The other night I was watching Leno (again, an inspiration for a post) when Minnie Driver was in the hotseat chatting with our favorite skunky late night host. The show went to commercial, and then, to my surprise, came back with Minnie Driver on stage about to perform. Musically. What the fuck? I didn't see that one coming. 

And guess what. Unlike most actor-turned-musicians, this chica is good. Like, really good. I love her voice, and I fell head over heels in love with the song she and her band performed. It's called "Beloved". I've been singing it ever since. I chalk it up a bit to her being British (ahem, go England). I've always loved Minnie Driver anyways, if not for her acting, but for her incredible laugh. It makes me giggle ridiculously. 

And, this is her second album! Sheesh.  

It must be crappy to be compared to your former career in reviews, Minnie, but thats what happens. Your fellow actors have tried to the music thing and sucked at it, so we have to be cautious when you do it. But don't worry, love, you've done well.

Anyways, 

the song was sung well, lyrically very good, and not overdone. Simple in it's simpleness and beautiful at the same time, if you get what that means.

Right, so anyways, I've now got the album, yay, and I'm very much enjoying it. I'd love for you to love it too, so check out these MP3s, or better yet, go out and get the bloody album.   

To summarize:

I liked her before, when I just knew her as an actress.

She turns out to be a kickass musician.

And she lives in a trailer park.

And the boyfriend thinks her music is good.

So basically, all systems go. You'll like. 

Minnie Driver Official Website // MySpace // Buy Seastories 

Beloved MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/03-minnie_driver-beloved.mp3]

Cold Dark River MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/04-minnie_driver-cold_dark_river.mp3]

Sorry Baby MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/02-minnie_driver-sorry_baby.mp3]

If you've seen the film I Am Sam, or heard the awesome soundtrack, you're probaby familiar with this cover of the Beatle's "Blackbird". If not, its your lucky day, as McLachlan does a kickass job of it. Its quite refreshing, hearing her voice touch something done by the all-male Beatles. A little trivia for you, too–I taught my boyfriend how to play this song on the guitar. Go me. 

Blackbird - Sarah McLachlan MP3 

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/sarah%20mclachlan%20-%20blackbird.mp3]

Sarah McLachlan Official Website // I Am Sam Official Film Website // Buy the I Am Sam Soundtrack 

So how much fun is Lily Allen's latest release, Alright, Still? Lots.

Allen actually played at Bonnaroo, but I think I bypassed her performance to see someone else I was more familiar with. I now regret it a little.

This album is super cute, super fun, and super funny. Perhaps I'm biased towards British performers, but I don't think so. I mean, I never loved Eternal. 

I love this album for a few reasons: 

1. People always ask me, as though I am an authority on linguistics in music, why British musicians mask their accents whilst singing. I won't hear that question here, because her British accent is quite clear, and warms my heart a bit.
2. It's funny. The lyrics aren't sentimental and sappy and emotional, it's fun words to sing along to, and hearing "Tesco's" in the track LDN made me feel a bit nostalgic. Tesco's has the best Cornish Pasties, fyi.
3. Her voice isn't harsh or belty, it's sweet and simple, and uncomplicated.
4. The album is boppy to the point of wiggling my bum around my seat. It's not washed down pop music, it actually has elements of other genres of music in it, and I can appreciate that.
5. It has a decent variety of beats and sounds. Listen to "LDN" and then "Shame For You". 

If you're discriminating when it comes to your musician's personal life, Allen might not be for you. She's similar to Amy Winehouse–the bad girl reputation and the lot. I couldn't give two shits either way. 

Definitely take the time to check her out.  

Lily Allen Official Website // MySpace (which she personally updates, I think) // Buy Alright, Still 

LDN

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/03%20%20Lily%20Allen%20-%20LDN.mp3]

Take What You Take

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/09%20%20Lily%20Allen%20-%20Take%20What%20You%20Take.mp3]

Shame For You

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/07%20%20Lily%20Allen%20-%20Shame%20For%20You.mp3]

I’ve noticed that I watch a lot of late shows. NBC, really. And “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John with Victoria Bergsman was performed on a rerun of Carson Daly’s late show (don’t worry, I’m not a wild fan, he’s not standup material) and I think Conan or Jay the other night. So, I take this as another sign. That and I really like the song, so I’m going to share. Its been running around the mp3 blog circuit a lot, too.

It’s delicious. No history here, just a good song, and I admit I have not heard anything by PBJ before, so this could be the beginning of a good music-and-me relationship.

P.S. Soon we’ll have the remix done by Kanye West. Oooh!

Peter Bjorn and John Official Website // MySpace // Buy Writer’s Block

Young Folks - PBJ ft. Victoria Bergsman

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Young%20Folks%20-%20PBJ.mp3]

When I praise NYD's live stylings, I mean every word.  They are engaging and energetic and pleasing to the eye; all of 'em, not just Ashley.  However this is one of those sad situations where the live lustre we loved when the opened for a band we adore doesn't quite come through on the album [I'm referring to when I saw Moneen open for Saves the Day last year, but I've come to really enjoy the Red Tree].

The first thing I'd like to mention is that Ashley Costello doesn't sing her own backing vocals.  It's extra cool when a female-fronted band has the fellers singing the backgrounds; not just because it sounds cool, but because it shows a type of band equality.  You know, so things don't end up like the "Don't Speak" video.  I always figure that's how band's like this will end, especially when the Eric Stefani element [in this case former Home Grown bassist Adam Lohrbach] leaves and the band becomes a solo project.  But I digress.  There's not a whole lot of new ground covered on this album, but that's not always the point, is it?  The point here seems to be to make some good musics and have some good times.  Mission accomplished.
Final Verdict: My Dear is pretty much what you'd expect, really.  Catchy songs about bein' done wrong and lovin' SoCal.  I'm going to keep listening because I see no reason not to.

Part Time Lover - New Years Day

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/04%20Part%20Time%20Lover.mp3]

New Years Day Official MySpace // Buy My Dear 

Shiny Toy Guns // The Rapture

Venue : In the Venue, SLC

Date: 05-02-07 

So you've already heard all the negatives about the STG show.  Now you get to hear about the good stuff, namely the performances themselves.
We showed up pretty late, yet again, but this time we didn't miss the opening act.  I'm so glad we did because the Rapture encapsulate all that is good about disco.  It doesn't matter how you feel about disco right now, what matters is that if you take everything that is good about any musical genre, it will be good sounds.  On top of that one member of the band, what you would call the keyboardist, is not needed on keyboards for every song.  During those songs he fills the roll of either saxophonist or percussionist.  And by percussionist I mean he dances around with a cowbell and beats it like nobody's business.  It's superb to view.  Also, his saxophoning is akin to that heard on the Beastie Boys track "Brass Monkey" [which I've decided to be the hyphy-est thing ever].  The Rapture are great, but they didn't adhere to the opening act standard practice of saving your biggest hit for the end of the set.  Not a big complaint, but it threw of the momentum of  the show.
Regarding the headliners, there are a lot of nice things that I want to say about Shiny Toy Guns and their live performance.  I hope I cover them all.
First of all, these people take every aspect of their music seriously.  I mentioned earlier that they scrapped the album We Are Pilots twice and redid the whole thing.  That sort of obsession spills over into their live shows, too, with fancy lightings, projections, and serious energy.  They also have and interesting positioning on stage.  Normally a four-piece band will be set up like a diamond, with drums in back, bass and guitar on left and right, and a charismatic frontman out in [surprise] front.  STG was, left to right, Mikey Martin [drums], Chad Petree [guitar, vox], and switching spots were Carah Faye [vox, keys, sometimes bass] and Jeremy Dawson [bass, keys].  I'm very, very, very glad they did this because Mikey Martin is one of the most entertaining people to watch ever.  Dude likes hittin' stuff.  And since a number of songs feature some kind of electronic beat in addition to his drumming, he has a lot of free space to work in.  Also, he enjoys spitting on his bandmates.

One of my favourite things about the set was that after they played "Le Disko" a good number of the dumber people at the show made their exodus, leaving the rest of us to enjoy the show.  "Le Disko", by the way, was dedicated to us in SLC, but then more specifically to Provo.  I have no idea why, and am immensely intrigued.  If anybody can tell me the reasonings, I shall repay you tenfold.  Also they gave shoutouts to X96 for being generally kick-awesome.

Results:
The Rapture: Superfun dancy sounds.  They like you very much.
Shiny Toy Guns: Amazing energetic times.  They've only got one album out, so their set was actually shorter than the Rapture's.  Got a cover of Depeche Mode's "Stripped" [a billion times better than Rammstein's], but no "When They Came for Us".
Final Verdict!: An amazing tour.  Both bands are brilliant, keep an eye on STG.

 Related Links:

 Shiny Toy Guns Official Website // MySpace // Buy Their CD

 The Rapture Official Website // MySpace // Buy Their CD

Related Audio:

You Are The One - Shiny Toy Guns

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/01%20You%20Are%20The%20One.mp3] 

When They Came For Us - Shiny Toy Guns

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/04%20When%20They%20Came%20For%20Us.mp3]

The Rapture - Mirror

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Rapture%20-%20Mirror.mp3]