The Doves

It's Spring Break for me.  I decided I would write about the Doves today.  They are a band from the U.K. that a friend introduced me to a few years back. (Thanks Chris Neeson!)  These guys make music I really love.  I suppose this music could be called Brit Pop - it certainly is catchy stuff - but I also think it has a lot of elements from all over the place which makes categorizing the Doves pretty difficult.  There are elements of electronica, jazz, and samba in some of the songs listed here which I believe supports my point.  I am also very impressed with how well produced the Dove's albums are.  When I say produced, I hope I am using the word correctly, what I mean is the way the recordings are engineered to move from speaker to speaker or the sound is engineered to go from lo-fi to very clear hi-fi to enhance a particular part of a song, for example.  There are a lot of nuances in these songs that really catch my ear and I think make the songs more compelling.  Given the catchy nature of these songs I am surprised that the Doves have not caught on more.  They have had some songs featured on soundtracks recently ("There goes the fear" - 500 Days of summer and "Down by the River" - Scrubs Soundtrack) hopefully this helps the Doves get some more exposure.

Enjoy!

***Update v1: For some reason the music player for the Doves is skipping the first two songs (which I think are two of the best) so please make sure you hit the previous track button to hear "Black & White Town" and "Snowden".

Neko Case

Perhaps the biggest challenge for me in writing new entries for this blog is what artist I want to write about.  I have a playlist on my computer that I keep expanding with potential artists for my blog. 

As I have been listening to my "potential songs list" I have noticed that I have been favoring some songs and artists.  These past few days I have been drawn to songs by Neko Case.  I have been promoting Neko Case to people quite a bit in the past few years and so I apologize to those of you who are hearing about her for the umpteenth time. 

 

For those that have not heard about Neko Case – I think she is one of the best female artists I have ever heard.  To me her voice is not only beautiful but also distinctive - it strikes me as powerful and sweet at the same time.  I am not aware of many singers that are so confident in their voice.  Neko seems to know the range and qualities of her voice and plays to those strengths in her songs.

You will certainly notice a decidedly folk and/or country tone to Neko’s music.  You may also notice that some of her lyrics have what some might consider a dark tone.  In fact some music critics have termed her music country-noir or alt-country due to the less-than-sunny themes of some of her songs.  (Not all of Neko’s songs are dark, for example her song “Magpie to the Morning” is something of a lullaby).  I will also say that trying to decipher the meaning of some of her lyrics seems to be a fool’s errand.  All of this said, no matter the song, one of the things that I find to be universal in Neko’s music is her ability to evoke vivid images through her songs. 

Last but not least, I realize that folk/country music may not be everyone’s cup of tea but give these songs a chance – I think it will be worth the effort.  Enjoy!

Fleet Foxes

I should be studying right now.  I was listening to some music, which of course made me think of songs that I want to put on my blog.  One band that I really love is Fleet Foxes.  I know most, if not all, of my friends from Hill Street have heard me rave about this band a few summers ago and so I apologize to them for continuing my promotional efforts of Fleet Foxes.

You'll notice most of the songs have a folksy feel to them except the last song "Textbook Love".  This song is cut from different cloth.  In fact I think this track actually reminds me of some of U2's early stuff in that Textbook Love is a story about boy meets girl, is energetic, and is earnest, if not unpolished.  I think all of these things just add to the appeal of the song for me.  I love the others songs on the playlist too.  I would write more about them but I think they speak for themselves better than I can describe them at this point in the evening.  Enjoy!

Spanish Guitar w/ Rodrigo y Gabriela

(Thanks to my friend Celina who introduced me to these guys!)

Here is a duo that makes great music with very little - two guitars in most cases.  Here are some videos showing Rodrigo y Gabriela at work and a short play list with some of my favorite songs by them.  Enjoy!

Cortney Tidwell

Cortney Tidwell is an artist from Nashville TN. When I first heard her song Missing Link, I assumed she was from the UK (which is a great thing to me because I love British music). The melody of her songs and the liberal use of synth (at least on some songs) as well as the careful crafting of the "sound scape" just had a European feel to it. Turns out that Cortney is a big fan of Depeche Mode as well as other British bands of the 80's.

Here is a link to a short documentary about the making of Cortney's latest album - "Boys".


Breakdown of the songs:

La La: A very mellow song, with nylon string guitar and some subtle synth. This song is probably my favorite by Cortney. The hook of this song has a way of getting stuck in your head.

Missing Link: In this song I am reminded a little of Bjork as Cortney has a sort of staccato way of going through some of the lyrics, not to mention the manic energy of the song.

Eyes are at the Billions: No idea what the title of the song or the lyrics mean. To me, there is drama to this song as it unassumingly builds to a gritty crescendo. Really like the guitar work on this track too. This song was used in the TV show Top Gear.

Son & Moon: I really like the synth in this song. It makes me want to pick up a vintage omni chord to play around with. (Turns out a lot of musicians use the omni chord to help them compose songs - check out the Wikipedia link to read more about this quirky instrument.)

What the world needs now...is probably not another blog, but...

Hi I’m Jason and I love music.

If that statement sounds like the introduction to a self help meeting – it’s supposed to. Music has a hold on me and we all know the first step in any self-help program is to admit that you have a problem. I try to make my own music from time to time by singing, playing the piano, playing the guitar, humming, and whistling. I don’t consider myself any great talent and so I spend the majority of my “music appreciation” time appreciating other musicians.

I listen to many genres of music and I get a rush from finding new artists to add to my collection. I think I get the most enjoyment from sharing music with others, especially if I can share a song they haven’t heard before. Some of you may be thinking “this guy just wants people to think he is cool.” Yeah that’s true – who doesn’t want to be well thought of by their friends. However, I’d also like to think a more noble part of me just wants to bring a little more happiness into the lives of others, and from my core, I absolutely believe good music does that.

So, all of that being said, I am starting a music blog to share music that moves me in the hopes it moves you. I especially hope I can raise awareness for musicians that are making great music that doesn’t fit into the MTV and Top 40 playlists. I feel artists outside of the so-called music machine are some of the best but least known musicians out there. In my view, it would be a shame to have great musicians stop making music because people just don’t know they are out there.

Enjoy the music!

-Jason Jones

Columbus, OH (Feb. 5, 2010)