The Best of September

This has been a really good month for music, with a ton of albums being released and with some good stuff floating around out there. Here's the best of what I found this month -

You Can't Always Get What You Want - Band from TV

The Band from TV is just as it sounds, a band from TV. It's a collection of actors from various TV shows who've come together, including Hugh Laurie (House MD) and Greg Grunsberg (Heroes, Alias), among others. One of their first tracks released was for the House, MD Soundtrack, a cover of the Rolling Stones song, You Can't Always Get What You Want, one of the trademark songs from House, MD. It's a fun cover, with a bit of a different take than the original.

Eh Hee - Dave Matthews

This song is weird. Just plain weird, and really different from everything that Dave Matthews has done thus far. It's got a weird beat, lyrics and video. And it's pretty cool, once you get over how odd it is.

State of Massachusetts - Dropkick Murphys

This is the latest from the Dropkick Murphys, which sounds like one of their Irish rock songs, with a kickass beat and an interesting story with their lyrics.

Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder

One of the main tracks from the soundtrack Into the Wild, this is a cover of somebody's (I can't remember what the original artist was), and it's one of those songs that just struck me while I was driving. Good lyrics, and when the chorus kicks in, I'm good.

Beautiful - Elvis Costello

I've been trying to find this for a while, ever since it was used in a House, MD episode, Elvis Costello's cover of Christina Agulara's Beautiful. It's got a good beat and overall, a much better cover than the original.

Let It Die - Foo Fighters

Just off of Echoes, Silence and Grace, the Foo Fighters are back (review coming soon) and this is one of the cooler songs off the album, starting off really slowly, but building over the whole song.

Home - Foo Fighters

This is one of the softer Foo Fighters songs off the album, and it really goes to show that these guys can do more than just fast rock. Dave Gohl's voice with the piano is just fantastic here.

Pagen Angel and a Borrowed Car - Iron & Wine

This is one of my favorite favorites of the month. It starts off stripped of sound before opening up about 20 seconds into the song, with amazing drum and guitar work, as well as Sam Beam's fantastic voice. I love this song.

Carousel - Iron & Wine

I also love this one. It's got some amazing guitar work and vocals and has a delicate and relaxed sound to it. One of the best off of the album The Shepherd's Dog.

In Our Nature - José González

José González is back with In Our Nature, and the title track has a fantastic sound and off beat tone to his acoustic guitar and drum work.

Teardrop - José González

This is a cover of Massive Attack's song, and like Heartbeats before in Veneer, González shows what he can do with an electronic song, although the result isn't as dramatic as it was with Heartbeats. No matter, this song is just amazing as is.

White Bird - KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall is back with Drastic Fantastic. While not as good as her earlier album, White Bird is one of the stronger songs on the album, with a nice laid back sound and really good vocal work on her part.

Hopeless - KT Tunstall

This is another one of the stronger songs off of Drastic Fantastic, with a nice beat and good KT Tunstall sound. The vocals and drumwork are flawless here.

Love Song - Sara Bareilles

This is the lead single off of newcomer Sara Bareille's album Little Voice. She's got a good sound with the piano and a strong voice here, and some fantastic lyrics.

Many The Miles - Sara Bareilles

This is another fantastic song off of Little Voice, with fantastic piano and vocals, with a good opener that eases nicely into the chorus here, with a nice blend of soul, R&B and rock.

Buttons - Sia

Sia's best known (at least to me) for her collaborations with Zero 7. I like her work with them just fine, but it wasn't until this song that I really listened to her. This song's quirky pop sound is really cool, and distinctive.

Hype - Buy

Duet - Shins / Iron & Wine

This week's duet is of two Subpop artists who I paticularly like, covering a song from an album that really helped them break into the larger public consiousness, New Slang. It's originally by the Shins, and Sam Beam (I&W), joined them for this concert, I believe in Australia. It's a fantastic duet between the two of them, with their sounds really complementing one another's.

New Slang - The Shins and Iron & Wine

Hype - Buy - Look

New Music: Foo Fighters, Jose Gonzalez & Iron and Wine

Three albums out today that I'm looking to pick up from three of my favorite artists. I've really been looking forwards to these for a while, and can't wait to add them to my collection.





Foo Fighters- Echoes Silence Patience & Grace

This album sounds really good, and the lead single, the Pretender, is a really fun song, right up in line with Best of You, which is one of my favorites anyway.

The Pretender - Foo Fighters











Buy


Iron & Wine- The Shepherd's Dog


This album sounds incredible - Iron & Wine (aka Sam Beam) has really come a long way with his sound from his first album, bringing us an incredibly rich and wonderful sounding set of music.



Pagen Angel and a Borrowed Car - Iron & Wine

Buy


José González- In Our Nature



Gonzalez is back this week with his followup to Veneer, his first really good album. This one's got a fantastic cover of Massive Attack's Teardrop, but also a great set of his own songs that just sounds incredible.



Killing for Love - José González

Buy

Hype Machine

Preview: The Shepherd's Dog

Acoustic wonder Sam Beam is back next week with album number three, the Shepherd's Dog, his first work as Iron & Wine since 2004's Our Endless Numbered Days. This album represents a large jump in style from his prior works, especially 2002's The Creek Drank The Cradle, from a very stark acoustic guitar to something much richer. The Shepherd's Dog is Iron & Wine's best album to date, with a much richer sound coming from a bigger background support. Where his earlier works were essentially solo guitar songs, the works here carry a much larger range of sound, from electric organs and pianos to complex drumwork, not to mention his guitar style. The lead single off of this album is Boy With A Coin, which has a very relaxed and effortless rythmn to it, as well as some fantastic lyrics to go along with everything. Other songs on this album are just as good, however, such as Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car and Lovesong of the Buzzard, all of which display the same, rich, fantastic sound. This is a fantastic album to check out, whether you're an Iron & Wine fan, or if you just want something really good to listen to.

This winter, Iron & Wine is on tour to support the new album, visiting the following locations:

September 23, 2007
Chicago, IL Metro
September 24, 2007
Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
September 25, 2007
Toronto, Ontario Danforth Music Hall
September 26, 2007
Montreal, Canada Metropolis
September 27, 2007
Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre
September 28, 2007
Upper Darby, PA Tower Theatre
September 29, 2007
Washington, DC 9:30 Club
September 30, 2007
New York City, NY Town Hall Theatre
October 23, 2007
Leeds, UK City Varieties Music Hall
October 24, 2007
Gateshead, UK Sage Gateshead
October 25, 2007
Manchester, UK Academy 2
October 26, 2007
Belfast, Ireland Belfast Festival at Queens (Spiegel Tent)
October 27, 2007
Dublin, Ireland Ambassador Theatre
October 28, 2007
Bristol, UK St. George's
October 29, 2007
Edinburgh, Scotland Queen's Hall
October 31, 2007
London, UK Shepherd's Bush Empire
November 1, 2007
Cardiff, UK The Point
November 2, 2007
Brighton, UK St. George's Church
November 3, 2007
Nottingham, UK Rescue Rooms
November 4, 2007
Reading, UK Reading Concert Hall

Boy With A Coin - Iron & Wine
Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car - Iron & Wine

Hype - Buy - Look

Artist Comparison: Ray LaMontagne / Iron & Wine

Remember how I said I like acoustic guitar / folk / rock ? Well, over the past couple years, I've come to like two artists in paticular. They're Ray LaMontagne and Iron & Wine (aka Sam Beam). Both are known for their fantastic acoustic guitar work, and both, to quote the movie Hot Fuzz, have a great big bushy beard!All humor aside, these two musicians have quite a bit in common. Their voices are fairly similar, a sort of high, off-rasp that is really complimented by their fantastic guitar work.

Forever My Friend - Ray LaMontagne

Woman King - Iron & Wine

Forever My Friend and Woman King both show the faster sides of these two musicians. It's got similar guitar and percussion work behind the vocals and employ a similar meter for each one. (It's not exactly the same, but close). The differences come in with the lyrics, as the content of both are quite different. The similarities here are superficial in nature.
The similiarities between Iron & Wine's cover of the Postal Service's fantastic Such Great Heights and LaMontagne's Be Here Now are much closer, this time, with subject matter - they've at least hit the same genre - Love. Such Great Heights is a love song, and it's a fanastic adaptation from Iron & Wine, really capturing the delicate nature of the lyrics. Be Here Now does just the same thing - like Such Great Heights, it uses delicate guitar work and vocals to get the song across brilliantly.

Such Great Heights - Iron & Wine

Be Here Now - Ray LaMontagne

How cool would it be to see these two do a duet? Ray LaMontagne has already done one with Damien Rice, a cover of To Love Somebody, which came out really nicely. Both artists have done various covers of other songs as well - LaMontagne has done that one, but also a good cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy, while Iron & Wine has covered not only Such Great Heights, but also the Rolling Stone's Wild Horses. In each case, they've both gone and made the song their own, changing the speed and overall sound of the song to suit their needs. And in each case, it's a fantastic cover. Those are the only ones that I currently have, but I'm sure that there's some other good ones out there.

Hype - Buy - Look

Best of the Month: August

Over the past month, I've been collecting, listening and buying songs as they catch my interest, and here are my picks for the best of August:

Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen
The boss is back with the first single in a couple of years now, and this one's pretty damn good. Solid guitar work and drive behind this one, with a solid track once again.

Don't Stop Now - Crowded House
Even A Child - Crowded House
Crowded House is back after, inadvertently. Starting out as a solo album with the older members of the band added on, they're back with a bit of a better sound than before, with two fantastic songs, Don't Stop Now and Even A Child.

Ashes and Wine - A Fine Frenzy
Rangers - A Fine Frenzy
A Fine Frenzy, whom I've talked about before, is off to a fantastic start with her first album, with a sweet voice and beautiful piano accompaniment, all the while displaying some fantastic lyrics. Ashes & Wine and Rangers are two of the best songs off the album, although the entire thing is pretty damn good.

The Pretender - Foo Fighters
The Foo Fighters are back with their latest single, The Pretender, which starts off slow before exploding into a really good song. I'm not sure if it's as good as Best Of You, but it's still a pretty good track.

Mr. Columbus - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Falling or Flying - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals exploded with their first major studio release, This Is Somewhere, refining their sound and sharpening their already fantastic songwriting skills. Mr. Columbus and Falling Or Flying are two of the best tracks from the album, although you'd be hard pressed to find a bad song on that album.

Boy With A Coin - Iron & Wine
Iron & Wine's latest single shows a little experimentation, adding in a bit of a faster rhythm and a richer sound than some of his older songs, but it's an a really catchy track that's just amazing.

1973 - James Blunt
I wasn't a fan of Blunt's first single, You're Beautiful, but 1973 really won me over, I'm not sure if I'll check out the rest of the album, but this one's a much stronger track that's good in it's own right.

Killing for Love - José González
Down The Line - José González
José González is following up the amazing Veneer with In Our Nature, with more original works, but a couple of covers as well (Teardrop). Killing for Love and Down The Line are two really good tracks that highlight his acoustic guitar work and lyrics.

Close Call - Rilo Kiley
Dreamworld - Rilo Kiley
Rilo Kiley's been the talk of the blogging and media community for the last couple weeks with her new album, Under the Blacklight with some of the best pop music out there. Blending some really cool guitar work and vocal talent, this album's certainly a really good listen. Close Call and Dreamworld are my two favorites from the album.

Hold On (iTunes)– KT Tunstall
K.T. Tunstall’s back with a new single, for her upcoming album Drastic Fantastic, which is fast, hyper and sounds like a fantastic followup to her last release, Eye to the Telescope.

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa – Vampire Weekend
This is a fun offbeat song who’s just released their first self-titled EP. It’s light, poppy, indie music at its best. These are some guys to keep an eye on.

Hype – Buy

C&O

One cool song that's been covered pretty well is the Postal Service's Such Great Heights. It's a really great song, and with the release of the fantastic Garden State Soundtrack, Iron & Wine did their own version, which is spectacular. Ben Folds has also given the song a go, which is worth listening to. Iron & Wine brings in the fantastic acoustic guitarwork, Ben Folds brings his frantic piano and The Postal Service started the whole thing.

Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
Such Great Heights - Iron & Wine
Such Great Heights - Ben Folds