Apr 28
I discovered William Fitzsimmons a while back, actually in the same weird way that I had discovered Ray Lamontagne a million years ago. Ray had sung a super cool cover of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy and afterwards I ended up buying his first album and falling in love. Well William did a super cool cover of Kanye’s Heartless and now I can’t stop listening to him when I need to chill. He has to be one of the most mellow artists out there and his music just puts me in that perfect meditative mood, even if some of the songs can be a bit dark.
According to Fitzsimmons bio, he is the son of two blind parents and grew up in an auditory house where music was at the forefront. I can’t even begin to imagine how it is to grow up with two blind parents, but its to make sense that it would lead you to make beautiful, nuanced music. Nothing outrageous. Just music that pulls you in and forces you to pay attention.
I highly suggest downloading his performance from Daytrotter and I’ve also included his cover of Heartless here as well as a cover of James Taylor’s You Can Close Your Eyes that is simply the perfect song to fall asleep to.
William Fitzsimmons – Heartless (Kanye West cover)
William Fitzsimmons – You Can Close Your Eyes (James Taylor)
and just for kicks…
Ray Lamongtagne – Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
Apr 27
A while back i blogged about this rather awesome swedish singer named Erik Hassle. Well i just found this awesome cover of the Robyn song “Be Mine” done by him and an english songstress named Ellie Goulding. Its really nice. Enjoy it. and since the old video i put up was removed by UMG because UMG doesn’t like promoting their artists on a website other than youtube because they prefer the .0002 cents per stream that hey get on youtube over the hundreds and thousands of promotional views they can get on extraneous websites… i’ve put another video up.
Erik Hassle – Hurtful (Original Video)
Erik Hassle | MySpace Music Videos
and here is robyn’s original
Apr 11
Who names their kid Jer? Probably nobody. I’m going to go on a limb and assume that Jer Coons is actually named Jeremy Coons. But isn’t “coon” some sort of racist terminology? Who is this kid and why is he having so many name problems??? Poor guy.
He’s some new young singer songwriter on the scene who seems to think he’s the next John Mayer and perhaps if I was a 17 year old girl dealing with the trials and tribulations of AP History and junior prom, I’d agree. But I’m not. I’m a boy and I’m not quite that emo anymore. I really do like this cover of the Jackson 5′s “I Want You Back”, but his other songs are pretty average. But he’s only 20. Maybe at 23 he’ll have progressed. I wouldn’t be too quick to write him off.
Until then, enjoy this nice cover of a classic pop hit!
Jer Coons – I Want You Back (Jackson 5)
get it on Amazon!
Mar 16
Love & Theft is a pretty decent country/pop act. There is a guy named Steven in the band who I hear is the Steven of Taylor Swift’s “Hey Steven” song. I guess that means he banged her. Which makes sense, because she also can’t sing outside of the studio.
check out the difference between the studio version and the live version. wow.
Studio version. Wow, these guys have some great voices and awesome harmonies.
Live version. *warning, get some tissues. this might make your ears bleed and eyes leak*
Mar 16
here are just a few video links to some live performances from artists with incredible voices. enjoy.
James Morrison – You Give Me Something
Paolo Nutini – Coming Up Easy
Joshua James – FM Radio
Damien Rice – Rootless Tree
Marc Broussard – Love You More Than I’ll Ever Know
Ray Lamontagne – Shelter
David Gray – Shine
and kinda random, but had to throw in the best voice in country music right now. the oh so deep chops of Josh Turner.
Feb 25
Elan is playing at The Roxy tonight and I may or may not go, but either way, he has such a rad voice.
Elan is a Jewish guy who somehow mastered the art of Reggae and became the lead singer of The Wailers in recent years. I’m no reggae dude, but he’s just awesome. I really recommend his album if you are looking for a great summertime album.
Elan – Nothing Is Worth Losing You
Get Elan’s Together As One on Amazon mp3
Jan 19
I think i just found the most perfect rainy day EP ever. I wish it was an LP. a really L, P. This is too great to be so short.
The EP is by Tony Lucca, Jay Nash and Matt Duke and I’m going to be honest with you for a moment, the only one of these guys I’ve ever even heard of is Tony Lucca and I don’t really know his music. I think I have three new artists to check out this week though because their combo EP is f*cking phenomenal. I just want to listen to this album over and over again while staring out the window at the raining pouring down outside.
Enjoy the two tracks below, and I HIGHLY recommend you go over to Amazon mp3 to buy the EP. I’m sure these guys could use the monetary support and, assuming you have a soul, you will love the music.
Tony Lucca, Jay Nash, Matt Duke – Slow it Down
Tony Lucca, Jay Nash, Matt Duke – Pretty Things
Get Tfdi on Amazon mp3 and enjoy your rainy week
Jan 06
great band who just never had the right string of luck. saw their lead singer do an acoustic set tonight at Hotel Cafe. They’re putting out their second independent album within the next few weeks and this is a song from it. woo!
Jan 05
sorry for my lack of posts lately. i’ve been working too hard at work. but i had to put this one up. its a video of a guy i’ve mentioned several times on this site. His name is Franky Perez and his live rock shows are the greatest thing since 1969. This is an acoustic version of one of his sadder songs. enjoy.
