My wife Lindsey is learning the piano taking formal weekly lessons. She used play when she was younger, but has since forgotten some of her chops. So for the last 6-7 months, she has been practicing often after she puts the baby down to sleep. The sweet sound fills our house. Though she doesn’t yet sound like Mozart, Liszt, or Beethoven, the aural harmony of progress, practice, effort, hard work, and dedication is music to my ears.
It’s very motivating for me to hear this change in action. My line of work is either visual, experiential, or cognitive so my ears don’t get to participate in gauging my development (if any). So outside of practicing musical instruments, I can’t think of many skills where you can hear actual progress aloud. Keep up the good work, Lindz!
I like music. I like it even better in iTunes. So with that, here are the artists, albums, and songs heavy in my rotation for early 2007 ordered by ones I’m listening to the most. Nota bene: these aren’t necessarily what have been released in early 2007, just what I’m currently listening to:
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Ben Kweller – (Self Titled): Ben Kweller’s latest album is just awesome. This kid can write, sing, and play good tuneage. I can’t get enough of this album and even my wife likes it. That’s a rarity. “Nothing Happening,” “Sundress,” “Magic,” and “Until I Die” are the standout tracks, but all are good.
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Pheonix – Alphabetical AND “Rally” from It’s Never Been Like That Where to begin? Pheonix is one fine electronic/traditional band. Their songs seem a bit flat at times, but flat in a good way. Never overproduced. Just right. Excellent band and a newly discovered one for me in 2007.
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Magnet – On Your Side AND The Tourniquet. Norwegian songwriter Magnet can do no wrong. Both of these albums will go down as a pair of my all-time favorites. Want beautiful, soft, acoustic/electronic music? Look no further. Magnet is stellar.
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Beck – The Information. It’s Beck’s new album! What more could you ask for? My favorite track is the current single, “Think I’m In Love.”
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Teddybears – “Different Sound.” Their Soft Machine album is a bit out there, but “Different Sound” is such an infectious song. Highly recommended track.
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Daft Punk – Human After All. The. Best. Electronic. Album. Out. Right. Now. Recorded in only six weeks, this one is clearly underrated. Human After All is almost exclusively what I listen to when running (if I’m running).
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The Clientele – “(I Can’t Seem To) Make You Mine.” I can’t speak for the entire album, but I really dig this bands soothing sounds.
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Philip Glass – The Illusionist (Soundtrack). Minimalist classical music at its finest. I think I’ve listened to the theme track over 75 times in the last month alone.
Of course, my playlists are also peppered with 80’s, classical, and a bunch of other stuff, but this is what has my attention as of late. I’m also anticipating Air’s new album due March 5 (new single here). Mmmm. Air. What are you currently listening to?
Steve Jobs posted an excellent article today backing a DRM-less music file for the masses. That means you play the file when you want and where you want independent of music players. Even iPods. From Jobs’s callout to the big four record companies: “If [DRM] were removed, the music industry might experience an influx of new companies willing to invest in innovative new stores and players. This can only be seen as a positive by the music companies… Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly.”
UPDATE: iTunes currently protects songs that are already DMR-less at emusic.com. Not to side with the big record lables, but perhaps Steve is up to something else. More here.
I have been very excited to see Keane live in concert. Their CD Hopes & Fears has been one of my favorites over the past year. Their is a certain freshness to the album, even given that some of their songs do sound similar. But how do the they sound live? How are they as performers?
First off, for those of you comparing Keane to Coldplay, their is no comparison. Keane has outplayed them with only one record to Coldplay’s three. Haven seen both in concert, I must say Keane brought so much more energy, enjoyment and freshness to their live sound. The lead singer’s voice is one of the prettiest, melodic voices I’ve ever heard. It’s that good. The piano player rocks. He constantly was on the verge of knocking over his piano. The drummer is tight and ads the perfect rhythm section san bass (bass is sequenced on a laptop). The two sure do bring a lot of energy and sound for only having two musicians playing . The light and video was something I didn’t expect, but brought an additional level of ambiance to the already full sound at the lovely Abravanel Hall in downtown SLC. One of the nicest venues I’ve ever been to.
The evening was a blast! The music was even better. Very good show! A+
