Tag Archives: Song of the Day

Song of the Day: El Ten Eleven – “My Only Swerving”

I came across El Ten Eleven on the eMu site yesterday and really dug their sound.

Check it out:

These guys put together a nice mellow style of instrumental music using drums, double-neck bass/guitar, a loop pedal and lots of effects. In that way, their music is actually somewhat similar to some of the mellow, lullaby-esque sounds I’ve been laying down on my loop pedal lately (though mine aren’t nearly as good and don’t include drums, double-neck guitar or nearly as many toys).

Side note: I like to think that if my blogging buddy Justin and I ever started a band, we’d probably play something like this.

Song of the Day: The Grateful Dead – “Second That Emotion” (Smokey Robinson cover)

I thought I’d do a short post in honor of Jerry Garcia’s b-day anniversary today, with a short but sweet clip of the Grateful Dead’s cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Second That Emotion.”

This track was on the first full live recording I ever heard by the band, which was on a crappy old cassette tape given to me by a random acquaintance in high school. It’s a great example of the sound that initially grabbed my attention. I think the fact that they covered a familiar Smoky Robinson tune probably allowed me to dig in a bit further, but it was the guitar solo from this take that really caught my ears. It’s a short, melodic, note-perfect instrumental rendition of what Jerry thought Smokey was trying to do with his vocals on the original tune. It perfectly captures that happy, major chord vibe that helped the Grateful Dead stand out to me among a sea of blues-heavy rockers that were gradually going down a darker road (which I also loved).

To this day, I never get sick of hearing this one:

Song(s) of the Day: Sunday Bluegrass Edition – Jerry Douglas, Greensky Bluegrass and the Infamous Stringdusters

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning here in NYC and it just feels like a bluegrass kind of day today. I recently downloaded some new (to me) bluegrass, including The Infamous Stringdusters, Greensky Bluegrass, and some older Jerry Douglas. Here are a few favorite video selections to celebrate a sunny spring day:

One of my favorite Jerry Douglas tunes:

The Greensky guys doing their take on the Grateful Dead’s famous two-song segment (“Chinacat Sunflower” –> “I Know Your Rider”):

The Infamous Stringdusters doing a bluegrassified version of U2’s “In God’s Country” (one of my favorites off of the 2nd — and somewhat underrated — half of Joshua Tree):

Downloads:
Jerry Douglas | Greensky Bluegrass | The Infamous Stringdusters

Song of the Day: “Drug” by White Denim

The rawkin’ Austin trio has added a second guitar and they’ve gotten a bit more — dare I say — jammy.  Check out the dual-guitar madness on their new track:

White Denim – Drug by WhiteDenim

I finally caught White Denim’s live set down in Austin during SXSW. They seriously rocked, but it was in a weird and rather sterile scene at the Convention Center, so I can’t wait to see them again in a more rock’n’roll kind of environment (like a sweaty NYC rock club).

I also can’t wait to check out their new record which drops on May 24.

Song of the Day: “Nothing Ever Happened” by Deerhunter

I caught Deerhunter live last Friday down in Austin during SXSW and they rocked this tune hard.

A few things I love about this song:

1) I really dig the opening bass and drums groove. I hear the opening notes and it immediately reminds me of the Spencer Davis Group’s “Give Me Some Lovin'” from way back in the day:

And just when I expect a big, bright major chord organ, they drop this darker bass line for the verse section, which is more reminiscent of a 90’s alt rock tune.

2) I also like the way the different sections flow throughout the song. By ~2:30, we’ve already gone through three distinct sections. And beyond that first change I mentioned above, they’re much more subtle. It all flows perfectly.

3) Like so many of my favorite Deerhunter tracks, the song’s outro seriously kicks it up a notch. From ~2:35 on, it’s just dual-guitar madness. But it’s the riff at ~4:05 that really gets me. It’s just a little finger-tapping riff, but with all the extra distortion, it’s totally loud and raw. Along with all the other guitar layers, it creates this killer, raging jam to close out the tune. Love it.

Song of the Day: “Belong” by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Over the last couple days, I’ve been sifting through various video edits of this band’s live set from eMusic’s SXSW Day Party (to be posted soon!). As I said in my SXSW recap, bands like the Pains aren’t usually my style. But these guys put on a great show, and after seeing them live and watching a number of their videos, they’ve now sucked me in. This was one of my favs from the show last week:

It’s called “Belong” and it’ll be on their forthcoming album of the same name (due out on March 29th).

Song of the Day: “Carrying the Torch” by Generationals

Before heading down to Austin for SXSW, I grabbed the latest EP from Generationals — called Trust — based on an eMusic editorial recommendation.

I just can’t get enough of this entire EP, but this is probably my favorite track:

A simple, catchy bassline with some great melodic textures and a mellow dual-vocal delivery. It’s kind of like easy listening without being “Easy Listening,” and I mean that in the best way possible.

Okay, one tune isn’t enough. I also love this one: “Victim of Trap”

Download Trust

Song of the Day: “Joeline” by Tom Hamilton & American Babies

Although he’s best known for fronting electronic rock band Brothers Past, Tommy Hamilton also has a burgeoning Americana side project called American Babies. They’ve got a new record, Flawed Logic, coming out in April and have released a full preview for streaming on the Engine Room Recordings site.

They released “Dance All Night” as the 1st official single, but after digging into the newer tracks, I think I like “Joeline” even better (note: “Weight of the World” and “Winter War Games” were already released on the Weight of the World EP).

“Joeline” is track #6. Check it:

Song of the Day: “I Can Change” by LCD Soundsystem

Posting this in honor of LCD Soundsystem’s weekend announcement that they’ll be playing their “final show” at MSG on April 2nd:

This is easily one of my favorite tracks from 2010. In fact, it might even get the top-most slot due to the memory that it’s permanently connected to in my head.

Here’s hoping I can score some decent tickets to this show.