Archive | 10:00 pm

Music to My Ears

14 Oct

Best thing about spending 6 of the last 72 hours in my car? The chance to hear some of the new music I’ve been buying. Among the noteworthy tunes …

Jamie Cullum, “London Skies,” “Photograph,” and “Mind Trick,” and his new CD, Catching Tales. I’m a huge fan of Jamie’s previous CD, Twentysomething, with its cool fusion of rock, pop and jazz, and had high hopes for the follow-up. The sound of this new disc is more pop-jazz than Twentysomething, which was more jazz-pop. Songs here have more of a beat, more of an ambient sound in some cases, more edge, and less of a “classic” feel. My favorite track is “London Skies.” I’ve already played it a good handful of times. And “Mind Trick” is just fun. “Photograph” hit a chord with me, due to the wistful, nostalgic lyrics of the chorus (“When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life, I see so much magic though I missed it at the time.”) and a nice piano solo. Other tracks (like “21st Century Kid” and the Steely Dan-esque “Nothing I Do”) are quickly growing on me. Sure, most of the stronger tracks are in the first half of the CD, but I’d imagine that after a few more listenings, I’ll warm to more tracks in the second half. This is a really good album, even if I don’t instantly love it all, like I did with Twentysomething. Jamie Cullum’s a huge talent and I really recommend this CD.

Susan Tedeschi, “Follow,” and her new CD, Hope and Desire. Tedeschi’s Just Won’t Burn is one of my all-time favorite albums, but since then I just haven’t loved Tedeschi’s work. This album has its highs and lows, and a definite high is “Follow,” a cover of the Richie Havens classic. Simply, it just sounds great. Is it the song? Is it the delivery? It’s both.

Josh Kelley, “Only You”
I Nine, “Same in Any Language” (From the Elizabethtown soundtrack)
Cass Elliot, “Make Your Own Kind of Music” (yes, the song from the first episode of Lost this year)
… These three are just some great songs that had repeated play in my car.

All of this is available on iTunes, by the way. The others are good, but Jamie Cullum’s definitely worth checking out.

Mother Nature Is a Bitch

14 Oct

That’s the only way to explain the hellish drive I had this morning from NY through Connecticut en route back to Boston. All you Beantowners who think these misty conditions are rain have no idea what the folks down in the tri-state area have been getting the past few days. Ugh. We’re talking monsoon conditions. And driving through that is just no fun at all. Especially at 7 a.m. when I’ve had just a couple hours of sleep the night before. I’ve never been so happy to be back in the office. And now I hear tomorrow’s weather here is going to be as bad as it’s been “down south” for the past couple of days? Grrrrreaaaat.

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