The Friday Five

Hey y'all...time for the regular pre-weekend shuffle of the music pod.  Let's see what little nuggets (or dung piles) turn up today...

Mean Monsoon - Dan Auerbach, Keep It Hid

This is the first solo album from Dan, who is better known and lead singer and guitarist for the Black Keys.  I actually like this album better than either of the Black Keys albums I have...it's really terrific.  My tastes generally fall to the blues based stuff and, for me, this album is a great example of what I would kind of call modern rock blues.  Being a half-assed guitar plugger myself, I like the simple, straight ahead style of this album.  Dan's garnering a reputation these days and is writing and producing with a lot of other artists.  Still being fairly new to the scene, I'm looking forward to seeing where this guy goes.

Save Me - Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, Live at Radio City Music Hall

As blogged in another entry on here, Tim Reynolds is a friend and sometimes collaborator with Dave.  They've released a couple of live albums that are showcases of the two of them playing alone together; two men with their guitars.  I'm telling you right now, Tim is frickin' great.  Especially if you like the jams that improvisation tends to produce.  This is album is no exception.  Excellent intertwining melodies and riffs galore!  Save Me is a cut from Dave's solo album, Some Devil.  The jam culminates for the last minute with Dave's reverberating three-beat "Ungh, ungh, ungh!", which is surrounding on the outside by some classic scat (or Davespeak) which always, always gears me right up, every time I hear it.

Trouble In The Country - Corb Lund, Hair In My Eyes Like a Highland Steer

What can you say about Edmonton's (all right, Alberta's) prodigal son?  This is a classic example of Corby's country songwriting style.  Storytelling with a sometimes outlaw, always down-home feel is something that just does not come along often enough in music, at least of this calibre.  Corb Lund & The Hurtin' Albertans have been rising fast in recent years and deservedly so.  This is throwback stuff to how country music used to be.  In my opinion, how it should be.  I've always said I hated country music, growing up with Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, et al.  But this, I hardly even classify it as country.  I heard once that country was the original punk music...thanks, Corb for bringing us back to that.

Hussel - M.I.A. (feat. Afrikan Boy), Kala
Here's another rising star in the mainstream.  She's got some really creative beats and sounds, often getting away from typical time signatures, which has gotta be different for someone making music usually heard on a dance floor.  I first heard of her years ago when I attended a Gwen Stefani concert.  M.I.A. opened and I liked her immediately.  She was fresh, different, energetic...and somehow, I dunno...believable?  Do you know what I mean?  She was performing for the music somehow, moreso than for the crowd.  I haven't picked up her latest album yet, but it's on the list.

I'm Only Sleeping - The Beatles, Revolver

Okay, there's a bit of confession in here that's sure to offend music fans.  The first time I ever heard this song was as a cover by The Vines, done for the soundtrack of I Am Sam.  Sinful!  But, please..let me plead my case!  I have always been a pretty big Beatles fan.  Really, my mom got me into it as child and I never faltered from that.  But, see...I had this thing.  I didn't particularly care for the earlier half of their career.  You know, the "Love, Love Me Do" shit?  So, I tended to lump anything pre-Sgt. Pepper into that class.  Revolver is often considered one of the best albums ever made, but I kept resisting, thinking it was just more of the pop-era bubblegum stuff.  And a little of it is...but it was moreso the transition record, I think.  This song is a great example of that.  Thanks, mom....