I’m sorry to be writing this, but I feel I need to at least post something here on The World Forgot. Life has become more than a little hectic in the past few months and I’ll be taking a bit of a break from the normal pace of writing four or five pieces a week on TWF. I’ve moved to a new city, started a new job, and amongst other things my free time {of which I used to have copious amounts} has become somewhat marginalized in the process.
This upcoming weekend, hopefully, I’ll finally be moving into my own apartment which will be an easy walking distance from both my job and the gym I use. After that it’ll hopefully be a short wait until internet access is online and I once again can resume my position of clever music maven. Until then rest assured that you, dear readers, are not forgotten and I do not aim to continue neglecting you. I will return.
Published in aaron gillespie,
anthony raneri,
beatles,
cover,
dustin kensrue,
indie,
jon foreman,
josh moore,
live,
mp3,
music,
twloha and
zach williams .
A few months back a musician I admire and utmost respect for contacted me to say that he was going to be playing a show hosted by the group To Write Love On Her Arms. I didn’t really think much of it at the time, largely due to the fact that I wasn’t able to phsyically attend the show, but I was very excited to hear that my friend Zach Williams was finally getting a little recognition.
For those of you who have missed out I honestly think Zach Williams has a brilliant career ahead of him as a singer and songwriter. His stories are intimate and classic and his style feels effortless. Undoubtably he puts a lot of thought, life, sweat, and tears into each of his creations and at the end of the day his art is better for it. There have recently been rumours that Zach is possibly working on releasing a proper album and I must add that that upcoming day cannot come soon enough. For now, I presume, we will try and remain content with what little offerings we can find.
mp3 : Zach Williams, Josh Moore, Anthony Raneri, Dustin Kensrue, Aaron Gillespie, Jon Foreman - With A Little Help From My Friends (Beatles Cover)
If you’ve listened to anything by Zach before you’ll easily be able to hear his voice on this track. I’m glad he was able to play with a great group or artists and I’m proud that they, in turn, played with him.
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If you don’t really recognize the name Lisa Hannigan it’s not your fault. A lot of her amazing work, and wealth of talent, has come as the backing singer to Damien Rice. Although, to be fair, I feel as if many of the songs she contributed to with Damien could easily have been listed as duets or at least joint ventures. Well regardless of their obvious musical chemistry awhile back these two parted ways and Lisa did what all singer songwriters do; she struck out on her own and set to work creating something of her own.
mp3 : Lisa Hannigan - Lille
This track will appear on the upcoming album entitled Sea Sew (amazon) (itunes) which will be made publicly available on February 3rd. I haven’t had a chance to preview the rest of the album, but this track alone has made me excited to hear what Lisa has cooked up on her solo effort. Just listening to this song makes me want to go dig up old tracks by Broadway Hush.
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Life has been moving pretty fast lately. Ridiculously fast. Today was no different. Honestly I can’t believe that it’s already Thursday {and I’ll be traveling for the weekend so this is, unfortunately, the last post of this week}.
Anyway, as I was sitting at work today the sometimes awkward tunes of Modest Mouse kept me focused and working hard. To be honest it was one song in particular that really kept my attention today. There’s something about the lyrics of this song that are impressive and abrupt at the same time. There is an urgency in this song that is impossible to ignore.
mp3 : Modest Mouse - Spitting Venom
I love the opening lines and the clever twist of the phrase “We were spitting venom at most everyone we know / If the damned gave us a road map then we’d know just were to go.” But what really makes this song into a brilliant piece of music is the musical break that begins around one and a half minutes into the track. This is music that is meant to be turned up annoyingly loud and blasted throughout your house {or work, if no one else is there}. The musical shift is followed by an equally impressive lyrical onslaught which carries the song for another two minutes before Spitting Venom segues into the third act where atmospheric and fuzzy guitars blend with repeated vocals. Long story short it is simply a good song.
If you’re looking for some more Modest Mouse this track hails from their album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank (amazon) (itunes) and it serves as an excellent starting point to really get to know what Modest Mouse is all about.
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If you’ve enjoyed reading this blog, at all, over the past two years then I reckon at least a part of your heart identifies with mine. And now that I’ve established this as a fact I must tell you, immediately, that you should take a break from your hectic life and see Jason Segel’s performance in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Granted the movie is a bit dumbed down and crass, even sophmoric, at times, but overall it’s a surprisingly well written and well acted piece of dude oriented romantic comedy.
But this is a music blog, and I don’t talk about movies unless there’s music to be heard in them. And let me tell you, not only does this movie have a pretty sweet soundtrack it also contains one of the best concept songs I have ever heard. The lyrics are brilliant, the music is solid, and the execution {and placement in the film} are simply flawless. Yes, flawless. For those of you who haven’t or won’t see the movie here’s the brief context of this song. Jason Segel’s character writes music and in his spare time he is using his considerable talent to write a musical about the life of Dracula. This is the best song.
mp3 : Jason Segel - Dracula’s Lament
The sound quality on this isn’t the absolute greatest and for that I apologize. If you’d like a better version it can be found on the Forgetting Sarah Marshall soundtrack (amazon) (itunes).
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Adam Weber is a local artist that I’ve known now for awhile. I was trying to remember today the circumstances under which we first met and I simply cannot recall. We both were students at the same university, but for the life of me I can’t remember why or how we actually met. In my mind being at school always meant knowing Adam Weber, although I am certain this cannot be the case.
Well lately Adam has gotten married and started the grown up life of starting a family, owning a dog, talking about how much mulch he needs to buy for his lawn, and all this quarter life crisis/drama led him to hit me up in hopes of making him hip again. I was flattered, to say the least, and I immediately recommended fifty albums that I thought he should listen to so he could feel cool again. Long story short he eventually emailed me a new song that he’s been working on and I thought I would put this version up on the interwebs for everyone to enjoy.
mp3 : Adam Weber - Forgive Me
Back when I was a lowly undergrad I remember seeing Weber play countless shows at coffee shops and small venues. Going to school from 2000 to 05 meant that you were in the area when Adam was playing shows. In 2004 he released a proper little album {although I do have a copy of a previous disc that he and others would prefer never saw the light of day} which he entitled All I’m Not (itunes). It’s a simple collection of songs that are tweaked with a bit of southern or country rock and a healthy dosing of mellow pop. Fortunately on this album {which I finally own} he included a studio recording of one of my favorite songs, The Voyage, which was written and inspired by The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
mp3 : Adam Weber - The Voyage
mp3 : Adam Weber - Mishler (More Than Me)
Adam fits in well with some singer songwriter stereotypes. Most notable of those he aligns with are the fact that you simply must see him play live to truly appreciate who he is as a person and a musician. The second is that much of his best material is still floating around in the ether of a small venue as it has never been properly recorded for all of us to enjoy. I truly think that as a songwriter and musician the best of Adam Weber is yet to come and I for one hope that he continues to find inspiration and the time to record in the future.
And as a personal call out to Adam himself; you need, repeat need, to record the concept album you wrote about a boy moving west. Make it an EP, make it a three or four song digital download, make it anything. Whatever you do record it. Record. It.
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If you’re like me you’ve probably seen a few football games over the past week or so. Between the college bowl games and the NFL playoffs I’ve seen my fair share of advertisements {becuase, let’s face it, American football is designed with one and one thing only in mind; revenue}. Anyway, I first saw the new Esurance advert last week and I was really pleased to see Cloud Cult getting some national airtime and love. Not to mention the fact that one of my favorites bands has now been made into Esurance style cartoon figures. What’s not to love?
Anyway, the song they’re using in the advertisement hails from the 2005 album Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus (buy it direct from the band) and I thought I would throw up a few other tracks from that disc. It was a moment in time when Cloud Cult was first really discovering what sort of eclectic sound they possess and in my mind it serves as a musical turning point for the band. Since this effort they’ve gotten better by leaps and bounds, but it still serves as a good jumping off point to fully appreciate where they’ve come from and how far they’ve come.
mp3 : Cloud Cult - Lucky Today
mp3 : Cloud Cult - Transistor Radio
mp3 : Cloud Cult - That Man That Jumped Out the Window
If you’d like to check out the Esurance advert, as well as snag a few other free Cloud Cult tracks, you can click right here to see all about this pairing of band and insurance provider. If you haven’t paid any heed to TWF over the past two years make sure you hear me and hear me well; Cloud Cult deserves your undivided attention. In the past two years they have made two brilliant albums that you need to hear from start to finish as soon as possible.
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