Letter from my most-awesome co-review-writer-person (Damon):

Okay, I’ve been rather dormant here for a while, and I’d like to apologize.  I’ve got some reviews coming at some future point, going to get some Radiohead stuff out of my system, then move on to more pertinent matters.  But first, I’ve got some songs for Aditya:

“One Lonely Visitor” by Chevelle [mp3]
“Samson” by Regina Spektor [ mp3]
“Mayonaise” [acoustic] by the Smashing Pumpkins [mp3]
“Emaline” [live] by Ben Folds [mp3]
“Needle in the Hay” by Elliott Smith  [ mp3]
“Take Our Cars Now” by Saves the Day [mp3]
“Pool Shark” [acoustic] by Sublime [ mp3]
“Sexual Healing” by Ben Harper [mp3]
“Redemption Song” with Joe Strummer(!) by Johnny Cash [ mp3] (Anything from the American Recordings series, really)
Also, the original by Bob Marley [ mp3]

That’s what I’ve got.  Good stuff to check out are things like MTV’s unplugged series and artists like Elliott Smith, Ben Harper, Ben Folds [especially his live album], and Seu Jorge.
Happy Hunting, I’ll be back in a bit with my Radiohead fix.
Merry Christmas, ya’ll.

D.

My web-techin’ friend Aditya commented recently, asking this:

“Could I make a suggestion, seeing as how you love to review music and have a much varied taste (quite visible here :P) …

I have been looking for some nice and slow acoustic / organic songs. Songs which have only a piano playing, or a guitar being strummed, those kinds! A little variation would be ok ….

A few examples would be ‘Goodnight’ (Dry Kill Logic), ‘Ache’ (James Carrington), ‘Hallelujah’ (James Buckley)… Could you suggest some more?

Thanks!“

So, of course, I did a little research and compiled a list, which is below.

Some are recommendations that I had immediately, knowing what Aditya was looking for, and others are results of some research I did this evening, using resources like Pandora and good ol’ Amazon.com. I also did some simple searches, using the terms of his question, like ‘acoustic rock’, and hit a goldmine of information that I simply just didn’t think of by my sweet little self.

The songs I have selected were chosen because they exhibit acoustic rock, earthy lyrics, and had a similar feel to the tracks he provided in his comment. I stayed away from really soft acoustic stuff, like Sarah McLachlan, because I know that Adi mostly enjoys hard rock. Still, he may open up to other artists and genres, now that I’ve give him some other options.

The list is really endless, but this gives you a good start. Another piece of advice I give people is to Use Pandora! It is an excellent tool, all you have to do is put in an artist or songname and Pandora creates a radio station for you based on those musical qualities. You can use one of the examples, and Pandora intelligently gives you music you want to hear, and then you are in control of the sound you want to hear.

List of recommended songs:

Note: If an MP3 was available for each song, it is linked to next to the song title, and will open in a new window. Or you can do it the smart way and Right-Click/Save As.

• Mexico (MP3) - Incubus
• Drive (MP3) - Incubus
• I Miss You (MP3) - Incubus
• Change the World (MP3) - Eric Clapton
• Tears in Heaven (MP3) - Eric Clapton
• Yesterday (MP3) - The Beatles
• Breaking the Girl (MP3) - Red Hot Chili Peppers
• My Immortal (Acoustic) (MP3) - Evanscence
• Broken (MP3) - Seether Ft. Amy Lee
• Fast Car (MP3) - Tracy Chapman
• Ain’t No Sunshine (MP3) - Al Green

List of recommended artists:

Note: Links open in new window.

• David Gray
• Incubus
• Fiona Apple
• Nick Drake
• Beth Orton
• Days of the New (Sample: “Whimsical“)
• Dave Matthews
• Dave Matthews Band
• Sarah McLachlan

I hope this helps you, Adi, and anyone else who is looking for something similar. This helps me, too, by finding new artists, so if anyone else needs suggestions or recommendations, don’t hesistate to leave a comment or send us an email at do.you.lovethemusic at gmail dot com.

Until next time,

Jen

So, my copy of John Butler Trio's Funky Tonight EP arrived in the mail yesterday. Definitely worthy of review. It has 4 tracks: Funky Tonight, Good as Gone, Nowhere Man, and Funky Tonight (bootleg). The CD is excellent, to put it shortly. 'Funky Tonight' is a track they've played live at their shows for some time now, but have never officially released. It is the first single released from their new work; their new album will be released in Spring 2007.

I heard it for the first time in April of 2006, at a show they played here in the U.S. It ended the show, and it was bloody brilliant. Their new single is definitely a studio-version. Some of the lyrics have changed, and the chorus music has been altered, as you will hear when you listen to tracks 1 and 4 back-to-back. John Butler does an amazing job on the guitar, per usual, and the song is upbeat with lots of cutesy "Ooos" and fast drumming. Great track. 'Good as Gone' is a brand new track to my ears, and is stunningly beautiful. It's up for listen here. John Butler's wife, Danielle, contributes backing vocals to John's intricate, bluegrassy banjo playing. It soothes, and makes your mind go blank. The vocals and banjo bring the song to many crescendos, and it ends too soon. 'Nowhere Man' is my hands down favorite track from the album. Such a beautiful song. Put together so well, and leaves you wanting more. The guitar intuitively takes you through the story of the song, and Butler does an excellent job of keeping the vocals rhythmic and soft. It has a lullaby quality, and the trio brings the song together excellently with their respective instruments. 'Funky Tonight (Bootleg)' is a live version of 'Funky Tonight', or rather it is the original track before it was taken into the studio. You can hear the crowd participate in the song, and the song truly makes you 'get funky'. Overall: Again, I'm floored by John Butler Trio's talent. If you've never heard John Butler Trio before, do yourself a favor and buy this album. It's a great introduction to their music. It's beautiful, excellent, wonderful, all at the same time. The tracks are creative and experimental, they explore music and bring it to its fullest, brimming potential. Three talented musicians with the ability to express beauty through music the way they do leaves your ears tingling and will make you want more.

Related Links:

John Butler Trio

John Butler Trio on MySpace

Buy Funky Tonight EP (AUS)

John Butler Trio Videos on YouTube

Funky Tonight Video (New Single) on MySpace

Related Audio: 

Nowhere Man 

[audio:http://www.lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Funky%20Tonight/03%20Nowhere%20Man.mp3]

Funky Tonight 

[audio:http://www.lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Funky%20Tonight/01%20Funky%20Tonight.mp3]

Incubus - Light Grenades

Incubus Official Website

Label :  Sony

Well, Incubus has released a new album, Light Grenades. And I must say, I'm SO not impressed.

I like to think that there are two kinds of albums: one is an album that provides tracks that need no skipping.

We all know what I mean. Then there's an album that, unfortunately has a few great songs, and the rest are bunk.

I think this album is nearing the latter. It's messy. It's half-assed, annoying, and too reminiscent of their older sound. They do a bad job of combining a harsher sound with their soft, mellow feel of Morning View and A Crow Left of the Murder. When I feel myself catching onto a song's melody, I realize it sucks when I listen to it again from the start. When I listen to it, I forget where I am in the song, because its sloppy.

Track-by-track:

1. Quicksand - Explorative, mellow track. Got some syncy stuff, and bleeps and bops. An electronic "Aqueous Transmission", sort of. Not awful. The producing is what makes it sound like…it could be better. No definite complaints.
2. Kiss to Send Us Off - Meh, just a song. Little fast rocki-like, not terrible. Not great.
3. Dig - Weird track. It grew on me after the fourth listen, because it has a catchy melody. Also noticed a Jimi-Hendrix-like lick in the bridge. I have read this will be there second single. Different territory, because this a total love/power ballad, but I must say, they make it work well. They do a good job of combining the album's style of music with the lyrics and intent of the song. I predict this being much bigger than their first single, because this has more of a pop appeal, like "Drive" did similarly.
4. Anna Molly - first single from the album. My first complaint is that if you're going to pronounce the song's title 'Anomaly' in the song, then the title of the song should bloody well be "Anomaly", not "Anna Molly". My second is that it doesn't stand out. I'm beginning to see a trend here.
5. Love Hurts - right, I've totally heard this beginning guitar riff in another song. That's enough to put me off. I have found the song, its "Sleep" from Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia by The Dandy Warhols. Blah again.
6. Light Grenades - this is a punk song. Too bad Incubus doesn't make punk music. I'm all for experiments, really. They do this ok. Its just an annoying song. Stop it already.
7. Earth to Bella, Pt. 1 - Starts off with some seriously whiny vocals by Boyd, and then continues with some classy Venetian tones. Then it is interrupted by an annoying guitar riff that is overly distorted. Totally ruins the song.
8. Oil and Water - One of the better tracks on the album. They manage to turn the music into the lyrics quite well on this track. I would consider burning this on a mix CD.
9. Diamonds and Coal - I suppose a recurring theme is comparing minerals and elements. This song absolutely blows. The line "Even diamonds start as coal" rhythms into an annoying one-liner that is repetitive and reminds me of the cheesy love songs you hear at the grocery store, to which I usually scream "Shutupshutupshutup" in my head.
10. Rogues - The beginning to this song sounds like "Spiders" by SOAD. I do enjoy the funky twist they have going on here, though, which it makes it one of the better tracks on the album.
11. Paper Shoes - This track passes by and you don't even notice it.
12. Pendulous Threads - See above.
13. Earth to Bella, Pt. 2 - pretty beginning. Better than Pt. 1, but not great, either.

The problem I have with this album, I've noted by the track-by-track assessment, is that none of the tracks really stand out, except for like two, and that's debatable. Incubus has a reputation for good music, with a different edge but a mass appeal, and they don't answer to either of these here. If this were a debut album, I'd be much more impressed. Don't get me wrong, I support changing your sound; you have that right to that artistic license or whatever. But you have to make it as good as the rest of your releases, or you end up with a review like this one. I don't expect a new album to sound exactly like past releases, I just expect it to sound different but just as good as the past releases. One of the overall things I noticed about the album is that they overdo the guitar distortion to the point of annoyance. This could be a completely personal opinion–if you freaking love distortion this album is for you, but this one makes my head hurt, particularly because they fail so well at making the album GOOD in the process. I am quite disappointed. Overall: 3 out of 5 stars. Average. Not enough stand out musical content, too much filler and exceedingly boring. Sorry, guys. I'm a fan, too.

 Related Links:

Incubus Official Website

Buy This Album 

Related Audio :

Dig

[audio:http://www.lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Incubus%20-%20Light%20Grenades%20-%2003%20-%20Dig.mp3] 

 Anamoly

[audio:http://www./lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Incubus%20-%20Light%20Grenades%20-%2004%20-%20Anna%20Molly.mp3]

The John Butler Trio is my all-time favorite band. I never had a favorite band until I heard these guys. They're brilliant. The band consists of 3 members, duh, John Butler, Shannon Birchall, and Michael Barker. John Butler is the frontman, leading vocalist, and lead guitar. Shannon plays the stand-up bass and bass guitar, and Michael Barker is percussion. I use the term percussion because he doesn't just play the drums, he plays all sorts of stuff and is brilliant at it as well.

JBT and Me

I first discovered JBT through my best friend, who was referred to it through a boyfriend of one of her friends. The first tracks I heard were "Mist (MP3)" and "Peaches and Cream (MP3)". I wasn't very impressed with "Peaches and Cream", mostly because it is a slow song, and thats not usually a good introduction to a band who does mostly upbeat music. I really enjoyed "Mist' though, because of its simplicity and intricate guitar, as well as the combination of bluegrass and traditional Irish styles. So, I was curious, and obtained more of their music, the whole album, Sunrise Over Sea. After that, I was hooked. I spun that CD hundreds of times over the next year. This was in 2004.

John Butler Trio and their Music

They have several albums, two of which are Live compilations: Live at St. Gallen and Living 2001-2002. The others are:

Studio LPs:

• Searching for Heritage (1996)
• John Butler (27 December 1998)
• Three (18 April 2001)
• Sunrise Over Sea (8 March 2004)

EPs:

• Pickapart (31 July 2000)
• Zebra (1 December 2003)
• What You Want (9 August 2004)
• Somethings Gotta Give (6 December 2004)
• Funky Tonight (December 2006)

Source: Wikipedia

Sunrise Over Sea was their greatest success, particularly in Australia. They have not become as popular in the U.S., due to (I think) the mainstream music that is prevalent in the U.S. I don't think the U.S is ready for their sound.

Sound

John Butler Trio has truly created their own style of music. There are many labels for what it is, but what it is is original lyrics, ideas, and technique. They combine rock, ska, reggae, hip-hop, bluegrass, and much more to achieve their unique sound, and I believe this is why their music never sounds 'old'.

Lyrics

JBT is known for its 'activist' lyrics, which usually pertain to issues in government, policy, the environment, Australia, and general injustice. Many of John Butler's lyrics pertain to current events, such as Hurrican Katrina and global warming/climate crisis. A number of their songs feature such lyrics, like: Treat Yo Mama, Something's Gotta Give, and Good Excuse (brand new track, available for watching/listening here). One of his more famous songs, Ocean, is a long instrumental played by John Butler solo on his 11-string guitar, and refreshingly is different everytime he plays it.

Performances

I was lucky enough to attend a concert by JBT, in Mobile, Alabama. What a bloody good show. It was free, as a promotional event through a local radio station. This didn't matter however. I would have paid to see them. I was in the front row, and had Michael Barker grinning at my dancing. There are pictures from it here. They are known for their shows; they keep them intimate and always give their best, and as a result of their live show following, many of their live shows have been recorded by fans and are hosted for download at archive.org. ** As it is difficult to review an entire band, this has become more of an informative post. I think that is fair; when we come across breakthrough artists I expect posts like this. It is hard to encompass my entire John Butler/John Butler Trio experience in a few hundred words, so I'll say this: I think JBT is excellent because of their music, lyrics, and relationship with their fans. They are rootsy, down-to-earth people who produce music that is original and not made with the intent of selling records. They make music because they love to, because their fans love it, and because they have great messages. I never have been particularly fond of lyrical content as much as the music in any musicians case, but here I find myself shocked at the similarity between what I believe and think about particular topics, and how JBT communicates that to thousands of people through their music. They're not extremists, they are just a band that makes damn good music, and I think their philosophy and image are things that I wholeheartedly relate to. I have provided several easy links for you throughout this post, so you have no reason to not check 'em out.

Here's more:

John Butler Trio

JBT on Myspace

JBT Live JBT France

The JB Seed Fund (excellent for independent artists in Australia)

JBT Fans (they're awesome)

John Butler playing slide guitar in a tree in Australia.

Hello everyone–

First, I’d like to apologize for the lack of reviews in the past couple of weeks. Damon and I have been slacking a bit, mostly due to the holidays and the end of the semester rearing its ugly head. I just posted a new review, on Guerolito.  I hope that works for everyone.

Right now I am working on a review (gasp). Damon has done all of the reviews for the site thus far, but in part of my effort to avoid doing things I actually need to get done, I have decided to do a comprehensive review of the band, the John Butler Trio. Warning: this is completely biased, because they are my favorite band. I decided to do a review on them to help promote their wonderful music, and to help me practice. I imagine it is easier to review an album or band when you know about them beforehand.

Anyways, don’t forget to check out holiday music with Pandora! And if you haven’t signed up for account with Pandora yet, you really need to. You’re totally missing out on tons of great music you never knew before, and it will all fit the style of music you enjoy, because they find it based on suggestions from you. I wrote about Pandora here if you’re interested to know LovetheMusic’s take on it.

Just for an example, I have decided to make a Fiona Apple station, and am pleasantly surprised. Right now I’m listening to Fiona’s version of “Across the Universe”, and it wonderful. I have bookmarked it, so it will show in my Pandora profile here. And in case I didn’t mention this before, everytime you bookmark a song, it is added to your profile, and has a play button next to it so you can listen a sample of it. It’s a nice application—no windows open, it streams directly from the page and into your ears. So, every song I have bookmarked (all of which are excellent or I wouldn’t have bookmarked them) are listenable. Check them out. Check out Damon’s, too, he’s an avid Pandora listener.

Well, happy holidays to everyone, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, or the Solstice. Or, if you don’t celebrate it at all. Ok, well then I better make that wish this: “Happy December Everyone!”

Love yourself,

and until next time,

Jen