So, I guess that today is the one year anniversary of the five song Friday, and a hooray for bringing the music for a full year is in order!! But it isn’t stopping, and is far from losing steam… Today, I am bringing you all random finds; some are random downloads, some are random songs I heard on samplers, but ALL of them are good. Let’s get right to this, shall we?
The Stills – Being Here
I found this song randomly on a sampler CD that I picked up in a record store not too long ago. I LOVE this song. The guy’s voice reminds me a lot of the lead singer of Guster, and they use a rock sound that is a lot like Melee, one of the bands that made my year end list last year with their second album, Devils and Angels. The song is fun, toe tapping, and the video is wicked cool (albeit, a bit Sleepy Hollow). I LOVE random finds (which is pretty much the theme of today); especially when they are as radio/ear friendly as this track. I will say, however, that I did download their record, and after one listen, this song and the other song I liked a lot from the sampler (Everything I Build), appear to be the only great tracks on the record. I will give it a few more listens before I give up though, because this song is really, really great, and by all accounts shouldn’t be a shot in the pan (or so I hope).
Los Campesinos! – Death to Los Campesinos!
I was recently recommended Los Campesinos! (see, I do pay attention when you guys recommend stuff… keep it coming!), and I will admit that I had heard of them at the time, and wasn’t that impressed. I thought they were fun, but it was almost like the end of a huge slurpee; the sugary goodness wasn’t sitting well on an already sugar filled tummy. Well, the aforementioned sampler had a live version of this song on it, and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t fantastic. As such, it totally reinvigorated my interest in Los Campesinos!, and as such, I have been listening more and more, and enjoying it much more this go round. The video is absolute madness, which I have to say, matches this song to a T (SEE what I mean about sugary overload!!!??). Either way, it is fun, dancey, and a fun song; regardless of how crazy it is!!!
My Favorite Highway – Bigger Than Love
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/fsf_912_myfavoritehighway-biggerthanlove.mp3]
Talk about surprises… I downloaded this on a whim, for reasons I can’t recall, but after one listen, I didn’t go back. Well, enter the new, invigorated interest in using my ipod nano… as a result, I have been paying more attention to exactly what is on my ipod (as opposed to dumping 30GB on there, and sorting through, which makes for too many choices, and MANY things being overlooked). Well, I gave this record a go the other day, and I literally kicked myself after hearing this gem. Not only that, but the rest of the record is actually quite good!! I guess I was in one of my usual “I’m not in the mood for this” moods at the time I first heard it, but I am definitely enjoying it now. The lead singer’s voice reminds me a lot of what I like in the lead singer of Switchfoot’s voice, and compliments the piano-twinged rock elegantly. This song is so ready for the radio, and throngs of screaming fans… it is really, really, really good! Like the Stills, it reminds me a lot of what I loved about Melee’s record; which again, is really good as well… in fact, I want something new from those guys; but I digress… this is about My Favorite Highway!! (Note: these guys are what I think the Jonas Brothers are going for… and they are nailing it, whereas the JB are well… not).
MGMT – Electric Feel
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/fsf_912_mgmt-electricfeel.mp3]
After really enjoying their song Time To Pretend (and featuring it one Friday long ago), I was pretty quick to write off MGMT as a one hit (in my book) wonder. Well, last weekend, I was hanging out with some friends at Smith’s Olde Bar in Midtown, and Electric Feel came on the jukebox. I thought to myself, “self, I have heard this before… and I LOVE IT! But who is it?!?!”. Well, my buddy dave whips out his iphone, uses the amazing program that you can’t use on the ipod touch (BOOO!!!!!) called Shazam, and a few seconds later, I am informed that the song that I am loving is ANOTHER brilliant track by the very MGMT that I had written off only months before. Shame! Shame on me! Well, needless to say, I quickly put that album back on the ipod, and have been listening to it for other gems. It has a few, and I will gladly admit where I was wrong; and I definitely was in this case. If you liked Time To Pretend, this one is a bit different, but definitely the electro-twinged rock that they did so well in that first track. I love the flute-sounding instruments that permeate the track… they are so much fun for my ears! (NOTE: It is annoying that videos get embedding disabled by request. WTF, is up with that shit?!?! /stupid “copyright” related rant)
Sarah Connor – Play
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/fsf_912_sarahconnor-play.mp3]
SURPRISE is the name of the game on this one!!! I downloaded Sarah Connor’s (no, not THAT Sarah Connor; although, how bad assington would that be?!?!) CD Sexy as Hell, because it was listed several times on iTunes alongside what I was listening to (in the “users also purchased). However, I never listened to it, like My Favorite Highway, and it was largely ignored until the recent revival of my ipod nano. Well, after listening to her CD, this song is the one that really stood out to me, because the beat is just as the title of the record suggests… it is as sexy as hell! The similarity of her voice to Jessica Simpson is apparent; however, she (thankfully) lacks that annoying factor that Jessica seems to be able to only control every now and then… (oop!). Either way, it is a fun hip-hop-pop song, sure to please that pop palate that I know so many of you share with me!
I hope that everyone found something that they loved this Friday, and as always, let me know what you think, and what you are listening to… there is just too much out there for us to go it alone!!!