Recommending Random Sampler Singles

For those three of you who are always asking me for new singles to check out…HERE YA GO.
Paste 39:

  • “Love During Wartime” The Main Drag
  • “Sweet to Mend” Heirloom Projector
  • “Ships” Tyler Ramsey”
  • “Fine Line” Little Big Town
  • “The Story of Benjamin Darling Part 1” State Radio
  • “Coat Check Dream Song” (Live version) Bright Eyes

Paste 40:
  • “California Girls” The Magnetic Fields (another song of theirs is also a favorite this summer)
  • “Gravedigger” Willie Nelson
  • “Shout” De Novo Dahl
  • “Angel” Joe Rathbone
  • “Hot Romance” Parlour Steps
  • “Sing Along” Virginia Coalition (I’ve been loving this song for awhile now)
  • “Ghosts of Goodbye” Ford Turrell
  • “Goodnight” Zox

Paste 41:
  • “The Silence Between Us” Bob Mould
  • “Strawberry Street” Lili Hadyn
  • “Bye Bye Bye” Plants and Animals
  • “Punches” by Collin Herring
  • “Meet Me by the River” Matthew Ryan vs. the Silver State
  • “I Got a Thing for You” Jim Bianco
  • “Changing Your Mind” Bob Schneider
  • “Goodnight Girl” The Nadas
  • “Old Song” AM

Paste 42:
  • “Sing Again” Chris Walla
  • “Buildings & Mountains” The Republic Tigers
  • “Nobody Knows” Keaton Simons
  • “Antarctica” The Weepies
  • “Rebel Side of Heaven” Langhorne Slim
  • “Shooting Star and the Ambulance” Pete Francis
  • “This Girl” Jordan Zevon
  • “I Keep Faith” Billy Bragg
  • “Better Things” South
  • “She Held My Hand” Steven Delopoulos

Paste 43:
  • “Graveyard Girl” M83
  • “Be With Me” Foy Vance
  • “My Only Offer” Mates of State
  • “Get on With It” Val Emmich
  • “Mystery” Ashleigh Flynn
  • “Late Last Night” Robby Hecht
  • “Standing Bird” Love Psychedelico
  • “Jessi Jane” The Whipsaws

And if you need reference points*, we’ve got:
“Right Hand on My Heart” The Whigs …sounds like… Springsteen! “Ghosts of Goodbye” Ford Turrell …sounds like… Ryan Adams! “Bye Bye Bye” Plants and Animals …sounds like… Arcade Fire! Or Ravens & Chimes! “I Got a Thing for You” Jim Bianco …sounds like… Joe Cocker! Or Tom Waits! “Old Song” AM …sounds like… Josh Rouse! “Nobody Knows” Keaton Simons …sounds SASSY like… Jason Mraz! “Open Fire” Sara Mac Band …sounds like… The Dixie Chicks! “Standing Bird” Love Psychedelico …sounds A BIT like… The Dixie Chicks as well! “Jessie Jane” The Whipsaws …sounds like… Lynyrd Skynrd!
* Note that …sounds like… is a very loose term that may mean actually SOUNDS LIKE or may mean rather mean “reminds me (and no one else) of”.

Spooky!

Did you hear The Cinematic Orchestra singing “To Build a Home” on one of your TV shows last week? (I can’t remember which one. FNL I think. or DS$.)
I did…but I thought it was Antony & the Johnsons because holy crap does it SOUND exactly LIKE him.

Old Favorites Revisited…Lonely Boy Fall 05

Sometimes I get in a bad habit of only listening to the new tunes fighting for space on the iPod and conveniently forget that there are loads of playlists full of old stuff that I love and if I’m not going to listen to it then maybe it wouldn’t need to be there taking up its own space… So this morning I started going through old mixes. When I listen to this now, it seems a bit more straight-out rock than I remember… I haven’t listened to some of these songs probably since shortly after I first made this mix… Glad to find I still dig it.

Lonely Boy Fall 05

  • “Homesick” Kings of Convenience
  • “You’re So True” Joseph Arthur
  • “Sending a Note” Graham Colton Band
  • “The Drifter” David Poe
  • “Cold Day in the Sun” Foo Fighters
  • “Strangerman” Ringside (lots of love for this song)
  • “How to Dream” Sam Phillips
  • “Eve, the Apple of My Eye” Bell X1 (…SOUNDS LIKE…Annie Lennox!)
  • “All for You” Sister Hazel
  • “Faded Beauty Queens” The Thrills
  • “Home to Me” Josh Kelley
  • “Across 110th Street” Bobby Womack & Peace (long-time fave)
  • “New York, New York” Ryan Adams
  • “Be Be Your Love” Rachael Yamagata
  • “New York” Richard Ashcroft
  • “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” Everlast (cover)
  • “Real Love / It’s Only Life” Mike Doughty (cover)
  • “Life on a Chain” Pete Yorn
  • “Let It Be” Beatles (can’t go wrong…)

Try it. You might like it.

The Magic Numbers …SOUND LIKE… The Muppets ??

OK, call me crazy, but I SWEAR there is a sample of “The Rainbow Connection” in the middle of “Boy” from The Magic Numbers‘ new album “Those the Brokes“.

Why else would I find myself humming “the lovers, the dreamers, and me” ? Seriously, give it a listen, I SWEAR it’s there.

As to the rest of the album: Thumbs up! It’s still the bouncy relentless POP of their earlier album (you really can’t call this anything other than “pop”!), but there’s some touches that are a little blue-sier, a little funk-ier, a little more sass-a-fras. They make such pretty harmonies, there just aren’t that many people out there that can do it better than this.

It’s not Snow Patrol. But can you tell the difference?

The song “Life is Beautiful” by Vega4 is lovely and heart-pounding and anthemic and a real pleasure to listen to BUT it …SOUNDS so much LIKE… Snow Patrol. And by “so much” I mean seriously, is this Snow Patrol just putting out a song under another name for kicks and giggles? Because if I were to find out that was the case, I would TOTALLY believe it!!!