Audio

“We Can’t Be Beat” is the first song off of The Walkmen’s Heaven and fittingly spare and introductory. Hamilton Leithauser begins his half besotted, half morose croon with solitary guitar accompaniment. It’s a song that wouldn’t feel out of place on the credits of a Wes Anderson movie, as little eccentric parts come into the fold, dense layered vocal harmonies, a quirky picked-up rhythm, a constant cinematic sense of an unsure build-up, the potential for something great to happen, but a profound sense of not knowing when.  Fortunately, that works perfectly for the album, as it picks up from there. A must buy in the albums of 2012.

We Can’t Be Beat – The Walkmen

You can grab the physical editions either from The Walkmen’s official store or their label Fat Possum.


Find Heaven on iTunes

Unfortunately, James Carr was his own worst enemy, suffering from bipolar disorder his whole life. Ultimately, its the only refuge we can give ourselves in trying to figure out just why this man wasn’t as equally lauded as Otis Redding. While popular consensus might have slipped from his legacy, he was critically lauded, especially for his 1967 album You Got My Mind Messed Up. Many point to his version of “The Dark End of the Street” as being the definitive version and the best on the album, but my favorite is “Forgetting You” a half midnight oil burner/barnstormer that finds Carr in peak form, putting on a vocal performance that even Otis Redding himself might be hard pressed to match.

Forgetting You – James Carr

The Dark End of the Street- James Carr 

Despite my best intentions, I found myself ready to forgive John Mayer and love his new album Born and Raised on first listen of “Queen of California”. While Battle Studies was utterly horrifying (and his cover of “I’m On Fire” nearly unforgivable) his latest record finds him stripped down with a country edge a la late era Eric Clapton. It’s a mellower affair, and “Queen of California” is a stand-out track, evident from its upbeat finger-picked beginning, to the nice country slide touches and the beautiful bridge that he throws into a couple verses (see :35 seconds in).  It’s commonplace to call John Mayer a narcissistic asshole, but plenty more rockstars have worn the title. With Born and Raised, Mayer may have finally found a way to channel his inner demons with a Ryan Adamsesque flavor.

Queen of California – John Mayer

You can grab the Double Vinyl for Born & Raised off of Mayer’s official site

The digital album can be found the conventional route on iTunes

LIYL: Eric Clapton, Ryan Adams

One of my favorite songs from last year, “Swim Club” features an acoustic guitar jaunt similar to “Send Me On My Way” by Rusted Root (that song in Matilda) with some nice production touches out of left field during the chorus. It’s a song for sunset drives in the summer, feeling the wind blow through your hair and enjoying life in the moment. A fantastic song. “Swim Club” is the second song off of The Cave Singers 2011 LP No Witch, an album that isn’t just limited to acoustic fingerpicking.

Swim Club – The Cave Singers 

Grab the CD/LP from the Jagjaguwar Website here

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