a Halloween list...

Happy Halloween everyone! So I was awoken by "Monster Mash" on the radio and figured I'd better post a list of Halloween-ish songs:

1. Halloween - Dave Matthews Band
2. They Are Zombies!!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhh! - Sufjan Stevens
3. Frankenstein - Edgar Winter Group
4. (Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
5. Skeleton Song - Kate Nash
6. Cemetery Drive - My Chemical Romance
7. Black Magic Woman - Santana
8. Gravedigger - Dave Matthews
9. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon (this song has an annoying habit of getting stuck in my head)
10. Halloween - Jonathan Larson (from the RENT soundtrack)

And a moderately amusing two-part list of Halloween-related songs here: http://www.hearya.com/2007/10/08/top-50-halloween-songs-part-1/.

* I got the pumpkin photo off Flickr. And yes, that's Dobby and Severus Snape from Harry Potter. And though they may seemingly have nothing to do with music or Halloween, Alan Rickman does sing and play a pretty scary role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Album Review: Simple Times

Joshua Radin released his second album in September, but due to being jobless and generally overwhelmed by good music, I just purchased it on iTunes today.

I am already in love with Simple Times and wish I would have purchased it sooner. If you are already a fan of Radin's comforting, brooding melodies, I think you'll be pleased with the new album. If you just can't get in to Radin's whispery style, I think you still may enjoy his new album. Though he stays true to the sound we heard of We Were Here, as well as his earlier EPs, Simple Times offers new variety and range.

The album starts with "One of Those Days," which features Radin's trademark use of layered vocals and twinkling xylophone sounds (at least I think that's a xylophone?). "I'd Rather Be With You" and "Vegetable Car" are both uncharacteristically upbeat (well, as upbeat as Joshua can get) and offer some complexity of sounds (especially "Vegetable Car"). Also, if anyone knows what a vegetable car is, I would love to know.

My personal favorites on the album are "Free of Me" and the album ender, "No Envy No Fear." The only disappointments to me are two songs that appeared on Unclear Sky, the EP Joshua released earlier in the summer. I preferred the Unclear Sky versions of both "Sky" and "You Got Growing Up to Do," but for opposite reasons. I loved the duet of "Sky" with Ingrid Michaelson, and she is either missing or extremely muted (there are female vocals, but I can't tell whether it is Ingrid or Schuyler Fisk) on Simple Times. "Growing Up" was stripped down and beautifully sad on the EP, but the version on the new album (which features Patty Griffin) is countryfied and loses a lot of the raw emotion.

That being said, overall, I love the album and definitely recommend it. If I knew how to do those little stars Kyle does, I think I'd give it 4 and a half.

Coming clean with Country...

As promised, I'm going to come clean in regards to Country music. If you haven't read our "A versus B sides" take on the genre, you can here.

Country has never been and probably never will be my favorite musical genre (or even one of my top ten), but if I'm being completely frank, as I've grown older I've come to enjoy and certainly appreciate country music more. For one, it's had an irrefutable and tremendous influence on some of my favorite rock artists (from CCR to the Eagles to Dave Matthews Band). The triumph of human achievement that is Rock n' Roll wouldn't be the same without country and I'm grateful for that (grateful enough not to quote the Donny and Marie Osmond song). For two, as Katie pointed out, it's lyrics can be just as dreadful as anything in pop or rock music, but they can also be as poignant. Personally, as long as the lyrics aren't painfully stupid, I can enjoy a little Shania Twain or Faith Hill, which is probably more pop-country, but it still says "country" on the CD. It'll never touch Rock in my opinion, but for me, it's a fun diversion.

"The Guilty Ones" from Spring Awakening

If you, like me, wondered what Duncan Sheik had been doing since 2003 when his last hit single, "On a High" played on the radio, here's a quick update: he recorded and released White Limousine in 2006 and released a (probably premature) Greatest Hits collection in 2007. Most notably and unexpectedly, however, he composed the music for the Tony award-winning musical Spring Awakening, which depending on your opinion of musical theatre and Duncan Shiek as a musican, is an incredible blend of the two.



You can find the album on iTunes and there's also a touring production going around the country (for more info go to: www.springawakening.com). My track recommendations are "The Guilty Ones", "The Bitch of Living", "The Song of Purple Summer" and "And Then There Were None".

10 musicals you should listen to even if you're not into musical theatre...

In the last line of my Phantom review, I wrote "this is a show that anyone who likes musical theatre should see at least once", but in truth, anyone can enjoy The Phantom of the Opera, whether or not you consider yourself a musical aficionado. Here are nine more musicals you should listen to at least once, even if you think "musicals are not you're thing" - if you enjoy music you'll appreciate their surprising melodies, diverse arrangements and intriguing lyrics you won't often hear in mainstream music.

1. Phantom of the Opera - Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart
2. The Last Five Years - Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
3. Spring Awakening - Music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics by Steven Sater
4. Tick, Tick... BOOM! - Music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson
5. Chicago - Music and lyrics by Kander and Ebb
6. Sweeney Todd - Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
7. A Chorus Line - Music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban
8. Songs for a New World - Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
9. RENT - Music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson
10. Les Miserables - Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

And there are loads more in both film and stage versions (I stuck with stage productions for this list and based my selection purely on the accessibility of the music). For more, you can check out Film4's Top 100 Greatest Musicals HERE.

What musicals would you recommend to the non-musical fan?

*the picture is from The Black Crook (1866), considered by some historians to be the first musical.

Phantom of the Opera at the INB Performing Arts Center

Though not technically a "concert", I figured I'd give my two cents on this musical performance anyway. Before now, I would've thought that anyone who wasn't living under a rock had seen or at least heard The Phantom of the Opera (in the 2004 film adaptation or otherwise). I would've been wrong. Of the seven people I talked to about the show here in Spokane, only three were familiar with the story. That presented a rather large barrier for them in enjoying the show, because much of the sung dialogue was near incomprehensible. And since this is a musical, most everything is sung. Now I don't know if that was a technical issue with the sound equipment or poor acoustics due to the venue (though I've heard and understood shows I'm far less familiar with before), or if it was just a matter of poor articulation (though I find that somewhat difficult to swallow being these actors are professionals), but nevertheless - every person I talked to about the show, across four different performances, confirmed the lyrics were difficult to hear. And if you don't know the storyline or the lyrics like the back of your hand, you're in trouble (in that case, I'd recommend renting the movie first).

Unintelligible lyrics aside, the performances were good overall. Of course, they're not Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman or even Gerald Butler and Emmy Rossum (so don't expect that), but they are incredible performers in their own right. And the Phantom, played by Richard Todd Adams was especially vigorous and engaging in his performance. As expected, the sets and costumes were opulent and extravagant and well worth the price of admission (particularly those for the underground labyrinth and the masquerade). My selection of highlights for the show (in any of its iterations) are: "Angel of Music", "Masquerade" and "The Point of No Return". Perhaps, like Les Miserables, this is a show that anyone who likes musical theatre should see at least once.

Have you heard...

I got to hear Raining Jane open last weekend for Sara Bareilles at the Knitting Factory. I thought they were great performers. I liked their sound (self described as "rock-folk"). And one of the members played a sitar (how freaking awesome is that)! So I downloaded their latest album Paper Nest on iTunes and have been listening to it since. My track recommendations are "Castles and Factories", "Desperate Sails", "Incline" and "Browntown" if you want to hear the sitar. A short, but fantastic album. They're an all-female band, which I must admit I was a bit smitten with them at first (one of the members even played a cello during a couple songs and confession time: I'm a huge sap for females playing stringed instruments) , but they're incredible, real musicians and not just a run-of-the-mill female pop group like All Saints or Spice Girls or Bananarama (nothing against the aforementioned groups). Have a listen for yourself!





For more info check out: www.rainingjane.com

10 more colorful songs...

10 more colorful songs, beginning with five not-to-be-forgotten classics and ending with three tracks from 2008:

1. Ruby Tuesday - The Rolling Stones
2. Back in Black - AC/DC
3. White Room - Cream
4. Behind Blue Eyes - The Who
5. Black Dog - Led Zeppelin
6. Black Balloon - The Goo Goo Dolls
7. Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin
8. Violet Hill - Coldplay
9. Black Burning Heart - Keane
10. Life in Technicolor - Coldplay

A lot of black, I know, and how lame, I even listed two songs from the same album ("Violet Hill" and "Life in Technicolor" from Coldplay's Viva la Vida) but the latter is just so brilliantly charming and simple I couldn't resist.

10 Colorful Songs

Confession: I have been working on this top 10 list for about a week now. The problem hasn't been an inability to come up with songs about colors; rather, I've discovered that there are just too many great songs. So, I'm listing my top 10, followed by the 10 runners up. Narrowing down to 20 is a pretty big accomplishment, considering my original iTunes playlist had about 70 songs.
Anyway, here are some of my favorite songs about colors:

1. Dave Matthews Band - Grey Street
2. Rocky Votolato - White Daisy Passing
3. The Beatles - Blackbird
4. Kira Willey - Colors (you may remember this one from that Dell commercial a while back)
5. Cary Brothers - Blue Eyes
6. Death Cab for Cutie - A Lack of Color
7. Priscilla Ahn - Red Cape
8. Coldplay - Green Eyes
9. Nickel Creek - Green and Gray
10. Alexi Murdoch - Orange Sky

And, the songs that didn't quite make the cut:
11. Barcelona - Colors
12. Jack's Mannequin - Dark Blue
13. Jeremy Fisher - Goodbye Blue Monday
14. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
15. Jonny Lang - Red Light
16. The Weepies - Just Blue
17. Johnny Cash - Long Black Veil
18. Iron & Wine - White Tooth Man
19. Cake - Pretty Pink Ribbon
20. Amos Lee - Colors

I'm sure I'm leaving a lot out. What are your favorites?

Encore!

I, too, had the pleasure of seeing the lovely miss Sara perform this past weekend in Spokane. I agree completely with all of Kyle's sentiments, and only wanted to add that Sara also performed a very fun little encore. I must say that I find the whole encore phenomenon just a little silly (why do we have to stand there clapping in the dark for five minutes when you know you are going to come out and sing some more anyway?). Nevertheless, Sara made it worthwhile.

Her first song was a cover of Counting Crows's "Sullivan Street," which is a lovely song as it is, but became even more delicate and emotional. She did both encore songs sans band, and on the first she played the ukulele (she said she had taken up the ukulele because she was inspired by her friend, Ingrid Michaelson). The second song was the last track on Little Voice, "Gravity." Though it's very hard for me to pick a favorite song on the album, "Gravity" is definitely near the top, and it was even more powerful live.

Here are a few pictures I took at the show:

Sara Bareilles at the Knitting Factory, Spokane

On my road trip to San Francisco this summer I got to spend the night in Eureka, California, the city where Sara Bareilles was born and raised. As a Spokanite, I realize I'm the pot calling the kettle black when I say Eureka wasn't very remarkable, but Sara Bareilles is remarkable - in fact, she's phenomenal and her live performance far surpassed anything on her CD (in this fan's humble opinion). For one, her voice was as flawless, passionate and controlled as it is on the best tracks from Little Voice. Songs like "Vegas" and "Come Round Soon" had more edge, "Love on the Rocks" had more energy and "City" (one of my personal favorites from the album and the concert) had more vigor, all with perfect-pitch. I also really appreciated the solo performance of "Fairytale" (with Sara on piano), reminding me that Sara doesn't need a band to make her sound good (but the band was fine, Javier on the lead guitar played some riffs that reminded me of John Mayer and for some reason there was an alien figurine on his amp). Sara also covered Feist's "I Feel It All" which was a fun break from the album.

Sara Bareilles is an amazing musician and if you haven't listened to the rest of Little Voice apart from "Love Song" and "Bottle It Up" (which are undeniably catchy), you owe it to yourself to - it is easily one of my favorite albums from 2007. She seemed down-to-earth and proclaimed herself as a feminist which means she rocks by my books.

"On the Radio" by Regina Spektor

At the risk of overdoing the whole "video thing", here is one of Regina Spektor's "On the Radio". I discovered Regina after listening to Ben Fold's latest single "You Don't Know Me" which they sing together. I promptly downloaded "Fidelity" and "On the Radio" on iTunes. You can't argue with lyrics like "On the radio / We heard November Rain / That solo's really long /But it's a pretty song /We listened to it twice / 'Cause the DJ was asleep"... a huge oversight on my part, November Rain should definitely have made my list of songs over 6 minutes in length. It clocks in at 8:56 and is definitely worth a listen or two :)

one final thought...

I read this on Wikipedia and thought it was pretty funny on multiple levels: Noel Gallagher [of Oasis] famously dismissed Keane saying "traditionally speaking, the three biggest twats in any band are the singer, the keyboardist and the drummer. I don't need to say anything else."

I find this funny because . . .
- a member of Oasis dismissed Keane.
- I wasn't aware tradition had it that singers, keyboardists and drummers were a band's biggest twats.
- I play keyboard, drums and sing.

Perfect Symmetry Review

Like many others, I first heard Keane's single "Somewhere Only We Know" on the radio four years ago and I was hooked. The song wasn't nearly as mature or well-developed as some of Coldplay's music from the same time (like "Politik", "Warning Sign" or even "The Scientist"), but I heard some real potential (ignoring some critics who dismissed Keane as mere Coldplay-imitators). This potential I believe is fully realized in their latest album Perfect Symmetry (released October 14th). It is the next phase in their evolution since Hopes and Fears and Under the Iron Sea and is no longer likely to be confused with aforementioned English rockers.

Songs like "Spiralling" and "Better Than This" are both immediately accessible and musically complex and surprising. The vocals are especially fun (if you like the unexpected as much as me) - some oddly enough remind me of Freddie Mercury, I'm not really sure why... I think in the past, Keane's slow songs have had a hard time catching on with the public (like "She Has No Time" or "A Bad Dream" - both songs I enjoy, but they're easily lost with other nondescript titles like "Try Again", "Sunshine" or "Bedshaped"). Though the song titles may still leave room for improvement, the music plays to the band's strengths with clever, moderate-to-quick tempoed songs that are marvelously long (most of the tracks break 4 minutes). My vote for the highlights are "Time To Go", "Perfect Symmetry", "Again and Again" and "Spiralling", but this really is one of those albums where you should just buy the whole album if you're a Keane fan (or if you're not, there's no better time to become one).

Have you heard...

So I was so impressed with Katie's music video she uploaded of Eric Hutchinson and I really enjoy his music, that I decided to upload a music video of an up-and-coming artist I really like: Tristan Prettyman. I've only listened to her first major album twentythree, but she just released a second album this year called Hello...x. Her music reminds me a little of Colbie Caillat or Mandy Moore's Coverage or Wild Hope. It is fun, care-free and great road trip/summer music.

In addition to this single from twentythree, I also recommend "Love, Love, Love", "Smoke" (my favorite song on the album) and "Shy That Way" (one exception to my "no Jason Mraz" rule). For more information on Tristan Prettyman you can visit her website here: www.tristanprettyman.com

Pandora: The Friendly Radio

No, this blog isn't about opening a mysterious and deadly box. It's about Pandora Radio. I was thinking about Kyle's post about favorite bands and the people who introduced them to him. While I have been introduced to many of my favorite bands by friends, I also do a lot of searching out new bands on my own. For whatever reason I constantly feel compelled to find new artists, new songs, new sounds. That habit is probably a reflection of my fickle nature or inability to be content or something...but, anyway, I think it's fun.

One of my favorite places to find new music is Pandora. Their site describes them as a "new, more personalized kind of radio -- where the stations play only music you like." If you're looking for low-impact music searching, Pandora is for you. No need to search the blogosphere (that's the first time I've actually ever used that word...I'm not sure how I feel about it) or through racks of CDs at your local music shop. Once you create a Pandora account (it's completely free), simply enter the name of an artist or song you like, and the website does all the work. They will create a "station" that plays music similar to the song/artist you chose.

For example, as you know, I'm a huge Eric Hutchinson fan. So, I created a Pandora Eric Hutchinson station. The first song Pandora put on for me was a live version of "Don't Hold Back" by Hutchinson. The second song was "Listen to Your Heartbeat" by Ford Turrell, an artist I've never heard of. He sounds a bit like Ray LaMontagne, who I also like. So, I click the little "thumbs up" icon on the track, to let Pandora know that I like this song and would like to hear more like it. Similarly, if Pandora messes up (which it does now and again) and plays something you don't like, you can either simply skip it or click the "thumbs down" icon, which both stops the song and also prevents Pandora from playing it for you ever again. The third song Pandora played for me was "As I'm Leaving," by David Gray.

That's my plug for Pandora. Go check it out, find some new music, and then tell me what you find! :)

10 artists that aren't for everyone, but I love

I personally don't believe there's any artist that's right for everyone (no, not even the Beatles). But there certainly are some with more mass appeal than others like U2 or Coldplay or Bon Jovi. Here are 10 artists that are decidedly not for everyone but I love them anyway. You might like them too if you listen to any of the artists I mention in parentheses (but no promises, really):

1. Kate Nash (Feist, Regina Spektor)
2. Rachael Yamagata (Colbie Caillat, KT Tunstall)
3. Duncan Sheik (Keane, Coldplay)
4. Elizabeth and the Catapult (Brooke Fraser, Mandy Moore)
5. Ben Lee (John Mayer, Joshua Radin, Ben Folds)
6. Jason Robert Brown (Jonathan Larson, Stephen Sondheim)
7. The Eames Era (Sara Bareilles)
8. Ingrid Michaelson (Feist, Regina Spektor, Sara Bareilles, Mandy Moore)
9. Counting Crows (Dave Matthews Band)
10. Ben Folds (Ben Folds Five ;) , Ben Kweller, Ben Lee)

What artists do you listen to that are definitely not for everyone?

Have You Heard of...

I've been listening to Eric Hutchinson since about June. I first heard his single "Rock & Roll" on my favorite Spokane radio station's New Music Monday program. I instantly fell in love. So, I looked him up on Pandora, listened to a few more songs, and stopped at Best Buy on my way home from work that day to buy his album, Sounds Like This. These days, it can be a difficult decision to purchase a full album. So often there are only a few tracks worth listening to, but that was not the case with Sounds.

Besides the perky "Rock & Roll," which I dare you to listen to without wanting to dance (see video below), my favorite track on the album might be "You Don't Have to Believe Me," where he tries to convince a woman she deserves to be treated with respect. Here, Hutchinson really lets loose. Although, I also love the album opener, "Ok, It's Alright With Me," which also makes me want to dance. A lot. On heavily piano influenced tracks like "It Hasn't Been Long Enough" Eric reminds me a bit of a rock and roll Michael Buble or Jamie Cullum. Honestly, though, there isn't a song I don't like.

I just found out that I missed Hutchinson when he was in Portland a few days ago for a charity show. However, he'll be back in Portland (and Spokane and surrounding cities) in November. Check out his website for tour dates and other info.

A versus B-sides: Country Music

What is "A versus B-sides"?

"A versus B-sides" posts will feature two sides of a musical debate, written by Katie and Kyle and then open to you (the public) for further discussion. The views we represent may not be what we actually believe, but in a later post we'll come clean and let you know how we really feel; for now, we just want to represent and hear from both sides. In this first "A versus B-sides" we will take on Country Music!

Kyle's Perspective: Anti-Country
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard someone say: “I like all types of music except rap and country”. Now, for one, I’ve yet to be persuaded that rap is music and two, I don’t believe anyone who says “I like all types of music” because they obviously did not consider polka. The third part, however, intrigues me. Why is country singled out time and again? I even saw a discussion on debate.com titled “which is worse for our society: rap or country music?”.

Let’s start with the obvious: the lyrics of country music paint about as big a target for its detractors as anything could. Just listen to Kenny Chesney’s “She Thinks My Tractor‘s Sexy”. Its chorus goes like this: “she thinks my tractor‘s sexy; it really turns her on; she‘s always starin‘ at me; while I‘m chuggin‘ along; she likes the way it's pullin' while we're tillin' up the land; she's even kinda crazy 'bout my farmer's tan”. If country fans and musicians are offended at being called hillbillies, they have to stop writing lyrics like this. Or Neal McCoy‘s “Billy‘s got his beer goggles on”. Tractors and beer goggles… pretty impressive stuff.

It’s also the only genre of music where singing through your nose is considered good. Country music has little to no variety; songs are either crocodile tear ballads or over-the-top honky-tonk. There’s no experimentation with instruments; unless you consider the washboard one. And for all intents and purposes I think it’s safe to say there’s zero ethnic diversity in country music. In my opinion, all of this suggests country music is more of a subgenre than a major genre of music (in terms of diversity of sound and form), along the lines of Celtic or ska. I respect the old country musicians (like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson), but today’s country is so overblown and ridiculous (“Suds in the bucket“), it’s hard to take seriously, yet alone respect.

Katie's Perspective: Pro-Country
While I understand (and have heard from many people) Kyle's argument against country, I would argue that his poor opinion of country music is based on an incomplete understanding of the genre.

Yes, there is bad country music. Yes, some country music lyrics are "hillbilly," such as "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" (which I must confess I like). However, if we throw out country music because some country songs have stupid lyrics, there are a whole lot of other music genres we will simply have to do away with. For example, because Katy Perry releases a song where she "kissed a girl and liked it" because of "the taste of her cherry chapstick," must we also throw out similar sounding female pop artists like Lily Allen or Adele, who have intelligent lyrics? Just as there are bad and good pop lyrics, there are bad and good country lyrics. In addition to songs about tractors, we have songs about love and loss, pain and joy. One of my favorite Garth Brooks songs is "Standing Outside the Fire," and one of the verses says, "We call them weak who are unable to resist, the slightest chance love might exist and for that forsake it all." I promise it doesn't mention tractors, and it's passionate and beautiful.

Also, to say that country music has no variety is simply not true. Yes, we have honky-tonk and beer goggles. But we also have classic country (aka Merle Haggard or Johnny Cash), bluegrass (aka Alison Krauss and Union Station or the newest Dixie Chicks album), country-pop/the Nashville sound (aka Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift), and plenty of variety in between. If you turned to a country station and really listened, instead of changing the station as soon as you hear a bit of twang, you would hear that there is great diversity in sound.

Ultimately, I know I can't change anyone's mind. For some reason, some people will just firmly reject any song that their iTunes labels as "country." However, if you're open to at least giving country a try, I'd like to suggest a few songs:

• "Whiskey Lullaby" - Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss (from Paisley's album, Mud on the Tires): Whether you like country or not, I hope you'll recognize that Krauss' voice is absolutely stunning. The voices and instrumention are mournful but beautiful, and this is one of those songs I can listen to over and over again.
• "Not Ready to Make Nice" - The Dixie Chicks (from The Long Way Around): This song is the band's response to the backlash they experienced after the "He's not my president" comment. It's a powerful and angry ballad.
• "Long Black Train" - Josh Turner (from an album by the same name): If you claim to like Johnny Cash, I challenge you to listen to Turner. He carries on in the tradition of Cash. His voice is deep and mournful, and this gospel-influenced, guitar-plucking track channels the man in black.
  

"Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart" review

Rachael Yamagata is one of those artists it's okay to fall asleep to while listening to her music. Not because it's boring (unless you incorrectly equate "slow" with "boring"); her songwriting is comforting, careful and intimate - and her voice matches these qualities perfectly. In fact, her vocals are more consistent and maybe even more mature this time around. It's been four years since Happenstance (her first studio album) and her songwriting has seemed to find a balance between soft pop-rock (and I use all three terms very loosely) and even softer, richer lullabies (I'm thinking of "Meet Me By the Water" from Happenstance and "Over and Over" from Elephants...). That being said, Rachael is definitely not the artist to listen to while you're driving down the freeway (at least not in my 2000 Saturn that rattles); she was amazing live in Seattle (at a small venue off Madison called Chop Suey) and amazingly, she sounds just as personal and incredible with earbuds. Her melodies are just as beautiful, brilliant and inspiring as her first album and EPs, though perhaps not as experimental (as "Collide" or "Under My Skin"). I think the highlights are "Sidedish Friend", "What If I Leave", "Pause The Tragic Ending" and "Sunday Afternoon". Rachael could stop creating new music today and I would still think she contributed something truly unique and heartfelt to the musical canon, but of course, I hope she releases many, many more albums.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 songs with numbers in them!

10 of my favorite songs with numbers in them. To avoid confusion I didn't list 1, 2, 3, etc. like usual:

#41 - Dave Matthews Band
42 - Coldplay
405 - Death Cab for Cutie
1234 - Feist
25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago
5:15 - The Who
23 - Jimmy Eat World
83 - John Mayer
52-50 - O.A.R.
3 am - Matchbox Twenty (double whammy, ha ha!)

There's a nice website that lists many, many more: http://www.allenpagina.com/stuart/lyrics/stnum.htm (be warned though: they're not all good) and of course, the omniscient Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Wikilists/List_of_songs_with_numbers_in_the_title.

Rachael Yamagata at Chop Suey, Seattle

Poor Rachael was sick with the flu the night of the show. Fortunately, she still took the stage and she still was amazing - it didn't hurt that Summer and I were about five feet away from her. She opened with "Be Be Your Love" on the piano, followed by "Letter Read" and performed all 4 songs from the pre-release for her new album Elephants... Teeth Sinking into Heart, which by the way, comes out tomorrow, October 7th (check back for my review). To me, it sounded like Rachael was a little under the weather the first song, but she cleared up really fast and sounded great by the time she stood up to play "Sidedish Friend" on the guitar (a bandmate even brought her a roll of toilet paper to blow her nose with). Her vocals sounded just as soulful and rich as they do on her recordings - her band consisted of a lead guitar, bass, cello, drums and special guest Kevin Devine (the opening act) on the guitar.

In my opinion, Rachael's music is practically written for small venues like Chop Suey in Seattle(occupancy about 250). Songs like "Meet Me by the Water" and "Reason Why", which are easily overpowered by freeway driving, filled the venue's intimate space perfectly. Rachael even sang part of her new song "Elephants" a cappella. "Letter Read" was probably the only song I thought sounded better recorded and only because of how well it's arranged on the CD. "Sunday Afternoon" was beautiful and my favorite song from the night. All the musicians, Rachael included, seemed incredibly modest and grateful to be performing to such an excited and energetic crowd.

10 of my favorite artists and who introduced me to them

Maybe some of you, like me, distinctly remember who introduced you to your favorite musicians. Here's giving credit where it's due:

1. Ben Folds (Five) - Rani
2. Ingrid Michaelson - Katie
3. O.A.R. & John Mayer - Mandi
4. The Postal Service - Taylor
5. Journey - Adam
6. Chicago - Mr. Sullivan (my high school English teacher)
7. Jason Robert Brown - Kendal
8. Led Zepplin - bro
9. Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Brahms, Bizet, pretty much anything classical - mom
10. Dave Matthews Band - technically myself, but my brother let me "borrow" Under the Table and Dreaming 10 years ago and I still have it

Who introduced you to your favorite artists?

Keane - Perfect Symmetry - Coming Soon!

So I'm really excited for this album to come out (October 14th - you can preorder it on iTunes). I've already downloaded "Spiralling" and "The Lovers are Losing" and they're both awesome - the former being totally unlike anything they've written before. Chaplin and Hughes spoke of wanting to take a more "organic" approach on this album and use more electric guitar. Will it pay off? So far I say yes. Listen for yourself here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpxZwzlYMk4.

10 artists I hope you don't find on my iPod...

So after Katie's brave disclosure that she houses Britney Spears on her iPod, I figured it was only fair I confessed as well (and this was the only opportunity I saw in the foreseeable future to post a photo of Kylie Minogue):

1. Usher
2. Christina Aguilera
3. Kelly Clarkson
4. Styx
5. Freezepop
6. Kylie Minogue
7. Shakira
8. Enya
9. Simon & Garfunkel
10. Yo-Yo Ma

Unfortunately, I can't even say any of these are "one song artists" on my iPod... but I don't care what anyone says, Yo-Yo Ma kicks ass.

A versus B-sides - Coming Soon...

"A versus B-sides" posts will feature two sides of a musical debate, written by Katie and Kyle and then open to you (the public) for further discussion. The views we represent may not be what we actually believe, but in a later post we'll come clean and let you know how we really feel; for now, we just want to represent and hear from both sides. Stay tuned for the first "A versus B-sides" when we take on Country music!

10 More Great 6 Minute+ Songs

Honestly, I am not familiar with a lot of Kyle's 6 minute songs, so I guess I'll have to go check those out. Here's a list of some of my own favorite long songs:

1. The Sun and the Moon - Mae - 7:19
2. The Crane Wife 1 & 2 - The Decemberists - 11:20
3. Only in Dreams - Weezer - 7:59
4. Top of the World - Dixie Chicks - 6:25
5. Agaetis Byrjun - Sigur Ros - 7:56
6. Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch - 6:18
7. The Trapeze Swinger - Iron & Wine - 9:34
8. Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickeral Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?) - Sufjan Stevens - 9:26
9. The Dreaming Tree - Dave Matthews Band - 8:50
10. While You Were Sleeping - Elvis Perkins - 6:24

For those who have never heard Elvis Perkins, here is a link to the video for "While You Were Sleeping" on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjN8kyK14wk. The video only includes the first half of the song, but it at least gives you an idea of its beauty. If you like it, go buy it on iTunes!