Old
Ben Kweller - The Rules off his 2004 album On My Way.
I'm going to see Ben Kweller tonight so I thought it appropriate to mention one of my favorites from him. He's a versatile musician; on his self titled 2006 album he plays every instrument and his latest release in 2009 was a countrified departure from his usual energetic rock/pop style to his Texas roots.
I really like The Rules because the pace changes build up and release that energy at the right times and the guitar riff is short and sweet. I'm interested to see how he jumps between Ben Kweller the shredding guitarist to Ben Kweller the piano man at his live shows. Should be fun.
New
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues, off of their upcoming album Helplessness Blues (comes out on May 3.)
Their self titled 2008 release was sprinkled with songs that I really loved even while I kind of got lost listening to it because the style doesn't change that much from one to the other. That's not always a bad thing. I can get a lot of work done because I end up just letting the melodies play in the background of my head, rather than focus on the lyrics like usual.
They released this new song on their website and I don't see it as much of a change stylistically from their last album. I've listened to it several times now and I can't really pick out anything different from 2008. I'm not complaining though because I like their old stuff so much that I've been checking their website regularly for over a year trying to figure out when they would have a new album or when they'd be touring. Who knows how the rest of the album will be, but until May 3rd, even if it's not in my headphones, I'll be listening to Helplessness Blues, cuz I can't get it out of my head.
Their self titled 2008 release was sprinkled with songs that I really loved even while I kind of got lost listening to it because the style doesn't change that much from one to the other. That's not always a bad thing. I can get a lot of work done because I end up just letting the melodies play in the background of my head, rather than focus on the lyrics like usual.
They released this new song on their website and I don't see it as much of a change stylistically from their last album. I've listened to it several times now and I can't really pick out anything different from 2008. I'm not complaining though because I like their old stuff so much that I've been checking their website regularly for over a year trying to figure out when they would have a new album or when they'd be touring. Who knows how the rest of the album will be, but until May 3rd, even if it's not in my headphones, I'll be listening to Helplessness Blues, cuz I can't get it out of my head.
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