I came across some interesting Jason Mraz covers earlier today, which helped clinch what I was going to do for the feature today.
The first set up is a cover of one of Mraz's songs, I'm Yours, off of his latest album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, by Shael Riley, a nerd-core artist out of New York City. This is an interesting cover, a little angsty sounding. It strays more into the pop-realm than I really like when it comes to songs, but it's not enough to dismiss out of hand.
Next up are two covers that Mraz has performed live at concerts, No Woman No Cry, originally by Bob Marley, and Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns n' Roses. Both fall with the originals pretty faithfully - this is a concert, after all, and people like hearing what's familiar. Of the two, I prefer No Woman No Cry.
This past month has been really, really rich with music. There's been a lot of really good songs that've come through this way, and I'm really excited for what the rest of the summer will bring. Bring on the noise: Ease Back- Amos Lee Listen- Amos Lee Amos Lee is one of my favorite musicians, and judging from the tracks that I've heard from his upcoming 3rd album (Due out June 24th), I'm betting that this one will be his best yet.
Life in Technicolor- Coldplay Viva La Vida- Coldplay Coldplay's changing things up a little with a bit of a newer sound, and like Lee, I'm thinking that this will be one of their better albums. I can't wait to hear the rest of it.
Cath...- Death Cab for Cutie Grapevine Fires- Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie's latest album also changed things up quite a bit, and on the whole, it's stronger, edgier and it sounds fantastic.
Robots- Flight of the Conchords I love these guys, they're absolutely hilarious. Robots is just a geeky song to begin with, and they just make me want to burst out laughing.
Lucky- Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat This is a nice, cute duet from these two.
Killing for Love (Beatfanatic Remix)- José González I love Gonzalez's work, and while I'm not a huge fan of remixes, this is a really good one that I've been listening to a lot.
Magnetismo (Magnatism) - Landon Pigg Landon Pigg's off to a good start with his first EP, and I think this is the strongest song on the album.
Meet Me By The River- Matthew Ryan This song is raspy, emotional and really, really good. I suspect that Ryan's album will make it to the end of the year as one of the best.
Dream- Priscilla Ahn I saw Ahn last year with Cary Brothers, and I really liked her sound, it's sweet and calm. I picked up her EP, and have been waiting eagerly for more news about her next album, due to be released this June. I can't wait. The World, The People Together- The Dandy Warhols The Dandy Warhols are back, and they've got energy. This reminds me a lot of Bohemian Like You, which is a fantastic song.
Orbiting- The Weepies I really dug these guys 2nd album, and this is one of the best songs on there. Very sweet, easy on the ears.
