Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Gheorghe-Approved Summer Tunes

The hazy, lazy days of summer brings many pleasures to the team here at G:TB – warm weather, baseball, more daylight hours, sunshine, less guilt about drinking during the day, swimming, fishing, golfing and girls in their summer clothes, to name a few. With the onset of driving season now upon us, many of you readers have recently besieged our inboxes, looking for new tunes to crank in your fuel-efficient vehicles while you cruise the open roads.

We strive to broaden the musical horizons of our vast readership on this fine June day by mentioning a trio of up-and-coming artists whose cassettes have been firmly entrenched in our hi-fi stereos. So sit back (or lean forward), enjoy and seek out some of these artists on iTunes if you are so inclined.

Adam Green – Start with the booming gospel-singing voice of a young Elvis Presley. Mix in a physical resemblance to Phish’s Mike Gordon. Garnish with the stage presences of Tiny Tim and 1970’s Ozzy Osbourne. Mr. Green may be a puzzle wrapped in an enigma, but he is a wonderfully unique and gifted songwriter. You may know him from the Moldy Peaches or from some of the songs in the soundtrack to Juno. His songs are short, weird, humorous and catchy. His live shows are extremely entertaining because his voice is good enough to overcome his schtick, and because his backing band is tight.

Tunes to dig into from Jacket Full of Danger album: Nat King Cole, Drugs
Tunes to dig into from Sixes & Sevens album: Twee Dee Dee, Morning After Midnight


Vampire Weekend – The first album from these guys is a gem. Not one fart of a tune amongst the eleven tracks. The songs are all over the map, and we mean that in the best way possible. They pay homage to Peter Gabriel in one tune, echo Sublime in another and even manage to weave a string section into other tracks. They are a bunch of Columbia grads who are receiving a lot of buzz in the US and the UK. They’ll be on the road for a while. Not sure when they come back to the States.

Tunes to dig into: Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, Oxford Comma, A-Punk


Langhorne Slim – This guy is a folk singer with a great backing band. The songs aren’t heavy, but they’re witty and catchy. Good stuff to enjoy with your favorite summer brew on a nice sunny afternoon. Or sunny morning.

Tunes to dig into: The Honeymoon, Spinning Compass, Rebel Side of Heaven

29 comments:

rob said...

teejay's name is on this one, but it's rhymenocerous' work. nice job. i, too, dig the vampire weekend and langhorne slim. gotta check out adam green now.

T.J. said...

Baron Davis for Sheed AND Billups? Really?

T.J. said...

Oh yeah, obviously not my post...I've never heard of any of these folks.

rob said...

did that trade happen or is it just rumored?

zman said...

Walcott is my favorite track, but Mansard Roof is so over-played that I don't listen to the album anymore. Which is stupid, since it's a good album. Note that they quote and name-check Lil' Jon on Oxford Comma.

Did you pick up the new Steinski compendium "What Does It All Mean?" It'd be a lot cooler if you did.

T.J. said...

Rumored...that seems a bit lopsided, no?

rob said...

unless there are cap considerations. or the pistons have grown tired of the sheed.

TR said...

I would appreciate hearing anybody else's picks. I've been in a musical black hole since my kid was born. A buddy who works in the music biz gave me some recommendations.

Honorable mentions: Band of Horses and the new Black Keys album.

rob said...

band of horses is fantastic. liam finn (son of neil) has several killer tunes on his new record -'energy spent' is my favorite.

zman said...

If you like the Black Keys pick up their earlier album Rubber Factory.

rob said...

wakefield vs. johnson tonight on espn. over/under on geritol and viagra jokes is 17. i'll take the over.

rob said...

torsten frings not in germany's starting lineup, depriving us of a chance to say 'torsten frings'.

Greg said...

He does all the little frings.

rob said...

remember that song, 'all the small frings'? that was cool.

rob said...

from espn's gamecast:

The supposedly 'great' British commentator John Motson has completely lost the plot judging by the opening to this game. He's spewing some right rubbish about.

that's awesome.

and goal! turkey!

T.J. said...

I never much liked that geek-fest Lord of the Frings, but that's just me.

T.J. said...

It's June 25th. Yahoo!!!! has informed us today that Fantasy Football registration is now open.

Good lord.

Sizzle said...

I concur with Zoltan on the Black Keys' "Rubber Factory" pick and enjoy "Thickfreakness" even more from 2003. Good n' greasy.

I've also discovered the "The Parlor Mob" who are a young prog-rock / blues-rock group from NJ. Their vocalist sounds like a young Robert Plant and it's very riff-heavy. Think Wolfmother but more talented.

Also been listening to the new Black Crowes album "Warpaint" which is a throwback to their older stuff.

rob said...

frings comes on as a second-half sub. pun-makers on gtb rejoice.

i see big frings coming.

rob said...

damn germans.

Mark said...

I said it at the Wheelhouse over the weekend but, really, why would anybody EVER count Turkey out before the final whistle blows?

rob said...

man, i wish i were watching this. seems a rollicking fixture.

T.J. said...

Gooooalllll

Mark said...

Alright then, it appears I've jinxed the Turks.

Mark said...

Nobody has really been watching it, there have been a ton of long technical delays.

rob said...

good gracious.

rob said...

turkey have 21 shots, 15 on goal. zoinks.

Geoff said...

My only contribution to this post: A couple of the dudes in Vampire Weekend went to my (very small) high school.

Shlara said...

Love Vampire Weekend. Love Band of Horses. Have both of them shuffled in with Old 97s on my summer ipod mix, which debuted on a Memorial Day road trip. Also want to throw out Devotchka. One of their tunes was on the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack. Good stuff.