August and Everything After by Counting Crows

I think that Adam Duritz is a supremely talented lyricist. The Dude loves Elvis Costello with an unseemly passion. He says that Costello is a ridiculously talented lyricist. I feel the same way about Duritz. He can turn a phrase like nobody's business. And even though he writes about the same themes over and over and over again, he always finds a new way to present them so that you don't feel like you've heard it all before.

August and Everything After, released in 1993, was Counting Crows major label debut. It has a more "alt country" feel than any of their other albums, I always think, with songs like "Rain King" featuring a more jangly guitar sound.

Though it's not my favorite album in their catalog, it does have a lot of solid songs, showing both the band's technical proficiency and Duritz's song writing capabilities. And with songs that hold up over 15 years, it hasn't come and gone like many other bands' first albums.

New music a-go-go!

Two very promising developments on the New Music Front...

The Counting Crows released a single, "You can't count on me," in advance of a new album called Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings. It is lovely, jangly rock with emotionally bare lyrics--which is to say Counting Crows at their very best. The band hasn't strayed very far from their "signature sound" over the years, but that is, in my humblest of opinions, a good thing.

R.E.M.'s single "Supernatural Superserious" (try saying that ten times fast, right?) can also be heard, in advance of their album Accelerate which, like The Dude's book, has a release date of April 1, 2008. The single seems closer to early R.E.M. (read: Document or Life's Rich Pageant) than their last release, Around the Sun. This should please die-hard fans. I love what R.E.M. has done in the past few years as they try to find their post-Bill Berry sound, but I'm also glad that they seem to be going back to the formula that works best for them--guitar driven, politically minded rock 'n' roll.

Love is mix tape by Rob Sheffield

I've seen Rob Sheffield on many of those VH1 shows where they count down the top 100 or 50 of some genre of song. My favorite of those, of course, is the Top Soft Rock songs. But I digress...

Sheffield wrote and amazing book called Love is a mix tape: life and loss, one song at a time. It's this book about about falling in love and learning to lose love the most graceful way one can. It's about music and how music colors memories. It's about mix tapes and the 90s. Mostly, it's achingly perfect in tone and in execution.

It reminded me of Nick Hornby's High Fidelty for all of the right reasons. I fell in love with Renee and Rob and their relationship in much the same way that I fell in love with Hornby's Rob. And when I finished reading Sheffield's book, I handed it to my husband. I can only hope he enjoys it as much as I did.

Year in review! the music edition...

Hooray!

Apparently my previous post about Coverville was my 100th post. If I were a grocery store and that entry was a customer, it'd win a free ham or something.

Anyway...

The Dude and I collaborated on our respective top picks in music lists.

Because I am lazy, and because I wanted to give The Dude some linky love, go visit his blog and read the list.

Go ahead...I'll wait. But remember to come back when you're done!

What are you still doing here? Go!

Okay, so you've read it. You should know that the headline comes from my favorite Futurama episode ever.

What did you think? Did you think we were spot on?

What was your favorite album of 2007?

Leave me a comment and expose me to some new (and awesome) music, y'all!

Coverville

Coverville is an awesome podcast, especially if you love cover songs. And I really, really love cover songs.

As near as I can tell from the information on the Coverville website, the show is hosted, recorded, and produced by a single person out of his home in Colorado. I was floored when I read that, because I was sure that this was a big-budget show produced by a public radio station.

Each episode has a theme. Sometimes it's topical--like Halloween. Sometimes it's by artist--like the show that features covers of songs by Sting.

Mostly, though, it's made of awesome.

Go check it out. And since it's independently run, maybe toss a couple of dollars their way.

Erin McKeown...again.

I learned about Erin McKeown last year with the release of her album Sing you sinners. I didn't buy that album but, instead, bought her earlier album We will become like birds.

Her voice is sweet with a hint of smokey and sultry. Her style is rock meets rockabilly meets folk and she's as at home singing standards as she is singing her own music.

I am hooked on her newest album, a live album called Lafayette.

My favorite track? "Thanks for the Boogie Ride" from Sing you sinners.

It's worth taking a moment to listen to her stuff.

Happy New Year!

*cue the noisemakers*

Wait...what? New Year's Day was a week ago?

I figure that I should post some New Year's resolutions for this blog, since I feel like I've gotten off track.

1. Review every book I read, movie I watch, or album I listen to.
2. Add more links to websites I enjoy and bloggers who rock my world.

Wow...that was lame.

Anyway, I have two books under my belt already, so I'll get reviews up either today or tomorrow.

And I still owe y'all a "best of" list musically speaking. The Dude and I talked about doing a "he said"/"she said" list. We'll see...