fun.

It's been a while since I updated this. I'll just quickly plug a really good band I've been getting into lately.

fun.-That's right fun. with a lower case f and a period at the end. This is Nate Reuss from The Format's new project after the demise of The Format. It was a sad day when I heard that The Format was breaking up. They were an amazing, amazing band. My brother's friend Clint commented about Nate when we saw them for their last festival show in SLC. He said that he looks so skinny and frail. The conversation went somewhere to the effect of it might be too much boozin' and drug action (which may or may not be true). Clint then said something like come on hold out for at least one more album. Sadly that wasn't the case for The Format, but Nate has returned with fun.! And what a great band they are. They came to SLC a few months ago and are coming back hot on the heels of their new release Aim and Ignite this Tuesday. The album is streaming on their myspace.com/fun site now. Check it out; it's really good. Great pop with horns, strings, and great guitar work. If you liked The Format, you'll love fun., and if you haven't heard of The Format either, there ya go, two bands for you to check out.

I've been getting into tons of new music lately so I'm just gonna list like 10 or so bands for y'all to check out. If anyone actually reads this blog, that is. Here goes:

Frightened Rabbit
White Rabbits
Rhett Miller
Grizzly Bear
Fanfarlo
St. Vincent
The Annuals
Throw Me The Statue
Camera Obscura
Wild Light
The Low Anthem

There you have them. I'm still discovering all these bands myself; apart from Rhett Miller (singer of Old 97's) I've been a big fan of him for quite a while. Anywho, explore these bands with me, won't you? You won't? Fine. Loser.

Newton's Folley

Today I'm gonna plug my band. I figure noone reads this but perhaps my wife so it's not a shameless plug. More like a journal for me and my posterity to find and remember/discover good music. Anyway, my band is called Newton's Folley and we are a folk/rock/pop band trying to get gigs in Utah. We started playing together just 3 weeks ago or so, and things are looking promising. We have a ton of original songs Travis (the singer/guitarist) and I have already written and recorded; we just need to get arrangements of those songs, plus work on my new guitar stuff i've been writing, as well as Travis' solo stuff he's written; also, we need to practice a few songs our guitarist Jordan has written. Hopefully that sentance wasn't too convoluted. The point is this band is gonna be good. We'll be playing at The Wine Cellar in downtown south Ogden soon. Stay tuned for more details on that and other shows coming this summer. Other than that I'll try to post some music of Newton's Folley's previous 2002 release "Struggling..." soon. Until then keep on listening to good music. Bye!

Say Hi

This band used to be called Say Hi to Your Mom, but now it's just Say Hi. I personally like the old name better. I just got their new album "Oohs and Aahs," and it's incredible. Best album of the year I think. Great indie rock with lots of piano, and your standard guitar, bass, drum, keyboard. It's nothing spectacularly innovative, but if it aint broke don't fix it I suppose. We don't need a world full of Radiohead Kid A albums all over do we? Anywho, check out this band; they are fantabulous.

Today I'll mention a great St. Paddy's day band as well as a few bands I've been hearing great things from.

The Pogues-these guys are the ultimate scottish rock band. They're above and beyond anyone in this genre. Flogging Molly, and Dropkick Murphy's don't hold a candle to The Pogues. Before Shane McGowan left the band they were fabulous. Afterwards, I'm not too sure cuz I haven't really followed them; nor do I know if they are even still together. Pogue Mahone, the album after MacGowan left was a good album, but I lost track of them after that. Despite my lack of follow up with this band, I still stand behind the fact that they are the most incredible scottish rock band out there. Shane MacGowan formed a band called The Popes and the one album I've heard of theirs is pretty damn good also. So, on this St. Patrick's Day, The Pogues should be your choice for great music to celebrate with as you drink your green beer (or root beer in my case).

Delta Spirit-This band is really awesome. Great folk/rock tunes with generous helpings of piano, great melody, and a singer with passion. The singer reminds me of one of the singers in Dr. Dog with the same passion and the singer in The Veils. You can just feel these three singer's passion. Anywho, check out Delta Spirit; they're great!

Neko Case-I love Neko's voice; that's one of the main things that draws me to her music. That and the fact that her music is also superb. She sings part time with the fabulous band New Pornographers, who are great in their own right, but Neko's solo stuff is also utterly brilliant. It's basically folky type stuff with a fantastic vocal behind it. Check Neko out if you like good music. I'm still catching up on all her music. Her two most recent albums Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (I think that's what it's called), and her newest, Middle Cyclone are both incredible! The others I'm still researching, and you should too.

that's all for now. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wow, so there went six months

Sorry for the six month delay in posting. Today I'll post about some great artists that not a ton of people have heard of.

Ben Kweller-I think I may have posted about Ben before, but his new album deserves to be written about. Ben's first three albums have been fantastic. They've all been brilliant pop/rock albums, and have not failed to bring the awesome tunes. His new album, though, is pure country, but it's the good kinda country. None of this country pop, or rock music with a hick singer. This is the good style of country: old school without the twangy voice and it's fabulous. Ben sure has a knack for writing a catchy song. Whether it's rock, country, or pop, he crafts an incredible. Check out all his albums including his newest album, Changing Horses.

Andrew Bird-I heard a few of Bird's songs when his last album came out. I really liked them, but didn't really delve any deeper than these few songs. Well, I just got his new album, Noble Beast and it is superb! Andrew is a really awesome multi-instrumentalist. His music is folk/pop brilliance, and I'm digging it a lot. One of the really cool things about it is that plays the violin and uses it heavily on this record. It works well with this style of music so check out this and his other albums (I only have this newest one so I will do this too because based on this album, I'm almost postive his other albums will be great as well).

So, I'll try to post more often from now on. School, and other junk has just gotten in the way.

adios