Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
03 Nov 2017 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: day to day, the outdoor type
The Outdoor Type: “Day to Day” (2015)
The Outdoor Type are a Melbourne, Australia indie pop band led by singer/songwriter/guitarist Zack Buchanan.
The band was signed to Canadian indie label Nettwerk on the strength of their single “On My Mind”, which earned them 100,000 Spotify plays. But “Day to Day” is as gloriously melancholy and melodic as anything the band has yet done.
14 Oct 2017 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: diamonds, los lonely boys
Los Lonely Boys: “Diamonds” (2006)
Lots of contemporary bands are touted as throwbacks to the sound of classic rock. Few of them sound, to my ears at least, really nail the sound of rock’s halcyon days.
Los Lonely Boys seem to have soaked in the formula. They know this much at least: Classic rock songs are built around the guitar riff. The riff is central; it is the cornerstone. If you have a great riff beginning the song and repeated throughout, you have the makings of a great rock song. It is the thing “new rock” is missing that 70’s rock bands would never omit.
“Diamonds” is pinned on a killer guitar hook, one that’s easy to get stuck in your head. And the rest of the song is pretty damn fine, too.
See also: Songs You May Have Missed #698 | Every Moment Has A Song (edcyphers.com)
12 Sep 2017 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: the gangway, tir na nog
Tir Na Nog: “The Gangway” (2017)
The warm, faintly antique-sounding folk sound of Sonny Condell and Leo O’Kelly is intact on 2017’s The Dark Dance LP, as if it hadn’t been forty-four years since their last album (1973’s Strong in the Sun, commemorated on a page linked below).
Over their brief, three-record major label stint, they evolved somewhat from the pure acoustic sound heard here to more of a full-fledged rock band configuration, albeit one fronted by two guys wielding acoustic guitars. But their songs seemed most comfortable in the most rustic of settings: mostly acoustic with spare ornamentation to distract or detract from the haunting melodies and the spell of two voices intertwining harmonies.
Timeless stuff.
See also:
https://edcyphers.com/2013/04/21/songs-you-may-have-missed-395/
See also:
04 Aug 2017 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: find yourself, lady gaga, lukas nelson
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real: “Find Yourself” (2017)
Self-described “cowboy hippie surf rocker” Lukas Nelson and his band Promise of the Real have frequently opened for Lukas’ father Willie Nelson, and Lukas follows his own live set by playing in dad’s band.
Here he duets with none other than Lady Gaga on the roots rocker “Find Yourself”, with Gaga channeling Bonnie Raitt to deliver exactly the type of muscular performance the song requires.
On a personal note, this song, like others I’ve posted here, came to me at the exact moment–literally the very hour–when its message was most pertinent in my life:
I know the love that I deserve
I hope you find yourself before I find somebody else to be my lover
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2025/11/19/songs-you-may-have-missed-804/
28 Jul 2017 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: introit, karl jenkins
Karl Jenkins: “Introit” (2005)
Karl Jenkins’ contemporary requiem combines Eastern and Western traditions–with text in Latin, Japanese and Welsh–for an uplifting and melodically memorable work that deals with the cyclical nature of life, death and rebirth.
“Introit”, which begins the album, is a gorgeously rendered full-choir highlight.
01 May 2017 1 Comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: steven wilson, the day before you came
Steven Wilson: “The Day Before You Came” (2014)
Steven Wilson doesn’t exactly specialize in the straight-ahead love song. The Porcupine Tree mastermind and frontman is not typically prone to a tendency to deal in anything so treacly as a lyric that extolls a lover’s positive influence on one’s life.
So it makes sense it would appeal to him to tell the love story in a more emotionally subtle and artistically subversive way–in this case by painting a picture of the dreary routine of life prior to “the day before you came”.
Yep, it suits the melancholy Wilson to a T. Except he didn’t write the song. It’s from his 2014 album of cover tunes. So who is responsible for this devastating examination of an empty existence?
Why, ABBA of course. And it’s not as inconsistent as one may at first think. With hits like “Knowing Me, Knowing You” and “S.O.S.” and especially album track “My Love, My Life”, those lovable bejumpsuited Swedes routinely created dichotomous musical clashes of emotional turmoil and musical glee, something Elvis Costello celebrated as he paid unlikely tribute with “Oliver’s Army” in 1979.
Wilson’s reading of the minor key meditation takes it into darker territory indeed.
See also:
https://edcyphers.com/2017/09/29/recommended-albums-75/
Every Moment Has A Song 