Turn it up to 10, and start it up again

You all know how much I love Hall & Oates (counting the days until their concert at the Chicago Theatre this summer!), so how could I resist checking out The Bird and the Bee's Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates, which is currently a $5 download at Amazon?

But I was also nervous that, like so many cover songs, this would not be able to hold a candle to the original. So I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that The Bird and the Bee's Greg Kurstin and Inara George must be equally big fans of Hall and Oates as I. How else could they have so wisely chosen to record mostly 80s-era H&O, which lends itself brilliantly to the subtly updated electronic-pop arrangements? How else could George's gorgeously lilting vocals so perfectly match - note for note! - Daryl's Hall's sexy phrasing?

Listen to "Heard It on the Radio" at their MySpace page.

And then check out this live performance of "Sara Smile" (and catch an adorably pregnant Inara George!):

Still all I got is love for you

I've missed you, LTF-ers! Life got crazy for a bit there, but I'm back. And there's so much wonderful music to talk about.

Let's start with Tyler James's fantastic It Took the Fire. Gorgeous 70s-style, soul-infused pop straight out of Nashville.

According to James's MySpace page, the album was recorded on a piano once played by Elvis. Like fellow vintage soul-pop-folk songstress Diane Birch (more on her later), the sound is both authentic and fresh at the same time, and the sound is appealingly organic and analog-sounding in a digital world. You can practically hear the needle drop at the beginning of the record.

An early standout track is the phenomenal "All I Got." Check out this live in-studio recording using only an old-school Casio keyboard for accompaniment:



PS. Thanks Paste Sampler!

Bill Joel, 1978

Let us not forget, despite the sad downward spiral that is his life and career, that Billy Joel is an INCREDIBLY talented man:

Free Download Tuesday

Those of you who follow the blog know of my love/hate relationship with Coldplay. I kind of can't stand their bloated, self-important whiny Brit-pop, but then they come out with "Viva La Vida," which I have always grudgingly admitted is the greatest pop single of the past decade.

Due to my Coldplay-centric inner conflict, I have never actually purchased a Coldplay album, but now that Coldplay is offering a free download of their new live album as a thank-you to fans, I am powerless to resist. (I am a sucker for a free download, and this one does feature a live version of "Viva.")

Follow this link to download leftrightleftrightleft.

And while we're on the subject of free downloads, Vampire Weekend's first single from their upcoming album is available via this link, thanks to the greatest radio station in the world, 93 XRT.

Live from Austin, via Hulu

If you couldn't make it to the Austin City Limits festival this year, Hulu is here to rescue you. They're currently streaming live and delayed performances from Austin via this link. Today's schedule includes Airborne Toxic Event, Bon Iver and The Decemberists. Tomorrow look for Passion Pit, Ben Harper and the Relentless 7, and the B-52s, among others.

I've heard Hulu also plan to compile a "Best Of..." selection on Monday as well. It's the next best thing to fighting the heat and crowds in Texas. Or... maybe even better?

A thousand hugs from 10,000 lightning bugs

Scanning the Red Eye today, I saw that Grey's Anatomy darling Kate Havnevick was opening for a band called Owl City last night at Metro in Chicago. Intrigued, I headed over to Owl City's Myspace Page and was quickly blown away.

Bright Eyes-style, Owl City appears to be the name of a one-man band, and that one man is Adam Young, a Minnesota native who creates the perfect poptronica sound I've been hoping for in other bands like Phoenix, Mute Math, and Passion Pit but have always been slightly disappointed by. Until now.

Among Young's listed inspirations are Imogen Heap, Sigur Ros, Cary Grant and optimism, four of my favorite things, so I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that I love every single track I've heard so far. Young has a very similar voice to Ben Gibbard's (of Death Cab and Postal Service, among other indie exploits), but unlike Gibbard, Young uses his child-like, speak-songish tenor to perfect effect, balancing it with clean, light, happy, major-key electronic pop arrangements that get in your ears and bounce around happy in your brain for hours.

Further research revealed that Owl City's major-label debut album, Ocean Eyes, has a perfect five-star rating from 73 reviewers on Amazon, and the show at Metro was sold out last night, so the secret is out on Young, and yet somehow no one has ever heard of Owl City yet, either. If you fall into the latter camp, do yourself a favor and fix that situation.

Check out this witty video for "Fireflies" (it features a Speak 'N Spell!).

If he wanna rock, he rocks; if he wanna roll, he rolls...

One big benefit to Conan taking over the Tonight Show is that the musical guests seem to have come up a notch. I caught Eric Hutchinson there, on an otherwise unremarkable Friday night a couple of months ago, and fell in love so instantly and totally that I went out and bought his album without hearing another track on it. I was not disappointed.

On Sounds Like This..., Hutchinson combines the neo-Rat Pack vocal stylings of Michael Buble or Jamie Cullum with an irresistible, acoustic singer-songwriter pop sound with hooks that don't quit.

Favorites include the album opener "Ok, It's Alright with Me," a musical Zen meditation that hints at the difficulties Hutchinson faced in putting out this album (hint: it took over five years and three labels,) "Food Chain," and "Rock & Roll", (which in my opinion would make an excellent soundtrack for another obsession of mine, "Gossip Girl.")

Don't believe me? Watch the video for "Rock & Roll" and fall in love yourself.