If you didn't know any better you'd probably swear that Zoe was born and raised in the Appalachians and at times she almost seems to channel Dolly Parton. But alas, this Seattle native is part of a growing number of classic country interpretors who are taking country back to it's roots. Accompanied by the extremely talented Lost High Rollers, Zoe's songs and lyrics are reminiscent of country greats like Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons and John Prine. Like any good county music there's plenty of heartache and heart break but it's nothing you can't tap your toe to.

Without further ado, my pick of the week: Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers - Hey Little Darlin'

Honorable Mentions:


Wayne Hancock - Miller, Jack and Mad Dog
Oh Susana - Greyhound Bus
Caleb Klauder - It's All Your Fault

That's it for this week folks, I think I've got the country out of my system, so to those of you who absolutely can't stand it check back later for something completely different!

Until next time,
Matt

Readers (few as you may be) beware, this paragraph is written more to myself than you, skipping it is advised but not mandatory. I have a problem with committing to the little things, things like this blog. I only post when the fancy strikes. This, as made so painfully obvious by the archives , is rare. So I write this in public as a promise to myself that I will compose, edit and publish a new post at least once a month. Even if no one ever reads it again. Even if I never make a bloody dime from it, I will continue to post at least once a month until emerging technologies render blogs as a whole useless and dumb. Because I need to establish the discipline required to follow through on the little things. As a show of good faith I am posting this when it's the last fucking thing in the world I want to do. Now that that's taken care of, on to the music!

Castleton has played with Brother Ali, Mike Doughty, Common, The Roots, De La Soul, Ray LaMontagne, Mos Def, Sugarhill Gang, Wilco, Incubus, Fun Lovin' Criminals, 3rd Eye Blind, Save Ferris, Luscious Jackson, Joe Cocker, Awol One, and many others I didn't list here.

Bah! Yeah, ok fine. I suck at updates but you know what? Fuck you. So I can't always find music good enough to share here, sue me. But you know what? This week... This week I've got some high quality shit to lay on you. Because this week I discovered the new Freeland album. This week I discovered some pure audio awesomeness!

"Cope" is Adam Freeland's first album in six years and let me tell you, it was well worth the wait. "Do Ya!" the first track on the disk has proven it's self pretty much undefinable - imagine DJ Shadow given a Mooged-out Krautrock retrofit by Can with Bonham sitting in on drums, and you kind of get the idea. Bringing fantastic back to the dance floor this is easily one of my favorite tracks of the year!

Freeland - Do Ya!

Honorable Mentions

King Khan and the Shrines - Land of the Freak
Portugal, The Man - Guns and Dogs
Port O'Brien - Stuck on a Boat

Florence Welch, along with a collaboration of artists and backing vocalists known only as The Machine, turned heads faster than a wet t-shirt contest in a church when they exploded onto the scene earlier this year. And with lyrics that are so awesomely wrong like, "a kick in the teeth is good for some/a kiss with a fist is better than none", it's easy to see why.

An art-college dropout from Camberwell, London, Welch was discovered singing Motown covers in a nightclub toilet, drunk. And has since rocketed up the proverbial ladder to become top contender for this years Mercury Prize.

According to Welch, her nominated debut album "Lungs" is about love and pain and is made up of "harps, choirs, drums, elevator shafts, bits of metal, love, death, fireworks, string quartets... wedding dresses". Her music is probably best described as soul inspired indie rock and that soul really shines. Listening to her belt out the lyrics on "Girl with one Eye" or "Drumming Song" it's easy to picture her stumbling out of the loo singing "Where Would I Be" at the top of her lungs with an awestruck producer at her heals.

All in all "Lungs" is one of the strongest albums to come out of the U.K. this year. The opening track "Dog Days are Over" starts out soft and melodramatic, fooling you into thinking that maybe "Florence is just another Colbie Caillat". But quickly transforms into a whirlwind of intrigue and desperation with lyrics that clash so well against a beat that is deliberately too ecstatic for the dark poetry Welch espouses, a meme that carries throughout the rest of the album. The arrangements force pain and happiness to co-exist, so much so that it's almost impossible to tell the one from the other.

While the lyrics are dark, depressing, even violent at times Florence manages to somehow come across with her innocence intact, doe-eyed and smiling through it all. It's impossible not to fall in love with her really. You try ignoring a voice that could give Gladys a run for her money and a wit that would make Kathy Griffin blush.

A good friend of mine could be considered a futurist, he believes than in less than a few decades, the human race will achieve singularity. He defines that as a point where the human race no face bodily ailments, with the help of nano-bots constantly repairing and improving our bodies. In a conversation (not involving alcohol surprisingly) I proposed that if the human race will no longer needs to worry about STD's and has the option, through the use of these nano-bots, for body modifications you get, in my words, 'loads of pretty people doing it all the time'. Similar 'dawning of the age of Aquarius' in the early 60's without the big hair.

Not quite the utopian society everybody is interested in, but quite intrigueing no the less.

Well that's the theme for today. Mine personal futuristic take on things will come next week.

Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy (Grum Remix)

Alex Metric - Shirley You Can't Be Serious

Michael Jackson - Blood On The Dancefloor (DIGIRAATII OUT2KILL REM!XX)

Blog Bonus
U2 - Magnificent (Fred Falke Remix)

Dub Side of the Moon by the Easy Star All-Stars is exactly what it sounds like and SOOOOO much more. It's a damn roller-coaster ride of dub, electronica, reggae and loads of other genres.

The track order is exactly the same as Dark Side of the Moon and each track lazily drifts into one another in the original manner.

The main difference is the experience itself. It's just so much damn fun, especially when you dig into "Time" and "The Great Gig in the sky (incidental my all-time favourite Pink Floyd track) the vocals in the latter seem to be picked from the original, sprinkled with some soul and plunked right back it there.

And if you're still craving some more darkness make sure to check out Coverville Episode 190

Aiya! Well folks after a brief hiatus I'm back and this week I'm bringing the funk! Hailing from Nashville, TN The Dynamites with front man Charles Walker are at the center of the funk/soul revival that's been brewing since 2007 and with their second album being prepped for release now is the perfect time to join the party. Off their debut album, this weeks pick Killin' It is a blast of 60's James Brown with a peppering of that classic Memphis sound thrown in for good measure. Guaranteed to make you want to get up off that thing and shake it like you just don't care!

Honorable Mentions:

William DeVaughn - Be Thankful for what You've Got
The Delta 72 - Rich Girls Like to Steal
Joseph Henry - Who's the King?

Got a bit of 'nerd-core' this week so enjoy!

(Song of the week!)
Jonathan Coulton - Make You Cry
(Listen) (Download)
Jonathan Coulton is artist who got off to a surprising start; with a baby (babby) he left a job he hated and started a blog called thing a week in which he produced one free song a week for a year. Now he's got enough fans to necessitate a world tour. Most of JoCo's songs are light, airy, and silly, this is one of the few that's isn't, but I think everybody has felt this way once or twice.

Honourable mentions.
mc chris - Older Crowd
(Listen) (Download)
Getting his name/voice out there as 'hesh' on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, mc reached new heights from his song Fette's Vette and tempered that success by putting his first album online completely free. This song is from the newest record, not quite the same style, but equally innovative.

The Last of the Shadow Puppets - In My Room
(Listen) (Download)
A very bond sounding track with an indie/cinematic type feel.

(Play All)

That's it! Have a great memorial day. And state-side it's still sorta the weekend so I didn't miss it WHOOO!

I do this thing on my last.fm account, if I find an album that's too good to take just one song from I'll post it as my album of the moment. I figured it couldn't hurt to do that here as well seeing as how so many people I know don't follow last.fm. And seeing as how you can't listen to samples here like you can there I figured I'd pick one of the tracks to post just to give you an example...

Anywho, my current album of the moment is Stick'em up! by Pistol Valve a new kind of j-pop, almost j-ska band, but that's not quite right either. For now I'm calling them a j-Fusion band. Pistol Valve is an all girl Japanese band formed in 2005. What's more it's not your run of the mill 3, 4 or even 5 piece band, it's a 10 piece all girl Japanese band with saxiphones, trumpets, violins, even a french horn! And though the girls are young (the average age is 20) they're all professionals in their fields, trained in some of the best schools in Japan.

Known throughout Japan as the act to see and renowned for their random street performances scattered about Tokyo, Pistol Valve is quickly becoming a staple in the Japanese mainstream media. Fusing a smattering of punk, rock, ska, funk, soul, blues, classical, jazz, be-bop and bubble gum rock Pistol Valve creates a sound as unique as they are and with two full albums already under their belts they don't show any sign of slowing down. Hopefully we'll see a lot more of these girls in the years to come.

As promised here is a small taste, it's the first track off the album and the title track. It also happens to be the only instrumental track, but it's short, sweet and a whole lot of fun! So listen up and I hope you enjoy it.

As always boys and girls, share and share alike.
Matt

Just shut-up, close your eyes and listen.

I've created a new tag for certain congs to pay attention to. Here is a song of the moment.