Top 10 Albums of 2008 - #2 Sounds Like This by Eric Hutchinson

Here at Kharmonious we talk about Eric Hutchinson a lot. In fact, I was scrolling through old posts to see what we had said about him before to avoid redundancy, and we've posted about him much more than I realized. So much so in fact that Eric should probably be showering Kyle and I with free concert tickets, merchandise, and love. Maybe someday...

Unfortunately, I still have yet to see Eric live...He's doing a tour in January, but for some unknown reason is hitting Spokane, Seattle, and then...Eugene. What's that all about? No Portland? You're killing me, Eric. Luckily, thanks to the lovely folks at NPR, I (and anyone else having trouble seeing Eric live) can hear a couple live tracks recorded in NPR studio 4A. Click here to hear excellent acoustic versions of "Oh" and "OK It's Alright With Me." Accompanied only by his piano, Eric's voice really pops. The live version of "OK" is a bit slower and has a jazzy feel.

As far as getting free stuff goes, I did find a way for hardcore fans to score some gear. Eric is currently a contestant in Yahoo Music's "Who's Next" competition. On his website he asks fans to vote for him, and, because you can vote as many times as you want, he is offering a three pin set to anyone who votes 50 times and e-mails him to tell him about it. One lucky grand prize winner will get a phone call from Eric himself. Now, I neither have time to vote fifty times, nor do I really like pins all that much, so I'm passing. But I did vote for him once, and you should too. Vote here.

I suppose I should talk some about "Sounds Like This," since this is our top ten album countdown review series thing. However, you can read my original review of the album here. Now that a few months have passed and I've listened to the album many, many times, my favorite track on the album changes a lot. My current favorite is "All Over Now." Normally songs with clapping in the background bother me, but here it is catchy and fun. Also...what in the world is that springy sounding instrument? Anyone know?

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