The Duhks - Fast Paced World

Album: Fast Paced World
Group: The Duhks
Like/Don't Like: Awesome! Like!

Lindsay gave me this album for my birthday with the intention of me falling in love with them so that I would go to their show with her.

Mission accomplished, Linds!

I think you should check them out. I really think you'll like them. Yes, you! You'll like them.

They're exactly the type of music that I love. Which is to say, they're all over the place. Folk, blue grass, jazz, rock, gospel. On the album they have a Brazilian samba, a French ballad, an Irish jig and a cover of Whole Lot of Love. The musicianship on it is incredible and the lead singer has pipes. She sounds like a less screechy and more sober Janis Joplin.

Their show last night was a free concert in the park in Pasadena. Don't you think all concerts should be free and outdoors? It just makes for a really fun night. People are more apt to get up and move. And there are always really adorable children dancing in front of the stage. And the area smells like picnic food and blooming flowers. And, as was the case last night, forest fire. (Ah, late summer in California. 100+ degree weather and fire in the mountains.)

They were incredible live. They had a very easy presence on stage which I think comes from being really good and having great music to play. And they played a lot of zydeco. Zydeco = fun.

They're not the type of band to hit it big and get air time on the radio, and they probably won't be coming to a city near you. But you can certainly get their album. Did I mention that I think you'll like it?

Under the Blacklight

Album: Under the Blacklight
Artists: Rilo Kiley
Like/Don't Like: Like, mostly.

Poor Rilo Kiley. I got their newest album the same day I picked up the Allison Krauss/Robert Plant album. Tough break - because that album is MAGIC and I couldn't seem to bring myself to take it out of the player. So Under the Blacklight has been sitting on my stereo, waiting to be listened to for about a month now.

I finally gave it a real shot yesterday and I like it. Mostly. Catchy songs that I can sing along with always score high with me and this album has plenty of them. But it's pretty thin lyrics-wise. One of my biggest pet-peeves in songs is when lyrics are repeated over and over again. Nearly every song on this album suffers from this. I got bored with a lot of the songs because, even with the catchy tunes, I couldn't get past hearing the same phrases repeated a dozen or so times. I don't think this will be a problem for a lot of people, but it was for me.

But aside from that, it had a real quirky and fun vibe that I liked a lot. It won't go down as one of my go-tos but it certainly will be one that now and then I'll be driving along and get tired of the radio and will want something different and will flip through my cds and stumble across it and pop it in and remember that I liked it.

Oh, and one of the added benefits of listening to Rilo Kiley is that you can have Troop Beverly Hills quotes running through your head. Bonus!

Raising Sand

Album: Raising Sand
Artists: Allison Krauss and Robert Plant
Like/Don't Like: Let's just say that I cried through half the songs. Yes. I like it.

This is exactly the type of music you would hear if you found yourself one night at a roadhouse off a lonesome Texas highway. A roadhouse often visited by gypsies, fallen women, couples on the verge of breaking up, and a trucker who may or may not have killed a man.

Which is to say that this album is eerie and sad* and warm and all together AMAZING. It's folk and blues and a little rock (natch, it's Robert Plant) but it mostly just defies all the genres because it's so perfect. I got it last night after work and I haven't stopped listening to it. My plan is to quit my job so I can listen to it full time. I'd have to give up really good benefits but at least I'd have magic in my heart.

I love albums that sound like they're telling a story, where each song feels connected to the next. This one feels that way all the way through. I think that has a lot to do with T-Bone Burnette, who produced it and played guitar and bass on it. Most of the songs have that really heart-breaking wobbly bass line that evokes the creepy roadhouse image. Allison Krauss and Robert Plant sound like they come from the same family. Like a father and daughter duet. They sound incredible together. They're so well blended that it's hard to tell sometimes who's taking the lead and who's singing harmony. And the musicianship is some of the best I've heard.

I bought this album without ever hearing a single song from it. It popped up on my Amazon recommendations and I took a shot. I tend to get lucky when I do that, but it takes a few listens to really warm up to it and there will still be a few songs that I never get. So it's pretty high praise that I can't ever remember loving an entire album this much on it's first go around. Maybe you should think about getting it.

*It really is a very melancholy album so I would not recommend say, listening to it while actually driving on a lonesome Texas highway. I've never been on one but I've listened to enough Lyle Lovett to know that they're no place for people with low spirits.

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Album: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Artist: Spoon
Like/Don't Like: Like

I had a hard time making it all the way through this album because I couldn't stop listening to track 7, the Underdog. This song is the reason why I got the album in the first place. Catchy, very catchy.

And, as it turns out, so are all the other songs. I finally listened to the whole thing yesterday and liked it all. Kind of a peppy-rock feel, good for bouncing along to while your driving. I bet they would be fun to see live. Mostly because of the back-up clapping. The album is full of it. That's what puts Underdog at the top for me - all that clapping. You'll know what I'm talking about when you hear. It kind of makes it dangerous to drive. I'm a sucker for clapping in songs. There's nothing worse than an over-produced album, and clapping signifies a very low-tech approach that I can appreciate. Okay, and it makes me think of that scene in That Think You Do with Chris Isaak clapping as they record the song in the church. Mmm...Chris Isaak.