Music Retrospective

Today has been pretty exhilarating, for me there is nothing quite likes finding new music to obsess about.  It has happen only a hand full of times for me, and it seems like it is occurring more frequently now.  I had every intention this morning in buying Mumford & Sons newest album Babel, but instead bought two albums by different artist based on a couple of songs that blew me away.  The music inspired me to write a little retrospective on my musical tastes over the years.  It is funny; ears are kind of like taste buds things sound different as you age just like food taste different.

In high school I listened to post hardcore rock, emo, some metal, anything with aggressive guitar licks and power chords.  There were a few standouts though that I matured in sync with.  Namely Thrice, I remember first hearing Teppi’s aggressive guitar, Dustin’s powerful vocals in the album Illusion of Safety.  Their music changed over the years and I always changed with them.  I listened to the same type of music for quite awhile until I started listening to The Black Keys.  Now The Black Keys are my favorite band but this is not really about them, but I do credit them for expanding my musical tastes in the past few years.  They are the tip of the spear that got me listening to blues musicians like T-Model Ford, RL Burnside, and Junior Kimbrough.  In turn I picked up on Seasick Steve and his three string transwonder (name of his guitar.)  From there I found The Heavy, thanks to Borderlands 2 intro song Short Changed Hero.  I bought two of their albums The Glorious Dead and The House That Dirt Built, the latter has Short Changed Hero and another little song called How you Like Me Now.

This brings me to what I bought today two artists far apart musically.  First up, Patrick Sweany and his album Every Hour A Dollar Gone.  If you are a fan of The Black Keys or Dan Auerbach’s solo album Keep It Hid this is a must have.  From what I read Patrick Sweany has played with Dan on a number of occasions.  Check out his songs After Awhile, Burma Jones, and Hotel Women a few instant standouts for me.  Also today I bought something that is leaps away from my typical musical tastes, but has some granted very minute attributes that I like about The Heavy.  The artist is Aloe Blacc and he is an American soul singer.  I bought his album Good Things and it is unlike anything I listen to, but I really like it.  The Black Keys album Brothers had some soul influenced songs like Never Gonna Give You Up, cover of Jerry Butler Never Give You Up.  If you enjoy The Heavy or The Black Keys Brothers or old school soul check you the album.  I particularly like Green Lights, Take Me Back, and I Need A Dollar. 

Looking back I cannot believe some of the stuff I use to like.  I cannot wait to see who or what type of music Aloe Blacc will turn me onto.  So try new things and embrace musical artists that evolve cause if they don’t what is the point.

-Matt

Current Song Obsessions

The Heavy – Curse Me Good
The Heavy – No Time
The Heavy – What Makes A Good Man
Seasick Steve – Never Go West
Aloe Blacc – Green Lights
Patrick Sweany – Hotel Women