- Val Emmich – Get On With It
- The Submarines – You, Me, & The Bourgeoisie
- Scott Reynolds and The Steaming Beast – Tracy Hardman’s Cheek
- Pacha Massive – Don’t Let Go
- Matthew Dear - Pom Pom
- Of Montreal - Jimmy
- Mr. Gnome - Pirates
- M83 – Graveyard Girl
- Carbon Silicon – The News
- Lykke Li – I’m Good, I’m Gone
- Nada Surf – See These Bones (Live Version)
- Laura Veirs – Where Gravity Is Dead
- Grantura – Waves
- Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton – The Lottery
- Groove Armada - Dusk, You, and Me
- Alabama 3 - Woody Guthrie
- Alabama 3 - Ska'd For Life
- The Watson Twins – How Am I To Be
- Laura Marling – Cross Your Fingers
- Citizen Cope – If There’s Love
- Michael Franti & Spearhead – Hello Bonjour
- The Weepies – All This Beauty
- Joe Pug – Hymn #101
- Fink – So Long
- Cara Beth Satalino - Lullaby
- Eisley – Like The Actors
- Sia – The Girl You Lost To Cocaine
Alabama 3, known as A3 in the United States (the band Alabama sued over Alabama 3’s name, therefore in the U.S. they are A3), is this week’s “Eight O’Clock Double Shot.” Their album, “Hits and Exit Wounds” was released in England April 7th of this year, but it was just released here in the states this past Tuesday. I just discovered them this past weekend at the Rothbury Music Festival held in Rothbury, Michigan. In the media room where I was blogging for The Globe I met another blogger who really wanted to go hear A3 because he had heard such good things about the group. I decided to tag along and was quite happy I did. There live show was quite phenomenal, not to mention theatrical! The entire crowd was dancing and there was a steady flow of listeners getting closer and closer to the stage, intrigued by this slightly bizarre British band.
The group began in London in the ‘90s, meeting each other by mere coincidences and beginning what has now become A3. According to the AllMusic biography, the group “set out about creating an agenda of Americana, electronica, leftists politics, and laughter,” and they truly all have those strange elements mixed into a great sound. Essentially the band is a mixture of gospel, country, blues, and house/dance music, and as AllMusic puts it so well, “Alabama 3 broke down the barriers between line dancers and ravers.”
Read the article on AllMusic.com for a complete A3 biography.
Citizen Cope and Michael Franti & Spearhead were two groups that I was able to see at two different eTown Radio Show tapings at the Rothbury Festival. I knew of both groups but was not particularily familiar with the music. Both their performances at the eTown taping really made me want to get to know them and their music a little bit better! And I was actually able to go backstage and meet both artists. I have photos of Zach Miller and I with Michael Franti at the bottom of this entry if you’re interested.
Michael Franti & Spearhead were phenomenal, and that is not an exaggeration. All their music was touching, moving, and got you off your chairs and onto the dance floor. The band blends hip hop with quite a few other musical styles such as funk, jazz, rock, folk, and reggae. Many of their songs have a political or passionate feel to them as Michael Franti himself is a very outspoken supporter for many different peace and social justice issues.
I played a song off their 2006 album, “Yell Fire!,” but they have a scheduled album to come out September of this year that will be called “All Rebel Rockers.”
Citizen Cope also had a pretty incredible eTown performance at Rothbury. Like Franti, Citizen combines a lot of different styles of music such as folk, blues, reggae, hip hop, rock, and R&B. His music has been featured on TV a lot on different programs such as One Tree Hill and CSI Miami, and it was even used as a Pontiac car ad. I played a pretty old song off his first album titled Citizen Cope that came out in 2002. His most recent album is from 2006 and it’s titled “Every Waking Moment.” Rumors say he’s going to come out with an album this year, but it’s not certain. At the eTown show he talked about going on a solo tour this fall, so keep your ears (or eyes) out for that.
I must admit that I do not always discover the music I love. For the most part, I’m the one handing out albums and letting people know of the latest music I love, but every now and then my sister gives me a pretty awesome group that I have never heard of. This weeks show features 3 of these groups: The Weepies, Fink,and Joe Pug.
The Weepies I have known for a while now and even played them on a show back in May. A review on About.com written by Kim Ruehl described the Weepies music as "subtly intoxicating folk-pop". It’s a two-person band consisting of the married couple of Deb Talan and Steve Tannen. Their album “Hideaway” was released in April of this year and it was all recorded at their home.
Fink is an English singer-songwriter, producer and DJ from Brighton, England. He grew up in a musical household with a father as a folk musician, and his mother a music manager. His song “So Long” that I played on this weeks show is off his 2006 album “Biscuits for Breakfast,” but since he has recorded one other album that was released in 2007 and is called “Distance and Time.” Fink’s myspace has more information as well as more songs you can listen to.
Joe Pug is from Chicago, as is my sister, hence her letting me know about her discovery of this great musican. According to the Chicagoist, "Pug is the real deal. The kid’s got that weariness in his delivery that you can’t smoke or drink your way to because it comes from somewhere deeper than the vocal chords. It’s the same gritty, spirited voice that made Hank I, Kurt Cobain, and Bob Dylan iconic, and we as Chicagoans will be privileged enough to watch the kid develop from precocious youngster to out and out star." You can check out his myspace here .
Posted at 15:23 #