3,000 Views - Thank You!

Hey all,

I just wanted to thank everyone who's been reading and checking back in every few days. We've reached 3,000 views in just a little over three months. Not bad, not bad at all!

But I'd love to have even more, who knows, maybe even get noticed on a larger scale (pipe dream, sure, but pipe dreams are all the rage). So please, tell your friends, share it on Facebook, invite people to like the Facebook page for the site. I'd appreciate it a ton.

In the meantime, I'll keep writing about music :)

Thanks always,
Andrew

"Early in the Morning" by James Vincent McMorrow

I had been behaving. I wasn't buying any new music off iTunes, I was just listening to what I had (I used to have a little bit of an obsession with buying new music). I've gotten a lot better, but when I heard the samples of this music on iTunes, I had to make an exception.

"Early in the Morning" is the perfect album to listen to while you're laying under a tree in a meadow somewhere. Don't know where one is? FIND ONE. :).

The album is about 50 minutes of absolutely wonderful, soulful acoustic folk. There's acoustic guitar, piano, and if my instincts are right.... wait for it.... I DO BELIEVE THERE'S SOME BANJO IN THERE.

The music is expertly executed; it sounds effortless, just an easy groove to sing along to in many places. In others, however, McMorrow pulls out the stops and jams in some great instrumental sections.

As great as the music is, however, the lyrics are even better. In almost each and every of his songs, McMorrow tells what sounds like a story somewhat based on his life - the songs just sound that personal and honest. They are really impossible not to invest in. Some of these songs are metaphorical (example: I think "Sparrow and the Wolf" is), and almost all of them pulse with a "small town, reflecting on the porch" feel. McMorrow might as well be in your living room with you.

Even more spectacular than the lyrics and the music is the McMorrow's voice. It's haunting, smokey awesomeness. There's not a whole lot else to say. The man's voice grabs you and doesn't let go. If I were to draw a comparison to someone else in the music world, I would say the other artist his voice resembles the most is Bon Iver, but it's smokier and more intimate, less etherial and more earthy. It's what sets this album apart. The man's also from Ireland. Just a side note, ten bonus points.

So, if you're in the mood for some good, old fashioned folksy music that will stick with you long after the last track has ended, check out this album.

My three favorite tracks are: "Sparrow and the Wolf," "We Don't Eat," and "And If My Heart Should Somehow Stop."

Here's a link to his Myspace!

http://www.myspace.com/jamesvmcmorrow

Until next time, please spread word of the blog and enjoy the music!

Andrew

"My Private Nation" by Train

Let it be said right here, before y'all go making fun of me for being a fan of Train. I was a fan years before "Hey Soul Sister" catapulted them into the public eye. The song is great, to be sure, but it's not what Train is to me.

"My Private Nation" was one of the first CDs I owned myself, and I've had a soft spot in my musical heart for it ever since. It's Train's best album in my opinion. Yes, I'll say that "Drops of Jupiter" was better than any individual song on MPR, but MPR is a better album on the whole.

It's a collection of 11 songs and 45 minutes of catchy alternative rock. Pat Monahan, the lead vocalist for the band (and really the essence of Train's sound), sings of love, loss, and hope with such raw emotion that it's impossible not to invest yourself in the songs.

Train's lyrics are not groundbreaking in their content, but they are original, heartfelt and sometimes quirky in the line to line writing of each song. From "All American Girl," which tells the funny story of a girl who is clearly out of the narrator's league ("And I know I'm just here to amuse you"), to "I'm About to Come Alive," which tells the heartbreaking story of a couple that married too young and is now stuck in a situation that drains them both--even though the man wants his wife to keep faith in him ("Don't let them be right after all that we've been through"), each song is perfect to sing along to.

As an interesting little side note, any Angels Baseball fans will recognize Train's "Calling All Angels," a song off this album that serves as the music for the Angels video montage before every game.

The verses are all well written, but what makes Train so amazing is their ability to bust out with some of the best and most consistently catchy choruses of any band I've listened to.

If you're still not convinced that they're the real deal, see them live. Monahan has a commanding stage presence and his voice soars, sounding exactly the same live as it does on a recording.

Train has released a wealth of music over the years, blending alternative rock with some funk and southern, almost country-esque rock/soul grooves. Give them a shot, and maybe you'll jump on the bandwagon that existed before it got painted all shiny with "Hey Soul Sister."

My three favorite songs on the album are "Get to Me," "Your Every Color," and "I'm About to Come Alive."

Here's a link to their Myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/train

Until next time, tell your friends to check out the blog cuz I'd love some more readers! And, enjoy all the music out there :)

P.S. Look for my most promising albums of January post, coming soon!

"Science & Faith" by The Script

Yes, I know this just come out today, and yes, I'm sure it's going to be one of the most popular releases of the month. But I wanna review it, so there! I guess this can be some great music that you haven't heard yet.


The Script has for years been one of my go-to bands for an extraordinarily catchy, melancholy song. They're fun to sing along to, and the musical instrumentation that the band uses results in some of the most emotionally powerful music of any music group I've heard. The amazing vocal harmonies and falsetto of the band's frontman doesn't hurt either.

"Science & Faith" is another exercise in The Script's constant catchiness. In The Script's self-titled debut album, all the songs were very good, but there were about four powerhouses with choruses that just flat out rocked your socks. On this album, there are about eight. The choruses that these boys rock out on are infectious and impossible to skip over; they just grab on to you and don't let go.

That being said, these are not happy songs. The lyrics, though wonderfully written in my opinion, channel pain, disappointment, and loneliness. However, there is hope in this album, a faint whisper of the possibility that we are not alone in our journey through life.

The album can be interpreted as a prolonged journal entry, a sort of crying out for fellow men and women to hear you and understand what you're going through.

All I can say is, I wish there were more of this album. If they had come out with two new albums at the same time, I'd be thrilled. There is not one boring song. Every single one screams: "We are The Script, and this is why you love us." I also give them fifty points for being Irish, but that's just my own personal bias haha.

In my residence hall, people sing songs off The Script's first album all the time. Thanks to this new album, we all now have an abundance of new material to belt out to our heart's content.

My three favorite songs on the album are: "Nothing," "If You Ever Come Back," and "Exit Wounds," with the honorable mention going to "This = Love."

Here's a link to their Myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/thescript

Until next time, enjoy the new music :)

Andrew

"Razia's Shadow: A Musical" by Forgive Durden

Like some other albums I put on this blog, this CD is definitely an acquired taste. The album artwork, though freakin' awesome in my opinion, should serve as a little warning of that.

Why? It's a musical, plot, narrator and all.

If you're still here, let's get to it. "Razia's Shadow" is brilliant. It's a full scale musical in terms of instrumentation, orchestra and cinematic music fills every song. That, and the songs are all incredibly diverse. Have I said it's brilliant yet?

Most notably, not one song has traditional "rock band" instrumentation. This may be surprising and a bad thing for some, but in my opinion it was extremely well done, as well as being very refreshing. The music is at times light, at times twisted, and at times majestic to the umpteenth degree.

The story is solid as well. A plethora of characters (played by various guest artists) play out a complex, sweeping plot line that takes place over the span of more than one hundred years in about an hour. It is a story of love, finding yourself, dealing with your heritage, and, ultimately, deciding who you really are and dealing with the consequences of that choice.

The plot is well thought out, and all the songs combine to make one emotional roller-coaster. The final song may very well put an apple in your throat.

If you're in the mood for a theatrical musical experience without having to spend sixty bucks on theater tickets, this is the perfect album for you. You can also listen in your pj's, something frowned upon at most theater houses, last time I checked.

This album is one of my all-time favorites. Yes, it may be partially because I'm a sucker for musicals and symphonic orchestration, but it's also because this is a bold, incredibly original and incredibly well done set of songs.

My three favorite songs on the album are: "The Missing Piece," "The Exit," and "The End and the Beginning." Honorable mention goes to "Life Is Looking Up."

A side note is that there is also a purely instrumental version of the album available for download, something I highly recommend.

Here's a link to Forgive Durden's Myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/forgivedurden

Until next time, enjoy some music, try something new :)

Andrew