Another favorite album this week is
My Latest Novel‘s
Wolves. Here are a bunch of people from Scotland who just seem to be on the same page with my musical taste…and it’s odd, because their music transcends the classification to one “genre” of music. They hit with a few long, lush instrumentals that start slow, teasing out emotion while building up to furious apex. You really need to relax for these songs, trust me, it’s not wholly passive music. Take it in slowly, feel the music, let it take you with it. That sounds
really ridiculous and cliché, but it’s the truth. Zone out to these,
all highly recommended:
[MP3] My Latest Novel – The Reputation of Ross Francis
[MP3] My Latest Novel – Boredom Killed Another
[MP3] My Latest Novel – The Hope Edition
You can hear more over at their official site and myspace page.
Perhaps people don’t know about him? Perhaps people are intimidated by his last name? I’m not quite sure why Ray LaMontagne isn’t huge. He has all of the variables needed for being a moderately big indie success: great voice, sensational lyrics, no money, a small cult following, unbelievable live sets, and more humbleness than Mother Teresa. Yet, he remains a remotely quiet force in the musical world.
Myself and
Ms. Heather Browne had a discussion recently on the unbelievable music this man can make with his mouth and hands. After the drooling on our respective keyboards subsided and the swapping of unreleased live tracks came to a dwindling halt, we concluded that I should dedicate some iGIF space to him. Last summer I went on a quest to gather as many Bonnaroo acts as I possibly could before the festival, and lucky for me Ray was one of them. His album,
Trouble, had just released and I grabbed a copy only to let my
jaw drop to the floor. How could a
shoe factory worker make music
this good?!
[MP3] Ray LaMontagne – Jolene (Highly Rec’d)
[MP3] Ray LaMontagne – How Come
[MP3] Ray LaMontagne – Trouble
[MP3] Ray LaMontagne – Hannah
Who knows, some of these come outta no where artist are better to be left unsolved mysteries. What I do know, is that I am expecting only great things from this artist and a sophomore release, logically, has to be in the works sometime soon. Be sure to check out his site for more info and music exclusives, along with an amazing live set exclusive from iTunes.
Tom Waits is by far one of my all time favorite musicians. Anyone who can release 20+ albums and still maintain their integrity as well as complete creative control, well…kicks ass. Aside from his tenure as one of rock and roll’s most talented acts, Waits also has a history of not selling out, no matter how much money he is offered. He recently won (yet another) legal battle against another corporation for infringing on one of his songs. Corporate rock whore? More like a Virgin Mary.
In fact, I would propose a new reality TV show to air where numerous corporations offer Waits a large sum of money each week for one of his songs. Maybe:
Why Won’t Waits Be A Billionaire? I’m going to hold my breath until my pilot gets picked up, but until then we can all enjoy some fine Tom Waits tunes.
[MP3] Tom Waits – I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love With You
[MP3] Tom Waits – Clap Hands
[MP3] Tom Waits – Everything Goes To Hell
[MP3] Tom Waits – Big In Japan
The voice of Tom Waits – it’s as rough as sandpaper, yet tender as a bruise.
YANP posted on
National Eye earlier today, so I thought I’d hit you guys double with another great song from these guys. I’m really loving thier upcoming release
Roomful Of Lions…reminds me a lot of
Wolf Parade mixed with
The Unicorns, or some other amalgam of amazing, fun bands. Check this song out, I’ve had it on repeat for about an hour:
[MP3] National Eye – The Switch
Check out more songs at their myspace page!!!
