Most of the time, Beatles covers are like heresy in my book, but the laconic way he delivers the lyrics brings the song to a different place, dreamy and wistful, perfectly conveying the feeling Harrison was getting at by not being sure.
London Calling is a fantastic album for a number of songs, and this is one of the best, fantastic arrangement, snide vocals, a powerful song through and through
The song hits you like a classic melody right out of the Big Pink, organic with a booming Levon Helm like drum beat and. Wistful and powerfully delivered, its hard to realize that this world weary sounding singer is only 23, this song sounds absolutely timeless and well constructed, high praise for a band in its debut.
This band from England sounds like David Bowie came together with David Byrne of Talking Heads and decided to make a song. It’s very well produced, interestingly arranged and features a great octave hopping singing performance, and you’ll find yourself humming along with that vocal intro before the songs over.
Another great song by this new band, coming off like the best of The Band and Wilco and Springsteenesque lyrics and delivery with great classic rock arrangement instincts and a great distinctive voice, Dawes is my favorite band of 2009 and wait for the harmonies in the chorus, they alone are worth the download of this song.
This song is beautiful from the arrangement to the singing, every instrument is placed perfectly, his voice comes out of the music like the sun breaking through on a cloudy day, a more tuneful Bob Dylan but just as good lyrically.
Starting off with a great whistling intro that could rival Andrew Bird, the harmonies on this are beautifully placed, sounding like a duet between Sonny (from Sonny and Cher) and Nancy Sinatra, this band knows how to use their reverb and the strings only add to the song, not take away from it.
Devendra has an immediately identifiable voice and his taste for arranging is magnificent, his melodies segue from style to style better than any since the heyday of Paul McCartney, the guitars are excellent and the song just keeps you guessing while still being catchy.
Another new band bringing back classic rock style, this song burns like a slow Rolling Stones song from the Some Girls period, this songs got a great hook and its a really fun melody.
Like driving through a rainstorm at night, or spending late nights with a loved one, this song builds and burns at a perfect laconic tempo, the guitar is beautifully done and the singing and lyrics match the music to a t. Yo La Tengo fans will also love this one. The organ and guitar swirls and the slow steady reverbed drumming, its almost like listening to a dream of a summer evening.
Mick Jagger wasn’t the only person in The Rolling Stones capable of writing and singing. And this effort by Keith Richards is among the best in the Rolling Stones and criminally underrated. Beautiful melody and harmony and just an all around great song.
Straight out of England, Golden Silvers knows how to cut right to the heart with their straight forward hopeless romantic sentiments. Witty lyrics, and great hooks and harmonies abound. Love the arrangement on this one.
Another great song by this new band with a great synthesizer hook, again the harmonies are nicely arranged in the background and, if Queen was still around, this song wouldn’t be a far stretch for them to do, again the lyrics are well written and the singing performance is well done.
If John Lennon had made a garage band instead of the Beatles they’d sound like this. The self doubt in the lyrics is there, the chord progression as well as the vocal delivery, and its a great song on its own merits anyway.
When The Beatles came together for the Anthology series it was easy to assume it was just another cash in (after all the band had been gone 25 years and Apple was still making money off their one band, and they still are). Real Love was the second Lennon demo that they had been given access to master and do what they please. But it comes off great, George’s guitar work is fantastic, John sounds fresh and alive, a quality sorely lacking in Free as A Bird, and the harmonies are there along with Ringo’s steady backbeat.
G. Love has been around an awful long time with his hip-hop/blues genre, and while that is no longer novel, G. Love has a knack for production that is the show piece of this song. Starting with beautifully played piano interwoven with upright bass, it blossoms into nice syncopated drum and acoustic guitar work, the melody is shimmering and the music surrounds you, its not so much his words that have the flow on this song, its the music, though the words are good too.
Slow Club is an English folksy rock duo in the She and Him style, except they’re much more bright in their melody and harmony, this song chugs along at a frenetic pace and the singing is wonderful and catchy too.
This song bursts out of the gate with a Motown drum roll but keeps itself low-fi, the melody is insanely catchy and the whole thing sounds like it was recorded on one take, full of life and energy, you can just hear the fun the band is having playing this song.
Q-Tip defied common belief when he continued to have a quality career after the fallout from A Tribe Called Quest’s breakup. This song has swagger but in ways that Jay-Z wished he had, the back track is funky and D’Angelo’s backing vocals are beautifully arranged, try and hate this song, go ahead I dare you.
Boasting a Simon & Garfunkelesque harmony as well as a feel for Elliot Smith melody, Pete and J (now known as Harper Blynn) are a great up and coming group fashioned in the old style melodies and classic rock production.
Prince is never conventional, and the cello violin arrangement thrown into this song is a perfect example of his eccentric genius, and no song about this subject matter should be this catchy and the bridge is fantastic. Favorite line thunder chimes out when the lightning sees her kinda makes you feel like a movie star. Wonderfully done all around song.
Some songs just put you in a mood, overcome with love and memory, this is one of them, the arrangement is sparse and the lyrics are beautifully poetic, and Sammy Davis Jr.’s performance here is fantastic.
Another great new band to watch out for with the members hailing from Alaska and California, the guitar work on here is great and a very beatle-esque melody. Great rainy day song
People love to look back at the early years of The Beatles and criticize their simplicity, but sometimes simple is perfect (Lou Reed made a career out of it). This song is very beautiful in its understatement, the harmonies are great the melody is sweet and you can just hear their youth, and the feeling is universal.
As great as he was a guitarist, Jimi Hendrix was an equally excellent arranger and lyricist. His flashy guitar work takes a backseat on this one and even without it, I rate this as one of his best songs.
At the time they hadn’t blown up yet, Use Somebody and Sex on Fire hadn’t been overplayed by every single radio station yet, the bravado hadn’t come yet, but the presence was there, great arrangement and vocal performance on this one, I’d argue this song is more powerful then Use Somebody and Sex on Fire put together.
No longer was he under the shadows of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison comparisons, he was on his own, and he exploded on to the scene with this album. She’s the One doesn’t do alot to avoid his former comparisons though, it even adds a few new ones, his lyrics are as poetic as Dylans and his vocal performance is reminiscent of Morrison and Orbison and the guitar work, Bo Diddley. But that great melody, and those hooks, and the heart, thats all his.
Robert Palmer wasn’t always the suave power rock guy his 80’s hits made him out to be, sure he always loved the suits, but in the 70’s he was funky and he had great taste. Fine Time boasts the immortal James Jamerson on bass as well as a combined backing band of Little Feat and The Meters who were both great bands on their own. The highlight of the track though is the intensity he puts into the vocal performance, he really feels the music and he drives the band in return with his powerful presence.
Keb’ Mo’s first record soungs so organic, if you closed your eyes you’d feel like he was just in front of you playing his acoustic guitar, he’s got a great voice to boot, an underrated essential to being a bluesman, and nice harmonica work as well. A real sunny Sunday afternoon kind of song.
The original demo before The Beatles put their production hands on it, the piano work is beautiful as well as his vocals, its almost as if you’ve got him playing the piano just for you and its really endearing.
Oh no he quit RHCP!! I don’t really mind after all they had kind of run their course, their last album was more regarded for its ripoff of Tom Petty than its actual merits, but John Frusciante shows that he has his own artistic merits, this song isn’t recent but its a great one, he proves he’s got good vocals and a good sense of melody, once you hear this song its hard to get out of your head, it’s by no means a bad thing
Dawes is a new band, but only in the sense that their debut album came out this year, their sound is sublimely late 1960’s/early 1970’s California style. My Girl to Me sounds like CCR got together with the Grateful Dead for a jam. Great guitar work, the singer sounds like Bob Weir, and a nice rollicking melody, definitely a song worth putting on repeat.
The arrangement is beautiful on this one, from the old style reverebed hammertack piano, to the ringing guitar guitar work to the ringo like drums filling the background, its got hints of Penny Lane in it, in a good way and Tillmans voice is perfectly understated, and reminiscent of a singer I can’t quite put my finger on
Sometimes songs just come off so simple you end up wondering how no one came up with the melody before, the guitar is simply perfect, the singers got shades of David Bowie and Lou Reed in him and the song just keeps building, you can’t help but just get stuck listening wondering whats going to happen next. Definitely worth more than one listen.
There’s a reason Tom Petty has been so prolific in his career, he captured the essence of rootsy rock perfectly. Good news for Megafaun then because they’ve got that down too; great hooks, and great harmonies to boot.
Alright neither of these are new, but this mashup is wonderfully done. All Falls Down had already been one of my favorite Kanye songs already, because it actually had a message damnit, before he got all the ego involved, The strings from Pet Sounds give the song even more depth and a sweet melody to go along with the rhyme scheme
On hype alone this track is worth a listen. DJ Dangermouse, and James Mercer of the Shins working together on a new album, the arrangement is refreshing, a kalaedascope mix of Everlast and Zero 7 with a great backbeat, can’t wait for the actual album to come out.
A lot of the bands on this list share something in common, that is they’re all very good at taking old sounds and old styles and making it their own, Cotton Jones is full of the honest to goodness good old stuff, the sound is fantastic; reverbed guitars, tight harmonies and well written lyrics, the arrangement and melody is so old school its hard to believe it came out this year.
Great arrangement, great melody, great song, like Oasis if they had ever dared to experiment a little with their sound, regardless Kasabian deserves more attention.
Another new band out of England, this song is insanely catchy, think Prince/MGMT arrangement and hook, the singer sounds right out of the 80’s but in a good way and the lyrics are clever and the harmonies are well played, and damn that bass just makes you want to move. Think the Jam meets Prince and MGMT and then you’ve got a clue to how this song sounds.
Ok ok, The Slackers aren’t new either, but they are vastly under-appreciated, they’ve got quite the ear for old time melodies and the singer has a nice warm voice, their lyrics are always entertaining and the sax solo is quite a nice touch to the old time blues progression they got going
Yes Virginia, Paul McCartney wasn’t always cheesy and driven just to capitalize on the current music market. Off of McCartney, this song is great, he’s playing every instrument and having fun with it, the bass is great and his off kilter arrangement is quite endearing, and people thought Paul McCartney had no talent left after The Beatles
Love this song, its so simple in its melody and the arrangement is full of great little touches from old timey piano to maracas, almost sounds like that classic In the Summertime song but sped up a little, gotta love the singing though
I’m assuming its a sample here but it sounds so organic, and the rapping is old school, where they actually had something to say, great message too and very catchy.
The Art of the Mixtape 