Line of Best Fit

Richard Buckner

Last week's episode of Friday Night Lights featured the Richard Buckner song "Figure".  I had heard about Richard Buckner, but I had never heard any of his music.  After hearing "Figure", I immediately bought his album Devotion + Doubt.   I was not disappointed.  Devotion + Doubt is a great alt-country album.  I just hate that it has taken me this long to find Richard's music.  I'll definitely be picking up his other albums.  If you like the songs below, you'll want to get the rest of the album.  By the way, if you're not watching Friday Night Lights, you're missing one of the best new shows on TV.

Official Site - Myspace Page - iTunes 

Richard Buckner - Figure

Richard Buckner - 4 AM

Richard Buckner - Song of 27

Electric President

 

If you combined the sound of the bands The Postal Service and Pavement the result would be Electric President.  Electric President duo Ben Cooper and Alex Kane use guitars and electronic samples and sounds  to create great indie pop songs.  The way that they blend the electronic elements with the acoustic and electric guitar is near perfection.  I highly recommend adding their self-titled debut album to your collection.

Official Site - Myspace Page - Lyrics - iTunes

Electric President - Good Morning, Hypocrite

Electric President - Insomnia

Electric President - Ten Thousand Lines

On the J-45: Better Than Ezra

When you think of Better Than Ezra, guitar driven songs like "Good", "Desperately Wanting", "In The Blood", and "King of New Orleans" probably come to mind.  While they are better known for these rockers, there are a few acoustic songs that they've done that are really good.  One of the songs that I'm posting, "Hollow", appears on the album Closer.  It is not an actual track on the album, but it's from a performance video that is part of the enhanced cd.  An electric version of the song appears on their newest album, Before The Robots.   I've also included one of my favorite Better Than Ezra songs, "This Time of Year".  Whenever I hear this song, it reminds me of fall in the South and college football.  I'm not sure if the band still does this, but several years ago at their concerts whenever they played this song, they would invite someone from the audience to come up and play the guitar part.  I thought that was the coolest thing, and it had to be a rush for the person getting to come up on stage.

Official Site - Myspace Page - Lyrics - iTunes

 
Better Than Ezra - Porcelain

Better Than Ezra - This Time of Year

 

Better Than Ezra - State Street State of Mind

 

Better Than Ezra - Hollow (acoustic version)

Gob Iron: Death Songs for the Living

The band Gob Iron, which is British slang for harmonica, is a side project of Son Volt's lead singer Jay Farrar and Varnaline founder Anders Parker.  After the first listen of this album, I was reminded of Farrar's former band, Uncle Tupelo's album March 16-20, 1992.  The reason for this is that, like March 16-20, 1992, Death Songs for the Living is an album of American folk standards in which Farrar and Parker give their take on these traditional songs.  They include new lyrics or new musical arrangements that make these songs their own.  There are also instrumental interludes mixed in between the reconfigured songs.  I usually do not like it when artists include these instrumental tracks, but they really work on this album.  While I think that March 16-20, 1992 is a better album, Death Songs for the Living is a strong album, and it's the kind of music that I like hearing from Jay Farrar.

Myspace Page - Official Site - iTunes

Gob Iron - Hard Times

Gob Iron - Silicosis Blues

Gob Iron - Wayside Tavern

Blue Mountain: The Lite-Brite Album

In 1993, the Oxford, MS band, Blue Mountain, released their debut album on their own record label, 4 Barrel Records.  This self-titled album was affectionately called "The Lite-Brite Album", because the album cover was created using a Lite Brite.   It was this album that introduced me to the alt-country, roots rock genre.  I happened to come across an old Blue Mountain fan site that mentioned that copies of this album are almost impossible to find.  After Blue Mountain signed with Roadrunner Records in 1995, they were not allowed to sell any more copies of this album, since songs from it would appear on their future Roadrunner debut album.  Blue Mountain went on to release five more albums: Dog Days, Home Grown, Tales of a Traveler, Roots, and Tonight It's Now or Never.  Sadly, the band broke up in 2001, but it's former members are still making music.  Former lead singer and guitarist, Cary Hudson, has released several solo albums.  While former bassist, Laurie Stirratt, is now a member of Healthy White Baby, and has recorded an album with her brother, John Stirratt.

Cary Hudson's Myspace Page - The Stirratt's Official Site - iTunes

Bud
Let's Ride
Song Without A Name
Westbound
Mountain Girl
900 Miles
Soul Sister
In A Station
Jimmy Carter
Go 'Way Devil
Wink

Edit: Photo taken by and album cover created by A. Newt Rayburn

Posts From Some of My Favorite Blogs

There are several blogs that I read on a daily basis.  Most of these are listed to your right under the heading, "Blogs You Should Visit". I thought that I would link to some of my favorite posts that I have run across the past couple of months.   The first four sites that I've linked to are music blogs, and the posts that I chose include some music that they've posted that I really liked.  The name of these blogs are Come Pick Me Up, I Guess I'm Floating, It's Hard To Find A Friend, and My Old Kentucky Blog.

The blog, Silly Pipe Dreams, is part music blog and part personal blog.  The blog's owner post songs from some of the television shows that he watches.  Some of these shows are Grey's Anatomy, The OC, Friday Night Lights, and How I Met Your Mother.  If you've ever heard a song on any of these shows and wondered who the artist or band was, head over to this site. 

Patrick Walsh's blog has become my favorite blog to read.  On his blog, Patrick writes about what is going on in his life.  While most blogs like this are boring, this one is far from that.  I find myself laughing at every post he writes.  The one that I chose is a "Best of 2006" post that includes Patrick's favorite posts of the year.  This is a good place to start to get acquainted with this blog.

You can go to the main page of any of the blogs by clicking on the images.  If there are blogs that you recommend, please leave them in the comments section.

DoubtingParis
Fly Upright Kite

The Best Songs of 2006

I Don't Mind The Weather...
Ben Gibbard @ 5th Floor Coffee House, Bellingham, WA. 1/19/01
Death Cab for Cutie: 10/23/03 KEXP
Sufjan Stevens: 7/23/04 KEXP

   

Great Live Ryan Adams

The Year That Was! Bad!

Soundtrack Saturday
My Musical Moment
May The Schwartz Be With You

Apple Announces iPhone

      

Today at Macworld 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone.  While it had been rumored for months that an Apple phone was on the way, I don't think any one could have imagined what was unveiled today.  The iPhone is an iPod, a mobile phone, and an internet device all rolled up into one handheld gadget.  As you can see by the above pictures, the iPhone sports touch controls that utilizes Apple's patented multi-touch display and software.  I've posted links below to Apple's website where you can see demos and features of the iPhone.  I've also put a link to Engadget's coverage of not only the iPhone, but of the other products and announcements that came out of Macworld today.  The bad news about the iPhone is that it will not be out until June.  There will be two models that will be available through Cingular.  The 4 GB version will retail for $499, and the 8 GB version will retail for $599.  Start saving now, because this looks like the must have gadget for 2007.

Apple Links
iPhone Overview
Widescreen iPod
Revolutionary Phone
Breakthrough Internet Device
High Technology
Macworld 2007 Keynote Address

Engadget Link
Today's Apple Announcements at Macworld 2007

The Shout Out Louds

I first heard of the Shout Out Louds from The OC: Mix 5 album, and their song, "Wish I Was Dead Pt. 2", easily became my favorite song from that compilation.   Based off of that song, I got their album Howl Howl Gaff Gaff.  I listened to it a few times, but I never really gave it the attention that it deserved.  A few weeks ago, I was scanning through my iTunes library and ran across the album and gave it another listen.  I'm glad I did, because I've been listening to it almost nonstop since then.  I've posted three songs off of Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, and the song "Wish I Was Dead Pt. 2".  The band is currently in the studio working on their next album, that should be out this year.  Check them out.

Official Site - Myspace Page - Lyrics - iTunes

Shout Out Louds - The Comeback

Shout Out Louds - Very Loud

Shout Out Louds - Go Sadness

 

Shout Out Louds - Wish I Was Dead Pt. 2