I've Been Negligent of Late
I feel like I've been negligent of late. Not because of my lack of daily posting, mind you, but because I haven't highlighted more of the new music I've been listening to. So I do hope you'll take these two artists to help make up for it.
I suppose I should clarify one thing. "New" means new to me, or perhaps "newish." I wouldn't want to misrepresent myself as being on the cutting edge or anything silly like that. I just wanted to get that out of the way.
And so, first up is James Apollo, who kindly sent me an email asking me to consider his stuff ages ago (well, last month). He's got a rustic voice that sounds like he's been sleeping on the porch and just woke up. There's a rather Americana feel to his music, which to be honest is not typically what I'm drawn to; however, this is off-center enough from your ordinary singer-songwriter fare to get my attention. In fact, the other day I was out in the garden pulling weeds and these songs provided the perfect accompaniment for that dreaded activity. That makes them keepers in my book.
James Apollo--"I've Got it Easy" mp3 off Hide Your Heart in a Hive (buy)
James Apollo--"Beauty Bird" mp3 off Hide Your Heart in a Hive
Next up is Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears, who are from Scaryville, USA (I shit you not). And, um, I don't think you'd consider this stuff singer-songwriter. It's got a theatrical bent to it with a definite sense of humor, even as he sings about "Misery Loves Company" and "The Bottom of the Grave." I wouldn't go so far as to call it camp, but you certainly can't accuse them of taking themselves too seriously, as you can gather from the above photo (yes, that's a knife blade poking up next to his collar).
Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears--"Misery Loves Company" mp3 off The Shredding Tears (buy)
Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears--"Desdemona's Leaving Town" mp3 off The Shredding Tears
That's it for now. I'm sitting on some other stuff but it will have to wait until after next Tuesday.
I love me some James Apollo. Good to see people spreading the word.
Well, I am drawn to the singer/songwriter genre and it's been getting
rather crowded with some very average music (I call it the "Garden State"
effect.) From these two samples, I see there's hope for some to rise above
the fray (hah..including THAT band!) Thanks for sharing. I'm off to visit
his myspace page!
nat--someone just told me--rather excitedly--that she was going to see the
fray in concert. i tried to be happy for her, but i'm afraid my enthusiasm
wasn't quite authentic! oh, i'm so bad. i like that term--the garden state
effect. you should coin it!
tee hee...perhaps I should...one thing, though, I do like The Shins and
Imogen Heap, both on the Garden State soundtrack. (well, Heap's with Frou
Frou on that one.) The rest..ehhh.
oh, ita about imogen heap. she's great. although i did like the frou frou
stuff more than her solo album. i've never gotten too excited about the
shins, but i don't dislike them. my favorite song on that album for a long
time was "blue eyes" by cary brothers.
I like the Cary Brothers song, too. You know, when I first saw that name,
I thought it was "The Cary Brothers," not one guy. OOPS!
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