Red Hot Chili Peppers, G-Love

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  Red Hot Chili Peppers - Hump De Bump off their 2006 album Stadium Arcadium: Jupiter

I've been a huge Chili Peppers fan for a long time, and I respect their mid '90s albums, but I think their last album is their best. There is not a bad song on the entire two disc album. This one is one of my favorites though. It's got old school Chilis funk to it but with new school style. Get this album if you don't have it.

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        G-Love - Milk and Sugar, off of his 2011 album Fixin' To Die

I'm short on time so I'm rehashing G-Love's new album. It is worth the second look anyway. This song is another great mix of classic G meets the new folksy. The title is even similar to one of his old songs (Milk and Cereal.) He again has the harmonica in there, and his signature snarly voice. For some reason I always picture him singing with a look on his face like he just smelled something terrible, if that makes sense. It's an overdone accent and voice, but it's totally G-Love. You can kind of see what I mean in this video.

Avett Brothers, G-Love

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       Avett Brothers -  The Weight of Lies off their 2007 album Emotionalism.

This is my favorite Avett Brothers song, and it's not even close. There are a bunch of other songs that I really enjoy, but this one has everything; beautiful guitars, great harmonizing, and thoughtful lyrics. It's a song that people can interpret to fit their own situations, regardless of the specific message that the Avett Brothers originally intended; which I wager is exactly what they intended. 

To me it's a song about being true to yourself and to the people in your life that matter to you. It's also saying that personal problems, faults, and limitations won't change just because of where you move, the friends you keep, or the job you are doing. So own up to them and find a way to change yourself for the better. It's tough advice to follow, one of those easier said than done things, but this song is trying to get you to realize that "difficult" doesn't mean "shouldn't be done."

"The weight of lies will bring you down, and follow you to every town, cause nothing happens here that doesn't happen there. So when you run make sure you run to something and not away from, cause lies don't need an airplane to chase you anywhere." 

It's not helpful to hide from things or omit your faults, because they will always catch up to you in the end. To me this is a personal chorus that makes me realize that I sometimes avoid things that need to be addressed. I disregard the fact that  these omissions hurt people close to me because I am afraid of the possible outcomes. Afterwards I almost always realize that the outcome would have been much better had I faced the situation originally rather than letting it get to the point I did. 


Most people probably have a situation in their life that has followed this general formula and this song is intended to remind you that if you are yourself, the people who care for you will appreciate you no matter what, so there is no reason to hide anything.

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          G-Love - The Road, off of his 2011 album Fixin' to Die 

I just picked up this album and I love it. It was produced by Scott and Seth Avett and, as I probably made clear above, I’m a big Avett Bros fan so I was glad to see G-Love working with them. The album is certainly more folksy/country than the usual funky G-love album. But I think it’s a pretty natural fit with his style, especially considering how often he's used harmonica and folk guitar chord progressions in the past. His distinctive vocal style is still very present, but now it's supported with the bonus of banjo and harmonizing from the Avetts. The Road is a song that would fit on several of his previous albums in a slightly different form. On this album it's a track that seems to talk about his life as a touring musician, making it well suited to the winding folk guitar that gives the song its backbone. I think it's pretty representative of the entire album, which is about a good of a mix of G-Love's Philly and the Avett's North Carolina as you can get. 

The Road - G Love - G Love Videos