Album Review: Ghost Notes

Matthew Barber is a new artist to me, but with his latest album, Ghost Notes (released April 14th on Outside Music records), his fourth album. Hailing from Ontario, Canada, Ghost Notes is filled with influences from rock to folk and country-rock, an album that feels very laid back, easy going and perfect for this current change in weather that we're experiencing here in Vermont.

There's a lot about this album that I should like - there's a decent sound, and any number of the tracks here that I can see ending up on the television show Grey's Anatomy or House MD. Matthew sings with a confident style, and there's a bit of variety between the songs, a good blend of faster and slower songs, which works nicely for a singer-songwriter album.

The strongest point of the album isn't the sound, but the lyrics. Coupled with the sound, Ghost Notes contains a number of songs that have been stuck in my head with their lyrics. In good folk/country-rock tradition, each song tells a story, which gives Ghost Notes a bit more depth than some of the other albums that have come across my desk in the past couple of years, and it's a very nice thing to listen to. Oftentimes, this album has reminded me of one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Gordon Lightfoot. Coupled with the stripped-down acoustic sound and fairly good lyrics, this album is certainly a good one to listen to.

While listening to the record, I find myself enjoying it, but there's something missing from it, and it's given me the impression that it's far from a stellar album. All of the right elements are there - we have a promising singer-songwriter with a fantastic voice, we have songs that sound very good, and a couple of tent-pole songs such as 'Easily Bruised' and 'I'm Gonna Settle My Accounts With You' and a variety of influences and additional singers. What doesn't thrill me about this album is that there's no surprises, and essentially, while it's a new singer, there's nothing that I haven't heard before with other singer-songwriters.

That all being said, I like this album, I really do. It feels like a comfortable pair of jeans that I've had to replace, and found something that's similar, but without the crazy pockets that makes it wholly unique. In an overall sense, this is a cardinal sin with music, because the worst songs are the ones that are uninteresting and send me up the dial or down the playlist searching for something more exciting, but it's not a universal rule. Barber has crafted a fun, easygoing album that simply blends into the mass variety of music that's out there, thanks to idiot with some webskills and the ability to use myspace. Once you've caught sight and sound of his music, you can't help but notice, but it's the picking him out in the first place. Fortunately, the lead single form the album, Easily Bruised, is one of the more distinctive songs from the ten tracks. However, while it's certainly worth picking up for its lyrics, this isn't necessarily an album that I'm going to listen to over and over, building charished memories of my graduate school years, but it will certainly pop up on my playlists as I finish out my graduate school years.

Barber will be touring the US for a short set of shows in the US, and if he was in my area, I'd check him out:

May 12 2009 11:00P The Living Room New York, New York

May 13 2009 8:00P Union Hall Brooklyn, New York

May 14 2009 9:00P The Milltown Carrboro, North Carolina

May 15 2009 8:00P TBA Athens, Georgia

Easily Bruised - Matthew Barber

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Concert Review: Alexi Murdoch

On Sunday night, one of my absolute favorite artists came to South Burlington's Higher Ground, Alexi Murdoch. Needless to say, I was a little more than excited to finally see him in person.

I've been a fan of Murdoch's since 2005, when I first heard his music, ironically, in the TV show House, MD or Prison Break (They both aired the song Orange Sky around the same time). I immediately fell in love with his complicated, yet minimal lyrics, and when his first full length album, Time Without Consequence, was released, I picked it up right away, and fell even more in love with his sound and style. He's also one of the earliest artists that I featured for this site.

Earlier this year, Murdoch announced a short tour of the US, something that he's never done before. (A fellow concert-goer noted that he did a tour of Canada and then Boston, which doesn't really count). I bought up a ticket right away, and last night was showtime. I missed the first act, Joshua Panda (whom I wasn't terribly interested in anyway) and caught the last couple songs by Dawn Landis, who was absolutely fantastic - I just covered her here, and will hopefully be talking about her new album soon.

Then Alexi Murdoch and his group came on stage. After some technical problems, they started off with the song Through The Dark, which has since been featured in a couple of movies and TV shows, and will be featured on his next album, which I'll talk about in a moment. The rest of the set was a great mix of new and old songs. One of my biggest complaints for Murdoch has been his lack of new material in three or four years, but after listening to him last night, I can easily say that the wait was worth it. The new songs feel very much like the ones on Time Without Consequence, but with new energy. It feels very much like the differences between Nick Drake's albums Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layer. Murdoch has clearly been at work, apparently in the Himalayas, for some of this new material, and it shows.

The comparison to Nick Drake isn't an accident - I've felt that Murdoch is a more modern and updated version of Drake, although not a copy, but clearly a contemporary of the man. On stage, this seems even more apparent. The lights were dim the entire time, and I doubt that I could have taken any good pictures if I'd been allowed to use my camera. Alexi seemed very shy on stage - very confident, and witty at points, but unlike some artists that I've seen, who interact a bit with the crowd, he essentially kept to himself, talking a moment between songs, but sticking mainly with the music.

He did note that he will be releasing a new record, and if you're lucky enough to see him in person while he's in the US, you can buy a limited version of it for $15. For those of you who can't make it out to see him, it sounds like the new album will be released this year, and is titled Towards the Sun, with the following songs: Towards the Sun, At Your Door, Some Day Soon, Slow Revolution, Through The Dark, Her Hands Were Leaves and Crinian Wood. That seems a little light, and I'm hoping that we'll hear a couple more songs on there when it's released. He didn't say when we'll see a release for this, but whenever I find something about it, I'll be on the horn right away.

On stage, Murdoch is a formidable, yet minimal presence. While his group isn't loud and overwhelming, they are absolutely fantastic. The songs that we heard were crisp, and rich in sound, with a variety of beats and rhythms, such as on Shine and Dream of Flying, and especially so with some of his newer songs. After listening to this show, I had chills, especially after his fantastic rendition of Orange Sky, which is in my mind, one of the greatest songs ever created in this genre. But even more so, I'm looking more and more forward to this next album. It's going to be very, very good.

The Set List:

• Through The Dark
• Some Day Soon, New Song
• Home
• All Of My Days
• Sky Pouring In (?), New Song
• Dream of Flying
• Shine
• Crinian Wood, New Song
• Slow Revolution, New Song

Encore:

• Orange Sky
• Unfinished Song, No Title

Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch

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New Artist: Dawn Landes

I have a concert review coming tomorrow for Alexi Murdoch, but while I'm still working that one out, I wanted to talk quickly about one of the artists that opened for him last night at the Higher Ground in South Burlington, Dawn Landes.

Honestly, most openers aren't all that great. I've been to a number of concerts where I've been disapointed, but there have been a bunch, especially at the Higher Ground where I've been really, really impressed. Landes falls into that catagory, and she really blew the doors off the plast with the last half of her set last night.

What was most impressive about Landes and her group was that they were interesting. I tend to listen to a lot of music in the folk-rock/ indie category, and while she falls nicely into this sound, her music doesn't feel like it. She's got energy, a lot of it, and with songs like Bodyguard, which have a fantastic groove and feel, she owned the stage. Her latest album is Straight Lines, and I'm really looking forward to picking that up as soon as possible. Expect a review soon. 

Bodyguard - Dawn Landes

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New Mute Math Video - Spotlight

I've long been a fan of the Alternative group Mute Math (or MuteMath, I can never tell which), because their music is fast, exciting and interesting. 

The other day, the group released the video for their latest single, Spotlight, and like their last video, which was shot backwards, this one features the band rocking out to their latest song in the back of a moving van, sped up a bit, which gives the song a certain urgency and certainly a bit of creativity. Take a look here:

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I have somewhat mixed feelings about the song - well, not the song itself, but the fact that it was used in the godawful film Twilight. (Hopefully that'll be the first and last time that franchise is ever brought up here...). It's a fantastic song, and while I don't hold anything against a band for being part of a film or TV show, I'm a little erked at this because I can't stand the book or film. 

Take a listen to Spotlight here. 

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King Info

There's been a flurry of information lately about the upcoming Dave Matthew's Band album, Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King lately as the release date approaches. This is their seventh album, their first in four years, and will be released on June 2nd, 2009.

The main webpage released the tracklist for the album:

01 Grux
02 Shake Me Like A Monkey
03 Funny The Way It Is
04 Lying In The Hands Of God
05 Why I Am
06 Dive In
07 Spaceman
08 Squirm
09 Alligator Pie (Cockadile)
10 Seven
11 Time Bomb
12 My Baby Blue
13 You And Me

Funny The Way It Is is the lead single, and you can download it for free here.

I Turn My Camera On

A bit of self-promotion here. I started a photoblog as I purchased a new camera a while back. It was a fun and engaging hobby when I lived in England, and I now have a camera, a Nikon D40, that I have a bit more control over when it comes to images. Much, much better than a point and shoot. Take a look here, let me know what you think.

I Turn My Camera On - Spoon

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More Goodtimes are on the Way

London rocker Franc Cinelli aka Goodtimes Goodtimes is bringing back the goodtimes once again with an upcoming EP, tenatively titled Let It Begin.

Last year, I was completely blown away by his debut LP Glue, which I selected as my #5 album of 2008. Since then, he's been hard at work on a followup album, and we have some results coming soon. Over the past couple of months, Franc has released a couple of demos for audiences to listen to, and I've really liked much of what I've heard. Never Going Back, For All My Kingdom and Let It Begin all demonstrate a great amount of energy and some fun lyrics that I've come to expect from Goodtimes Goodtimes.

The songs that I've listened to from Let It Begin show a bit of a maturity in Franc's sound. There's the same enthusiasm that we saw in Glue, the same carefree nature with some of the songs, but there are some other, subtle moments here that display a growing confidence in sound and style, which I'm thrilled to hear. Almost everything was done right with Glue, and that was his first go-around. The expectations are certainly higher for this upcoming album and EP, and from the sounds of it, we're going to have those expectations met, if not exceeded.

Let It Begin - Goodtimes Goodtimes

The Rescue - Goodtimes Goodtimes

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Album Review: Let It Rise

Avi & Celia's latest offering from the Green Mountain State, Let It Rise, is an odd mix of blue grass, blues and folk-rock, bundled together and following their small EP Off The Floor. Its eleven tracks present a wide range of the duo's skills, and shows that there could be a really bright future for the group.

I've talked about Avi & Celia before, and by and large, I've been impressed with their sound, although I suspect that their greater works are yet to come. They came through Montpelier's Langdon St. Cafe half a year ago, when I first saw them, and caught another show earlier this year. On stage, they're a formittable pair - Avi's strong guitar work and Celia's fantastic vocals paired together make them worth a trip out on a cold Vermont night alone, and if Let It Rise is any indication, they're going to be better still.

This album is far more composed and much more fun than Off The Floor, in my opinion. There's a wider range of style and sound here, and both artists get to really show off their talents throughout. There's a rich tradition of folk and blue grass that they seem to draw off of. Celia especially reminds me of the better qualities of Bonnie Raitt, Nanci Griffith and Alison Krauss, (even a bit of early Grace Potter), which is paticularly striking, especially on tracks such as Rollin' & Tumblin', Seven Years and Ivory Bones, while Avi really shines on a cover of Tecumseh Valley.

The track that's most impressive, however, is Gnomes Time & Place parts 1 and 2 which is both inventive and fun at the same time, and amazes me ever time I hear it, for the complexity of the guitar work and vocals between the two. It's also paticularly catchy with a simple melody that blossoms out once you reach the second part.

The album isn't perfect, and it's clear that the duo is improving, and rapidly, but it is fun. At the latest concert in Montpelier, they announced that they were adding a bassist and drummer to their group, which addresses the bigger of my reservations of the album - while both Avi and Celia are good together, there is an element of their music that feels unsupported, an album of one-off songs that have some missing components to it. While the addition of these instruments here won't work for all of their songs, it would certainly add to several of them, and would open up a number of new avenues for the pair. I can't wait listen to them then, because they'll potentially be just as good as the Nocturals, with a killer blue grass and folk-rock feel to it. The potential is there, and they're off to a fantastic start.

Rollin' & Tumblin' - Avi & Celia

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Album Review - The World Awaits

I saw Ryanhood a number of years ago while at college, when they had swung by for a set of music that has stuck with me for a couple years now. The pair have recently released their latest album, the long awaited The World Awaits that really highlights their sound and energy quite nicely, while demonstrating how far they've come from their older music.

Part of this can be heard between two versions of the song Born To Run To You, which appeared earlier on their album On The Radio, and now, with The World Awaits.

The earlier works felt very stripped down, almost amateurish, which is to be expected for a fairly new group who are touring colleges and coffee houses. It's not a bad sound but they were lost among a larger pool of similar artists.

The World Awaits shows that they've poked their head above the surface. This newer album feels far cleaner, refined and sophisticated over their older works. The differences between the song Born To Run To You is like night and day, and there are a bunch of other tracks that come with it that really make it stand out amongst artists such as Demsion Witmer and Matt Nathanson.

The two (Ryan Green and Cameron Hood) work extremely well together. While they're not at the level of Simon and Garfunkle, they sound fantastic, alternating sections of songs and continually supporting one another as they move through the song. It's hard to seperate them apart, and that grants songs their own qualities.

Their guitar work has jumped up a notch as well - The opening track, Around the Sun absolutely blew me away when I first listened to it, with the energy and excitement that was largely lacking from their earlier works. I really want to see these guys in concert again, four years on and feel that energy that they are exuding from my speakers.

Around the Sun - Ryanhood

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New Artist - Andrew Belle

Hailing from Chicago, Andrew Belle recently performed at the SXSW music festival, where he recieved a fairly good reception from the crowds there.

It's easy to see why, after a listen of his first EP, All Those Pretty Lights. It opens strongly with the track I'll Be Your Breeze, with a strong beat and a sound that sounds very similar to The Fray and Brett Dennan, but far better than the two of them.

All Those Pretty Lights is a good, abit short, listen, and it provides a good introduction to this 24 year old singer. It feels light and free, unconstrained by any need to be overly hip or trendy, although this is certainly a style that will likely be picked up and utilized as such somewhere down the road. The five songs are energetic and well written, with a good sound overall. This is a good starting point for an upcoming artist, and according to his website, he is currently working on his first full-length album.

While All Those Pretty Lights sounds good overall, there are a couple flaws with the EP - The first is that the opening track, I'll Be Your Breeze, is the only one to really stand out from the other four - it is by far the strongest of the album, and while this isn't a long listen (the EP tracks in at 20 or so minutes), Belle's overall sounds is fairly uniform throughout, the same drone that both The Fray and Dennen share, a sound that I'm not particularly fond of - I think it sounds a bit drawlish and lazy, but in this instance, Belle is the strongest of the three, and he really makes the sound for for him.

This isn't out of the ordinary for any artist really - an introductory EP is a first impression, and anyone who listens to enough music will know that first impressions are generally illusions, as artists will switch up their sound as they improve over their careers (or until they hit it big and essentially repeat their successes, but there's a long way to go here), and this is a very promising start for Andrew Belle. I am paticularly eager to hear what he has to say next, and I do hope that he'll give us an album that is just as interesting, although hopefully a little more diverse, in the coming months.

I'll Be Your Breeze - Andrew Belle

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