Janelle Monáe: A Concept Worth Sharing

Originally, I didn't even piece together that each one of Janelle Monáe's albums was a concept album, let alone her entire discography is a concept.  So when I found this out a few months ago with the release of her new album Electric Lady.  Her albums follow an android woman Cindi Mayweather (Android 57821), who is sent back in time to free the android citizens of Metropolis from the Great Divide, a secret organization that suppresses freedom and emotion.  In the first EP Metropolis, Cyndi falls in love with a human named Anthony Greendown and is disassembled for it. 

Celtic Corner: Fiona Hunter

Album cover; photography by Thomas Gavin

Breaking away from Malinky for a her first solo album, Fiona Hunter has given us an album that will stand the test of time.  Considering it's traditional folk, I think it would anyway, but it excels even at that.  Never has a solo debut sounded so brilliant.  With the help of the musical genius producer Mike Vass, Fiona Hunter’s self-titled release for March 2014 released a much needed anti-oxidant diet in the musical world.  Its dark innocence perfectly captures the Scottish tradition with a strong, crisp voice that soars over the Highlands and through the public houses.  Vass’ creative production complements Hunter’s vocals flawlessly.

S.E.'s Best of 2013 Songs

It's that time again for the best of 2013!  This is my Best of 2013 CD mix.  Isn't it pretty?  This was a great year for Americana, pop, and rock.  Next year, I fully expect traditional folk to eat everyone else alive with releases from Seth Lakeman, Emily Smith, Julie Fowlis, Malinky, Fiona Hunter, and so many more.

Read one for why I chose what I did!  Of course I always open and close with upbeat songs, like Patsy Cline always said.

It's Hip to Be Square, but Rectangle?

Whether they like it or not hipsters have started and championed many trends in the last few years. Skinny jeans are available and acceptable in every color and pattern. Organic foods are easy to find at your local grocery store or farmer's market. Large, black-frame glasses can be seen on everyone from Justin Timberlake to Katie Couric. Vinyl has been brought back from the dead.

Funny isn't it, how a subculture whose M.O. is to go against the mainstream can actually have the power to dictate it? Something tells me, though, the latest trend in the hipster world won't reach the masses.

Indie duo She and Him released its third volume today. I adore She and Him and its female leader Zooey Deschanel but am only about 40% hipster. I'd assume many of the duo's fans are a full 100% so I'm guessing to cater to its fan base, Volume 3 is being released on a turquoise cassette as well as digitally, on CD, and on LP.

From what I understand, Zooey and M. Ward of She and Him aren't the first or only musicians attempting to resurrect the cassette. But, will it take off the same way vinyl did? Will it be worth my while to dig up my now vintage Walkman for the next yard sale?

I understand the romance and the appeal of vinyl. The presentation makes the album a full experience allowing the cover art to, if you're me, double as wall decor. There's a certain feeling you get when you place a record on the player. It feels almost like you're going back in time.

Are cassette tapes capable of accomplishing the same thing? Maybe I'm alone in this, but I just don't see the appeal. Aside from the days when a mixtape was truly a mixTAPE, I don't have many fond memories of cassettes. The cases would easily break, there was always a risk of the tape getting stuck - it's just not the same. 

How about you? Will you be embracing the cassette or is this a trend hipsters can call their own forever?

Best Songs of 2012

As mentioned in my best albums of 2012 post, it's been a wonderful year for music, and I found it so difficult to narrow down the best of 2012 songs.  I tried to not make it all Karine Polwart, so I hope you enjoy its fairness.  This is the mix that accurately represents what I feel are the best songs of 2012.  Listen to all the songs after the jump!

Best Albums of 2012

2012 was a wonderful year for music in all genres!  While last year belonged to rock and pop with the likes of Adele and Florence + the Machine, this year for me belongs to country and folk.  This year saw the return of Sinead O'Connor and The Cranberries at full force, great follow-up albums, and significant debuts.

10. December Well (Mike Vass)

I've already gone in depth this album.  The only thing that kept it from being higher up is that it may be too seasonal.  But, hey, it beat out the rest of the competition!  Check out my previous post on it.

Follow Mike Vass over at his website, twitter, youtube, and facebook.

Buy his album at his website, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or iTunes.

Luke Winslow-King's The Coming Tide

Luke Winslow-King has been gently rocking the New Orleans music scene with his elegant mix of blues, folk, ragtime, and old-timey.  His latest album The Coming Tide, featuring Esther Rose, has made waves across the country, enough to be signed to Chicago-based label Bloodshot Records, joining the likes of The Riptones, Bobby Bare, Jr., Bryan Adams, Neko Case, Ha Ha Tonka, Kelly Hogan, and other incredible acts.  Under the new label, he'll be re-releasing The Coming Tide with bonus tracks in March of next year.

I Want To Be the Girl On Fire

"I want to be Alicia Keys!" Katie Couric declared on her show last week. Keys was a guest and had just performed a song from her new album, Girl on Fire (released today: 11/27). At this point you can probably guess that this post isn't about my desire to be Katniss Everdeen (not this time at least).

Admittedly, I've never considered myself a big Alicia Keys fan. True, I love many of her singles and find her vocal and musical talent incredible. Still, it wasn't until learning more about her last week that I began to think we should all be more like Alicia Keys.

I realize not all of us can sing like she can or play piano like she can or even write songs like she can. We can't all produce our own music either, or were the valedictorian of our high school class, but I'm not talking about all that. Last week I learned more about her philanthropic efforts and found myself inspired, impressed and a little surprised that I didn't already know all she does. But, maybe that's intentional: Keys not telling her right hand what the left is doing. Gotta love that.

Celtic Corner: Mike Vass' December Well

As reported last year, Mike Vass was working on a project called December Well, in which he wrote and recorded tunes inspired by the Scottish December. The result is an album of wintry wonder that is available on December 10.

Shakespeare's Sonnets in Song

In an exciting effort to bring the past to the present, Shakespeare: The Sonnets sounds out Billy's finest 14-liners as contemporary music played with traditional Elizabethan instruments.  You know those classic songs that are written so simply that they can be interpreted in many ways by different artists?  That's what's happening with Shakespeare's work on this album. 

How to not get Murdered, as Taught by Traditional Folk Tunes

Sure, traditional folk murder ballads may seem dark and depressing, but they're no different from the effect of fairy tales, in which the protagonist does something foolish and learns a lesson, mostly ending in some sort of magical entrapment or death.  Even in folk murder ballads, there's magic!  It makes sense that the folk ballads and fairy tales have similar elements, given their European descent.  Folk tunes are simply trying to teach us how to properly avoid murder.

1) Don't tell your future in-laws you have money without them knowing he's rich.

This never works out.  The parents are poor, and they want money, but they didn't know they'd get it anyway.  Sorry, you must die at the hands of your would-be-in-laws while your fiancee is sleeping and having a prophetic dream about your death.  She seeks vengeance by law and has her parents executed.  She probably got all the money, though, so good for her!

Celtic Corner: Karine Polwart Traces Humanity’s Heart

Scottish singer-songwriter Karine Polwart has crafted a truly beautiful work of art for her latest solo release Traces.  It’s a venture of a unique voice that only Polwart can master.  She simultaneously tells a story, provides true human insight, and produces a theatrical sound both grandiose and personal.

Elizabeth Cook Soars

A regular guest on David Letterman's late night show, Elizabeth Cook entertains.  She knows there's humor in her honesty and in her background.  But many mistake her lighthearted sense of self and southern accent together as her being an dumb blonde airhead.  And as she wrote in her song, "Dolly, did you go through this?"

The Scottish Music Revolution

For so long, no country was prouder than Ireland of its musical heritage, but Scotland has been catching up with a rising folk/traditional scene, reviving and keeping the old tunes.  But now those within rock and pop have taken to a new sound: their natural Scottish lilt.

The Imagineers

For decades, pop and rock musicians (or their managers rather) all over the world strove for the most marketable music possible, and that meant catering to the largest pop/rock music scene in the world: the United States.  Everywhere singers adopted the American accent when singing, or at least muted their own accent to the point of unrecognizable accents.  But with burgeoninig bands, such as Glasvegas and Frightened Rabbit, the Scottish accent is returning to the airwaves, home stereos, and mp3 players all around the world. (The Guardian also wrote of this.)

Looking Forward 2012: Music

And now for your music update.  We've already had quite a few released in January, February, and March.  Many brilliant albums, mind you!  On top of the new Those Darlins album Screws Get Loose, here are a few notable ones coming soon.


Very soon

Mike Vass
December Well

Notes: There will be a limited release, so pre-order or get as fast as possible!

April 23
Jack White
Blunderbuss
Notes: This includes the duet with Ruby Amanfu (seen on The Sing-Off).

Review--The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond

The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond did what I had hoped and made a post-apocalyptic folk sound, a natural and primal folk music that arises out of a troubled and destroyed nation in the future.  I'd trust no one but T Bone Burnett to do so.  While the songs may not be in the movie itself, it is a nice accompaniment to set the tone for what life is like in Katniss's hometown with themes relative to her life and to the uprising.

Themed Music: Drink! Drink! Drink!

In honor of the upcoming holiday that celebrates Irish heritage (but really celebrates and excuses insane drunkeness), I thought it fitting to provide the next music theme "Drink! Drink! Drink!" -- a theme comprised of songs about drinking.  (Songs for a drinking atmosphere will later ensue.)  This list will be heavy on Irish songs, as well as sea shanties, but it will inevitably encompass much more. 

"Drink!", They Might Be Giants

Everybody's favorite band that they're afraid to admit is their favorite band, except for hipsters who say it in a completely ironic way and nerds who completely own up to it with pride, is They Might Be Giants.  Their song "Drink!" might not make sense, but upon further analysis, it is just vague enough to provide multiple interpretations, but it seems to be about someone living loud on the weekends, becoming more than a wallpaper and drawing attention to themselves.  All week you're ignored in your monkey suit, but when the weekend comes, you are a monkey. "Let's drink, drink this town is so great/Drink, drink cuz it's never too late!"

Site of the Week 3/11/12-3/17/12: Bear McCreary's Blog

If you're the BEST kind of nerd, you LOVE Battlestar Galactica (BSG).  That's right, I'm going to say it.  And if you're the best kind of nerd, you LOVE the score to BSG from the genius mind of Bear McCreary.

Themed Music: Most Powerful Female Voices

Whitney Houston had an amazing voice, powerful and piercing.  She could rock out or sing the most emotional ballad.  She demonstrated her true artistic talent through her range, her inflection, and her personality.  Houston brought a whole new meaning and a whole new audience to Dolly's "I Will Always Love You" and, through that, she came to be known as one of the best vocalists in the industry worldwide.  Though I may not have been a fan of her music, I respected her voice.  As Maura O'Connell notes, the voice is an instrument with the ability to be used in many ways, something many don't think.  Oddly, men lack the powerful vocals in pop music that women own, many using their instruments to new and limitless levels.  Call me a sucker for women with powerhouse vocals, but I thought it fitting to highlight some of the most talented powerhouse vocals in the industry today, those that artfully master the craft.

Review: Roses by The Cranberries

Roses marks the return of one of best bands to grace the rock scene, The Cranberries.  Their poignant sound, haunting and realistically harsh lyrics, and ethereal, provocative, unique vocals again see light in Roses.