If you like Mumford & Sons, thank... America

I think it's fair to say that the band America is best remembered (if they are remembered at all) for their 1972 AM radio hit "Horse with No Name," which is somewhat unfortunate, as that song has not aged as well as the rest of their catalog. That particular song sounds more trite and gimmicky now than it did when it was released, whereas the rest of their songs achieve a timeless blend of acoustic hooks and breezy vocal harmonies that evoke 70s-era California in the best possible way.

No song better illustrates their appealing folk-pop sound than "Ventura Highway," from their 1973 release Homecoming:



In this song, you hear a driving rhythmic insistence, complex minor-to-major chord progressions, a perpetual, jangly background guitar and beautiful vocal harmonies employed only on the choruses.

And if you're thinking any of that sounds familiar, it may have something to do with Mumford & Sons. Listen now to the ubiquitous "Little Lion Man" from their 2009 release Sigh No More:



Again you hear a driving rhythmic insistence paired with complex chord progressions. Again you hear beautiful vocal harmonies employed primarily on the choruses. And where America used a jangly, high-capoed guitar, Mumford & Sons famously uses a banjo to achieve the very same sound.

(It bears noting that America has influenced many bands that have come since. Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger cites them as a huge influence and even helped to produce their 2007 "comeback" album Here & Now.)

So if you like Mumford & Sons, remember... thank America.

It's not summer without Fountains of Wayne

It appears I am going to have to make my peace with my least-favorite month of the year, because on Aug. 2, the new Fountains of Wayne album, Sky Full of Holes, will be released by Yep Roc (love that band, love that label!). Thanks to the ever-wonderful NPR Music, you can listen to a track from the new album right now here.

In the meantime, I highly recommend listening to every other Fountains of Wayne song ever recorded, as they are all little triumphs of power pop confection ideally suited to the summertime.

Need help getting started? Dig deeper than "Stacy's Mom" and "Hey Julie" (though those are both great) with one of my favorites, "Red Dragon Tattoo:"

LTF Playlist: The OC Soundtrack

Over the past few months, I have spent many of my free moments visiting Orange County, Calif., via the magic of DVD boxed set. I realize I'm a couple of years late on the obsession with Seth, Summer, Ryan and Marissa, but that's okay, because the very best part of the show - the music - has held up extremely well.

From an indie lover's standpoint, the OC might be the best television soundtrack ever conceived, and I don't just mean the several volumes issued as "official" soundtracks on CD. I mean that every song chosen to run in the series was great and deserves its own spotlight. There are classics that have been woefully overlooked and mainstream music that was largely misunderstood. There are cutting-edge bands that ran on the series 2 years ago or 4 years ago that are just now beginning to get the airplay they deserve. There is Journey.

So in the interest of paying homage to this most seminal TV music lineup, I have compiled a new LTF Playlist: The OC Soundtrack.

It's such an extensive catalog that I'm still adding to the playlist, but I have enough to get you started, including songs by the Eels, Jem, Mazzy Star, Thicke, Fountains of Wayne, Guster, Iron and Wine, and Seth's absolute favorite band - Death Cab for Cutie, among many others.

Just click the player at right and give it a spin! (And check back as I continue to update the playlist!)

Oh, and...: For more music from the OC, visit www.musicfromtheoc.com and listen to 6 different mixes, including mix 6, which features indie bands covering the songs of other indie bands.

Still got some work to do

So those who know this blog know of my total admiration for and adoration of Fountain's of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger - I've said it before but I'll say it again: I think he is absolutely the best pop songwriter and producer working right now.

So it shouldn't have come as such a surprise to find out that he was in charge of most of the music for the Hugh Grant/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy Music and Lyrics, especially since I specifically remember reading reviews at the time that mentioned how surprisingly good the music was from this otherwise mediocre movie.

I Netflixed it recently and completely agree with the reviewers - the music is surprisingly good (Schlesinger is no stranger to writing clever pop music for movies - prior to this, he wrote songs for the Josie and the Pussycats movie as well as the hit single from That Thing You Do! which went out to place in the actual Top 40 charts.)

But the best surprise to me was a track playing over the closing credits by the band America, whose comeback album Schlesinger was also producing around the same time as this movie came out. The track is called "Work To Do" and it's included on that album, called Here & Now (and also well worth checking out.)

But to hear it now, check out this movie montage of Music and Lyrics set to the song:

Happy Birthday Lost Things Found!!!

One year ago today, I put finger to keyboard, drafted a loose mission statement and started the music blog we have all come to love - Lost Things Found. One hundred and twenty-seven posts later, it's time to celebrate that milestone with a customized LTF playlist! Click the FineTune player to the right to hear a sampling of songs I've blogged about in the first year of this little project. Everything from Cee-Lo to Sara Bareilles to Fountains of Wayne - from Joni Mitchell and Nina Simone to Spoon and Wilco. And everything in between.

I set out with this project to highlight music that I think is exceptional in one way or another, music I think more people should hear and love. And in doing that, I ended up with a pretty great playlist. So cue up the player and enjoy!

And here's to another year of beautiful, inspiring, exceptional music.

JPP Review: Fountains of Wayne "Traffic and Weather"

Latest Just Press Play review is for Fountains of Wayne's Traffic and Weather.

As usual, here's the first 'graph:

Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger is the hardest-working and most underrated pop tunesmith working today. When he’s not co-writing all of Fountains of Wayne’s songs (with Chris Collingwood), producing their albums, or playing keys, bass, guitar and singing backup, he’s doing the same thing for his other hugely successful indie-rock band, Ivy. And in his free time, he exercises his profoundly adept producing touch on such albums as America’s comeback, Here & Now.

For the rest, go here.

Here's the video for the first single, "Somebody to Love:"



And because life doesn't get any better than this, Adam and Chris of Fountains of Wayne sing back up on "Calendar Girl" with Neil Sedaka at a cabaret show. I love everything about that sentence.

Bonnaroo Radio

If, like me, you missed music festival Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn., last weekend, fret not. AT&T's Blue Room is currently streaming "Bonaroo radio" featuring live performances recorded backstage at Bonnaroo. (Click on "Listen Now" to the left and then toggle to "Bonnaroo."

There were TONS of great bands at the festival, including Wilco, Kings of Leon, Regina Spektor, Spoon, Fountains of Wayne, Feist, and Mavis Staples. The Police headlined.

I'm not seeing any archived video up on the Blue Room site yet, but I'll keep you updated. In the meantime, enjoy the stream.

Somebody to love

I have news for British pop sensation Mika: if you don't want to be compared to Freddie Mercury, well... don't compare yourself to Freddie Mercury. On his MySpace page, he says of his music, "Think Beck via Queen..." and on the first track on his new CD, he sings, "I tried to be Grace Kelly/ but her looks were too sad/ So I tried a little Freddie..."

That said, he does sound like Freddie Mercury - and in my book, that's awesome. In fact, the best parts of the album are the parts where he unabashedly borrows Queen's theatricality, tracks like "Grace Kelly," "Love Today," "Big Girl (You are Beautiful)", and "Happy Ending."

The album is a bit inconsistent, swinging from clever pop-tronica (all of the above-mentioned) to generic New Wave rehash ("Relax") to sappy political ballads replete with strings and a children's chorale("Any Other World").

But when Mika channels Freddie Mercury, the results are irresistible - and it makes you realize the true greatness of Queen.

(By the way: I consider Mika to be a member of the new school of what I have named "happy-pop" - after years of maudlin, whiny, emo-tinged radio pop, I think we are finally seeing the natural reaction against that. Think OKGO, Scissor Sisters, Fountains of Wayne, Apples in Stereo... It's all peppy, major-chord music. Happy-pop. And I am a big fan.)

Happy, happy news

Two weeks in, and I am still loving 2007! The latest happy news?

Fountains of Wayne has a new album scheduled to be released April 3. (Ignore the incorrect release date in the article.) It's called Traffic and Weather, and since I know that Fountains of Wayne can do no wrong, I can already tell you it's awesome, even though I haven't heard it yet.

Let the countdown to April 3 begin.

To bide your time while you wait, pick up a copy of Out of State Plates, a double-disc collections of B-sides, imports and novelty songs. Highlights include the rollicking "Maureen," the surprisingly sweet "I Know You Well" and the cover of Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time."

SO excited about this

I am lucky to have lots of friends who have great taste in music. One of them who is probably the most influential in opening my eyes to great music, both old and new, once told me a story about her best friend, who was a huge fan of the band America in high school. She was such a big fan that she wrote them a fan letter, and they were so past their prime and happy to have a high-school-age fan that they actually wrote back!

I'd like to think that experience had some influence on their decision to make an album with some of the hottest young musical talent out there right now. The album, called Here and Now, will be released Jan. 16 (one week from today!) and is produced by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Ivy, who is, in my opinion, one of the greatest pop songwriters/producers alive today. Guest stars on the double-disc set include Ryan Adams and Ben Kweller and the track listing includes some interesting covers, including songs by (another fave of mine) My Morning Jacket and Nada Surf.

Stereogum has posted one of the tracks already, and I love it!

I'm so glad to see a talented band expanding musically and reaching a new audience -
I cannot wait for this release!

Update: To see some behind-the-scenes video of the making of the album, visit the official Web site. How cool to hear that Gerry Beckley is an equally big Adam Schlesinger fan!

Double update: Listen to three tracks from the new album at America's MySpace page!

Cheap CDs - What's Not to Love?

So, if you haven't discovered the "Blowout Bin" at amazon.com, check it out now. They have over 3,500 titles for under $10 and they run the gamut from INXS to Death Cab for Cutie to Mos Def to the Blind Boys of Alabama and beyond. Unlike a lot of other discount CD sites, it includes new albums alongside classics, buzz bands and little-known gems, and surprisingly few soundtrack and compilation clunkers (although who knew that Glory: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was still out there?

What's in my shopping cart? Out of State Plates by Fountains of Wayne, American Myth by Jackie Greene, The Definitive Collection by Steely Dan, and The Diary of Alicia Keys.