Band of the Day: The Shout Out Louds

These guys are from Sweden, as are quite a few bands these days as I'm discovering. They remind me of The Cure at times, but mostly they're just straight ahead good indie pop/rock. I really enjoy their newest album, and hope to hear more great stuff from these rockin' Swedeheads (rather than Suedhead's; get it? hopefully you do...)

Band of the Day: Okkervil River

Today's band of the Day is the folk-rockers Okkervil River. I heard of these guys probably 3-4 years ago, but just got into them last year. I've been listening to Dallas Does Indie, and J's Indie Rock Mayhem, two fabulous podcasts. DDI started out as a podcast and is now an Indie Rock HD radio station. I don't have an HD receiver, but this station might get me to switch from Satelite Radio (which I cancelled due to the stupid monthly fee) to HD radio; and J's IRM is from this dudes radio show on his North Carolina college radio station. Both great radio show/podcasts, and that's my long winded way of saying that's how I really got into Okkervill River. Anywho, great folk rockin stuff. I'm really enjoying their latest release, and look forward to hearing more from them.

Old School Band of the Day: The Beautiful South

The Beautiful South are today's band of the day. I first heard Paul Heaton's voice coming through the speakers of my mom's old Toyota hatchback. I knew my brothers and their friends in the Anderson family had good taste (I still count a lot of the bands I heard growing up among my favorites i.e. The Beautiful South, REM, etc.) but little did I know that Heaton's voice would be among my favorites even 15 plus years later. Their lyrics were sadistic, their music was masterful pop in it's finest and I loved it! I never got a chance to see TBS before they split up last year which is quite a shame. My brother Trev saw them in the 90's at DV8 club in SLC. Wow, that would have been pretty damn cool! My favorite TBS album by far is 0898. What a masterpiece! Songs like Domino Man, 36D, and one of my favorite song titles, You Play Glockenspiel, I'll Play Drums among 8 other songs made this album so great. My favorite song though is We Are Each Other. Such a great, simple guitar riff. I love it! Anywho, enough rantin and ravin', I'll post a newer band/artist of the day tomorrow. Oh, and by the way, Paul Heaton's new solo album is out now, but you'll most likely have to go on Amazon to buy it since they don't release TBS/Heaton album's in US record stores much.

July 27th Artist of the Day-Hayes Carll

Today's artist of the day is Hayes Carll. I saw him and his band open up for Old 97's at The Palladium in Salt Lake. He is really amazing. Now, I'll start off by saying I'm definitely not much of a country music fan. That being said, there are a few country-ish bands/musicians I'm really fond of. John Prine, Nanci Griffith, and Iris Dement to note a few. Hayes Carll is a good ole boy from Texas and his accent comes across in his music. Usually I find the "hick accent" off putting, but with Carll I actually enjoy it. My favorite part of his concert/newest album is his cover of Tom Waits "I Don't Wanna Grow Up." I never thought a countrified version of this song would work, but DAMN it's amazing!

myspace.com/hayescarll

July 26th Band of the Day-Fleet Foxes

Today's band of the day is Fleet Foxes. They remind me a lot of The Beach Boys simply because of their really cool harmonies. As far as I know, they don't sing about surfer girls, or anything lame like that, but I've just discovered them, and so far I've liked them a lot! A lot of their stuff is acoustic, which I'm definitely a sucker for.

fleetfoxes.com

Get into "The Ots", loser!

So I finally joined the "ots" (2000's) and am going to start blogging. I decided to use this blog for all things music and family. I'll post pictures and bands and links to bands, and concerts coming to Utah. I'll probably also start using this site for all my photography. I really wanna get back into photography and I figured this would be a great place to show off my "talents." Anywho, check back for the following features (if I get around to updating every day) Band of the Day, Photo of the Day, Family News, My attempt to start running again, Updates on the Compton Biggest Loser Contest, etc. So, I'll hopefully keep things updated, but if not, just email me and bitch so I do.