through years and years with a discman and never had a problem, but I’ve managed to go through potentially 5 different Ipods in quite a short period of time.  I can’t help but feel we’ve started to sacrifice longevity for a device that can handle so much more data.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy I don’t have to carry around a binder of music to accompany my eclectic taste; however, at $250-300 a piece, I can’t help but wonder if I’d be better off walking around with a book bag to hold all my music and discman.  Hopefully I find my Ipod soon!

where are you!?!?

June 21, 2012
Categories: Life . Tags: , , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: Leave a Comment

Staying Relevant

I’ve been fascinated by music since about middle school.  It’s funny because it really doesn’t seem all that long ago to me, but it has been almost twenty years since I was there.  I can remember being really happy about the new Foo Fighters album coming out then, as well as, more than a few other albums that I still love today.  It’s funny to watch how those bands have developed and changed over the years since I first started to enjoy them.  I can still remember our eighth grade trip where we seemed to just pass around a couple cd’s amongst a few of us.  We were listening to Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, 311, and Offspring.  Two of those bands don’t make music together anymore, but there are two others that still do.  I don’t really listen to 311 or Offspring at all anymore but, as I said last week, I catch a few new songs from them on the radio.  It’s the new Offspring song that influenced my thoughts for this post this week.

Music styles and tastes are consistently changing in America and around the world.  My kids asked me if I thought 2pac was the best rapper ever the other week when they unveiled their hologram of him at Bonnaroo.  I told them I thought he was good for his time, but he would probably be seen as just another old rapper today.  They started to disagree, but I stopped them with a few examples.  I asked them if they thought Dr. Dre, Busta Rhymes, or P.Diddy were great rappers.  They understood that these rappers who once were on top of the music world were no longer on quite at the same level.  Now-a-days they are into Lil Wayne, Drake, and a slew of other one hit wonder rappers.  I feel like the rap world is tougher to stay relevant in for a long period of time, but bands seem to find a way to vary their style in such a way to stay on top of the music world.

The Offspring are a band I had never really noticed as being a band that continued to change their style to fit the times.  They premiered back in the earlier 80′s, which I actually just found out.  They initially were considered a full-on punk band.  They hung out and played shows with bands like Rancid and Bad Religion.  By the mid 90′s they had managed to find a mainstream hit with their album “Smash”.  This record jumped them up into a new category.  They now fit in with bands like Sublime and Green Day.  It was a time when punk rock was coming into the mainstream, but it had a slightly more radio friendly feel.  ”Americana” and “Conspiracy of One” seemed like strange releases to me.  They were still trying to maintain their punk roots, but they seemed to really be pushing for mainstream success with songs like “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” and “Original Prankster”.  They certainly lost any remaining true punk fans they had with that one.  Some of their newer stuff like “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” seemed to bring them back into a slightly more punk feel, but they had that Rise Against rock feel to it still.  This leads us to the latest singles they have coming out.

I was a little disappointed to realize the entire album isn’t available yet, but Offspring are set to release their latest album, “Days Go By”, later this month.  They started to release the song here and there on the radio in my area.  The first time I heard it I thought it was a new rock band; however, Dexter Holland has such obvious lead vocals I shortly realized it was actually a new Offspring song.  It would seem they have once again reinvented themselves.  Attempting to see if the rest of the album sounded the same, I realized they may not have totally strayed from the quirky songs that really got them popular.

I’ve included the new video for the song “Days Go By” at the bottom of this page just incase you want to hear what their new stuff sounds like.  Right from the beginning of the song you can tell they’ve taken yet a different direction.  They don’t seem to be that fast passed punk style band.  They also don’t appear to be the quirky poppy rock band from “Pretty Fly for a White Guy”.  That is….at least not on this song.  The first guitar riff they enter in with immediately reminds me of a Foo Fighter’s song like “Learn to Fly”.  The drums are slow and steady and the vocals come in calm and sung normally.  It’s a little strange to see The Offspring heading in a direction that may be showing their age.  They may have, however, not completely done away with the silly songs.  The other song they have released, “Cruising California (Bumpin’ in my Trunk)” seems to go slightly back to their funny ways.  It certainly isn’t quite the same feel as the old funny songs, but you can tell they are hoping to have a summer hit with this one.  It still has a slightly more poppy radio friendly feel, and they are almost rhyming instead of singing along to the music.  They also pull in a female vocal who is clearly referring to the “bumbin’” as some type of booty poppin thing.  Yeah I said that.  Perhaps they haven’t completely given up on their silly ways.

I’m really interested to hear what the rest of the album sounds like.  I’m really wondering if this song “Cruising California” gets big over the course of summer or not.  Either way, they are certainly attempting to stay relevant in an ever-changing music scene, and the fact that they have been a band for almost thirty years shows some crazy staying power.  I probably won’t be purchasing this album in the end, but they have certainly peaked my interest.

June 7, 2012
Categories: Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: 1 Comment

Bamboozle in Review

I’ve been a big fan of music for quite a while now.  That’s probably a silly statement to make, but I have really allowed it to play a major role in my life for years.  I set out trying find different styles and bands that I loved; however, as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that I just don’t really enjoy some of this stuff the same way I used to.  Regardless of that, I decided that I wanted to head out to the second day of Bamboozle in Asbury Park NJ this past Saturday.  While there were 30 or so bands and groups I didn’t know performing, the headliners were the ones I was set on seeing.  I have managed to drag my wife into this love of music back when we were dating.  Ultimately, I got her super hooked on Jimmy Eat World.  We’ve seen them two or three times since getting married, but I saw they were playing this festival, so I knew we needed to go.  The other headliners that were playing were Foo Fighters, Blink 182, and All American Rejects.  Having never seen Blink I was really excited to see them, but they got sick so My Chemical Romance took over.  Definitely less excited about them, but I thought they’d put on a good show.

Living in DC, and not wanting to pay for a hotel, we set out for NJ around 10 AM Saturday morning.  I thought the set up of this show was rather interesting.  They didn’t have a band go on until 2:00, so we could kind of take our time getting up there for the show.  Even then, Foo Fighters were scheduled to end around 9:30, so we could drive the four hours back to our house in DC.  It seemed like the perfect way to make sure we had a fun filled Saturday and got to head home and save some money.  There was some traffic getting up there, but we managed to make it up there around 3 something.

They did have a fairly good set up on getting everyone to the show, of course, it seemed less perfect on the way home.  We parked about 20 minutes away at a local race track and caught a shuttle to the concert area.   It was one of the more interesting little set ups for a concert area I’ve seen in a while.  Evidently they had 7 different stages where you could go see bands play.  Also, they didn’t try to cater to a single music style.  There was rock, rap, metal, punk, ska, DJ’s, and even a comedian on Sunday night.  Truthfully we only saw about 4 of the stages.  I’m not sure where the others were hiding.  Ultimately we ended up staying at the main stage.

Yay $7 taste of the Rockies

We did have to purchase beer right away to set us apart from the masses of little children.  It was actually an interesting mix of kids and adults who needed to feel young again.  Anyway, we made it all the way down the boardwalk to the main stage just before All American Rejects went on.  We found a spot on the beach where we could sit.  We of course were a little ways away from the stage, but I’m fine with just sitting back and listening.  I prefer to not stand in a sweaty pit of people anymore.  I don’t want people crowd surfing on my head.  It was nice being able to sit on the beach, see the ocean, and enjoy the music.

I’ve never been a big fan of All American Rejects.  Their songs are catchy and all, but I was never really a big fan of them overall.  My wife, however, is a big fan of theirs, so we caught their whole set first.  They played a pretty good show, but I hate a band continuously cursing at me.  They were the least rock star band there, and yet, they wanted to act like big bad rock stars the whole time.  Thankfully, that was the last band that decided to be overly obnoxious on stage.  Jimmy Eat World took the stage next.  They are probably the least rock star band that played that night.  They make great music, and it doesn’t really seem to be about the image with them.  Thankfully they didn’t play anything off the new album because I really didn’t care for it.  They did however still play things all the way back to Clarity.  I like it when a band knows when to ignore a record.  They played a great set, and I know my wife was happy to see them again.

It was now that I set about going and getting some pizza.  Of course waiting in line, or mob, for food made me really annoyed; however, it wasn’t overly expensive.  Therefore, I was alright with the whole ordeal.  This did cause me to miss the beginning of My Chemical Romance.  I’ve never been a big fan of theirs.  I enjoy some of the radio hits they’ve had, but I don’t really know a lot of the songs.  The ones I did know were fun; however, I could tell they were a fan favorite there from all the people singing along.  While I wasn’t a big fan, I still did think they put on a good show.  I was also really happy to see they dropped the gothic stuff.

Finally it was time for Foo Fighters.  They were given two hours to play which was shorter than the last time I saw them, but I was happy they had them playing for a little while.  Surprisingly they also had to get up to NYC for playing with Mick Jagger that night.  They made sure to let us all know they would be taking a helicopter from Asbury to NYC so they could do both.  I think it’s pretty cool they played two hour and then went and did SNL.  Anyway, some of the stuff they did in their live show was similar to what I saw a few months ago here in DC.  They still played a great show.  I also wish I didn’t have 5 kids next to me trying to dig a whole in the sand and an older woman having fun with her light up hoola hoop behind me.  I feel like that was the antithesis of the old and the young crowd right there.

The worst part of the night was trying to get home.  We all rushed for the shuttles, and it took a while to get back to the parking area.  Thankfully we made it there and had no traffic getting home.  We finally got home around 2:30 in the morning.  It was a real long day, but it was a lot of fun for sure.  I’m not sure I’d do it again, but I suppose it would depend on the line-up.  I couldn’t pass up on Jimmy, Foo, and Blink.  Maybe next year they’ll really get Blink to play for sure.  I also would have liked to get to a few of the other bands playing on different stages.  Still, it was a good time and a nice way to get away for a day.  Even if I was exhausted when I got home.

May 22, 2012
Categories: Life, Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: 1 Comment

Alabama Shakes – “Boys & Girls”

Some bands you just don’t see coming, and others have a lot of hype surrounding them before they can even release a record.  When it comes to Alabama Shakes I, and many others, saw them coming from miles away.  Different places I go for my music news have been talking about Alabama Shakes for well over a year now.  Even though they have only been a band since 2009, they managed to get together and hone their sound fairly quickly.  Completely blowing up a few festivals here and there, their very first full length album could be considered one of the most anticipated albums of the year.  I think you should open up Spotify, or click on their video at the bottom of this post, and give a listen to them as you read through the rest of this little review.  You’ll be a fan by the end of reading this post.

Alabama Shakes got together in Athens, Alabama back in 2009.  Still in high school at the time, Britney Howard and Zac Cockrell  started experimenting with their sound and musical tastes.  Later they managed to add the remaining members of the band, record some material, and head out with their hopes and dreams.  Now they have been signed by three different record companies, including Jack White’s Third Man Records, and they are quickly becoming one of the fastest rising stars in the music industry.

Alabama Shakes have more than a few things working in their favor.  They have a sound that is both fresh and classic combined into one.  They manage to bring something the music industry doesn’t get a whole lot of.  It’s a sound that goes back to a more classic rock age of music.  They manage to capture a very bluesy grassroots rock and roll soul sound that harkens back to Joplin.  Britney Howard is the clear heart and soul of this group.  Women in lead positions of bands can have it rough.  They may embrace their role as the face of the band, or they may have a rough time accepting this position.  Howard manages to grab the reins and lead the band into each and every song.  She brings both heart and soul to each and every song on the album.  It’s clear these songs weren’t written by some song writing guru a record label has on staff.  Instead, Howard put all of her raw emotions and feelings into each and every song.

The best place to start with Alabama Shakes is their first single/song on the album: “Hold On”.  This is the song that they are performing on late night talk shows, and they have a video for it as well.  As I said earlier, Howard pours herself into many of these different songs, and it definitely comes out in full force on this song.  The song starts off simple enough.  The beat the drums keep, the pretty simple melody the guitars have, and the steady bass don’t deviate much until near the end of the song.  It is really Howard’s voice that stands out here.  She has the ability to sing, “scream”, and put emphasis on things so you can see her passion here.  The lyrics of the song are pretty simple as well, but the power lies in how she sings it.  She seems to be singing about struggling to make it out of some kind of difficulty.  Her lyrics, “Bless my heart, Bless my soul / Didn’t think I’d make it t0 22 years old / Must be someone, up above / Saying come on Britney, you gotta come on up / You gotta hold on”, seem really personal.  I especially like how she throws her own name in there as well.  It’s like she wants you to know she is struggling to hold on.  The emotion she contains in her voice only continues to come out even more as the song breaks into organized pandemonium near the end of the song.  Watch the video below!

There are quite a few other songs on the album where the passion comes out almost just as much as the first single off the album.  ”Heartbreaker” is another song of the album that seems to have some deep seeded meaning to it as well.  Here Britney comes across more as a crooner, but her ability to go from quiet reflective crooner to impassioned heartbroken lover really drive the song forward and give it tons of character.  Her screaming/wailing as she sings, “How was I supposed to know you were a heartbreaker” almost come across as a woman in the midst of an emotional breakdown. The circus nature of the keyboards on this one also help to assist in bringing out the passion  ”Be Mine” comes across somewhat more cool and collected for sure, but listening to the lyrics and singing help to show the real feeling contained in the song.  The lyrics here almost make it seem like she knows what man she wants, and she is ready to fight for him.  No one is going to tear them apart.  I like the James Brown breakdown at the end of the song on this one as well.

Alabama Shakes isn’t all serious though; they definitely manage to talk about having a good time as well.  ”Hang Loose” brings to mind some type of 50′s sock hop song.  I always manage to get the dance scene from the first Back to the Future movie in my head when I listen to this song.  It’s a much more laid back song, and it’s message is simply to take it easy and have fun.  It’s real catchy and much more relaxed than some of the other material.  ”Goin’ To The Party” is one of the stranger songs on the album for me.  It  has more of a narrative to it about heading to a party.  They warn or entice you to go because there is going to be dancing and a fight as well.  The tempo of the song is definitely different from anything else on the album, and I do have to be in the mood for it.  I can’t help but think this is a slightly comedic song.  Britney warbles, “Gotta take me home now, know you ain’t drinking water / Gotta take me back, cause I’m still somebody’s daughter”.  The lyrical content and delivery are just so much different from anything else on the album.

There are a few songs on the album that show their very quiet and reflective abilities as well.  The title song, “Boys & Girls”, has a very slow beat, quiet vocals, and easy tempo.  It helps bring a good amount of diversity to it, and it helps show the quiet side to Britney’s vocals as well.  ”You Ain’t Alone” follows a similar slow even tempo as well.  There is definitely more emotion and passion to the singing of this one.  It’s a great song that helps continue to show the passion and the emotion of this band as well.

Alabama Shakes may be the first real contender for album of the year for me.  I picked this one up about a week ago, and it has pretty much been the only thing I’ve listened to since then.  If you have never checked out a band I’ve suggested before, you definitely need to look this one up for sure.  I’ll admit to being very opinionated about this band, but I think they have a very good chance of finding a way into your hearts and into your regular rotation of albums.

Teacher Grade: A+

April 19, 2012
Categories: Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: 3 Comments

Albums In Rotation

It’s been a while since I did one of these types of posts.  Right before I jumped on a plane for a little trip to Jamaica, I loaded up my Ipod with a few new albums to be enjoyed while traveling and on the beach.  I really like having albums that remind me of my trips to different places.  I’ve already stated how Bon Iver’s self-titled album will always bring back memories of Italy for me.  Additionally, I listened to a ton of Star’s “Heart” album while traveling to and around Spain.  I wasn’t really sure what album would catch my attention on this particular trip; therefore, I decided I had to have a few just incase one of them wasn’t quite doing the trick.  In the end, although a few albums seemed to find their way to the forefront of the playlist, I think it was more about the entire rotation of this trip.  I didn’t find myself landing on one album or another too often.  I even had to throw on The Shin’s new one more than a few times as well.  Here are the albums that helped me chill out on the beach.

Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball – I’ve had a soft spot for The Boss for years now.  I grew up in NJ, but I didn’t grow up listening to his music.  In college, my friend and I started to hunt down different vinyl we thought we would enjoy.  It was at that time I ended up picking up a bunch of different classic Springsteen records and ultimately loving his stuff.  Therefore, when this one came out, I had to jump on it right away.  Bruce’s music always sounds like Bruce, but he manages to put a different spin on it in different ways.  I don’t know if he has ever had so many songs that have such an Irish country feel to it; however, I like it. His voice works really well with the style.  The title song, “Wrecking Ball”, is one of my favorite songs on the album.  It has some great NJ references to it that give me some pride that Jersey Shore took from me.  There are, unfortunately, a few songs I’m not really all that into.  ”Rocky Ground” is a somewhat boring song, and it has a little R&B breakdown in it that I find rather annoying as well.  Bruce needs to stick to what he’s good at.  Additionally, I can’t help but think “Swallowed Up (In The Belly of The Whale)” is too boring as well.  Thankfully there is enough good real Springsteen material for me to still enjoy this record on the whole.

Justin Townes Earle – Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now – This guy released an album a lot of people went crazy for a few years ago, and I just couldn’t get into it.  It was one of those albums I put on time and time again, but I could never find a love for it.  Thanks to the wonders of Spotify, I gave this new album a chance despite the fact I couldn’t get down with that album.  Thank goodness I did get this one.  This album has to be one of my top albums on my playlist right now.  Earle has a really bluesy and twangy quality to his sound.  A lot of the songs on the album are pretty quiet and easy listening, but they were giving me exactly what I needed for the beach.  His twangy quality only picks up even more on songs like “Memphis in the Rain”.  I think one of the things I like most about him is the Elvis Costello sound I hear in his voice and delivery.  ”Baby’s Got a Bad Idea” has a great Costello rock feel with a country twinge to it, and it’s one of the more up beat songs on the album which I appreciate.

Of Monsters and Men – My Head is an Animal – This band was discovered through quite a few different mediums.  Paste has been talking about them for months, then I caught the video randomly on TV a few times, and I finally saw a favorable review on another resource.  I figured I needed to give them a chance.  This band comes from Iceland who has also given us great acts like Bjork and Sigur Ros, so I was even more interested in them for that reason.  Good music seems to come out of this strange little country.  They provide a really big full sound on all of their songs, which I really like about what they do.  I also appreciate the fact that they have both a male and female lead for the band.  They tend to lean more on their female lead, but it gives them a lot of ability to harmonize on nearly every song.  Of course, every member seems to get in on the chants which they seem to include on a whole lot of songs.  I’m not sure how I feel about that, but I think it adds to that full sound.  ”Little Talks” is the lead single off the album, and it may be slightly misleading to someone new to the band how uptempo most of their material may actually be.  ”Little Talks” is definitely the fastest song on the entire album.  The other songs provide some really full, slightly ambient music with some great harmonized singing.  They kind of remind me of The Head and The Heart with less folk influence.

The Decemberists – We All Raise Our Voices to the Air – If you’ve been reading this little blog for the past year then you know I love this band.  Earlier this week I reviewed Colin Meloy’s book, I have reviewed their latest EP release on here too, and I named “The King is Dead” my favorite album of last year.  I guess I have a little crush.  This is a two disc live album from the act out of Portland.  Let’s face it, you don’t go get a live album unless you really like the band.  I wouldn’t go get a live album from a band I had never listened to before, and I won’t expect you to do that either.  I got this one because I do enjoy listening to the banter that goes on in-between songs, seeing how they change up material live, and I like to support the bands I enjoy the most.  I have The Foo Fighter’s live acoustic album too.  Most of the songs are performed fairly similar to how they were originally composed, but I’m alright with that for the most part.  Meloy opens the whole album by letting the crowd know they are in the wrong place if they are looking for Keith Urban.  It at least gets you laughing before they even play.  Another highlight for me is on a song titled “Dracula’s Daughter”.  Meloy declares that it’s the worst song he has ever written in his life.  He sings a song about the woes of being Dracula’s daughter before transitioning to “O Valencia!”  You’re not going to go get this one if you don’t like the band, but if you’re a Decemberists fan I think it’s worth checking it out.  If nothing else it ends up sounding like a greatest hits record performed live.

There were a few other albums I got for the trip, but I think these are the strongest out of all of them.  If you’re in the mood for some new music in your life, these are some good albums to check out.  While I have two new albums downloading as I type this out, I know these albums will stay in rotation for a while to come.

April 12, 2012
Categories: All Posts . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: 2 Comments

“Indie” Music: Is it really all that “Indie”?

The Shins play SNL

I don’t claim to be an elitist, but I do like the thought I happen to experience things now and then that not everyone is privy to.  Craft beers and indie music are great examples of this.  Yes people can find them readily available if they are looking, but most people really don’t go out there and look for themselves.  This weekend we saw one of the least stuck up holidays of the year in beer celebrated.  Any holiday that gets you to drink even more garbage beer by placing green dye in it really can’t be considered in any way stuck up or elitist.  Perhaps that is why I am not a fan of the holiday.  I know I just couldn’t have headed out and asked anyone to put some food coloring in a beer that I already dislike because it is cool that day.  Music is a similar way.  People like to grab what is readily available.  Of course there are those people out there that are trying to get new music on the radio and make it readily available to everyone else, but the majority of people don’t go out and search for something they have to work for.  They like things to come easy.

Now a days I think the line between these “indie” bands and your typical bands have started to blur.  There was a point in time, before the internet and even the big T.V. boom, where people needed to get out to shows to figure out who the new bands were.  People weren’t able to quickly figure out who was going to be an up and coming band via Facebook, MySpace, twitter, or Spotify.  They literally had to find their way to concerts, exchange tapes, or do some sort of physically involved search to find it.  Now you can type in a band, quickly find samples or complete songs from them, and even find bands that are associated or sound like them.  The search isn’t quite so hard anymore.  The internet has completely changed the way we get our music.  I’m not even all that old, and I can remember sending out order forms to different record labels when I was in middle and early high school.  I would pick up a music sampler from a company, figure out what I liked, order the albums, and I would wait 6-8 weeks for my music in the mail.  It’s like we went from hunting with rocks and spears to machine guns all of a sudden.

tUnE-yArDs on Jimmy Kimmel

T.V is also playing a huge role in the big boom in to the indie world of music as well.  If you are a sucker for a few different rather popular T.V. shows, you’ll end up watching an episode and realize you know the song playing in the background.  A lot of popular dramas are pulling in popular indie artists to highlight different moments of their shows.  Heck, half of She & Him is the lead in one of the more popular new comedies of this year.  Of course she started her career as an actor, but you can associate her with M.Ward who is far more “indie” overall.  Then it seems like half of the bands performing on late night television and SNL are bands I happen to love as well.  There were three weeks straight where I actually tapped SNL solely to see the musical guests.  I was actually won over on both tUnE – yArDs and Gotye by watching their performances on late night television.

This whole thought process for this post erupted from watching the half hour Woodie Awards presentation on MTV this weekend.  A couple of years in a row now I have happened to catch this particular award show.  Last year I was kind of psyched for it.   Both Matt & Kim and Das Racist were supposed to be performing on it.  Only one did, but I was interested to see what they did.  This year only further proved to me that the line between the underground scene and mainstream is blurring quickly.

This year they announced early on they were coming from South by Southwest festival.  A festival most would still associate

Is that Taylor Swift with the Civil Wars?

primarily with the underground music scene.  Then half of the host team was Pauly D from the Jersey Shore.  Perhaps the least underground individual person possible.  The big contrast between these two items immediately sent up red flags.  The awards they handed out were just as strange.  Best Coast won an award right along side Machine Gun Kelly and Mac Miller.  Meanwhile artists like M83, Gotye, The Black Keys, and Battles were all up for awards which they ended up losing.  Mac Miller, Santigold, and Steve Aoki (with Lil Jon) all performed at the event.  Ultimately it seemed like this year’s event was a lackluster presentation of somewhat little known performances.  I guess you can boil it down to really sad.  It seemed like MTV wanted everyone to remember that they still kind of know what music is hip.

As I get older I’m not really all that worried about losing the ability to know about bands that no one knows.  If you talked to me in high school and college I would have been screaming sell out all day.  Times are changing though. Bon Iver and Arcade Fire are big time award winners, the Civil Wars are performing songs with Taylor Swift, and Vampire Weekend have sold just about every one of their songs to one commercial or another.  I appreciate where my love for music has come from, but I can’t help but wonder if this new way of discovering music will ultimately change the perception and love for it as well.  I guess time will tell!

March 21, 2012
Categories: Life, Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: 2 Comments

Future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Potentials

I have often wondered about the state of rock and roll right now.  I grew up listening to, and loving, a lot of rock and roll artists.  I remember when my friend Lou and I started hunting down different vinyl releases back in high school.  We loved those classic artists who were well deserving of making it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Over recent years, I’ve started to question a lot more if anyone is deserving of this honor anymore.  I certainly won’t start campaigning for Nickelback to find their way into what is supposed to be those hallowed halls.  Looking at this years nominees, I have to be honest that I am very unaware of what a lot of them have done.  The major ones that are being inducted are Gun N’ Roses, The Beastie Boys, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Although not a huge fan of any of these bands, I can see what these people did for the music scene over an extended period of time.  In today’s time period, I don’t know that any one band or artist has the same qualifications to be given a similar honor.  I have come up with my top three artists, or groups, I believe will one day find their way into the hall of fame.  I think next week I’ll do my ideal list of artists who probably won’t make it into the hall of fame.

1. Dave Grohl – If you’ve been a reader here for a while you know my love for the Foo Fighters.  I was going to say they should be in there, but I really think you could just throw Grohl in there by himself.  The Foo Fighters have been one of the few consistently strong bands for over the past 15 years.  His role in Nirvana can never be understated; even though I’m really not a huge fan of them.  And, he has done some great work for Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures.  Having recently seen Foo Fighters in concert, Grohl embodies what it means to be a rock star.  He loves to play music, and he tends to create pretty good music too.  Plus, he is really talented.

2. Radiohead – I have a feeling this is one that will need no convincing.  Even though they put out a couple of albums that had some listeners a little disinterested a few times, they came back and started self releasing albums that were top-notch material.  Plus, they were at the forefront of figuring out how to make the digital age work in their favor.  They went from creating really impressive rock and roll indie material, to then combining electronics in a way that didn’t make me want to throw their record out the window.  They are the pioneers of a genre that will forever be grateful to them for being so inventive.

3. Jack White – News of his new solo album is actually what prompted me to write this post.  I have thought about the current state of rock and roll for a while, and I think White is a musical genius.  He has been a part of some amazing bands over the past few years.  I wasn’t a huge fan of The White Stripes when they first came out, but they managed to win me over as new albums continued to come out.  The Raconteurs are a great band that produce music more in line with folk rock, and The Dead Weathers seem to be his punk rock outfit.  He can never be really defined by a style or genre of music.  He does a lot of them, and he does them really well.  I’m really interested to see his new solo stuff come out.  Hopeful it won’t be a career killer like some people’s solo efforts.

So what are some of your favorites to actually get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?  Next week I’ll give you my long shots.  I have a feeling more of you will be able to think of some of those.

January 31, 2012
Categories: Life, Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: Leave a Comment

What I’ve Been Listening To

A few weeks ago I did a post about the music I had on rotation at that moment.  Although a lot of those bands are still keeping my occupied, I am consistently attempting to add more and more music to my very long library.  Therefore, once again, I thought it was about time to update you on a few different bands I’ve been listening to as of late.  Like last time, I am definitely still catching up on a few different albums I never managed to pick up last year.  It’s amazing how I am still finding lists of different albums that were considered some of the best of last year.  I picked up the latest Spin Magazine which had a completely different band winning it all that didn’t even make it in a lot of list’s top ten.  These lists keep me real busy for weeks after they are released.

Deer Tick – Divine Providence – This is a band that I do actually have some of the older stuff from; however, I somehow let this one slip by me.  This isn’t really an album I put on everyday, but it is one that I definitely like a lot.  I really like how the songs tend to differ from one to the next.  I do get a little upset when I listen to an album that has a lot of songs that tend to sound the same.  These guys can go from a country folk sound, to an indie sound, to an all out bar song.  Their diversity keeps it interesting, and they are really good at what they do as well.

Florence and the Machine – Ceremonials – I stayed away from Florence for a while.  I saw her perform on a few award shows, and I had heard a few songs on the radio, but I was really surprised when I started to see this album pop up on some lists.  I try to not be too elitist when it comes to my music selection, but I don’t normally trust it when the mass media is hyping an artist.  I mean, they also hype Ke$ha!  I finally bit the bullet and went for it on this one.  This woman really can sing.  Most of the songs are quite catchy and impressive as well.  There are a few that I get a little tired of and skip, but I am definitely becoming a fan of both Florence and the Machine.  I may have to go back and see if I really like the last album as well.

Yuck- Yuck – Yet another album I really really slept on.  I basically grew up in the 90′s.  I mean those tend to be the major years I can remember, and it was when all my tastes were developing.  So a band that is trying to latch onto some of that former glory would have to be good.  At least I would hope so.  The low key nature of Yuck is great, while I really like the sound that the whole band creates.  I am definitely still listening to this one a lot and really developing my feelings on what I like about it.  It sounds like good old 90′s rock and roll.  There isn’t a lot of glam and wow to it, but it is just talented people who got together to put out good music.

tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l – This may be the album that I’m most upset I didn’t check out originally.  I’m basically only mad because I am certain that this one would have made it on my top 10 from last year.  This one definitely beats out a few of the albums I put up there.  I think I may have delayed because I saw something about it being heavy on electronics.  With the whole dubstep movement and everything right now, I tend to be doubtful when I see people hype a band as electronic.  This girl is crazy though.  There are times where the music slightly reminds me of Vampire Weekend, and there are other times where her sound reminds me of Bjork.  Ultimately, she has a sound all her own.  The thing that really put me over the top on her was seeing her performance on Jimmy Kimmel.  There are some artists that can do something new and fresh and make it amazing, and she is one of those people.  I of course attached the video below, so you need to see what I’m talking about if you don’t know.

I like to review individual albums and everything, but sometimes I just like to do a big post like this that gives you an overview of a few good albums to look into.  There is a lot of variety amongst these four albums, so there should be a little bit of something for everybody.  Open up your spotify and check a few of these out.  I guarantee you’ll find something you like.

January 19, 2012
Categories: Life, Lyrics . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: Lyrics, Libations, and Life . Comments: 2 Comments

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