Music Monday: Burning up the Radio Edition

One mistake that I used to make listening to music was completely ignoring current radio. It seems like a mistake that a ton of people are making, if you read youtube comments. Half of what i see is “Music is dead, the radio is horrible…” followed by 100 comments about Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. Well I decided that today I’ll list some currently popular bands I’m enjoying.

Foster the People:

If you have watched any music award shows this year you have probably heard “Foster the People” a few times. Their song “Pumped Up Kicks” was all over the radio for a while, and their recent Boom has surly got them pumped. First time I heard them I thought it was something off of the Gorillaz new album. It took me about 5 times hearing it on the radio to get enough lyrics to find the song online.

They really have a Gorillaz feel to me. Replace the Punk/Rap with Synth/Pop, and I can see the parables. They fuse two types of music, gave it a great beat, with some nice hooks, and hid in some anti-social lyrics. I’m interested in their next album. I’m a little worried they are going to be anouther Cage the Elephant; Who after having an Amazing first album, seemed rushed to come out with a second that was really flat in comparison.

Florence and the Machine:

Florence and the Machine is another winner off the first album. “Lungs” has been doing well, hitting 14 on the US top 200, and 1 on the UK charts. The lead Florence Welch is of course the big draw here. An odd collection of songs that cross category seems like a risky first album, but it’s a great listen. Each song is solid, and it has a lot to highlight.

Songs like “Kiss with a Fist” tell you it’s a English group, and Florence isn’t above utilizing that punk sound. Its followed by “girl with one eye” that has the guitar section of a Emerson Lake and Palmer song, mixed with a gritty, sexy, and dark narrative it certainly stands out.

The Big hit seems to have been “the Dog Days are Over”, but I”m shocked “Hurricane Drunk” didn’t get such Radio play. Seems like it could even compete with Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” for yearly breakup song. It’s got vulnerability, anger, bitterness, sadness, optimism, a fierce chorus, and it’s just 2 paragraphs Up (talk about convenient).

Black Keys:

This video is loud, but it’s a good thing. 

Deffinatly the new band that I have given the most play to. Unlike the past two their first album didn’t fare so well. It wasn’t untill their sixth album “Brothers” that they got a gold record. The reason I have put so much youtube time into them is their discography. “Brothers” was a big departure from their earlier works. They really went form a strict blues/rock, to a more radio friendly alt/rock (sometimes even more pop). They even did an entire album of Junior Kimbrough songs.

They seem to have a big influence with slower, Mississippi blues. Short repetitive songs with lyrics about hurtin’, great vocals, simple riffs, heavy percussion, all on worn equipment for that a distinct sound of a garage band. Albums like “Thickfreakness”, and “Rubber factory” don’t have much in comparison to “attack and release” or “Brothers”. I’m not mad at them though, because brothers is a good alt/rock album. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have my fingers cross that “El Camino” will be a bit more RL Burnside, and a bit less The Strokes.

Music Monday: The Harmonica Bandoleer Edition

This week we have another great group, and this is one of the few that have a lead harmonica. I’m talking about:

 

Blues Traveler

 

A band of the 90’s they had a moment in the spotlight when their pop powerhouse “Run Around” from their 4th album “4” hit #4 of US pop charts, as well as #4 on the adult contemporary charts… there where a lot of fours in that sentence. They are a rock/pop/blues band with a jam band playing style. This means it’s got a solid blues foundation, but they keep the songs upbeat, and improvise their solos.

The big draw to Blues Traveler would have to be their front man John Popper. He is one of the most well know harmonica players and backs it up. However, he can also belt with the best of them. He is a big guy, with a big voice, and he goes until he’s out of breath. He avoids alot of the cliche’s of pop music with some interesting writing.  He layers his pop visage over lyrics laced with some cynicism.

Take the song “Hook” above. The upbeat pop sound with the focus on the big “Hook” chorus hide the lyrics which poke fun at the genere. Lines like “I am being insincere… in fact I don’t mean any of this… It’s the Hook that brings you back”. This kind of snarky one liners fill songs like “But Anyway” and “Rubberneck”.

While most of their songs fit the jam band description, they don’t forget that pop got them famousl. The best part about that ironic cynicism is that you have to really analyze something to make fun of it well, and they really show a pop mastery with songs like “Canadian Rose” and “You, Me and Everything”.

Well Hope you enjoy Blues Traveler. As a bonus here is great live performance with John Popper Joining the Dave Matthews band on their song “What Would You Say”.

Music Monday: The Waits Over !

This Music Monday is on another great artist. It just so happens that this was the year that he got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The guy I’m talking about…

TOM WAITS:

This is one I knew I was going to do from the start. It took awhile trying to decide which three songs to post up when I realized, I needed more than 3. Waits has certainly been a dynamic artist over the years so I tried to give a nice Waits variety four pack.

Tom Waits is like if Broadway got drunk on whiskey in the seedy Chicago speak easy, proceeded to stumble onto a train with a bum choir heading south, pass out, have a nightmare, only to be woken  up by the sun on a tire swing. Romeo is bleeding is a great example of the Broadway part; This is practically a concentrated dose of West Side Story.

Waits during the time around Heart Attack and Vine seemed like a hell of a show. I’ve seen videos of his live performance ranging from a full swing band on what looks like a movie set, to screaming out of a mega phone while throwing confetti in the air. His little introductions before songs to his full envelopment into character (he’s actually a moderately succesful actor as well) make it easy to see why his live videos have 10 times the views of his studio version.

His voice has changed with age (most people also blame the heavy smoking and drink). If you listen to his first album “Closing Time” (1973) and compare it to “Real Gone” (2004) you can see quite the contrast; However, his voice wasn’t the only thing to change over time. Most of his albums after 1990 leave Broadway and the bar and go into more abstract of dreams and nightmares.

 The grit and darkness from “Blood Money” may make it seem that Waits is only trying to scare you these days, but he hits both extremes. The raspy growl certainly fits the darkside that Waits digs into, but switch to his spoken word ballads and the terror turns to pure sincerity.

In the end Waits has a ton of great material. You can easily go from drinking alone to “I hope that I don’t fall in love with you”, to the gangster movie climax of “Hang on St. Christopher” , to “Come on up to the house” flooding a funeral hall. Go buy his albums so he does another tour.