August. Die She Must.

Because of the headache I had today, I decided that it would be the soothing sounds of Paul Simon all afternoon. Didn't make my head hurt less, but made me happy despite it. Here's a couple beauties:

MP3: Leaves That Are Green - Simon & Garfunkel
MP3: April Come She Will - Simon & Garfunkel

Paul has a new album out that I have yet to sink my teeth into. Quite looking forward to it!

"Blind to the very horror of his sorry life"

Just a quick post to promote one of my all-time favorite song writers. The new album from Ed Harcourt is called The Beautiful Lie, and it's fantastic.

MP3: The Last Cigarette - Ed Harcourt

I first saw Ed when he opened for R.E.M. in Denver in 2003, and I literally bumped into him in the men's room after his set. Fun night.

Mason Jennings

A co-worker suggested this guy to me as some good easy-listening. Easy listening indeed. I find it quite easy to listen to this album all friggin' day. Nothing too complicated going on here, just beautifully classic folk songwritting about love and life, sung with passion.

MP3: If You Need A Reason - Mason Jennings
MP3: Jackson Square - Mason Jennings

He also has a substantial back catalogue that I am looking forward to once I start to crave some 'new' MJ. Buy the new album HERE. You can get the album plus an autographed single for only $16us. Done.

I'm never sick of growing old.

My first exposure to Ben Kweller was a live performance of The Rules on some talk show a couple of years ago. I loved the performance, and really liked the song so I checked out the album and some of his back catalogue. Lots of really great songs, and a distinctive voice and songwriting style. Here's a sample off of his newest album that I can't help but listen to loud. He performed this song at Lollapalooza this summer, and I'm glad that he's still cranking out gems like this.

MP3: Magic - Ben Kweller

More sweet, sweet Wilco video.

Theologians

It's about time I posted something about this guy(he's kind of a big deal).
I figure I'll just let the video speak for itself. Enjoy.

The Sleepy Jackson

Before the Essex Green album came along, The Sleepy Jackson album Personality: One was a Spider, One was a Bird was dominating my listening time. I'm happy to know that it will always be there whenever I decide to revisit it. It's suddenly starting to get very crowded at the top of my top 10 list. And it's about to get even more crowded now that I have the new Electric Six album to listen to. More on that later.

MP3: Miles Away - The Sleepy Jackson

The Sleepy Jackson recently played a set on KCRW, and it was great timing because I was in the middle of my obsession with the album. I have to say that the performance was not as fantastic as I was hoping. I'll watch it again, just to make sure, but their live sound seemed to lack a lot of the strength and energy that you hear on the album. It is a live radio show in a tiny room, though, so it's forgivable if the energy seemed to be lacking.

The Essex Green - The Cannibal Sea

Been listening to this lots lately after getting it from a friend. It was a pretty solid recommendation. It also continues my recent trend of listening to bands with female vocalists. I've listened to it so much now, that it's hard to choose a song to post.

MP3: Cardinal Points - The Essex Green

This is the first track to really jump out at me simply because of the tempo I suppose. What I love about this album though, is how diverse it sounds. They show a really broad range of skills and styles, without the songs getting gimmicky.

MP3: Sin City - The Essex Green

Simply one of the prettiest songs I've heard in a long time. And God knows I'm a sucker for pretty tunes.(And why is it that the prettiest songs are always the shortest??)