The iTune In 07.04.08: John Mayer, R.E.M., Brooke Fraser, Thriving Ivory, The Watson Twins
Posted by Ari Berenstein on 07.04.2008
Back in the music zone to blog about my adventures in sampling songs from iTunes!
Hey everyone and welcome to what will be (at least for now) a limited run series over the summer. It's an idea that's been bubbling in my head for a while now and its just too good to pass up on.
You see, every week like I'm sure some of you do, I click onto the iTunes store and look around for the newest musical releases of the week. Rummaging through the offerings of the store front you get a pretty good idea of the new music released as well as some of the underground acts just waiting to be discovered. In fact, looking around iTunes is how I've learned about or was able to explore in greater detail many of my newer favorite acts—The Ting Tings, Les Savy Fav, Rilo Kiley, Paramore and so on and so forth. So in the spirit of sharing my discovery of music both new and old, mainstream and underground is the iTune in. Join me on the discovery adventure!
Top Eight & Featured: At the outset, the biggest release that stands out to me is John Mayer's "Where the Light Is"…a three set live disc that's also going to be released on DVD. I have plans on picking that up as a CD but there is always the temptation of downloading directly from iTunes. Other big released on the "Top Eight" include of all things the new Vanessa Hudgens album (won't touch it with a ten foot pole) and a new Alkaline Trio album. On the rap scene, TechN9NE and G-Unit are featured and iTunes has an exclusive live set with R.E.M. that looks to feature cuts from their new album. Also of note is that this is a "three dot" week instead of four window pane slides that generally occur for a given week. This usually indicates a shorter week of releases overall as iTunes won't feature as much up top during slow weeks.
Sampling the new Mayer album, "Neon" is a scattershot and frenetic opening jaunt; "In Your Atmosphere" is the second most popular download early on and is standard acoustic Mayer—easy to listen to. And then…there is the most popular download, a live cover of Tom Petty & the Heartbreaker's "Free Falin". Wow, Mayer gets right to my heart with that one. This makes it's a GUARANTEED BUY. Listening to the thirty second sample reveals Mayer's take on the track isn't to go as high up on the words "Free Fallin" as Petty, thus making it a more subtle and subdued chorus. "Vultures" is at a faster tempo and has more energy as a result. So it looks like I'm definitely making a trip to the local music store today.
R.E.M.'s ITunes live from London is indeed dominated by tunes from their newest album "Accelerate" with "Living Well Is The Best Revenge" rocking out the hardest. It doesn't do much for me, but then again R.E.M. have never really been in my top 10 all-time musicians at any point, so maybe it's to be expected. "Fall On Me" and "Man on the Moon" may be worthy pick ups if you don't have any previous R.E.M. live work.
One of the most eclectic choices pops up on the second page with the country / old tyme rock & roll featured Little Feat album. I have no clue who or what is involved but it appears to have a number of musical guests including Dave Matthews, Vince Gill and Brooks & Dunn and there is a song called "Dixie Chicken". Wow. A pretty decent clip of "See You Later alligator" too.
2562 catches my attention with their name and they are "dance". First track "Redux" has a slow beat and is mostly percussion and distortion. "Mood Dub" is trance like and keeps my attention, but overall I'm not a huge fan of trance, so it's a pass after two samples for me.
An advert for New Zealand's Brooke Fraser as iTunes editor's choice catches my attention. Her album Albertine is described as pop but I'm a sucker for a girl with a voice (as you're likely to see repeated throughout this little blog adventure) so I'm trying it out. First track Shadowfeat isn't much until the chorus gives Fraser a chance to shine and it cuts off leaving me wanting to hear more—a sample with its job done. I'll come back to it later in the week and see if it strikes my fancy any more. Deciphering Me and Love, Where is Your Fire don't do much for me, too slow, but the title track has an awesome base line—dark, pulsating and very compelling. C.S. Lewis Song is a piano based ballad and grabbed my attention more for its title than the melody or vocal inside. It's currently priced at six dollars for the whole album, so it's overall a maybe but I'm thinking of paying for solo song downloads of what I liked.
Tickle Me Pink's "Madeline" (Whose bassist shockingly died this week) catches me right away with the start-stop guitar riff it the opening track "Typical". Tracks two and three are equally impressive. Power chords are impressive. Bonus track "Expiration Date' is also one of the more downloaded tracks and the opening riff shows why—these guys seem to be good at that. Its $7.99 for the album so modern alternative fans might find a winner on this one. Its not a right away buy from me but I might seek this one out on a P2P…
There for Tomorrow—Pass. Too fast, too like everything else out there.
iTunes' Free Song of the Week is "You Are Goodbye" by Holley Conlan, categorized as folk. It's a slow but very evocative ballad. She has a beautiful voice (albeit similar to other singer-songwriters out there) and the thirty second clip gets me to download the song for free, based mostly on the instrumentals and the use of a bell. Aside from the improper grammar, this one has promise.
Indies: Nothing particularly strikes my fancy on the Indies window block, this week although points to electronic outfit Podington Bear on the genius name.
The Rest of New Releases: I like to take a look through the large list of new releases to find out what is available that isn't feature don the main screen, to see if I missed anything the first go around. I'll also check out bands whose names I like and become interested in. It seems a bit superficial I realize, but it has worked out to my benefit more often than not.
The88—Coming Home: good beat, boppy and happy—fun listen, likely worth a download.
Alakrity—Whatever Happened to Good TV? : Whatever happened to predictability? The milkman, the paper boy, the evening TV…I don't know if this is a collection of TV theme songs but the last track is the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers theme song. UGH NO. If that's what they consider good TV, then I'm throwing mine out the window. Unless it's an ironic statement, in which case, good job!
Common—Announcement EP: Two new songs from Common, including one with Pharrell. HELL YES.
Longsleeves—Constellation: An album based off of constellations I gather. A lot of short tracks and short album, too out there for me.
Maps & Atlases—You and Me and the Mountain: I get the feeling this would be an album picked up by a lot of those Pitchfork folks heralding it as something smart unique and beyond our time. I don't like it.
Nappy Roots—No Static: new single from a rap group I like a lot. Smooth and nice downbeat song, great scratches and cuts. Definitely thinking about this one.
TAB the Band—Where She Was on Monday: I've heard a bit about them but never felt motivated to try them out. This one is okay, good guitar break in the sample, but not remarkable.
We Versus the Shark—hysterical name, music is a bit too loud for me, but the hard rockers might like it.
The Final Tally:
GUARANTEED BUY: John Mayer, Where The Light Is DVD GUARANTEED DOWNLOAD: none Possible Downloads:
Brooke Fraser, "Shadowfeat", "Albertine"
The 88, "Coming Home"
Nappy Roots, "No Static"
You Tube Tune In
Aimee Mann is sponsoring a contest for fans to play the best rendition of the new single "Freeway" from her album "F******* Smilers". Here's two of my favorites:
The Best of Last Week:
Thriving Ivory "Runaway", "For Heavens Sake"
The lead singer has a weird vocal pattern evoking a combination of Davey Havok from AFI and Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace, but the samples stuck with me enough that I went back to sample the full songs. Good and different alternative music you might want to give a try to.
The Watson Twins "How Am I To Be"
I'm not a fan of their slower material (too dry for me) but this boppy number is just the ticket. It's a great tune to have especially in time for the start of summer. Great guitar chords and a fantastic vocal.
Top iTunes Songs on 7/1/08: 1. I Kissed A Girl- Katy Perry 2. Burnin Up- Jonas Brothers 3.Viva La Vida- Coldplay 4. 7 Things- Miley Cyrus 5. Disturbia- Rhianna
Alright everyone, that's the first one of these done. I'll see you next week and throughout the rest of the summer.
