Alright, well I just gave you one side of music. The fun, light, party atmosphere that music can create. A mix of everything, fancy-free and upbeat. I love it, because it can really help take your mind off things and just put you in the right mood, whether or not there is any actual substance to it. Just some words and a catchy backbeat. Because all music certainly doesn't have to have a meaning or purpose. But when it does, man, it can hit you, and it can hit you hard. Music is expression, and when a talented artist comes around, strips down to bare bones, and leaves their emotions in plain view for all to see, its one of the most intriguing forms of expression out there. You just seem to connect with that person, and have no clue why or how. But if an artist is so passionate and open with their craft, the connection can happen all too easily. To the point where you could listen to that artist a thousand times an very get tired of them. Matt Anderson of New Brunswick, Canada is one of those artists for me.
As a fellow guitar player, I am just absolutely amazed by this guy. For the longest time I have heard the word virtuoso, but never really knew how to apply it. I mean I guess for guys like Jimi Hendrix and Neil Pert, I've always admired their ungodly talents as musicians. But I always tend to question how much the technology and equipment their instruments helped them along to sounding that way. But Anderson, on the other hand, is stripped down to the bare bone. His voice and his acoustic guitar, and I swear I wouldn't want anything else from him. From the moment he starts playing, it's captivating. It's not even like he's playing the music. It's like by some divine miracle, the music just passes through him like he is the messenger of a greater power. Do you think I like this guy? If you answered yes, you are definitely on the right track. To me Anderson is the essence of soul. The way he performs, thoroughly enjoying himself and feeding off the energy of the crowd, just helps everyone to connect with him on a very personal level. It's just seems that if he were to perform in a bar lounge for the rest of his life, that he would be the happiest guy alive, so long as he got to share his music.
I emailed him and had a little back and forth conversation with him. He's a very friendly guy and truly has a love for music. Just a very genuine and down to earth guy. I've been looking to go to one of his shows for forever, but sadly the closest he's come to around me so far was VT, and I was busy that weekend. So I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for the next available concert. He is just one of those guys I know I just need to have a beer with before I die. I need to learn his secrets! Either way, below are two videos, one of him playing one of my all time favorite songs "Wagon Wheel" and another of him playing "Ain't No Sunshine". They are definitely two different sides of the spectrum and show off how well this guy covers rustic music, from folk to blues. With the immense amount of soul and life that Anderson pours into each one of his songs, I will forever continue to be a fan, and I hope you become one as well. But I'd love to know what you think! So on that note, park yourself on that barstool, order a couple rounds, and enjoy a healthy shot of Canadian soul courtesy of Matt Anderson.
And now for something completely different.
For those of you who know me well, I am a huge mashup fan. And for those who dont, I tried to begin clueing you in a few posts below when I introduced DJ Earworm. They are by far one of my favorite things to listen to, most likely because of my very broad tastes in music. I like nearly everything. And if you find the right mashup artist, they give you everything! A little hip hop, a little rock, a little folk, a little swing. A little bit of just about anything, if you find the right song. And more than anything else, mashups are the perfect medication for anyone with "Musical ADD", or MADD as it will now be referred to as. I prescribe them to anyone who complains that they cannot sit through an entire album without flipping, skipping, or fast forwarding through it. And after completing a quick listening treatment, their lives are forever changed. In today's society we sometimes need music that keeps up with us. Don't get me wrong, if all music were to turn to this, I'd be running for the hills. But this one unique genre is great for curing those impatient tendencies to continuously change songs. It does the work for you! There you go world, one step closer to becoming a completely automated society.
Impending doom of laziness aside, this posts artist is the mix mastermind himself, White Noise. Now, I had found him during the summer of my freshman year when I was Googling mashups on the inter-tube, and pretty much just stumbled across him. It actually brought me to his MySpace Music page, which I was pretty much gonna just skip over because let's me honest, not very much good music is featured on MySpace Music. It just seems to have that vibe that screams, "Hey, this probably sucks but I'm going to post it anyways, so get over it! Korn rulez! Bam Margera fo' lyfe!" But maybe that's just me. Either way, once I took a listen, I was definitely blown away. He has some great talent, and is definitely comparable with the greats such as Girl Talk and Milkman. He first started with two song mashups, but has now moved onto seamless albums that contain hundreds of different songs each. All the songs match up very well, and the number of genres that are represented in his work is very impressive. From todays hits, to 80's synth pop, to 70's soul, to 90's grunge. It's all there. I highly recommend downloading every one of his albums, as each one is great and has it's own vibe and theme. Spoiler Alert, one of his newest albums, mixes dialogue from popular movie plot twists into the music, and his most recent album Disregard Females, Acquire Currency takes song titles and puts a little Olde English twist on them. In the end, it was hard to pick two videos to post, because he has so many good songs, but I figured these two show off his talent and versatility well. So to all those self-diagnosed with a case of MADD, pop this pill, down a glass of water, and let the active ingredients of mashup mastery work their magic.
Ramble on,
AllTheFancyWicker
For those of you who know me well, I am a huge mashup fan. And for those who dont, I tried to begin clueing you in a few posts below when I introduced DJ Earworm. They are by far one of my favorite things to listen to, most likely because of my very broad tastes in music. I like nearly everything. And if you find the right mashup artist, they give you everything! A little hip hop, a little rock, a little folk, a little swing. A little bit of just about anything, if you find the right song. And more than anything else, mashups are the perfect medication for anyone with "Musical ADD", or MADD as it will now be referred to as. I prescribe them to anyone who complains that they cannot sit through an entire album without flipping, skipping, or fast forwarding through it. And after completing a quick listening treatment, their lives are forever changed. In today's society we sometimes need music that keeps up with us. Don't get me wrong, if all music were to turn to this, I'd be running for the hills. But this one unique genre is great for curing those impatient tendencies to continuously change songs. It does the work for you! There you go world, one step closer to becoming a completely automated society.
Impending doom of laziness aside, this posts artist is the mix mastermind himself, White Noise. Now, I had found him during the summer of my freshman year when I was Googling mashups on the inter-tube, and pretty much just stumbled across him. It actually brought me to his MySpace Music page, which I was pretty much gonna just skip over because let's me honest, not very much good music is featured on MySpace Music. It just seems to have that vibe that screams, "Hey, this probably sucks but I'm going to post it anyways, so get over it! Korn rulez! Bam Margera fo' lyfe!" But maybe that's just me. Either way, once I took a listen, I was definitely blown away. He has some great talent, and is definitely comparable with the greats such as Girl Talk and Milkman. He first started with two song mashups, but has now moved onto seamless albums that contain hundreds of different songs each. All the songs match up very well, and the number of genres that are represented in his work is very impressive. From todays hits, to 80's synth pop, to 70's soul, to 90's grunge. It's all there. I highly recommend downloading every one of his albums, as each one is great and has it's own vibe and theme. Spoiler Alert, one of his newest albums, mixes dialogue from popular movie plot twists into the music, and his most recent album Disregard Females, Acquire Currency takes song titles and puts a little Olde English twist on them. In the end, it was hard to pick two videos to post, because he has so many good songs, but I figured these two show off his talent and versatility well. So to all those self-diagnosed with a case of MADD, pop this pill, down a glass of water, and let the active ingredients of mashup mastery work their magic.
Ramble on,
AllTheFancyWicker
Well good evening fellow music explorers! I hope you're jonsin' for some new updates, because now that I have my beautiful, not-on-life-support, new computer, I'm hoping to keep the posts a'flowin' and introduce you to the latest music that I've came across! Once again, I apologize for the wait time between posts, but you know I can't leave you guys! So momma bird is back and looking to spoon feed her babies some of the finest new music discoveries this side of the Mississip! Which is the East coast. I cant promise it's quality anywhere over there in the West! Also, I'll be adding an RSS feed icon soon so you can keep up to speed with all the updates as well, which will hopefully make it easier for some of you who may use it. For anyone who doesn't know what an RSS feed is, it's alright, just go back to listening to Abbott and Costello on your tube radio. They just don't make em like they used to...do they? Either way, let's kick this off right! It's August and I'm still looking to power through and gather as many new artists and genres as possible before I have to also do that whole "senior year" thing. I hear I have to graduate after that. Yeah, right. Not if I can help it. I'm sure I can squeeze at least another year and a half out of it if I start failing some classes, stat. But that's a topic for another day. Instead I'd like to discuss something of much greater importance, British folk rock!
To preface this post, I want to briefly discuss my heritage. I am Irish. Very Irish actually. Not ghostly pale, flaming red-haired drunk Irish, but very Irish all the same. Maybe drunk Irish, for good measure. However, over the years I have really come to appreciate some of the traditional music that Ireland has to offer (God knows I can't come to appreciate their cuisine, Irish soda bread? Really Ireland? Goddamn!) It just gives me a real back-to-our-roots feel that seems to help connect me a bit more to the historical Irish culture and its people. Now I'm not looking to switch to steady diet of potatoes and take up step dance any time soon, but I could admit to having daydreamed about being an Irish shepherd in the green grassy hills of Céide Fields a time or two... In summary, after researching it a bit, I've definitely realized the wonderfully rich style that UK folk has to offer. It's gritty and real, yet has a very romanticized feel to it. Like living a simple life was not only acceptable, but desirable! However, I've been looking for a modern band to rise up and bring the genre back to life. Mumford & Sons does just that.
Mumford & Sons, straight from London, is fairly new to the music scene, having formed in 2007. However, their chemistry as a group and talent as musicians could easily lead you to believe that they have been playing with each other for decades. Their instruments range from brass to small string, creating an amazingly rich sound that truly tells a tale. It's like trying to read 5 books at once. There is so much going on that its hard to just key in on one detail. Each song is very dense and hearty, but can definitely leave you with a hungry with a sense of adventure. That's probably because of the mandolin. It just gives off such a great folksy shanty type of tone that makes you want to run around in a corn field with no direction. Well, that's just me I suppose. These guys certainly seem to speak to my more hidden rebellious nature, so I'm curious to see what happens if I listen to them too much. Havoc may ensue. Husbands, lock up you children and wives. Overall, it is undeniable the talent that these guys have. Their harmonies are amazingly tight, and they are true virtuosos of their craft. From what I can see, they dont seem to be hitting the states anytime soon, so unless you plan on travelling to Sweden or Germany anytime soon, you may not be seeing them live for a while. But oh well, c'est la vie. I guess until then I'll have to settle for YouTube videos. So take a seat, buckle up, and set on down the rough and tumbling road of British folk in the good hands of Mumford & Sons.
Ramble on,
AllTheFancyWicker
To preface this post, I want to briefly discuss my heritage. I am Irish. Very Irish actually. Not ghostly pale, flaming red-haired drunk Irish, but very Irish all the same. Maybe drunk Irish, for good measure. However, over the years I have really come to appreciate some of the traditional music that Ireland has to offer (God knows I can't come to appreciate their cuisine, Irish soda bread? Really Ireland? Goddamn!) It just gives me a real back-to-our-roots feel that seems to help connect me a bit more to the historical Irish culture and its people. Now I'm not looking to switch to steady diet of potatoes and take up step dance any time soon, but I could admit to having daydreamed about being an Irish shepherd in the green grassy hills of Céide Fields a time or two... In summary, after researching it a bit, I've definitely realized the wonderfully rich style that UK folk has to offer. It's gritty and real, yet has a very romanticized feel to it. Like living a simple life was not only acceptable, but desirable! However, I've been looking for a modern band to rise up and bring the genre back to life. Mumford & Sons does just that.
Mumford & Sons, straight from London, is fairly new to the music scene, having formed in 2007. However, their chemistry as a group and talent as musicians could easily lead you to believe that they have been playing with each other for decades. Their instruments range from brass to small string, creating an amazingly rich sound that truly tells a tale. It's like trying to read 5 books at once. There is so much going on that its hard to just key in on one detail. Each song is very dense and hearty, but can definitely leave you with a hungry with a sense of adventure. That's probably because of the mandolin. It just gives off such a great folksy shanty type of tone that makes you want to run around in a corn field with no direction. Well, that's just me I suppose. These guys certainly seem to speak to my more hidden rebellious nature, so I'm curious to see what happens if I listen to them too much. Havoc may ensue. Husbands, lock up you children and wives. Overall, it is undeniable the talent that these guys have. Their harmonies are amazingly tight, and they are true virtuosos of their craft. From what I can see, they dont seem to be hitting the states anytime soon, so unless you plan on travelling to Sweden or Germany anytime soon, you may not be seeing them live for a while. But oh well, c'est la vie. I guess until then I'll have to settle for YouTube videos. So take a seat, buckle up, and set on down the rough and tumbling road of British folk in the good hands of Mumford & Sons.
Ramble on,
AllTheFancyWicker
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