The Best Thing to Happen to Ray LaMontagne

The story goes that Ray LaMontagne was working in a shoe factory when he woke up one morning to a Stephen Stills song and decided to become a professional musician. Ironically, I was fortunate enough to meet Stephen Stills and he advised me never to go into the music business. Three albums into his career, LaMontagne's "You Are the Best Thing," has become a hit - and for good reason. "You Are the Best Thing" is pure soul, and sounds more like something coming out of the old motown singer than a skinny bearded white dude. LaMontagne sings from a vantage point of despair, which gives credence to his over-simplified lyrics. If you haven't already done so, download "Best Thing" - it's the perfect summer song for autumn.

A Showtune for Hipsters

The wild west hasn't been this strange and enjoyable since Blazing Saddles. In "Home," Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros build a superb arrangement off of rolling percussion, cowboy yells and whistles, and a simple one-track electric guitar. Vocalists Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos trade verses using traditional western themes of love and death without becoming a cheesy rendition of Annie Get Your Gun.
None of these people are named Edward Sharpe.

Put Phoenix on Repeat

I wonder if bands like Phoenix actually write down lyrics such as "You're going hey hey hey hey hey hey" or "Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome." Either way, singer Thomas Mars' vocals on Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix are hypnotic and refreshing, and the band delivers a playful experience with a variety of guitar noises at every turn. They're a band of Frenchies, who have been known to lose every war they have ever fought, but Phoenix has victoriously made a relevant and popular alternative album in the year 2009 (it somewhat crushes me to use the term "alternative" - it' s like I'm admitting I listen to 3 Doors Down). Plus they sounded great on Saturday Night Live, where most bands sound like a castrated version of their former selves (eh hem, Kings of Leon). Go ahead and get Wolfgang, and let's hope for many repeat performances from Phoenix for years to come. Phoenix loves scarves.

Reggae grows up nicely in Aṣa's "Jailer"

Reggae has always been about breaking free of authority, but admittedly not always on the best terms. When you're listening to "I Shot the Sheriff" and drinking a cheap beer on a boat somewhere, you don't always remember that the protagonist kills a cop for busting his weed stash (nothing against cheap beer). In "Jailer,"

Aṣa (pronounced "Asha") keeps her crimes a mystery, proving that a dress is always sexier when it shows only enough to pique your imagination. Her performance is genuine blues, and her voice seems to float over the back beat, which is polished and smooth without losing any meaning. Aṣa sounds like the real thing, like Lauryn Hill wanted to be and like Nina Simone actually was. Hopefully she doesn't throw her moral weight around on every song, but when she sings "I'm talking to you Jailer," you should feel compelled to listen.

Welcome

Like most good things in life, the idea for this site came from old friends. Whenever I meet up with old friends, one of us inevitably asks, "What are you listening to these days?" If I have good music to share, I'll shove it in my friends' faces like I'm Charlie Bucket and I just found the golden ticket (I leave out the British accent, sometimes), and it seems like the more you talk about music, the more great music you find. So I'm creating this site to share the music you should be listening to, and I hope that you share the music you love with me. My picks on this site will not always be current or even cool, but I promise it will be fun (see inset, in which music is 100% fun and 0% cool). So here's to you, old friends.