Glen Hansard has made fairly regular appearances on our Cover Thursdays. Truth be told, Hansard can sing pretty much anything and make it his own. Years of busking on the streets of Dublin seem to have served Hansard well.
It's amazing how listening to certain songs can bring back memories of certain times, places, people, and emotions. Listening to a song years later can take you back to that very place. That's why I chose this performance for this week's cover. It's clear that Hansard associates this particular song with a specific moment in his life.
Here's Glen Hansard (Swell Season, The Frames) performing R.E.M's "Hairshirt"
In late June, on a Sunday afternoon in Atlantic City, New Jersey I was pleasantly surprised by a band I had never heard of. It was the beginning of day three of Dave Matthews Band Caravan, and we arrived fairly early to catch some must see bands. While we awaited those bands to take the stage we wandered upon the Pete Kilpatrick band, who really put on an excellent set. Pete Kilpatrick Band hails from Portland, Maine where they have a big local following. For those playing the "sounds like game" to me this band fits well with Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. Last year they released their fifth independent effort Shapes and Sounds.
Take a listen to Pete Kilpatrick Band performing "September Leaves"
Death Cab For Cutie is a band that snuck up on me over the years. They're band that most music lovers already know. I own a couple of their records, but listened to them only occasionally. That is until just recently when I realized just how many songs gradually crept their way onto my frequently played lists. When I think about it, Death Cab For Cutie is a perfect band for my taste, mostly for the emotionally charged lyrics. I spend a lot of free time exploring new bands, but sometimes it's good to appreciate what's right in front of you.
Here's Death Cab For Cutie performing "Brothers On A Hotel Bed" off 2005's Plans album. The lyrics are pretty powerful.
Death Cab For Cutie is currently on tour with Frightened Rabbit. You can check out more information from Death Cab For Cutie on their website.
Cults was formed in New York City in 2010 by friends Brian Oblivian and Madeline Follin. They're responsible for what may possibly be the catchiest song of the year, "Go Outside". If you somehow haven't heard it yet, you likely will very soon. Cults first got attention for their three song EP they released on bandcamp.com. It received so much attention, that this fledgling band already had a hungry audience awaiting their very first full length release. On June 7th, 2011 those fans got their wish with the band's self-titled release. Cults has received positive reviews from music outlets throughout the country.
Here's Cults performing "Go Outside". It's pretty simple lyrically, but I'm willing to bet you'll be singing it to yourself later on.
I could tell you that I chose Xavier Rudd for today's post because he's a talented, multifaceted musician, playing a highly diverse style of music. All of which are true. That's not why I chose him though. It has less to do with his talent and more with the fact that he plays the didgeridoo! That's just cool! Xavier Rudd, like the didgeridoo, is a native of Australia. He's known for playing multiple instruments, during his grassroots performances. His songs are largely centered on love of Earth and life.
Xavier Rudd most recently released Koonym Sun in 2010. Here's Xavier Rudd performing "Stargaze" off 2007's White Moth.
Leonard Cohen undoubtedly has one of the most iconic voices in music, which can only be outdone by his poetic lyrics. It's not all that often where you can read lyrics without the accompanying music, and still be effected on the level. Cohen's lyrics always find a way to do that very thing.
Sean Rowe's booming voice is as close an you can get to Cohen's. Here's Sean Rowe performing "Chelsea Hotel No. 2". For those who don't know the background of this song, Cohen wrote it about an encounter with Janis Joplin.
To be completely honest, Electronic music isn't really my cup of tea. My musical tendencies lean toward acoustic driven folk and rock where the lyrics are at the forefront of the song. But good music, is good music. While the bulk of my music library fits fairly neatly into one broad musical bin, there's plenty of outliers. One of those outliers is Passion Pit. Their music is heavy on electronics, that's true, but behind the dance invoking bass and beats, lie incredible lyrics.
Passion Pit came into existence in 2007 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. All members save keyboardist and vocalist Michael Angelakos attended Berklee School of Music in Boston at the time of the band's formation. Their debut full length album Manners was released in May of 2009, to wildly positive reviews. For a band just releasing their debut album, they sure had a lot of hype behind them. The band asked the PS22 Chorus to provide some vocals for three of the album's tracks, including their single "Little Secrets."
When it came to picking a song for this post I was torn. I fell in love with a stripped down version of "The Reeling". It's just Michael Angelakos and the keyboard. When all the extras are left out, you're forced to concentrate on the lyrics which have a completely different tone in this version. That being said, it's not typical Passion Pit. Therefore, there's two videos today. An electronic version of my favorite Passion Pit song, "Little Secrets" and the aforementioned acoustic "The Reeling". Enjoy!
"Little Secrets"
"The Reeling"
Check out more from Passion Pit on their website.
