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New Music and Video: last week of February, 2008

February 29th, 2008 at 11:12 pm by sillyjoe (Music, The Movie Corner)

Here’s the new stuff I picked up this week:

And it’s you when i look in the mirror…

February 23rd, 2008 at 1:19 am by sillyjoe (Music, The Movie Corner)

U2 3D is (according to its Wikipedia article) the first live-action movie to be done exclusively with digital 3-d technology. I was incredibly excited going into the theater, but that may have been about the glasses. I love 3d glasses. There was a part of me that was skeptical, because I thought there was no possible way that any U2 film could top Rattle and Hum, but now, as the dust has settled, I am in love with this movie. I had to miss the first two songs (friggin’ traffic), which sucks since they opened with “Vertigo” and “Beautiful Day.” As I entered the movie theater I heard the familiar (and awesome) bass line to “New Year’s Day,” and my excitement grew. No longer was my excitement only related to the glasses. I was at a U2 show! And everything was so amazingly vivid! I haven’t seen a film in IMAX since middle school, and I had forgotten how incredible the technology is. I sat as close to the front as possible without having to crane my neck, and locked my eyes to the screen. For the next 80 minutes or so (it ended way too soon!) I sat, completely riveted. This one gets five stars from me, and it’s renewed my U2 love…which is not good for my wallet. Here’s the full setlist from the film:

Vertigo
Beautiful Day
New Year’s Day
Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own (I was reminded how consistently good Bono’s voice is here)
Love And Peace Or Else (the following stretch of songs was pretty incredible and flowed perfectly)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Miss Sarajevo
Pride (In The Name of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One
encore
The Fly
With or Without You
credits
Yahweh

And, as I stated in the last post, it seems that these 3-d concert films are going to become new trend (If U2, the Stones, and Scorcese do it, the rest of the world is sure to follow). I surely hope so.

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Oh, and speaking of concert films in 3D/IMAX

February 23rd, 2008 at 12:02 am by sillyjoe (Music, The Movie Corner)

Yeah. Oh Snap.

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OMG!!! Bono’s lookin’ at me!

February 22nd, 2008 at 11:32 pm by sillyjoe (Music, The Movie Corner)

Review coming…

Click for the full-size shot of the poster

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New Music for February 19, 2008

February 19th, 2008 at 11:44 pm by sillyjoe (Music)

New stuff I picked up at Target today:

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Well…it is indeed official…

May 22nd, 2007 at 6:35 pm by sillyjoe (Music)

A certain someone is now back with a certain band that a certain other someone always called his favorite band

And a certain someone still isn’t quite sure what to think about it. But he thinks he likes it.

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Can I break the spell of the typical?

May 15th, 2007 at 7:01 pm by sillyjoe (Adventures in Randomosity, Life and Introspection, Music)

So it recently occurred to me that I should really stop neglecting my blog. And by that, I mean that I should really stop neglecting my blog. Really.

So here goes my next attempt at starting to post again. A post about nothing. Like Seinfeld, except not as funny and not on television (and without Kramer…I try to avoid racism around here).

Life has been interesting around these parts. Since the last time I posted, my best friend got married. Oh, and also, he’s having a baby. Yeah. NUTS. I feel old….and…behind. I need to hurry up and find an attractive Jesus-loving, cello-playing girl to marry so that I won’t miss the marriage wagon. I think the wagon only waits til you’re like 25 or something. (to singles over 25: Please don’t take that statement seriously…my tongue is safely deposited in my cheek. Don’t send hate mail if you’re one of the four and a half people who may read this) At any rate, I’m going to be an uncle (unofficially). Krusty and Brittany, his wife, are having a baby boy who they will name Zane Anthony….I’m going to call him Zanthony. Go ahead and deal with it. Zanthony and his Uncle Joe are going to rule the universe.

In other, less personal news, some of my favorite artists and bands have released albums of late…and I felt it prudent for me to plug them here.

Derek Webb’s new album The Ringing Bell officially hit stores May 1. You should buy it. It’s great. More rock than any of his previous solo efforts (and at times, reminiscent of his stuff from Caedmon’s Long Line of Leavers record), the album has a very Beatles-y feel to it. Clocking at just over 30 minutes, it’s quite short, almost a snack, though very deep for it’s length. I’ll try to post a full review soon, as well as a review for the new Wilco album, Sky Blue Sky that I just purchased today…but you should go ahead and buy that too, because Wilco is amazing.

David Crowder’s new album releases in the fall, as well as the new Caedmon’s (and from what I hear, there’s BIG NEWS attached to that one)….so…yay for new music this year!

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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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