Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

It’s always incredible to me when you look back at the work of Michael Jackson, and you realize how amazing his total body of work has been.  He may be the king of pop, but the bottom line is that the songs he crafted appealed to a much wider range than any standard pop song would today. I don’t have the same stigma as most people do with Michael Jackson, but every time I hear his name, it just saddens me.  Surely, nobody wants to be that crazy and get that much attention for it.

Check out his (musical) body of work.

Listen to “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”

Listen to “Wanna Be Startin’ Something“

I just wanted to take this chance to say thank you to all my readers.  I know I’ve been a little negligent as of late.  Things have been busy, to say the least. But I’m making an earnest attempt to keep it up.

So Thank you!

Listen to The Redwalls – “Thank You”

Listen to Gotye – “Thanks for Your Time” (a satirical thank you on behalf of Australia’s Wally DeBacker)

We last heard of Sonya Kitchell way back in ’06 when she was just a 16-year-old crafting a hell of a debut Words Come Back to Me.  Fast forward two and a half years and Kitchell is out with an even more impressive followup The Storm.  Indeed, the album is aptly titled, with Kitchell channeling more charged, jazz-folk-pop melodies that showcase her incredible vocal talents.  In listening to Kitchell, I’m still amazed by the candor, the sincerity, and the wisdom in her lyrics–it juse baffles me how someone so young can put together something so coherent and beautiful.

In her own soft rasp, Kitchell exudes confidence on The Storm.  Whereas she seemed more hesitant to pull out the stops on her debut, Kitchell seems less restrained and bridled.  Perhaps the greatest difference here is the amount of instrumentation on The Storm–most notably, there is more of it.  Like the sun’s parabolic path through the sky, the songs on The Storm have more of an arcing beauty to them than the linear dimension on Words Come Back to Me.  The opening track “For Every Drop” starts out like Sea and Cake sound with its brushy rhythms and breezy tones, but then opens up into a grand piano, guitar and bass-driven ditty.  There’s plenty of crescendo here, something that gets delightfully relayed to the listener. The bells and slow-rolling bass of the folkier “Here to There” is balanced excellently by the comical tenor sax and distorted harmonica.  “Fire” is a fast-burning bluesy track that smolders red hot from the intensity of Kitchell’s penetrating vocals, and will have you seeing “Fire / Fire” along with her.  But Kitchell also showcases her penchant for slow ballads as well, with the debut-like delicacy of “Robin in the Snow” and the Emiliana Torrini-esque “Soldier’s Lament”.  The Storm, in essence, is Kitchell’s bridge from one stage to the next–or to reinvoke the sun metaphor, it’s her transition from one day to the next.  The Storm‘s sun has set. Now Kitchell faces the challenge that every sun has to face: what do you do when you dip below the horizon?  It’ll be great to see what she does next….

Get a copy of The Storm.

Listen to “For Every Drop”

Listen to “Here to There“

One of CSV‘s all-time favorite innovators and ammalgamators of sound goes by the moniker J Ralph.  Quirky and eccentric, Ralph has always delivered tracks with a keen sense for rhythm and rhyme.  He is famous for having no formal music training (can’t read or write music), but I find it hard to believe when he was able to compose a masterpiece for a 99-piece orchestra and conduct.  Let’s just appreciate the talent that is J Ralph.

Hear a piece by NPR on his Ralphness.

From Lucky Number Slevin soundtrack “Kansas City Shuffle”

From Music to Mauzner By (under the name Spy) “One Million Miles Away“

The critical acclaim around the Annuals has always sparked my interest, but never really satiated my appetite for good tunes.

I thought I would share a couple of tracks, though, and let you decide for yourself.  Happy Friday!!

Get a copy of Such Fun.

Listen to “Hot Night Hounds”

Listen to “Down the Mountain“

It’s one thing when all your myspace friends are cats/kittens. It’s another thing when all the kitsch actually amounts to something. Fortunately, both apply for the UK duo of Carim Clasmann and Galia Durant that make up Psapp.  The savory tones of Durant’s vocals melded with the ecletic instruments of Clasmann’s invention have given rise to the term ‘toytronica’ to describe their style.  But to pin Psapp into this proverbial corner only emphasizes the superficial kitsch and novelty to Psapp’s work.  While certainly this remains a significant part of their appeal, this ignores the complexity and sophistication that lie at the heart of what Psapp does.

And their fourth proper LP The Camel’s Back couldn’t be more indicative of such.  The album title seems to allude to the straw that breaks the camel’s back–could this be a statement by the band about their own style? Is it losing its uniqueness? Perhaps this album is to be the one that ‘breaks the camel’s back’, the one that is just too much to handle. To me, rather, it seems that this album is ever more so an affirmation (a culmination, if you will) of what Psapp has done thus far.  It is a defiant statement, a declaration, a strengthening (?) of the camel’s back.

To use words like eclectic and quirky are not helpful in defining the songs on The Camel’s Back, and would ultimately overlook the amazing breadth within those classifications that Psapp fills.  “I Want That” is a conglomeration of non-sequitur sounds, an unbridled explosion varying noises–and yet this entropy is harnessed in by Durant’s sweet, sultry voice to a delightful effect.  More discipline is shown on the stringed “Part Like Waves”, a delicate epic of a track that somehow tiptoes silently into your ear and runs out the other. The lowdown swing of “Fickle Ghost” carries a dissonant air, contrasted with the playful, less emotive “The Monster Song”.  The pulsing hypnotism of “Fix It” is as infectious a song as you’re going to hear, followed by the boisterous “Mister Ant”, only to conclude with the French ragtime of “Parker”.

So stop reading.  Get the album!

You can get a free track if you sign up for their mailing list.

Listen to “Fix It”

Listen to “Part Like Waves“

I thought this was way too awesome not to share.  Google is now hosting TIME-LIFE photos since 1880.  Pretty amazing what Google has done, I have to say. Way to go world!

Check it out here.

Coldplay – The World Turned Upside Down

So my theory about the content of the Hype Machine being heavily focused on remixes is turning out to be true.  Yesterday, I posted a few remixes that I happen to like — there aren’t many that really get me going — and popularity on the site spiked significantly.  This is basically an experiment to determine how to get into the top 50 of hyped tracks on the Hype Machine.  For those of you not aware of this, go here.  It wasn’t this easy before, but it seems that posting a few remixes will do the trick these days.  That’s what the people want, I guess.

For those of you who landed here from The Hype Machine, all I ask is take a look around the site and see if you like anything that isn’t a remix.  Like Men’s Warehouse, I guarantee you’ll find something you like.

Listen to “Coldplay – Clocks (DJ Sandstorm Remix)”

Listen to “Coldplay – Viva La Vida (WAHP Remix)“

No, not Bowie.  I featured Stuart Price on this blog before, under both his monikers of Jacques Lu Cont and Thin White Duke, and I’m doing it again!

Also, has anyone noticed what the hype machine has turned into? There is no diversity anymore.  All the top 50 tracks are basically remixes.  I’m actually seeing if this post can get on to the top 50, just to prove my suspicions right.

And I Just thought you might like some new-ish remixes from Price.

Listen to “Madonna – Get Together (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)”

Listen to “Seal – Amazing (Thin White Duke Remix)”

Listen to “The Faint – The Conductor (Thin White Duke Remix)“

I can’t begin to tell you how long I’ve been meaning to listen to this album! The Belfast artist Foy Vance has already been featured a couple of times on music-heavy TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, and it had surprised me that Vance hasn’t entirely broken through the barrier of the big ol’ pond known as the Atlantic Ocean.  But never mind that, for he will presently infiltrate your ears and achieve cochlear dominance!

Foy Vance released his first full length effort Hope over a year ago, highlighting his unique fusion of soulful vocals, bluesy instrumentation, and troubadour lyrics.  Perhaps most surprising upon listening to the faux-Irishman is the incredibly lush vocals coming from a man whose present nation is characterized by strong brogues. His voice seems entirely made for blend of folk-soul–ranging from lush and resplendent (“Hope, Peace, & Love”) to brooding and dark (“Doesn’t Take a Whole Day”).  The backing musical elements run an even wider gamut–jazzy riffs, bluesy basslines, Southern folk, and gospel tones. The truth is that Vance grew up Oklahoma and spent significant time in Alabama and Louisiana (New Orleans to be exact)–there is no doubt that the musical influences of these places show up prominently in Hope. The fairy tale that is “If You Could Only See Yourself Like I See You” illustrates Vance’s delicate sensitivity, not to mention his knack for crafting elegant ballads.  “Gabriel & The Vagabond” features the storytelling talents of Vance at his best, along with delicious pianos that befall the ears when the words ‘Halleluyah’ ring out. “First of July” is the finest showcase of Vance’s lilting vocals, as it dips and dives with the precision of falcon and the grace of a dove.  The dreamy “Elshaneed” is best drunk in the nighttime, perhaps with the lights on dim, recalling the stylings of George Winston.

“Hope, Peace, & Love” finds itself in a completely different realm, with its charging guitar riff and shifty bass backing the meditating Vance until the song burts outward with salutatory drums and more urgent vocals.  Vance does his best of channeling Otis Redding on his “Shed A Little Light”, an absolutely uplifting track infused with soul and – dare I say – hope.  Surely the highest of the album’s many peaks, “Shed A Little Light” dazzles not only with his infectious melody but also with its inherent wit:

Shed a little light so I can find you
Don’t let darkness hide you from my face
I’ve got a light that is sure to find you
But it might just blind you before that baby.

Brilliant, I tell you. But you’re smart-tell for yourself! Get a copy of Hope.

Listen to “Shed A Little Light”

Listen to “Hope, Peace & Love“