So I’ll be honest; I wasn’t a big fan of this particular song until recently. I downloaded Kate’s self titled album because I kind of liked the song “Nobody,” which was kind of edgy and had a great beat. Originally I think I heard the song in a commercial on television, but I’m unsure what prompted me to download the album. Needless to say, it’s been sitting in my iTunes library for a few months without a further listen. However, yesterday I found myself in a Ralph Lauren Polo store where I heard “Whenever You’re Ready” over their satellite radio. There were people talking in the background and the registers buzzing, so I didn’t get a good listen. I wound up writing a few lines of lyrics in my iPhone for later review. After searching the lyrics and finding that it was Kate Earl, I was a little shocked because it wasn’t what I had originally heard from her. In any event, here’s a little bio about Kate:
“Earl was born to Charles and Pomposa Smithson in Anchorage, Alaska. She is of Filipino and Dutch/Welsh descent. She began playing piano at 4, sang in her church choir, and began playing the guitar when she was seventeen. Earl moved to Los Angeles in 2004 and signed with The Record Collection. Her debut album, Fate is the Hunter, was released in May 2005.
Earl left Record Collection in 2007 and signed with Universal Republic the following year. A self-titled album, “Kate Earl” was released as a digital download on August 18, 2009 and in physical copy on November 3, 2009. Earl is managed by the Tommy Mottola’s Mottola Company. Kate Earl’s song “Can’t Treat Me That Way” was used in an episode of the tv series Private Practice. Her song “Nobody” was featured in an episode of the CW network series 90210.”
There are certain parts of this song vocally that caught my ear. More specifically the following:
“And you know I’m not holding my breathe
But you know how to find me
And you know there’s a knot in my chest
Only you can untie me”
…
“Now I know why you run
And I’m not leaving
Before I got that your just lost
I used to think that I wasn’t enough”
In any event, give it a whirl and tell me what you like about it:
Ah yes, I’m back in the rhythm (pun intended) of uploading music on a more regular basis now. I won’t be for long with law school starting in a week though, so enjoy it while it lasts. Tonight I found myself fishing through old albums on iTunes and I was giving the Genius Toolbar quite a workout. Some times I don’t know why I click on certain songs in the sidebar, but this was one of them that needed to be uploaded immediately.
Trent Dabbs has release four albums in the course of six years; none of which I’ve heard until up to this point. So, I’m going to try and put good ole’ Trent on the map a little bit with this next tune called “Dear Jane.” Overall, I really loved the musical arrangement and certain parts of the chorus. It actually reminded me of an old Low Million’s song for some reason. Anyway, here’s a little about Mr. Dabbs, courtesy of Wikipedia:
“Dabbs moved to Nashville, Tennessee from Mississippi with his wife to pursue a career in music. In Jackson, he was the lead singer of bands Kelly Wingate and Always Sunday.
In 2005, he and his wife created Ten Out of Tenn, a collection of 10 music artist from Nashville. Since then, they’ve had 3 volumes and 4 tours. Popular up and coming artist such as Erin McCarley, Tyler James, Katie Herzig, Griffin House, Paper Route, Joy Williams, Ashley Monroe, and Matthew Perryman Jones have been a part of the compilation.
Dabbs became popular for his songwriting, as he has co-written songs with Mat Kearney, Matthew Perryman Jones, Josh Wilson, Joy Williams, Andrew Belle, Matt Wertz, and many others.
He has had music featured on shows such as The OC, Grey’s Anatomy, The Hills, and One Tree Hill.”
Now as for the tune itself, there isn’t really any particular set of lyrics or part of the song that makes me feel it’s worthy of being on the blog. It’s just a downright good tune. So, hear it out and let me know what you think…
Ok, so I honestly don’t know how I feel about this song deep down inside, but it has me tapping my feet. For those of you who are wondering what ever happened to the band, Six Pence Non the Richer, that we all loved so much in the late 90s and early 2000s…well here’s your answer. The lead singer Leigh Nash came out with an album in 2006 that slipped right under my nose until last night.
Below is a little bit about Nash if you aren’t already familiar with her bio already:
“Nash was born Leigh Anne Bingham in New Braunfels, Texas. She started singing country music and learning old country songs on the guitar at the age of 12. She had several years’ experience singing in local cafes with a middle-aged band and performed regularly at a Texan country & western dance hall. She met guitarist and songwriter Matt Slocum at a church retreat in the early 1990s.
The two formed Sixpence None the Richer, named for a line from the book Mere Christianity by the author C.S. Lewis, soon after and went on to record four full-length albums with the band. Their first album, released when she was just 16, was The Fatherless & the Widow. The album garnered critical acclaim and Slocum and Nash searched for new band members.
Joined by Tess Wiley, Dale Baker, and J.J. Plascencio, the new band recorded This Beautiful Mess, which won a Dove Award for Best Album. Wiley quit the band after their US tour and the band released the Tickets for a Prayer Wheel EP and then signed to the Squint Records label following the demise of REX.
The band’s eponymous album was released in 1997 and the single “Kiss Me” in 1999. In 1999 they received numerous Dove Awards, including Best Artist of the Year. The band was also nominated for a Grammy Award. A second single “There She Goes”, which hit Billboard, followed by a third single “I Can’t Catch You”.
In 2000, Nash sang the song “Need to Be Next to You” for the movie Bounce in order to thank Miramax that had used “Kiss Me” in the movie She’s All That and brought them into the spotlight. Written by Diane Warren, it became Nash’s first solo single.
After problems with their record labels, Sixpence None the Richer came back in 2001 with the album Divine Discontent after losing both Dale Baker and J.J. Plascencio. Two singles from that album, “Breathe Your Name” and “Don’t Dream It’s Over”, went onto the charts. However, Sixpence None the Richer announced their break-up on 26 February 2004, when Slocum sent a letter to CCM Magazine. After that, the band released The Best of Sixpence None the Richer.
In spite of the colossal success the band enjoyed with ubiquitous pop singles like “Kiss Me” and “There She Goes”, the group was continually plagued by the business woes of the trade and finally decided to split ways amicably. Disoriented by this major change, Nash and her husband left their Nashville home of 10 years and moved to Los Angeles.
While in L.A., Nash penned a batch of songs that would eventually comprise her first solo record, Blue on Blue, which was released in August 2006 on One Son Records, Nash’s own imprint label through Nettwerk Productions. During the record time of making Blue on Blue, Nash flew to Canada several times. The first single, “My Idea Of Heaven”, was released to USA radio the week of 14 July 2006, and the song “Ocean Size Love” was to be the second single, but it was a promo release only. She has also recorded a song “Mirrors and Smoke” with the band Jars of Clay on their album Good Monsters the same year.
In the meantime, Nash moved back to Nashville, Tennessee and into a new community of musicians – a recently formed rock collective called Movement Nashville.
In 2007, Nash began a new band, Fauxliage, with Canadian band Delerium, which released a self-titled album on August 14, 2007. Nash, Megan Thompson and Kate York also started a Christian band called Thompson, York & Nash. They worked on a few songs that have been put on Myspace. However, none of the songs posted on their MySpace page have been formally released.
In late 2007, Nash and Slocum met over coffee and positively discussed the reuniting of Sixpence None the Richer. In January 2008 Nash traveled to New Zealand to perform at the annual Parachute Music Festival. Performing on the main stage twice, she attracted crowds of over 30,000 who enjoyed her acoustic covers of Sixpence None the Richer hits “Kiss Me” and “There She Goes”. In the fall of 2008, Leigh toured with Delerium.
Leigh has since rejoined Sixpence and worked on a new EP My Dear Machine EP, and the Christmas album The Dawn of Grace with tour dates planned throughout 2008 in the States and Europe. Tess Wiley is also back to support Sixpence’s European tour.
Leigh will join Open Wings-Broken Strings tour in 2009 fall, along with Eddie Kowalczyk of Live, Art Alexakis of Everclear. After that Leigh will back to Sixpence to jump into the studio to record a new album, which can be expected in early 2010.”
As far as the song is concerned, it’s a very happy one for the most part. It’s naturally a very poppy song, which really isn’t my favorite genre, but it was something I wanted to share with you all.
Ok, so I promised a while ago that I’d put this song up, but unfortunately my schedule doesn’t allow for regular posts anymore. Once again I was looking through iTunes for similar music to whatever it was that I was listening to at the time and Civil Twilight popped up. Now, I’m not a huge fan of anything “Twilight” related, especially that foppish dandy, Robert Pattinson, or that set of abs, Taylor Lautner. But this little unknown band from South Africa blow that vampire nonsense out of the water. Here’s a little Wikipedia bio about them if you’re interested:
“Originally hailing from Cape Town, South Africa, Civil Twilight is a power trio that draws parallels with Muse, Pilot Speed, and other like-minded bands with impassioned vocals and stirring, alt-rock songcraft. Brothers Andrew and Steven McKeller were raised in a musical household, having explored their father’s jazz collection at a young age while listening to their classically trained mother play piano. In November 1996, Andrew launched a teenaged band with help from his high school classmate, guitarist Richard Wouters. The two scheduled an inaugural rehearsal for the following month; in the interim, Andrew discovered that his younger brother, Steven, could sing and write songs. The three musicians subsequently banded together, with Steven agreeing to master the bass and Wouters giving up the guitar (which Andrew also played) to learn drums.
Civil Twilight spent several years practicing in local church halls and garages before graduating to the local club scene, where they steadily became a well-respected act. Having finished their education, the bandmates then moved to Los Angeles in August 2005; shortly thereafter, they signed with the indie label One October and co-produced their debut record, Human. The album arrived in 2007 and received an extra boost when several songs were featured in prime-time television shows, including One Tree Hill, House, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. As their profile mounted, the musicians relocated to Nashville.
Their songs have been featured in many TV spots, including One Tree Hill and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. “Quiet In My Town” was prominently featured at the end of Season 6 Episode 3 Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. of One Tree Hill on The CW Network. It played for 6 minutes during the coda – the scene of Quentin’s funeral.
“Letters From The Sky” was featured at the end of Episode 11 of Harper’s Island, after Wakefield kills Cal and Chloe commits suicide. In addition to this, the song was also featured on Season 7 of One Tree Hill, in the opening scene of the episode, You Are a Runner and I Am My Father’s Son.
“Letters From the Sky” was the iTunes Free Download of the Week for the week of October 6–12, 2009.
The band’s self-titled album was originally released independently in 2008, having now signed to Wind-up Records this album was due to be re-released 31 March 2009, however due to scheduling issues it was pushed back. It was eventually released July 21, 2009. They opened for label mates, Evanescence, for a one-off show in New York on November 4, 2009.
They also opened for a Three Days Grace concert in Ontario, California on April 25, 2010, where they played “Letters From the Sky” and many other of their songs.”
Now, onto the song meaning. It’s pretty simple actually, which is why I liked the tune in the first place. There’s nothing like a song about getting a second chance, but there’s really nothing like an angsty song about getting a second chance and taking full advantage of it.
So, I must say that I had a good day fooling around with iTunes’ Genius recommendations. I came across this song by Andrew Belle and fell in love. Thus, I won’t keep you waiting by posting a long bio for this one. However, I am going to post the lyrics because they’re beautiful. So, from the Anonymous Artisan to you – Enjoy!
I count the steps from where I am
to where i started
I tap my feet
and close the door, to your apartment
and I know you’re never gonna understand
Its too late for you to stop and think
too late to mention
I make a move and spill my drink
to break the tension
I know you’re never gonna understand
I’ll try my best to follow if I can, but
I would have let you leave
The static waves across the screen
define this notion
back and forth and in between
like my emotion
and I know you’re never gonna understand
and wont you slow this down oh if you can
you swayed your hips and stole the breath
that I was taking
I touched your lips and held your hands
when they were shaking
Look how we’ve fallen upon our knees
how we forgot it
these empty halls held our disease
before we caught it
now out the door and down the stairs from your apartment
I would have let you leave
The static waves across the screen
define this notion
back and forth and in between
like my emotion
now out the door and down the stairs
from your apartment
I count the steps from where i am
to where I started
I would have let you
I would have let you leave.
Ok, so another post long overdue. Sorry folks! I have to say that I haven’t been really looking for new music lately…perhaps because I’ve been so busy with follies such as school and work, but I promise this is a good one. While watching a Red Sox game the other night, a commercial came on and I heard one line of this song and immediately went on a hunt to find who sang it. I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of fast songs, but this one is awesome.
After doing a little bit of research, I found that Neon Trees has been an active rock band since 2005 and has performed with other smaller bands such as Civil Twilight (I will post a song later on by Civil Twilight), Mutemath and 30 Seconds to Mars. Neon Trees performed this song on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and the “Tonight Show.”
Other than that information, I have nothing else for you. It’s not a deep song, so just listen and enjoy!
I owe all of my followers another apology for not updating the blog more often. Oddly enough I’ve been busy with what seems to be a full time job, finishing up my last semester of undergrad and prepping for law school. To be honest, I haven’t been music hunting in a while, but I did have to do some serious research to find where this next song is. Carolina Liar’s “Show Me What I’m Looking For” is the song that was featured in the trailer/commercial for “Disappeared,” a new series coming out on Investigative Discovery.
I actually had Carolina Liar’s album on my iPod for a while and never got around to listening to it. Well, after this little number grabbed my attention I surely gave it a thorough hearing.
Here’s a little information about Carolina Liar from Wikipedia:
“Carolina Liar is an American rock band based out of Los Angeles. Lead vocalist Chad Wolf is originally from Charleston, South Carolina, but the band and most of its members originate from Sweden.
The band is best known for the songs “I’m Not Over”, and “Show Me What I’m Looking For” from their 2008 major label debut album Coming to Terms, produced by Swedish producers Martin “Max Martin” Sandberg, Tobias Karlsson, and Johan Schuster.
On March 3, 2009, the single “Show Me What I’m Looking For” was featured on the iTunes Music Store as the Free Single of the Week. “Show Me What I’m Looking For” also appeared in FOX Sport’s commercials for the 2009 MLB All-Star Game. In Australia, promotion has already began on radio & television for the bands’ third forthcoming single “Beautiful World”. A release date has not yet been confirmed.
Show Me What I’m Looking For” and ‘Open The Door’ will be featured in commercials for Investigation Discovery’s new show, Disappeared. Show Me What I’m Looking For” will also be featured in promo spots for WEtv’s The Locator”.
Carolina Liar also played as a warm up band for Rob Thomas while he was playing in New York City at the Beacon Theater on his Cradlesong tour.”
I have a feeling this song can be looked at as either a religious tune or one about the need to have a relationship. I think I’ve said in past posts that I’m not really into Christian rock because it limits how the song can be interpreted, but this is one of those songs where it’s so good it doesn’t matter. So, keep an open mind and give it a listen…
I really have to apologize to everyone who’s been following me on Twitter or on WordPress. Things have been absolutely crazy since this summer. It’s tough for me to post while finishing up undergrad, applying for law school and working, but I promise to get back into the swing of things here shortly. However, I have been listening to new music and doing some research, so good things are to come…well…good music at least.
Lately, I’ve been a big fan of “Into The Ocean” by Blue October. I don’t know why, but it just reminds me of a vacation song. Maybe it’s because I need some time off desperately, but I’ve been humming this song for a few weeks straight now. It’s definitely a song to listen to when you feel like you need a release or when you’re in an earthy mood.
Since their inception in 1995, Blue October has had five studio albums, two live albums and only a few singles but oddly enough they haven’t really become main-stream. Let’s keep them that way. We all know what main-stream does to bands…
Now as I said before, this song is about release. You can definitely get a sense of the “let whatever happen, happen” attitude in the chorus of the song here:
“I want to swim away but don’t know how.
Sometimes it feels just like I’m falling in the ocean.
Let the waves up and take me down.
Let the hurricane set in motion.
Let the rain of what I feel right now come down,
Let the rain come down…”
While introducing this song during a concert, Justin, the lead singer of the band, said that this was a story about a man that went on a cruise and jumped off the boat. Just before the guy hit the water, he thought of everyone he was leaving behind and suddenly regretted the decision but could do nothing. Questionable life decision? Yes. Did a great song come out of it? Absolutely.
Alright, so I know it’s been a while and I apologize, but I’ve been studying for my LSAT exam like a crazy. In the meantime, I’ve been downloading a few songs here and there that I will share when I get a chance. But for now, it’s all studying. Sorry folks!
Last night I came across this song that I absolutely needed to share with you folks. I hadn’t heard of Josh Hoge before, so when he came up in the “similar artist” column, he was given a fair shot just like everyone else who appears there. Totally worth it by the way. For those of you who are like myself and have no idea who this guy is, here’s a little bit of background information from his website:
Growing up in Franklin, Tennessee and eventually settling in Nashville, singer Josh Hoge represents Music City’s competing spirits of tradition and rebellion. The 27-year old has always been surrounded by music – both from the city and from his family. Coming from a deep lineage of musicians, it wasn’t until he moved to Los Angeles that the pieces finally started to fall into place.
Upon anchoring in L.A., Hoge quickly became friends with hit maker and future super-star, Ne-Yo. Together, the pair began to work on a series of songs. A strained personal relationship brought Josh back to Nashville where he eventually signed to Epic Records. His debut single, “360,” soon followed.
With “360″ beginning to make inroads, a sudden management shakeup at Epic resulted in Josh being released from its roster. Without a manager or agent, Josh booked his own gigs around the country and locked-in a corporate sponsor for his tour. While on tour, he recorded his Bedroom Sessions EP. Josh worked relentlessly, playing over 200 shows a year. His hard work paid off as the EP quickly moved past the 10,000 unit mark in just six months.
Opportunity knocked once again in the form of a new record deal with the recently-launched Blackledge Music.
Ten of the eleven songs Everything She Was (Josh’s long-awaited debut) were co-written by Hoge as collaboration with some of today’s most gifted producers. Superstar Ne-Yo puts his touch on “Beautiful Distraction” while One Republic’s Ryan Tedder helped write “Take It Or Leave It.” Nashville-based Ashley Gorley lent his skills to four songs including “Stay Away” and the already buzzworthy “360.”
The album’s title Everything She Was represents one big good and bad relationship. “Like other people, I’ve had a whole bunch of those,” says Hoge. ”I like to write songs about love and all the good and bad stuff that comes with it.” Nowhere is that more evident than in both “Stay Away” and “Space.” ”‘Stay Away’ really was never a song I intended to be on the album. It was just something I was working on with a few friends,” recalls Hoge. ”I was with this girl at the time and we were constantly breaking up and getting back together. It was like she just kept showing up after we would call things off. I just wanted her to stay away.”
It wasn’t a bad break-up that drove Josh to the studio to record the blues-inspired single “Space,” a duet with actress/singer Caitlin Crosby. Walking through Nashville late one night Josh had overheard someone on their cell phone say “there’s a whole lot of space in the house without you around.” The words resonated with Josh and he immediately took the idea to Nashville singer/songwriter Dave Barnes. ”I thought it was a great idea for a song,” says Hoge. ”It turned out that my producer, Marshall Altman, already knew her. She just had this unbelievable singing voice. There was a lot of hurt and pain you could feel from her when she sang and I thought she would be perfect to be part of this song with us.”
Everything She Was is a place of new beginnings for Josh Hoge.
So, about “Beautiful Distraction.” I won’t talk about the lyrics much because they really don’t matter much in this case. For me, it was the sound that really blew me away. This guy has an incredible singing voice on the album and awesome beats for all of his songs. As usual, YouTube has been giving me grief over posting the album version of the song, so below is a live version. If you get a chance, give the album version a listen on either Amazon or iTunes. Enjoy!
I figured it was time for another female artist to make her debut on “The Anonymous Artisan.” Lenka is an artist that really has a unique sound. Her song “Don’t Let Me Fall” sounds a bit childish at first listen with the way the music is set with the lyrics, but she has an amazing voice that seems to carry the silly sound. The way she sings the lyrics “don’t let me fall” after the second chorus gave me the chills when I listened to the song at first, which is why I think I like it now. Her album reminds me of a mix between Sarah Bareilles and Imogen Heap, if you can imagine it.
Here’s a little bit of information about the song and the album from Wikipedia:
“”Don’t Let Me Fall” was featured in a television commercial for Telus in Canada. “The Show” has been featured as soundtrack for an Old Navy as well as an Ugly Betty commercial, the film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, the 2009 Spring Campaign of the Polish TV Station TVN (Poland), and was promoted as an iTunes Free Single of the Week. The songs “Trouble Is a Friend” and “Live Like You’re Dying” were featured in Grey’s Anatomy and “Trouble is a Friend”, “Don’t Let Me Fall”, “The Show”, and “We Will Not Grow Old” were featured in the teen drama 90210.
Lenka has performed on the late-night network television interview shows in America, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and The Tonight Show singing “The Show” with her full band.
On the week of 3 November 2008, “The Show” debuted at number 71 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart.
The beginning of 2009 saw Lenka tour extensively throughout America and Canada. On February 2nd 2009 Lenka performed her first sold out show in Toronto, Canada which she played a remix version of “The Show” as her encore.
Summer 2009 will see Lenka’s album released in Europe and Asia, with coinciding tours and festival appearances.
In Vietnam, “The Show” was a huge hit and became one of the most played songs in public.
In Poland, due to the huge popularity of “The Show” Lenka’s debut album was certificated gold after 10,000 copies sold.”
I’m assuming that the “don’t let me fall” at the end of each chorus has nothing to do with her not wanting to fall in love. The rest of the song is actually quite romantic, so I’d venture to say she doesn’t want to fall from this cloud nine that she seems to be on with this person. It makes an awful lot of sense to me considering the lyrical arrangement. Let me know if you think differently.
In the meantime, give it a listen and wait for that haunting “don’t let me fall” at 1:42.