They're streaming the debut from Dublin-based R&B singer Laura Ibizor over at AOL Music and it's definitely worth a listen. It's a flawlessly produced combination of soul, gospel, classic R&B and pop, perfect for lazy summer nights with all the windows open.
Unlike some of the other soul-infused efforts to come out of the British Isles recently, this doesn't feel nostalgic - it's perfectly current and yet timeless at the same time. Check it out.
Those of you who follow the blog regularly know of my undying devotion to Paste Magazine. They have impeccable musical taste and they love to share new music with their readership - every single issue of Paste comes with a 20-song sampler of new music. I've discovered some of my favorite new bands thanks to those editorial ears.
But right now, Paste needs our help! It would only take $1 from every single person on their email list to keep the magazine alive through the current economic crisis, and as an incentive to make a donation, Paste has posted more than 70 exclusive music tracks that all become yours - FREE! - when you make a donation to help keep Paste alive.
It is a star-studded roster of indie music, all yours for FREE when you donate as little as $1. Pretty amazing, right? Artists include Ben Folds, Bettye LaVette, Brandi Carlile, Cowboy Junkies, G. Love and Special Sauce, Gomez, Greg Laswell, Jamie Lidell, Josh Ritter, Katie Herzig, Loney Dear, Marc Broussard, Matt Nathanson, Meiko, Matthew Sweet, Neko Case, Of Montreal, Over the Rhine, Rosie Thomas, Robert Pollard, She & Him, the Decemberists and SO many more.
All this for as little as $1, and it's for a great cause. So come on, everyone, let's SAVE PASTE!
I've been nostalgic for high school lately, which led me back to Dave Matthews Band and their first two major-label albums, Under the Table and Dreaming and Crash. It's hard to explain to people now, but at the time, in the atonal, minor-chord angry-pop world of post-grunge, Dave Matthews really did sound revolutionary. His return to complex major key melodies and polyphonic harmonies was such a welcome respite to the simplistic emotive punk of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Live (et. al.) It's easy to dismiss that contribution now, but it had a major impact on pop music that still resonates 15 years later.
In revisiting this welcome return to musicality, I discovered that Dave Matthews Band has a new album coming out on June 2 called Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, and you can listen to an exclusive track right now on Pandora. The album is a memorial to fallen band member Leroi Moore, and it feels like a return to DMB's earliest material, which was a true collaboration among musical equals.
While there, check out a couple of videos of the band in the studio, where they talk about the difficulty of losing Leroi and how his death brought them all back together in the studio. (Loved the shot of Dave talking about how much "the hippies will love this!")
From his earliest albums, Ben Folds has always exuded a certain college-rock vibe. (Whatever and Ever Amen provided the soundtrack to an entire month of my freshman year, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.) Capitalizing on that quality, Folds has recruited the help of college students on his latest album, University A Cappella, which is actually a collection of covers of his songs performed by college a cappella groups from around the country.
Groups "auditioned" for the gig by posting video to YouTube - Folds himself picked the winners, who represent UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Chapel Hill, Ohio University, the University of Georgia, Washington University, Sacramento State, the University of Chicago, the University of Colorado, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania at West Chester, the University of Rochester and UW-Eau Claire, as well as one lucky high school in Newton, Mass. Then Folds added two new songs written specifically for the album (he sings all of the parts.)
The result is quirky, it's creative, and it's infectiously likeable, just like the rest of Folds' work. Highlights include "Not the Same," as interpreted by the UNC-Greensboro Spartones, "Landed" as interpreted by the University of Chicago Buffoons and "Fair" as interpreted by the UW-Eau Claire Fifth Element.
If you occasionally find yourself nostalgic (as I do) for the strange tradition that is college a cappella, for that mix of raw vocal power and prankster ridiculousness, then here is the answer.
To hear two songs from the album, visit his MySpace page.
To get an idea of how he recorded the groups and watch a behind-the-scenes look at the college a cappella world, check out this 15-minute "making of" documentary:
I first heard Gavin Degraw several years ago in his very first television appearance, on Last Call with Carson Daly. (I think he and Carson were friends from way back, if I remember correctly, which is how he landed the gig.) I was immediately impressed by his bluesy piano-heavy style, but he didn't even have an album out yet, so I went out and downloaded a bunch of his live stuff.
Of those live songs, one of my absolute favorites was "Dancing Shoes," which has finally made it onto one of his albums - the recently released Free.
Here he is performing a beautifully sleepy version of that song on Regis and Kelly:
I'm also digging his self-titled 2008 album, which is much poppier and heavily produced, in a good way - it's pure ear candy. (This is the album that spawned the radio hit "In Love with a Girl," though I think there are several songs on the album that are even better top-40 radio hit material, such as "Next to Me," "Cop Stop," and "Untamed.")
Degraw's music is such a likeable mix of blue-eyed soul, blues and piano singer-songwriter, it's hard not to love.
As evidence, here's a live version of "Meaning," my favorite song from his first album:
It may be four hours long, but the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers doc "Runnin' Down a Dream" is the best two nights of television I've spent in a long time. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, this comprehensive documentary chronicles the entire life of the legendary rock star and his iconic backing band. You'll learn that before they were Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, they were a country-rock band called Mudcrutch (under a slightly different lineup) whose first album tanked hardcore.
The first third of the doc is my favorite - you see the kinetic power of the young band as they go from obscurity to darlings of the British club scene to major American megastars. There is no shortage of sheer magical serendipity in the story of their formation and their initial record contract. You get the feeling that this band was literally destined to be successful.
But the power of the documentary is in its completeness. The story of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers has a little bit of everything - addiction, battles with the record company, creative genius, wild travel, music videos, crazed fans, infighting, reconciliation and, of course, heartbreak. But through it all shines the zen soul of Tom Petty himself, who in his reflections and interviews sounds more like a Buddhist sage than a rock star from the Deep South.
The doc runs so long because Bogdanovich is not afraid to let the music speak for itself. He includes tons of live footage, sometimes whole songs at a time, preferring to let the power of "American Girl," "Free Fallin'," "Learnin' to Fly," "Won't Back Down," and "The Waiting," (among many others) make the point for him.
I was extra thrilled by this doc because, after spending four hours absorbing the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers story, Bogdanovich chooses to close on an anecdote from Eddie Vedder about a joint show they did in Milwaukee - and I just happened to be at that show! (I feel strangely immortalized in film as a result.)
Don't let the long running time scare you away - this doc is not just for diehard fans. In many ways, it tells the story of every rock band and it gives a clear picture of the changes that took place in the music business between the late 1970s and the present day. It is as much a documentary about music history in general as it is about one specific band. (MTV Executive Bill Flanagan is interviewed in this doc and without exception, every single thing he says about the music industry and the Heartbreakers specifically is stunningly insightful.)
As a sample, check out this clip about "The Waiting:"
Seriously, watch the whole doc. And when you're done, make sure you own Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Greatest Hits.
