Music of the month

September 14th, 2007 | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0) |

Matt Nathanson, Some Mad Hope: I went to a Matt Nathanson concert once, but it was to see the opener (and my personal musical idol) Matt Wertz. Nathanson put on a hell of a show, but for some reason I just couldn’t get into his recorded music. When I heard clips from Some Mad Hope, however, my mind was changed and I immediately pre-ordered the album. This is acoustic/pop/rock at it’s purest and most emotionally moving. I recommend checking out the Making of Some Mad Hope video to get a taste of the sound on this album. Also, I am selling my autographed copy at Half.com. Favorite tracks: Car Crash, Come on Get Higher, Heartbreak World

William Fitzsimmons, Goodnight: I must personally thank Brandon for this one. A simple text message that said “Hey have you heard of William Fitzsimmons?” was all it took, and soon thereafter I was downloading Goodnight from iTunes. Fitzsimmons’ beautiful acoustic/folk/slightly-electronic music is in the same vein as Iron & Wine and Sufjan Stevens. It’s perfect “fall” music. Favorite tracks: Mend Your Heart, It’s Not True, Everything Has Changed

Eric Hutchinson, Sounds Like This: Eric Hutchinson is the latest of many musical discoveries that comes by periodically perusing the Awarestore Top 10. His music would best be described as quirky piano rock with soul. Think Ben Folds meets Jazon Mraz. I had the good fortune of catching his live show with Amanda at ISU a few weeks ago – before my CD came in the mail – and even though it was only Hutchinson and his bass player, the show was great. One of my favorite songs was called “7C”, which he described as being about a landlord who falls in love with two of his tenants and is then compelled to kill them. I know, it sounds weird, but the song was awesome. Sadly, it’s not on the album… but it still rocks. Favorite tracks: Ok, It’s Alright With Me, You Don’t Have to Believe Me, All Over Now

Athlete, Beyond the Neighbourhood: I was slightly interested in Athlete’s previous album, but they’ve totally nailed it with Beyond the Neighbourhood. This album sounds a bit like a British version of Copeland, but more anthem-rock-ish and less depressing. Favorite tracks: Hurricane, Tokyo, Second Hand Stores

Kent, Du & Jag Döden: Kent is the greatest Swedish rock band you’ve never heard of. I was telling my brother about them the other night, and I said something like, “Kent is what would happen if Sigur Rós decided to rock.” That everything is sung in Swedish makes the whole thing even more appealing, in my opinion. They have a new album, Tillbaka till samtiden (”Back to our time”), coming out on October 17 as well. Favorite tracks: 400 Slag, Den Döda Vinkeln, Mannen I Den Vita Hatten (16 År Senare)

Robbie Seay Band, Give Yourself Away: This album has been playing nonstop in our youth room for about two weeks, and I don’t foresee that ending anytime soon. It’s a great worship album, and the band unironically gave away free downloads of the whole thing for a while. I love the song New Day, about which the band says, “I think most of us feel the world is a mess right now and yet the idea of the sun rising and a new day beginning is still a powerful gift.” Amen. Favorite tracks: New Day, Eternal One, Stay

Releases this fall I’m looking forward to: José González – Down the Line; David Crowder Band – Remedy; Rascal Flatts – Still Feels Good; Dashboard Confessional – The Shade of Poison Trees; Kent – Tillbaka till samtiden