This week's music downloads showcase a few diverse offerings from my collection. We start with a track from a recent album that came out earlier this year, followed by one from an older disc that is quickly become a classic for me. And finally, a little ditty by everyone's favorite original boybander, JT.
Andrew Bird :: Tables and Chairs
hxxp://s37.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2KVPURPB6RCP00ROKVQOEUE6FM
Mr. Bird is a quirky artist whose music I only just discovered on his most recent release, The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005). On this album he uses an incredible range of instrumentation, from his trademark violin to his "professional" whistling, to create grandiose pieces that are unlike anything you've heard before. (Rather, I should say, unlike anything I've heard before.)
On "Tables and Chairs," the personal highlights are Andrew on his violin and the use of a vibraphone throughout the song, and an amazing lyrical verse and its reference to snacks. Lyrics posted below:
i know we're going to meet some day
in the crumbled financial institutions of this land
there will be tables and chairs
there'll be pony rides and dancing bears
there'll even be a band
cause listen, after the fall there will be no more countries
no currencies at all, we're gonna live on our wits
we're gonna throw away survival kits,
trade butterfly-knives for adderal
and that's not all
whoa-oh, there will be snacks there will
there will be snacks, there will be snacks.
Whiskeytown :: Jacksonville Skyline
hxxp://s46.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0CWGT5HZNYZFG3W2MHRV8S3H7M
Whiskeytown was Ryan Adams's band before he went solo. This track is off the album Pneumonia (2001), which incidentally was released after Ryan Adams's first solo album, Heartbreaker (2000), after being buried away for a few years after it was recorded. I'm sure glad it saw the light, though. This is definitely one of my favorite albums. Perfect for a certain kind of mood-- those slow living, easy going days. While I really don't like categorizing things (in part because I find it so difficult-- everything influences everything these days), this album fits solidly into the "alt-country" genre, if there is such a thing. "Jacksonville Skyline" is an excellent song and certainly one of the album highlights. While a fairly simple ballad, something about it gives me that kind of satisfying feeling inside, which I can't say for too many songs. When Ryan starts the line, Soldiers filled the hotels on the weekend..., that's when it kicks in gear for me. The best line of the song, though, is probably Well I was born in an abundance of inherited sadness, if only because you know he means it and it's probably true. It's great to hear him sing with such sincerity about his hometown; it gives you a sense of nostalgia and longing for your own past, despite the fact that he's singing about North Carolina.
Justin Timberlake :: Never Again
hxxp://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0DSALGZ3LP1D33TTZIM2YJ8EGY
Just so I'm never accused as being a little indie snob who's forgotten the good ol' stuff I listened to in my early teens, I thought I'd give a little love to Justin Timberlake, who so successfully made the transition from teenybopper to respectable artist/performer. Now, we all know the singles off Justified (2002)-- Cry Me A River, Senorita, etc..-- but I realize few people (I guess those who either didn't own the album or make it to the last track) actually heard one of my favorite songs off the album, "Never Again." Aside from heartfelt lyrics to make you want to pick up your phone and call Justin to chat about his broken heart (Britney, "all you had to do was apologize!!" Geeeeez...), this track is great because it was co-produced by Brian McKnight himself. This fact is fairly apparent after listening to the song... the piano, the killer bridge, the overall flow of the ballad. In any case, listen to this one and you'll officially turn your back on Britney. Not that both of them aren't better off in their new lives...
Enjoy! Hopefully all the yousendits work this time...
Current Music: Casimir Pulaski Day, by Sufjan Stevens
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment