music, shmusic: The Tallest Man on Earth and Right Away, Great Captain!

Firstly... I saw The Head And The Heart Sunday night at Stubb's in Austin and it was so beautiful! Totally worth only functioning on 4 hours of sleep at work yesterday. I loved their album before I saw them, but my appreciation for it grew so much once I saw them live. They put on such an emotional, energetic show... I just swayed and danced all night. They played a few new songs as well and now I just can't wait for them to get in and then out of the studio so I can get my hands on some of it. I know it's not a new release or a new find, but seriously serious if you haven't heard their self titled album... give it a chance.

Rivers and roads, rivers 'til I reach you.

The Moondoggies were one of the openers for The Head And The Heart Sunday night. They have this cool southern bluesy feel (why do I put a "y" at the end of everything?). I was watching them play the other night and I kept thinking how they were playing music in the wrong era... for about 30 minutes I pretended it was 197-something. They have a cool classic rock vibe that was really fun. Since then I've come home and listened to more of their stuff and their album, Tidelands is pretty good. It doesn't compare their live show, but I'm still digging it. It's such a bummer when you come across a band that released an album like two years ago, and they're on the last bit of tours before they hit the studio again. Because I hear all the new material, but I can't find it anywhere! Anyway... their newest album is pretty good, but I don't feel like it has the songs I heard live that I liked best. Doesn't really matter cause it's hard not to love bearded Seattle men.

Today: There's No Leaving Now by The Tallest Man On Earth

I've listened through this album twice now and I wasn't really blown away. Kristian Matsson (he is The Tallest Man On Earth) doesn't stray too far from his 2010 release The Wild Hunt. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, because he's great at what he does. It's just "Leaving Now" is not much a risk or stretch in a new direction. Listening to his music does make me feel so nostalgic and a bit sad. He's good at that...
My absolute favorite track on the album is "Little Brother". I really like the title track, "There's No Leaving Now", as well. Matsson switches it up a bit on this track by dropping the guitar and driving the track with piano instead.

I love Matsson's voice and songwriting so I'll probably have it on repeat for a while, just like I did with Wild Hunt. 

Today: The Church of the Good Thief by Right Away, Great Captain!

Right Away, Great Captain! is a solo project by Manchester Orchestra frontman, Andy Hull. Thief is the final installment in Andy's trilogy. The albums tell the story of a 17th century sailor, about his time at sea and his wife committing adultery with his own brother. Andy started this project six years ago as a writing exercise, he said he never intended for it to be a trilogy or anything much. Andy Hull is such a wonderful songwriter; he deserves a serious high five for having the patience and determination to finish a six year long project like this. There's more back story on the album and history of RAGC on the facebook page: here. I'm so in love with this music and with the structure of the albums and how the whole thing has come together. Be sure to listen to all three albums, The Bitter End, The Eventually Home, and now The Church of the Good Thief.

other June 12th Releases:

Go by Motion City Soundtrack - entire stream here.

The Lion The Beast The Beat by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals 

Synthetica by Metric - entire stream here.

What are you listening to today? Did anyone catch some of the live feed from the Bonnaroo youtube channel over the last weekend?

Xoxo

c