currently listening + somebody rants a whole bunch (and it isn't me)

I've been building up a cache of good albums for my upcoming week in Spain. Since I'm a self-professed iTunes addict and tend to listen to things until I ruin them, I usually need a bunch of new stuff to fill out a soundtrack for a trip like this.

I happened on Alicia Wiley playing a small show at Barbette earlier this week and picked up her CD, Halfway Home. It reminds me of a bunch of other piano-based singer/songwriters (Norah Jones, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, etc.) but the harmonic progressions are straight-up jazz and the subtle shifts in color on "Blind Spot" are what made me finally walk up and buy the actual CD from her. (She's a local artist so I'll feel self-congratulatory about supporting her for a few minutes before moving on to just appreciating the music on its own merit. There...done. This is such a good album.)














Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds just put out another live acoustic album; this time from a show in Las Vegas. They include a ton of tracks from DMB's last album as well as the standards but what's always interesting about these records is seeing what songs Tim decides to play solo. In this case he sets his loop pedal on fire (as you'd expect) during "Kundalini Bonfire" and shreds out an amazing instrumental version of "Kashmir."




















I've been listening to Laura Veirs' new album, July Flame, since I saw her open for The Decemberists back in October and I finally have occasion to include it here. The percussive strings on "Wide-Eyed, Legless" are incredible and I love how she takes Rimbaud's "Le dormeur du val" and crafts it into something her very own.



It's been three years since The Shins released a new album and, unfortunately, it doesn't look like it'll happen any time soon. Luckily their lead singer/songwriter, James Mercer, just teamed up with Danger Mouse to cut a record under the name Broken Bells. As a vocalist and composer I feel like the sound of a band is defined by who is singing and/or writing the songs so, luckily, this sounds pretty much like a Shins record to me...and that's just fine.

The combination of a string orchestra and a Dobro isn't something you hear very often (or at all) and it was nice to discover that waiting for me on "The Mall and Misery." I also really, really enjoy "The Ghost Inside" and the spaghetti western stuff on "Mongrel Heart." (And, if there was a doubt that James Mercer isn't manning the helm of this thing, the melodic structure of the former puts any of that nonsense to rest. He has such a singular voice.)









And if you're in to listening to music critics bloviate a bit you should head over to The Detritus Review and watch Gary Panetta of the Peoria Journal Star get his ass handed to him. It's a great read and it's nice to see someone taking this guy to task for his incredibly irresponsible and asinine comments. (Props to Dan Nass for sending me this!)

Adios!