Goodness me!

For the love of all things holy and just!

My last post was in January??

Really??!

I appologize, dear interweb! I did not mean for us to be split apart by life's crazy happenings, but life does happen. As well as many wonderous musical things! SO many! Woo hoo! I've been to concerts, I've played for/ with some great people, I've heard some great new music, and..... life is good. Really good.

As far as all new musical things go, I will let you in on everything! One entry in this blip of a blog at a time!

In this entry I will just say this: If you haven't heard the band Mumford & Sons yet, please look them up! Their album is called "Sigh No More".

Say no more.

What I'm listening to:

Basia Bulat w/ guests The Luyas

Saturday, January 16th, 2010 - Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, Toronto

It's always pleasing to see and hear so many great musicians on stage at once. So much talent and undoubted love of music. You could really feel it and, if you ask me, there's nothing better about live music than that. This show was a fine example of just how lucky we as humans are to be able to listen.

The nights openers, The Luyas, had a very unique sound. A great sound! The moment they started the first tune I thought, "Oh yeah. This is going to be good." Was it ever! All I can say is look up these guys. Have a listen and see for yourself how inventive this group is with their music!

Then came Basia Bulat and band. What can I say? Songs were executed almost perfectly and yet, as always, enjoyed so much more than if you were just listening at home on the stereo. Basia, you could tell, had no expectations of how her and her band would be received. Before the encore, everyone had risen to their feet. Clapping and cheering with sheer appreciation of the night's performance. Basia was almost in tears. It was wonderful.

Basia, you deserve it!

Here are some photos of the night (photo cred: F. Yang):

The Luyas





Basia Bulat




What I'm Listening To:

Basia Bulat - "Heart Of My Own"

Switching Things Up

This will no longer be a blog dedicated to album reviews. Let's leave that to the professionals, huh?

Instead I'm just going to share with you my musical experiences (concerts, jam sessions, etc.), what I happen to be listening to at the time of "publishing" each blog entry and perhaps let you in on some of my own musical growth. As a writer, a listener and a player. Sound good?

Oh, and don't be a stranger! Let me in on your life in music also!

What I'm listening to:

Christopher Cross - "Christopher Cross"

Let The Vocals Take Over

Harmony! Sweet, sweet harmony!

Fleet Foxes "Fleet Foxes"


The album starts off with vocal harmonization that takes us back to the sweet days of one-take bluegrass. Without any hesitation a delightful scene is drawn out before us. The pulsing guitar representing the beginning of a new day (hence the title "Sun It Rises"). The album continues with a sense of joy, a celebration of sound; "White Winter Hymnal", "Ragged Wood", both fine examples of this. Each cut flows into the next like waves hitting the shore. Giving every song the same flow, but still very pleasing to the ear.

Reverberation is one of the ongoing sounds of the album and, in my opinion, the most prominent. It gives the songs somewhat of an ancient "medieval" feeling. Which seems to be the theme the band is going for. The vocals of Robin Pecknold , along with the harmonies supplied by band-mates Christian Wargo, Casey Wescott, Josh Tillman and Skyler Skjelsetey surround you. Make you feel calm and nearly satisfy with the same flow and grace as Simon & Garfunkel. The organic compositions on this record are a perfect example of recordings that transport us to other times and places.

Is the album worth picking at the local record shop? Yes. Will you be disappointed? Most likely not. When can we expect more Fleet Foxes? Hopefully soon!

Thanks to my good friend Miles for the suggestion!

From a Box to a Stocking

My family always exchanges gifts on Christmas Eve. This this years evening of giving and receiving was a very musical one for me. Not only did I receive a flashy new record player (bright blue LED lights included) from my parents, I got to rummage through boxes of old records my parents listened to before and after I was born. Classics upon classics stacked in these things; The Beach Boys "Endless Summer Nights", Simon & Garfunkel "Bookends", James Taylor "Gorilla", The Jimi Hendrix Experience "Are You Experienced"... many more, but you get the idea. There was great music in here!

One that I was immediately drawn to was, coincidentally, the same album I yanked from my stocking in CD form the next morning! So, without further ado, I give you:

Neil Young's "Harvest"



Everyone can agree, here we have one of the "founding fathers" of the singer/songwriter genre. A man with such an honest career of well-written and well-known material, it would be strenuous to try and convince yourself that you're "not interested".

This album contains some of his most loved songs. "Heart Of Gold", "Old Man", "The Needle And The Damage Done", among other greats. The opener, "Out On The Weekend", is such a great recording. A simple but infectious beat that has you swaying in your seat from the beginning to the end. Listening to this song, you can't help picturing all the musicians hunched over their instruments, strumming and banging away as if nothing else in the world matters. This same feeling continues throughout the entirety of the record. "A Man Needs A Maid" delivers an extraordinarily intimate setting of passionate instrumentation, lyrics of a man lost to time and space, and one of the best musical build-ups I know.

If you're going to own any record by Mr. Young, I'd say you'd better make it this one. Oh, and thanks for the CD, parents!

What's Going On Here?

So, what's going on here?

Every day (if not, almost every day) I will be letting you in on what sounds are coming through my speakers, headphones, amplifiers, etc. Whether it be records I've just heard for the first time or records I've been listening to since my ears can remember, my opinions will be shared.

I absolutely love how music can take control of the imagination. Records that transport us to different realms, countries, places, even different centuries are, lack of a better word, amazing! Not only that, but music has the wonderful ability to take us back to moments in our own lives (whether we like to remember them or not) and even drive us to liveliness in the very moment we're experiencing it. The world of music is jam-packed full of albums and recordings such as these. A lot of people, including myself, believe that music is the glue to life. Without it, everything would be lacking some sort of "adhesive", if you will, to stay intact for more than a few moments.

In this blog most of my opinions will be positive, no doubt (I've never been much of a snob when it comes to this sort of thing), so you don't necessarily have to pay attention to that. If you happen to fall upon this tiny little blog somewhere in cyberspace, may it inspire you to listen, share and maybe even love the music for years to come.

Tom Moon (author of 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die) said it best when his astute mind came up with this slogan: "The more you love music, the more music you love."

Amen, fellow listener, amen.