I can’t believe that July is almost over; this year is FLYING by. Oh well, at least it has been bearable outside lately, which is very odd for a summer in HOTlanta… but don’t worry, I am NOT complaining. The five tracks I chose for today, will probably have a little something for everyone, and one track is even a little blast from the not-so distant past. With that in mind, let’s get started, shall we?
Florence + The Machine – Bird Song
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/fsf_724_florenceandthemachine-birdsong.mp3]
This song isn’t actually on Florence + The Machine’s impressive new release, that is, unless you managed to get the deluxe (or extended?) edition, which is a shame, because this is hands down, the best song on the album for me. I love the way that it starts so soft, and the way that she builds with the beating drums and the pounding rhythms to crescendo; only to instantly screech to a halt and bring it back down again. The ache and wailing of her voice is nicely coupled with the sharpness of the beat; all of which make this track stand out more than any other on the album to me. Definitely a great reason to get the deluxe version!
OneRepublic and Sara Bareilles – Come Home
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/fsf_724_onerepublic-comehome.mp3]
I was checking out Sara’s website earlier this week to see what she was up to recently (I am wanting a new album soon, after all, I really love Sara B as you should all know by now), and she posted that she had collaborated with Ryan Tedder on this track and that it was now available on iTunes. One listen, and I can see why she was spreading the news; it is a beautiful song, and per usual, her vocals are amazingly beautiful. I have this weird relationship with Ryan Tedder, in that I like SOME of his stuff, but overall, I’m not what I would consider a fan. However, you put Sara Bareilles on the track, and I AM THERE. Beautiful song (even if I think she out sings him by a long shot…).
Mayer Hawthorne – Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/fsf_724_mayerhawthorne-justaintgonnaworkout.mp3]
The vocals of this one remind me a bit of Biz Markie, but after seeing the video, I love how this nerdy white boy is laying down smooth classic R&B like this, and doing it so well. The music style reminds me a lot of the Delfonics, and I think it really does a great job of bringing such an amazing classic sound back into the limelight. Something about this song is just really sweet, and full of a sentiment that made me instantly love it. While the song has been out since last November, it just came across my desk this week, so I am delighted to pass it on to you.
Greg Laswell- Not Out
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/fsf_724_greglaswell-notout.mp3]
It was kind of weird how I discovered Greg Laswell. I was supposed to go and see the AMAZING Elizabeth and the Catapult earlier this month at Edie’s Attic, and unfortunately, I bought tickets before I knew James and I were going out of town for a wedding. I put the tickets in a friend’s name, and went to see who else was playing with them to give her the heads up before she went. That’s where I saw a picture of Greg, and if you know anything about me, you would know that I am a sucker for a guy with a beard, so I instantly knew I had to go and check him out (even though I unfortunately wouldn’t be seeing him live). Well, I downloaded his most recent release, Three Flights from Alto Nido, and I was impressed with how beautiful an album it is! I love his musical style, which is very similar to Mat Kearney and even has touches of Hayden and Duncan Sheik to it. All in all, I discovered a new artist that I really like without even seeing him in concert, because I was supposed to go to the show, and couldn’t! Weird? Yes, but the music is fantastic, and at least I got to take that away from it (I wish I could have seen him live though).
Fiona Apple – Parting Gift
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/fsf_724_fionaapple-partinggift.mp3]
Here’s my blast from the not-so distant past track for today. I realized this week that I hadn’t listened to Fiona Apple in such a long time, and as a huge fan of hers, I was wondering why, so I decided to remedy that. Well, after listening to Extraordinary Machine again, I recall just how happy I was when it was finally released, which seems like a while ago (2005), and it is just as amazing now as it was then. I love the whole album, and I especially love Fiona’s beautiful lyrical style. I love how she can cut you to the bone with an almost effortless ability to spin very well written lyrics, like this opening BITE from Parting Gift, “I opened my eyes/While you were kissing me once more than once/And you looked as sincere as a dog/Just as sincere as a dog does,/When it’s the food on your lips with which it’s in love”. All in all, I hope that Fiona comes out with another album some time in the near future, because it has been a while since Extraordinary Machine made my day when it was finally released, mostly because she is an extremely talented artist whose music I really enjoy.
Well, there’s your Friday five… what did you think? Let me know, and also let me know what I am missing out on out there, wouldn’t ya? Also… I just found out; apparently I got into the GPC nursing program… finally. Duane’s finally gonna be a nurse someday, everybody!
I resisted La Roux for quite a while before she clawed her way into my heart with that shrill-ass voice coupled with a velvety smooth beat. While, as I mentioned, the vocals are something to definitely, um, “get used to”, the music is not. This song is definitely one that begs to be blasted from every car stereo as you drive about in the summer heat, and promises to fill dance floors throughout the land. The uber-catchy quality of this song is what allowed me to give it chance after chance, and eventually get used to the vocals (which it may seem that I am harping on, but cannot stress enough, you will get used to); the music is too fucking good to let it get in the way. This is definitely a “song of the summer” for sure.
Another massive song from Peter Bjorn and John, It Don’t Move Me didn’t “move me” when I initially nabbed their follow up to the wildly successful Writer’s Block. The album is noticeably darker, and the beats are almost angrier; but underneath, the same attention to detail and high quality music is clearly present. This song definitely shares more similarity to the songs from Writer’s Block than much of the rest of Living Thing, but it shows a musical maturity that is not only welcome, but totally refreshing. It has made me pay closer attention to Living Thing, which has turned out to be a good thing; fantastic, well crafted songs like this, are what make listening to music one of my favorite past times. 
HELL FUCKING YES, Imogen Heap is BACK! WAAAAY back in 2005, Imogen released her stellar sophomore album, Speak For Yourself, and while I didn’t hear it until some time later, it completely blew me away with how amazing it is. The most amazing song on the album, Hide and Seek, made me fall deeply in love with Imogen’s unique voice, and the manner in which she creates music that is not only beautiful, but unique and interesting. The rest of the album resonated very well with me, and made me a huge fan of her sound, and had me waiting with baited breath for a follow up. Well, that follow up is just on the horizon; her new album Ellipse will be released the day before my birthday, August 25, 2009. This is the first, and quite fantastic, single from the new album, and it harnesses her trademark sound from Speak for Yourself. If this is an indicator of how fantastic Ellipse will surely be, I expect it to be amongst my top albums of this year.
This is the little song that threw its lasso around my heart, pulled me in close, and comforted me like a warm blanket on a cold night. The tenderness of Toby’s vocals, coupled with the sweet folk-pop music makes for a beautiful ballad; one that only gets better with the super sweet sentiment of the lyrics. I should also say that there are several words that just make me happy when I hear them, especially in songs (for whatever reason, I don’t know…), and unfurled is one of them, and he uses it in the chorus; which obviously makes me happy. This is a sweet song with great sentiment, and highlights the surprising power in Toby’s vocals. It was a great random find.
I am going to go “old school” with you on this one. I discovered this song from an amazing little movie that most people have never even heard of: 
I was just listening to my ipod on shuffle, and a song from Daniel Bedingfield’s sophomore album, Second First Impression came up, prompting me to give it some well deserved attention this afternoon. I can’t believe that this record came out almost 5 (!!!) years ago, and there hasn’t been anything new from Daniel in that amount of time. This is one of those records that, for whatever reason, they never even bothered to release in the US, and it boggles the mind as to why; his sister is a huge success here in the states, and Daniel even had a few hits of his own accord! As I sit here listening, I have to scratch my head and wonder why we completely abandoned him when he released a sophomore album that was even stronger, and showed a musical growth that made it better than his initial release?! 
I wanted to post about this song, not only because it is incredibly beautiful, but because it really means something to me. LeAnn Rimes’ What I Cannot Change so succinctly sums up such a major issue for me, and does so with such elegance and grace, that it can’t be ignored. One listen to this song instantly gives me chills. It is one of the most beautiful, simply stated, and well put sentiments put to music that I have ever heard. 
Every once and a while, I come across a song so amazing and beautiful, that it literally gives me chills. This is one of those songs. The delicate guitar picking, the haunting vocals, and the gentle-folk quality of this song are pure perfection. The vocal arrangements of the singers is almost choir-like in its nature, but instead of sounding like church music, it comes across as a beautiful ballad with intricacies that make this a truly amazing find. I love it when I come across songs like this, and I realize I have stumbled onto something incredibly beautiful; which unfortunately, doesn’t happen very often. I couldn’t wait to post about this one!
Here is yet another song that I randomly stumbled onto this past week that completely took me by storm. I discovered Marina and the Diamonds by watching the the video of this song (
I don’t know what it is about this song that I love so much; the throw back sound, the weirdness of the oooo’s and ahhh’s, or the quirkiness of the track in general. It reminds me of bands like The Shins, Peter Bjorn and John, and even Vampire Weekend; all of which posses that interesting weird-ish quirk that intrigues me, and in this case, makes me love it. I saw how much hype was surrounding these guys earlier this year, and I scoffed at the time, but after hearing Two Weeks, I am definitely going to reconsider my position. 
What do you get when you take the vocals of someone very similar to Amy Winehouse, and instead of a throwback sound, you mix it with an truly danceable, pop-rock with almost and island feel to it? Why, you get this song!! I instantly loved the energy and the amazing vocal prowess VV Brown conveys in this massive song. I am sure that the UK radio will be burning up this track this summer (too bad it most likely will NOT make it to radio over here); as well as whatever is attached to my ipod. 
This song instantly struck me for its hat tip to the intense side of classic rock, but stood out because of the unique pairing of the male and female vocals. The song literally sounds to me like Chrissie Hynde joined the White Stripes; and in the process, made a fucking kick ass single. I am definitely keeping my ears open for whatever comes next from Band of Skulls, because this song is truly fantastic (I haven’t gotten to the rest of the album yet… so many songs coming on my radar right now!!!). Also, is it just me, or is the drumming on this track like a sick, amazing heartbeat-like rhythm that begs to be danced to? 
Holy song of the summer, Batman! Seriously, this one is going to make the hot months much more bearable. I have posted about the Gossip in the past, because I absolutely love the unique and powerful voice of the amazing Beth Ditto. Well, they released their newest album, Music For Men, this week, and so far, this is my favorite track on the album. This song is almost impossible not to dance and sing to; I love the tribal drumming and sticky sweet backing synth. I LOVE the crescendo the song grows to at about 1:25 in; it is epic!
Another free song offered on the UK iTunes, I Go I Go I Go is a fresh, and hip dance rock track for summer as well. It really reminds me of awesome bands like Vampire Weekend, and even the Lightning Seeds. This track is as fresh as recently laid out produce, and I have been loving it more and more with each listen. I LOVE when I find random, awesome tracks like this. Thanks UK iTunes (even though I couldn’t buy it/get it for free like the other UKers)!
This one is a “discovered while my ipod was running on shuffle” track. I added Safetysuit’s album, Life Left To Go, a while ago, but I hadn’t gotten around to a real listen. This track really stood out to me during the shuffle, and hearing talent like this really confuses me even more why people still love bands like Nickelback. If you like their “style”, Safetysuit is doing it, only better, and without the repetition (admit it, all of Nickelback’s songs are the same!! Stop the madness people!). I, for one, am glad that I found Safetysuit, and this great track (which really reminds me of what I LOVE about Our Lady Peace; the story telling, unique male vocals, and blaring distorted guitars). I only wish Safetysuit were getting the publicity that NB is.
I’m going to be totally honest: I didn’t care very much that he was even in the top 10 on American Idol. Yes, I thought he could sing beautifully, but since he wasn’t a “front runner” in my eyes, it was easy for me to ignore him. However, being that I definitely think AI has gained a really credible means of spotting true talent over the seasons, I wanted to check out his release when I saw it on iTunes earlier this week. Well, this song, the first track off of the album, has all of the vocal grittiness of Daughtry, with a tendency to lean more towards a Take That style (not to mention that it sounds A LOT like their amazing track, Rule the World). Overall, if for no other reason that I found this great track, I’m glad that I gave Michael another chance. 
At this point, there really shouldn’t be any surprise to any of you how deep my love for Dallas Green (aka City and Colour) runs. Be that as it may, Dallas sings in Alexisonfire, a post-hardcore band, which, I have to say, is NOT my cup of tea. After hearing City and Colour, it is almost a shock that Dallas is even a driving force in Alexisonfire at all. However, they released a new album this week, and with the last track on the album, Dallas injected a MAJOR dose of his folk sensibility into the record, and I couldn’t be more elated, as it is a gorgeous song. I’m glad that Dallas tenderized at least one track on the album, because it gives folk lovers like me a chance to love something about a band that I probably wouldn’t otherwise listen to.
William is yet another fantastic discovery that I came to via nothing more than a picture of the bearded singer. Sometimes, all it takes is some bearded goodness to get me interested, and luckily, William’s music is so beautiful that it drew me in even deeper. I discovered his album The Sparrow and The Crow through iTunes, where it was just released back in April; even though searches on the internets show that it actually came out late in 2008. I might have to ignore that fact, because this fantastic folk album could easily find a spot on my top albums of 2009, because it is incredibly beautiful, and each song is even more beautiful as the last. I have a weak spot for those bearded folk guys… what can I say? And it doesn’t hurt when they are incredibly talented to boot!
Matt’s 2007 release, Some Mad Hope, actually made my year end best of list, but recently, I gave it another listen, and remembered how much I loved it. I love his vocals and the way in which he weaves a pop rock anthem. This was one of those experiences when I “re-discover” something on my ipod, something that I hadn’t listened to in such a long time for no other reason than I hadn’t thought to. Matt’s single, Come On Get Higher is making the rounds on radio right now (part of the reason I dusted his album off and gave it another listen), and I hope that he will release Gone as a single too; both are favorites of mine from the album. I can’t wait for new material from Matt, and I hope that his success will signal something new very soon.
This is the free download of the week on the UK’s iTunes, which is awesome for them, but unfortunate for us; since we can’t download it in the US. However, some searching the internet proved fruitful, and I was able to find this amazing track to bring to you today. I love the blaring backing snyth of this track, and the pulsating beats that go along with it. It really reminds me of a recent discovery, Miike Snow, with a similar energy and ferocity to it. I hope that when Dan finally releases his album that it is filled with more great songs like this one; because this song is fantastic.
Perhaps one of the funniest names of a seriously amazing dance band, Booty Luv recently released their new single, Say It, and I have been LOVING it more and more with each listen. It has a similar floor stomping beat that the best tracks off of their debut, Boogie Tonight, had when it was released back in 2007. I am hoping that this song is an indication of what we have to look forward to on Booty Luv’s highly anticipated follow up. If that truly is the case, the release date can’t come soon enough. This song makes me want to fucking dance all night long, and is definitely one of their best to date.
Little Boots is one of those greatly hyped acts that for whatever reason, I grew instantly skeptical of. Perhaps it is the stubborn side of me that likes to make things difficult, but whatever it is, it made me ignore Little Boots’ release Hands (other than my instant love for previously featured track, New In Town). Well, in steps one of you guys (fellow music blogger 
I got a huge, welcome surprise when I looked at the new release list on iTunes this week; one of my favorite Canadian folk artists, Hayden, released a new CD, The Place Where We Lived! You may remember that his amazing In Field and Town made my year end list for 2008, coming in at 
Well, it looks like this week, we have not one, but two Canadian singer-songwriters! I mentioned Matthew back in May when I discovered his AMAZING track, Easily Bruised. Well, after falling for that song, I went and downloaded his album Ghost Notes, from which the song hails, and I found many more amazing tracks. His style reminds me a bit of Hayden at times, as well as other folk-rock acts like Joshua Radin and even Bob Dylan. This song is achingly beautiful, and it reminds me why I love searching for new music; occasionally, I stumble onto something truly amazing. This song is just that; truly amazing.
I have featured Jack on the 5SF in the past, but I quickly lost interest in him because of how many of the songs from his debut where a bit too similar to stand out for me. Well, I heard that he was revamping his style, and releasing a new record this month, and after checking it out, I must say that I have regained my interest in him; big time! I love the changes he made to his sound, and I find myself really liking this album. Pull My Heart Away is my favorite track that I have heard so far from the aptly titled, Everything Is New; which is out June 22.
I was late to come to the church of Patrick Wolf, but honey, I am swaying the pulpit now! I liked several songs off of his previous release, The Magic Position, but overall, the entire album didn’t resonate with me for whatever reason. When I heard he was to release a new album this month, I was excited to see what he would bring me next, and I must say, after listening to The Bachelor, the entire album resonated with me on a much deeper level. It took me a minute to appreciate the often avant garde style Wolf harnesses in his music, but once I did, I realized how fantastic he is. There aren’t many artists out there carving their own niche anymore, and Wolf really reminds me of the innovativeness of artists that came before him; especially those like David Bowie. Watch this kid, because he is doing some pretty amazing stuff with music.
Lastly today, I wanted to pay homage to one of the greatest bands ever, the almighty Blur. When I was in high school, Blur was one of those bands that made me really realize how much music meant to me, and it helped me appreciate really great music at the same time. This song, from their AMAZING debut, Leisure, is a fantastic reminder of so many good times from those days, and a welcome stroll down memory lane every time I hear it. Leisure is one of those albums that I can listen to from beginning to end, and it will always be amongst my favorite records of all time; along with many other Blur albums too.