2007 January | my life//in medias res*

Review: Andy Davis - Fine China EP

January 27th, 2007 at 7:24 pm by sillyjoe (Music)

Andy Davis is another singer/songwriter guy in the company of the rest of Nashville’s younger generation of folks (I would say the generation below the Square Pegs…even though they’re probably all about the same age…they just haven’t been around as long) like Dave Barnes, Matt Wertz, Micah Dalton (who doesn’t really live in Nashville), Pete Schmidt, Rob Blackledge, Jon McLaughlin, Justin Rosolino, and the rest.

Andy is one of my faves of this group, mostly because of his voice…and his wicked sweet fedora.

Anyway, Andy just released a new EP called Fine China and as someone who claims to be a supporter of he and his peers, I figure it’s my duty to rep for him on here. The EP is great… with a lot fuller sound than his first album Thinks of Her, which was mostly stripped down (although still awesome). A couple of the songs even have a rockin’ feel to them…The ultimate standout is the title track, which is the 4th out of the 5 tracks on the EP…”Fine China” is a song I’ve heard Andy do in concert for a couple of years now, and have been hoping to hear a studio version…and it’s veerrry nice. I dig it. Andy supplies much of the instrumentation for the album, playing the piano, wurly, guitars, bass guitars, the moog, marimba, drums, loops, electric guitars, and putting in all of the vocals…the short EP is a taste of his talent…and I’m diggin’ on it.

Here’s a song by song analysis:

Track 1: “Good Life” - Starts off with the obligatory four count on the drum sticks, and then you think “Wait a second…this IS Andy Davis, right? His album is starting out with an electric guitar?” Like I said…the sound is fuller…Andy has grown as a musician and a producer…this is clear by the first song…you feel like you could hear this song at the beginning of a movie about a group of college friends. I picture Andy hanging out with his Nashville peers as I hear this one…great hook…great groove. The layering of the guitars and Andy’s piano/wurly combo is fun. My favorite line: “We struggle to pay rent, cause jeans are expensive/ Professional children, it’s just the way that we live.” Fun little breakdown at the end.

Track 2: “Earth and Venus” - Now this song takes us to familiar Andy Davis territory, starting with just his voice and piano. The song slowly builds with the percussion kicking in around the first chorus, and picking up as the second verse hits with Evan Weatherford’s guitars and Jordan Hester’s bass. Andy provides his own backing vocals, harmonizing with himself very well. This song displays what Andy has always seemed to do best, melodic choruses with a memorable hook. Another fun break-down/build-up at the end, with some catchy “ooohs” that I’ve been singing in my head all day today.

Track 3: “Chicago, City of Shoulders” - This tune takes it down a notch, though the whole EP has been pretty chilled out anyway. This one reminds me of “Brown Eyes” from Andy’s first record in the way he tells the story. Mat Linton, Andy’s drummer, makes the song for me with his work on the Rhodes (no drums on this one). This song actually FEELS like Chicago to me (even though I’ve never been there…heh). Trademark falsetto from Andy.

Track 4: “Fine China” - This is what I’ve been waiting for. As I said, I’ve been hearing Andy do this song in concert for a couple of years now, and have been chomping at the bit for a studio version…I’m used to hearing the song with only Andy’s piano and tapping his foot…so it’s good to hear a full version of the song with multiple instruments. The marimba fits PERFECTLY here. Probably the catchiest chorus hook Andy’s ever written…you can’t help but sing along to this one. The moog sounds great…the choice of instrumentation on this track is incredibly fun.

Track 5: “Amateurs” - Atmospheric is the first word I can think of for this song. The choice to use electric guitar on this song instead of acoustic is what makes it, I think. Anytime an artist uses that sustaining guitar sound, it raises the hair on my arms for some reason. Andy contributes some loops to this one, that sound great. I think live drums wouldn’t have provided the song with the same ambience it has. Evan Weatherford’s slide work is nice too, on this track. Great way to end the EP.

You can pick Fine China up at awarestore.com for six bucks (!!!!).

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Free music that you probably want to check out…

January 24th, 2007 at 9:25 pm by sillyjoe (Around the Interweb, Music)

Here’s some new free music that I’ve found and am currently enjoying…

The Cold War Kids are a band that I’ve really been enjoying as of late, even though the only song I’ve been able to listen to all of until today was “Hang Me Up To Dry,” which was the free single on Itunes a couple of weeks ago (GREAT track, by the way). Well, like I said…that was the only one I could listen to UNTIL TODAY. I just found on their website that Cold War Kids has released an online live EP (the sound quality isn’t all that great, but it’s fun) of some REALLY random and fun cover tunes, including Elvis Costello’s “Indoor Fireworks,” Fiona Apple’s “Fast As You Can,” a Tom Waits tune, and there’s even a Lawrence Welk cover (yes, I’m serious). Check out the Benefit at the District EP here. Up next we have a band that I had honestly never heard of…and I’m pretty sad about that. Maximo Park is an English indie-rock band that is releasing a new album in April of this year…the free track I am speaking of is “Apply Some Pressure”, and it can be found here. This song is WAY too fun. And finally, we have The Good, The Bad, and The Queen. The latest in English supergroupdom, the new band consists of Blur/Gorillaz frontfella Damon Albarn, the bassist from The Clash, a former guitarist for The Verve, and Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen. The first single from the album, “Herculean” is the Itunes free single of the week. Enjoy.

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It’s that time of year, leave all of our hopelessnesses aside…

January 24th, 2007 at 2:39 am by sillyjoe (Adventures in Randomosity, Lamentations, Life and Introspection)

So my life is weird. I’m just gonna go ahead and say it. It’s freaked up crazy. It just is. I don’t know why. But that’s just the way it goes. My friendships are no longer normal, my jobs aren’t normal, my private life isn’t normal…I just can’t seem to get there. But I’m not even sure what it is anymore that I’m trying to get to. Now, I know what you may be thinking, that this is just another one of my late night rambles that doesn’t make any sense and should probably be ignored…and heck, you’re probably right, whoever you are. But the truth is, I don’t know what I want anymore. I don’t know where I want to be or what I want to do or who I want to be or be with. The truth is, I’m at a place in life where I honestly have no clue where I’m going. This is very different from the Joe I was a couple of years ago who had everything all planned out. And maybe the fact that my life is a blank slate is a good thing. I could completely rewrite my future in the way that I deal with the present. There’s a situation with one of my friends that, honestly, I’m pretty concerned about. I’ve known this friend of mine for the entire course of our lives, and he and I have been close for the majority of this time…he’s reached a junction in his life where he’s realizing that he has to grow up. And he has to grow up now. I, the big-brother-wannabe that I am, am trying to protect him (or at least trying to think of ways I can protect him) just like I always do. Just like I have every time he’s been in a jam or made a mistake for his entire life. I have to make myself stop doing this. I’m not his big brother, I’m his friend…and that’s all I can be. I’m here to support and love…not to protect and baby. My own situation is a little strange. Both of my jobs are going well, but I’m reaching an impasse where I have to leave (in some form or other) one of the two jobs in order to advance and put more focus on the other, the one I put priority in. In one way, I’m very excited about this, but in other, I’m extremely apprehensive. This is going to require me making a move to a new house…practically a new life. I’ve slipped into a comfortable place in my life and that’s about to get shaken up. I know that’s a good thing…but it’s a scary thing. I still haven’t figured women out, and know that I never will…but for some reason I can’t stop trying. I’ve been hanging out with a couple of girls (and by “have been” I mean did during the fall and early winter, and haven’t been able to since due to crappy scheduling…so I need to get on that), and really enjoy their company, but the truth is, I can’t see inside their heads and have no idea whether they see what we were doing as the beginning of something, or just hang-out time. And now, to throw another cog in the wheels of my brain, some of the women at church want to hook me up with someone I’ve never met. They’ve given me this girl’s number and want me to call her. Honestly, I’m down with being hooked up with someone, I supposed…but I really don’t know how I feel about calling someone I’ve never met…what the heck am I supposed to say? “Uh…Hi…you don’t know me. I don’t know you. But I’m Joe…you may have heard of me…what’s up?” I’m awkward enough around women…I really don’t think meeting one over the phone is going to help me out. But who knows? I’m still debating how to treat this thing. I want to meet the girl…everyone is telling me how cool she is…and it sounds promising, so…who knows? Right now, I’m in the midst of a crazy time…

P.S. - Crystal…this update is for you…because I’m sure you’ve been bored at work…and as you’re the only person who actually reads this…I figured I owed you something…plus I couldn’t sleep.

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