I've been getting into tons of new music lately so I'm just gonna list like 10 or so bands for y'all to check out. If anyone actually reads this blog, that is. Here goes:

Frightened Rabbit
White Rabbits
Rhett Miller
Grizzly Bear
Fanfarlo
St. Vincent
The Annuals
Throw Me The Statue
Camera Obscura
Wild Light
The Low Anthem

There you have them. I'm still discovering all these bands myself; apart from Rhett Miller (singer of Old 97's) I've been a big fan of him for quite a while. Anywho, explore these bands with me, won't you? You won't? Fine. Loser.

Newton's Folley

Today I'm gonna plug my band. I figure noone reads this but perhaps my wife so it's not a shameless plug. More like a journal for me and my posterity to find and remember/discover good music. Anyway, my band is called Newton's Folley and we are a folk/rock/pop band trying to get gigs in Utah. We started playing together just 3 weeks ago or so, and things are looking promising. We have a ton of original songs Travis (the singer/guitarist) and I have already written and recorded; we just need to get arrangements of those songs, plus work on my new guitar stuff i've been writing, as well as Travis' solo stuff he's written; also, we need to practice a few songs our guitarist Jordan has written. Hopefully that sentance wasn't too convoluted. The point is this band is gonna be good. We'll be playing at The Wine Cellar in downtown south Ogden soon. Stay tuned for more details on that and other shows coming this summer. Other than that I'll try to post some music of Newton's Folley's previous 2002 release "Struggling..." soon. Until then keep on listening to good music. Bye!

Say Hi

This band used to be called Say Hi to Your Mom, but now it's just Say Hi. I personally like the old name better. I just got their new album "Oohs and Aahs," and it's incredible. Best album of the year I think. Great indie rock with lots of piano, and your standard guitar, bass, drum, keyboard. It's nothing spectacularly innovative, but if it aint broke don't fix it I suppose. We don't need a world full of Radiohead Kid A albums all over do we? Anywho, check out this band; they are fantabulous.

Today I'll mention a great St. Paddy's day band as well as a few bands I've been hearing great things from.

The Pogues-these guys are the ultimate scottish rock band. They're above and beyond anyone in this genre. Flogging Molly, and Dropkick Murphy's don't hold a candle to The Pogues. Before Shane McGowan left the band they were fabulous. Afterwards, I'm not too sure cuz I haven't really followed them; nor do I know if they are even still together. Pogue Mahone, the album after MacGowan left was a good album, but I lost track of them after that. Despite my lack of follow up with this band, I still stand behind the fact that they are the most incredible scottish rock band out there. Shane MacGowan formed a band called The Popes and the one album I've heard of theirs is pretty damn good also. So, on this St. Patrick's Day, The Pogues should be your choice for great music to celebrate with as you drink your green beer (or root beer in my case).

Delta Spirit-This band is really awesome. Great folk/rock tunes with generous helpings of piano, great melody, and a singer with passion. The singer reminds me of one of the singers in Dr. Dog with the same passion and the singer in The Veils. You can just feel these three singer's passion. Anywho, check out Delta Spirit; they're great!

Neko Case-I love Neko's voice; that's one of the main things that draws me to her music. That and the fact that her music is also superb. She sings part time with the fabulous band New Pornographers, who are great in their own right, but Neko's solo stuff is also utterly brilliant. It's basically folky type stuff with a fantastic vocal behind it. Check Neko out if you like good music. I'm still catching up on all her music. Her two most recent albums Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (I think that's what it's called), and her newest, Middle Cyclone are both incredible! The others I'm still researching, and you should too.

that's all for now. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wow, so there went six months

Sorry for the six month delay in posting. Today I'll post about some great artists that not a ton of people have heard of.

Ben Kweller-I think I may have posted about Ben before, but his new album deserves to be written about. Ben's first three albums have been fantastic. They've all been brilliant pop/rock albums, and have not failed to bring the awesome tunes. His new album, though, is pure country, but it's the good kinda country. None of this country pop, or rock music with a hick singer. This is the good style of country: old school without the twangy voice and it's fabulous. Ben sure has a knack for writing a catchy song. Whether it's rock, country, or pop, he crafts an incredible. Check out all his albums including his newest album, Changing Horses.

Andrew Bird-I heard a few of Bird's songs when his last album came out. I really liked them, but didn't really delve any deeper than these few songs. Well, I just got his new album, Noble Beast and it is superb! Andrew is a really awesome multi-instrumentalist. His music is folk/pop brilliance, and I'm digging it a lot. One of the really cool things about it is that plays the violin and uses it heavily on this record. It works well with this style of music so check out this and his other albums (I only have this newest one so I will do this too because based on this album, I'm almost postive his other albums will be great as well).

So, I'll try to post more often from now on. School, and other junk has just gotten in the way.

adios

Belle and Sebastian, The Decemberists, Kathleen Edwards, Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband

Sorry for the absence the last few days.

Belle and Sebastian-I believe these lads/lasses are from Scotland, but I'm not exactly sure. There from somewhere "across the pond". Anyway they make brilliant folk/pop music. They remind me of Nick Drake at times, who I don't know much about other than that he had some great acoustic songs and died at a young age. Belle and Sebastian have a great melodic sound, and the singer's accent comes through at times, which I enjoy on occasion. Their songs can make you feel very calm, or make you want to get up and shake your money maker. Good stuff. Their new record, "The Life Pursuit" is fantastic!

The Decemberists-I vaugely heard of these guys a few years back, but never really got into them. I finally bought their latest release "The Crane Wife", and was blown away. It's really good stuff. Like Belle and Sebastian, it's folk/pop style with some great acoustic guitar and piano. I also like the fact that there's a mariner/oceanic them to the entire album. Maybe I'm just out in left field, but it seems to me that every song has some sort of allusion to boats, water, fishermen, etc. Anyway, I recently purchased one of their other albums, "Picaresce" but haven't listened to it fully yet. The few songs I have heard though have been really good.

Kathleen Edwards-Switching gears from folk/pop to folk/country we go to Kathleen. I honestly don't know/haven't heard a ton from her, but what I've heard is really great. She's the folkin' country style I like. She doesn't have a thick accent, and uses just the right amount of twang in her music. I look forward to hearing more from her.

Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband-When I listen to a Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband album for the first time I'm blown away. I can listen repeatedly to their albums without getting tired of them. They're a local Utah band I guess you'd say, but they're getting fairly popular across the country. Their style of music crosses genres. Hopping from rollickin' country/bluegrass to rockin, to folky ballads. They use mandolins, fiddles, and banjos which make their music labeled country most of the time, but to do that doesn't give these boys justice. Having met them on multiple occasions, I know they're all very down to earth musicians, and their live show is amazing! They obviously love what they do and it shows on stage.

Ra Ra Riot, Julie Ocean

emusic.com is quite a fun service for me. It's a music download service that costs around 1/3 of the price of itunes. The only problem for me is that there is not enough music that I want on there. It's mostly new indie stuff. To get you to join their service they offer so many free downloads with your first month's subscription, so I like to scam them. I join for a month just to get all my free downloads and then cancel my subscription. That way, a month or two down the road they'll come begging for me to rejoin offering me free downloads. I've done this around 3-4 times, and have gotten around 300 downloads (say 25-30 albums) for around 30 bucks. Sweet deal, eh. Anyway, I just got Ra Ra Riot and Julie Ocean (among other things I'll blog about later I'm sure).

Ra Ra Riot-I heard of them through a splendid review of their new album, The Rhumb Line in Rolling Stone. It compared their music to The Arcade Fire, and Vampire Weekend so I was intrigued. It's really really good music. Very poppy, with awesome guitars and string arrangements. I've only listened to the album a few times, but golly-gee it sure is good.

Julie Ocean-I heard Julie Ocean on J's Indie Rock Mayhem podcast. They're very poppy, and very good. Really melodic music that makes you wanna dance. I'm still new to this one as I've listened to it maybe once through and just like a minute of each song. I guess I'll see if it holds up down the road after repeated listening.