Music I'm currently listening to...

I love music. I'm not a musician, although I did play saxophone and drums in middle school band and I've got a guitar gathering dust in the garage (doesn't really qualify me as a musician, does it?). I've often thought that in another life it would've been fun to be a music critic or work for a record label. Going to live music concerts is one of Missi and my favorite date activities. I usually have music of some type going - whether it is soft, instrumental piano music while I work, or music playing off the computer while I work around the house or cook breakfast on a Saturday morning. If you don't know about it yet, you should definitely check out Pandora. This is a great service that allows you to enter any artist you enjoy and then Pandora will find other artists with similar sounds. It's a great way to learn about new artists and listen to them before buying their entire album.

Besides Pandora, here are a few of the artists I've been listening to lately:

Blind Pilot

I first heard about Blind Pilot when I was back in law school and someone sent around an email to the student body saying, "Check out my friend's band called Blind Pilot." I listened to a few songs on their MySpace page, didn't think too much about it, and totally forgot about them. Fast forward to about 6 weeks ago, when my coworker invited me to go to their concert. Missi and I went to The Triple Door, had front row seats, and were completely mesmorized by what we heard. Blind Pilot hails from Astoria, Oregon and is technically only a two-piece, but they travel with a six-piece band backing them. Plus, I think it's pretty cool that the band actually toured up and down the West Coast by bike. That's right...they rode their bicycles, hauling all their gear behind them. There is even a documentary in the works called "We are the Tide" (the name of one of my favorite BP songs) that should come out later this year. I cannot recommend this band highly enough.

Here is Blind Pilot's MySpace page.

Here is Blind Pilot's blog.

You can also find quite a few videos of them on Youtube, just search under "Blind Pilot"


The Decemberists

These days, The Decemberists are really well-known. They are an indie rock band from Portland who often base most of their songs on some type of historical story or myth. For example, the title track from their album "The Crane Wife" was based on a Japanese folk tale that lead singer Colin Meloy came across in a Portland bookshop. I am very, very excited about their new album called "The Hazards of Love" that is coming out in March. I'm sad to say that I haven't had an opportunity to see them live in concert, but if you want a taste of what a Decemberists show is like, I highly recommend listening to the recent concert available on NPR's All Songs Considered. NPR is also going to be streaming a concert from SXSW where the whole "Hazards of Love" album will be played. Another testament to the band's theatrical side came from a friend who saw their show in Bend, Oregon and said that the band staged a reenactment of Lewis and Clark's discovery of the Northwest. How cool is that?

Another thing I like about The Decemberists is their quirky sense of humor and their unique vernacular (I am, after all, a huge fan of the written word). Take, for example, this recent excerpt from an email I received from The Decemberists:

"Adored Mailing List Recipients,

While it has been less than a week since our last petulant Relatively Unobtrusive e-Missive graced your inbox, we Decemberists feel it important to remind you, gentle Recipient, that the public ticket on-sale for Phase One of The "A Short Fazed Hovel" Tour 2009 starts today! Simply follow this simple, user-friendly chart to deduce the applicable date for your city"




Ray Lamontagne

Ray Lamontagne is a soulful, dark, introspective character who plays stripped-down music, which I love (and conversely I can't stand "over processed" music). He recently put out an album called "Gossip in the Grain," which is great. I also highly recommend listening to his concert from the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C., also available on NPR's All Songs Considered.




I'm also dabbling around with M. Ward, Andrew Bird, My Morning Jacket, DCFC, ALO, Tea Leaf Green, and a few others, but I'm always looking for suggestions for new music. Got any?