Audio

Iceland has always been a surprising hotbed of musical activity and like Sigor Ros before them, Of Monsters and Men seem destined to become a global musical act. While they may have the ever-enchanting “foreign band” label as a calling card, Of Monsters and Men show more similarities to bands like Mumford & Sons and Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, though thankfully they didn’t pursue the & symbol in their name.  "Mountain Sound" the third track off of their debut LP My Head Is an Animal has a bright opening hook worthy of Springsteen and sparse guitar chords and an upbeat call and response vocal fitting the chorus between Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir and Ragnar “Raggi” Porhallsson.

As the song builds, the arrangement widens with an echo befitting the mountain sound of which they speak, filling the air with backing harmonies and handclap-stomp rhythms as the lyrics turn into  exultant Walt Whitman-esque chants. A fine piece of work for a band debut.Check out “Slow and Steady” as well, which melds Florence and the Machine vocals with Local Natives percussion and packs quite a punch.

Elsewhere, Of Monsters and Men show off a large sphere of influence from the powerful “Six Weeks” inspired by an article on the most badass men in history and tales of whales with houses on their backs (“From Finner”). Overall it’s a wonderfully produced album and sure to be on the tops of lists for best of 2012.

Mountain Sound- Of Monsters and Men 

Slow and Steady- Of Monsters and Men

My Head is An Animal was released April 3rd, 2012 on Universal Republic Records.  You can find the digital version on iTunes here .

A Two for Tuesday so to speak. M. Ward’s latest album A Wasteland Companion is a return to form to the spellbinding off kilter acoustic that albums like Post-War had made people expect of the mysterious M. Ward, a man with a tuneful warble, and the silent Him of She & Him.  Do yourself a favor and go through this man’s albums (You can skip Hold Time) and you’ll find an artist who isn’t afraid to take ventures into silent 30’s films musical territory, as well as cover songs from the greats like Pete Townshend’s  "Let My Love Open The Door" and David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”. “Primitive Girl”, the track featured here, is evocative of its title with simple and bright acoustics, shining like the titular girl herself.

Primitive Girl- M. Ward

Chinese Translation- M. Ward

A Wasteland Companion was released on April 10th, 2012 on Merge Records. You can find all versions (including the stunning vinyl package) on Merge Records here, and the digital version on iTunes here .

G. Love & Special Sauce has always been a hit or miss band for me, either they nail it, or the hip-hop/blues sound that they sought to define becomes too aimless and unfocused, the lyrics too simplistic, or too overwrought. Philadelphonic, the 1999 release finds the band breaking new ground and it makes it a fascinating listen. There are flaws, “Numbers” is a prime example, “Relax” barely scrapes out of its lazy wordplay through its fantastic arrangement, and there are plenty of those to go around. Anchored by the fantastic rhythm section of Jimmy “Jazz” Prescott and Jeffery “Houseman” Clemens and boosted by fantastic backing vocals, the songs that shine are full of energy and a wonderful mix of instrumentation. “Love”, the song featured above, finds G. Love’s hip hop blues at its most downright plaintive  with a wonderful guitar melody. “Dreamin’”, the album opener, takes an upbeat message that could have certainly fell flat if not for the wonderful meld of sampled (the guitar from “Clean Up Woman” in this case) to organic instrumentation. “Kick Drum” features an old soulful groove and wonderful harmonies that bolster an otherwise crude song about foreplay while “Rodeo Clowns” would be the worlds introduction to Jack Johnson. Even the turns at rapper are good natured fun, with “Friday Night (Hundred Dollar Bill)” leading the pack, and “No Turning Back” and “Honor and Harmony” rounding out the fantastic arrangement, lackluster lyric section.  Check out some of the album highlights below.

Love- G. Love & Special Sauce

Dreamin’- G. Love & Special Sauce

Kick Drum- G. Love & Special Sauce

Rodeo Clowns- G. Love & Special Sauce

Honor & Harmony- G. Love & Special Sauce 

Philadelphonic was originally released on Sony Music Distribution on August 3rd, 1999. You can find the digital version on iTunes here . 

Even today, The White Album, the double album that The Beatles released in the turbulence of 1968 has a particular resonance in the quality of its songwriting, never before or since would a Beatle album contain such biting social commentary or such a deluge of output in a wide variety of genres. Lost in the shuffle is the timeless “Long, Long, Long” a George Harrison number that would lay the groundwork for indie rock balladeers like Elliot Smith, an ironic result for a man whose work so often preached transcendance in spiritual form. Nevertheless, the quiet, and quite profound number that follows the chaos of “Helter Skelter” remains potent and important to this day.

Long,Long,Long- The Beatles