Please watch the above video, you will not be disappointed. It’s Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan performing 9 Crimes live on The Tonight Show. If I had to use one word to describe this performance it would be ‘haunting.’
Damien Rice has always held my mind captive. It’s as if his voice demands that I listen to what he’s saying, even if it’s a song about Eskimos. There’s a certain plaintive quality to his voice, a sense of urgency that says “if you don’t listen, I just might fade away to nothing.” And so I listen, and so should you. He really is a great song writer, and apparently he has great stage presence as well.
I’m basically posting to say that The Hype Machine has finally sorted out whatever issue they were having with my blog. Well, allegedly they’ve sorted it out. So that’s good news.
In other randomness the next installment of the EA Mixes is ready to go, expect thirteen songs of yummy goodness to appear up here before this weekend. I’ve been working on that a lot lately so I haven’t really had a chance to write small articles. Check below this post for some great stuff by Forgather, Zach Williams, and a weird Jay Z / Chris Martin collaboration.
Oh, and so as not to leave you high and dry, here’s a little bit of music to hold you over.
Normally I don’t play much to the hip hop crowd. I do like Kanye, Jay Z, Outkast, and The Fugees, but it’s not really my style to post about them. That is until Jay Z teamed up with one unlikely suspect for a song on his newest album. That suspect being Chris Martin of Coldplay. It’s still Brooklyn this and Brooklyn that on the album with all of the standard Jay Z hooks and rhymes, but for one solid song Chris Martin was there not only with some creative music arrangements but Chris also produced the song.
Kudos to both of you boys for trying something new. I just hope Chris doesn’t have Jay Z return the favor on the next Coldplay album. Please.
Broc Stanage is the creative influence behind indie folk outfit Forgather. His myspace page is sparse, simple, and yet there is an elegance to be found in the minimalist nature of it all. And that’s really what defines his music. Simple stories, complex points of narration [on his latest song he portrays Meriwether Lewis writing letters to President Jefferson], and great acoustic folk sounds.
He sounds incredible, and with a proper studio and production Broc could easily fit in on such labels as Asthmatic Kitty or the newly formed The Apple Union.
So I’ve discovered that it’s not my filehost that’s causing the issues. There’s something wrong or screwy with The Hype Machine. It’s not picking up my posts nor is it finding my posted mp3′s. In fact it’s not realizing that I update my blog at all.
So that’s why I’ve been taking a break lately.
Elbo.ws still recognizes everything I put up… I wonder when Hype will get back on track. It seems as if they’re having this problem with most of their bloggers.
So I was looking through my list of single songs the other day and I came across this little story by Sufjan Stevens. Most of his songs are stories, but this one is especially so. He wrote this song, The Lord God Bird, in response to a challenge thrown down by witty NPR dj’s who didn’t think he was all that amazing. And he handedly proved them wrong by walking into this small bayou town with only a few interviews and a guitar and emerging two weeks later with a ridiculously great song.
And I know this song is old news, it’s probably even been blogged about over a hundred times. But with something this good it never hurts to bring it up and host it again. The first mp3 is the actual song Sufjan wrote and the second song is the twelve minute segment about the song that originally aired on NPR.
I’m not sure if this band is still a band. I’m not sure what’s going on in their lives or where they went after a key member split off to go solo. There doesn’t seem to be anything more recent than June 11th, 2005 pictures on the website, and a myspace site is missing in action.
All that being said I still like the sound The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir puts out. I first saw them live when they opened for aging alt-rockers Wheat three years ago in Indy. They clearly stole the show. Since then they’ve released one indie record, I Bet You Say That to All The Boys, and have played a slew of little shows with the likes of Death Cab and The Long Winters. If you’re curious about them, that’s their scene.
Let me say what I’ve been saying for a couple of months now. Zach Williams is amazing. His music, his style, his lyrics, all things together combine to form music that is both interesting, personal, and original.
I would place Mr. Williams alongside such artists as Page France, Asher Lev, or Sufjan Stevens, all of whom he shares a faith and a similar sound with. A certain type of new folk sound with a lot of indie darling credibility. Acoustic yes, raw yes, delicate and intricate double yes. Although I cannot seem to find the exact words to accurately describe his music I would say that above all things Zach’s music is quality.
And on top of musical talent Mr. Williams has the knack of meeting and warming to people like they’re old friends. A friend of mine recently met Zach after his show at Rockwood in NYC and had nothing but warm things to say of their brief encounter. If you check out Zach’s myspace account, which I highly recommend as it’s regularly updated, you’ll find many people that not only love his music but have formed some sort of personal connection with the man behind the music. That’s actually where I met him.
Mark my words, this man will be huge. All he needs now is a little attention.
So while I wait to get my file host woes sorted out [currently working on a couple of fixes] I thought I would at least post something new. This is old news, but maybe old is the new new. I’m not sure, and yes I am confused.
Anyway, you all deserve to get in the holiday mood and listen to the magic that is Sufjan Stevens’ Songs for Christmas.
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